Rahul Gandhi will take over as Congress President soon, confirms Sonia

Agencies
October 14, 2017

New Delhi, Oct 14: Congress President Sonia Gandhi has confirmed that her son Rahul Gandhi will take over as the next party chief soon.

"You (the media) have been asking me about Rahul (taking over the party) for a long time. It will be done soon," said Sonia, speaking on the sidelines of former president Pranab Mukherjee's book launch in New Delhi.

On Friday, the Uttarakhand Congress has passed a resolution urging Rahul Gandhi to take over as party president. The Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and four other state units have also passed similar resolutions.

Recently, the ball was set rolling for long-pending organisational polls which would also entail elections to the post of the President of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The state Congress chiefs met in Delhi to finalise the election schedule.

The chances of Rahul finally taking over the reins of the party are high this time around. The build-up to his elevation has been slow and has been dragged for a while. That Sonia Gandhi doesn’t want to continue at the helm and wants Rahul to take over completely is a known fact. Over the past one year, it has been Rahul who has been calling the shots and taking major decisions.

As a part of the takeover strategy, Rahul has been the main face which Congress has been pitting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last three years.

So, when Rahul was in the US recently, he attacked Modi for what he called his divisive politics and failed economics. And when senior ministers rushed in to defend the PM and attack Rahul, the Congress smiled as it saw in the retaliation an acknowledgement of the fact that Rahul was being seen as the main adversary to Modi.

The target-Modi strategy is also fraught with a huge risk as Congress is left with limited options for the next general elections.

“Rahul vs Modi is an unequal fight, for it’s a fight between ‘democracy & tyranny’, between ‘devolution & usurpation of authority’, between ‘inclusive growth & crony capitalism’. And yes, Rahulji’s and Congress’s vision will win, for India must win for our values to be protected and preserved for posterity,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

On the other hand, many Congress leaders like Kamal Nath have been of the view that dual power arrangement between Sonia and Rahul confuses party workers. The leadership issues, this section feels need to be sorted out to have clarity on power and command structure.

Rahul as party president will make one thing clear — that 2019 will be a Modi versus Rahul election.

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Agencies
June 29,2020

Tehran, Jun 29: Iran has issued an arrest warrant and asked Interpol for help in detaining President Donald Trump and dozens of others it believes carried out the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad, a local prosecutor reportedly said Monday.

While Trump faces no danger of arrest, the charges underscore the heightened tensions between Iran and the United States since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said Trump and more than 30 others whom Iran accuses of involvement in the Jan. 3 strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad face “murder and terrorism charges,” the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

Alqasimehr did not identify anyone else sought other than Trump, but stressed that Iran would continue to pursue his prosecution even after his presidency ends.

Interpol, based in Lyon, France, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Alqasimehr also was quoted as saying that Iran requested a “red notice” be put out for Trump and the others, which represents the highest level arrest request issued by Interpol. Local authorities end up making the arrests on behalf of the country that request it. The notices cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, but can put government leaders on the spot and limit suspects’ travel.

After receiving a request, Interpol meets by committee and discusses whether or not to share the information with its member states. Interpol has no requirement for making any of the notices public, though some do get published on its website.

It is unlikely Interpol would grant Iran’s request as its guideline for notices forbids it from “undertaking any intervention or activities of a political” nature.

The U.S. killed Soleimani, who oversaw the Revolutionary Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force, and others in the January strike near Baghdad International Airport. It came after months of incidents raising tensions between the two countries and ultimately saw Iran retaliate with a ballistic missile strike targeting American troops in Iraq.

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Agencies
March 22,2020

New Delhi, Mar 22: The central government on Sunday decided to suspend all metro train services across the country till March 31 in view of coronavirus outbreak.

In a message to managing directors of all metro train corporations, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said this is being done in continuation of suspending metro services during 'Janta Curfew'.

"In view of the current global pandemic of this Corona Virus & for containing its further spread through inter-personal proximity, it has been decided to close down metro rail services on all operational networks across the country till 31 March 2020," Mishra tweeted.

In another tweet, he said by the act of social distancing, people can protect themselves and their dear ones, and win the fight against COVID-19.

India reported three more coronavirus deaths on Sunday, including the first casualty from Bihar, taking the toll to seven and the number of COVID-19 cases rose to 341, officials said.

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Agencies
January 14,2020

Farukkhabad, Jan 14: In a shocking incident, a new-born baby was mauled to death by a dog inside the operation theatre (OT) of a private hospital in Farukkhabad on Monday.

Family members of the baby boy said that they noticed the hospital staff shooing a dog away from inside the operation theatre and soon after, they were told the baby boy, born just two hours ago, was dead.

The family members said that they found the baby's body on the floor and it had deep gashes around the neck and other parts of the body.

District magistrate Manvendra Singh has ordered an FIR and the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Chandra Shekhar said the hospital has been sealed and an inquiry ordered into the incident.

Sources said that the hospital where the incident took place was unregistered and was being run adjacent to a government hospital.

According to the FIR lodged with Sadar Kotwali police, the infant's father Ravi Kumar said he had admitted his wife Kanchan in the hospital on Monday and she was taken for a C-section to the operation theatre.

After the delivery, Kanchan was shifted to the ward but the family was told that the baby would be shifted later.

An hour later, the family was informed that the baby had died.

The family members then saw the hospital staff trying to chase a dog out of the operation theatre.

The family members forced their way into the operation theatre and found the infant lying on the floor with several injuries on the neck.

The police said that the baby's body has been preserved for examination and post mortem.

The FIR has been registered against Dr Mohit Gupta, and some of the staff members who were present during the delivery.

The hospital owner, Vijay Patel, however, feigned complete ignorance about the incident and said that he had been told that the baby was born dead.

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