Tulsi Gabbard, first Hindu in US Congress, to take on Donald Trump in 2020

Agencies
January 12, 2019

Washington, Jan 12: Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, has said that she is running for the White House in 2020.

Gabbard, 37, is the second woman after Senator Elizabeth Warren to enter the presidential race from the Democratic party.

More than 12 Democratic leaders including Indian-origin Senator from California Kamala Harris are expected to announce their White House run to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020.

Gabbard, a four-time Democratic lawmaker in the US House of Representatives from Hawaii, told CNN Friday: "I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week".

The Iraq war veteran has become the first-ever Hindu to be running for the presidency in the US.

Gabbard, who converted to Hinduism early in her life, is highly popular among Indian-Americans.

If elected, she would be the youngest ever and first woman President of the United States. She would also be the first non-Christian and first Hindu to occupy the top post. However, at this point of time, American political pundits do not give her much chance.

Hindus constitute less than one per cent of the American population, an overwhelming majority of whom are either from India or are people of Indian-origin.

Gabbard, a co-Chair of the powerful House India Caucus, was recently re-elected for the US House of Representatives from Hawaii for the fourth consecutive term.

A winner of the primary elections beginning early 2020 would be finally nominated by the Democratic party in its convention later that summer to challenge the Republican candidate in the November 2020 elections.

President Trump has announced to seek his re-election. The winner of the Democratic primary would be pitted against him.

Gabbard, who supported Senator Bernie Sanders against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary, told the CNN that there are a lot of reasons for her to take this decision.

"There are a lot of challenges that are facing the American people that I'm concerned about and that I want to help solve," she said.

She listed access to health care, criminal justice reform and climate change as key issues.

"There is one main issue that is central to the rest, and that is the issue of war and peace. I look forward to being able to get into this and to talk about it in depth when we make our announcement," Gabbard said.

Former US vice president Joe Biden has also expressed his interest in the 2020 bid.

Rania Batrice, who was a deputy campaign manager for Bernie Sanders in 2016 and is now a top aide to Gabbard, will be her campaign manager, CNN reported.

The 2020 presidential primary cycle is scheduled to kick off from the Iowa Caucuses on February 3, 2020, followed by the New Hampshire Primary on February 11, Nevada caucus of February 15 and South Carolina on February 22.

Among other Democrats speculated to run for the 2020 primaries include Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar and Tim Kaine.

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Agencies
February 29,2020

Islamabad, Feb 29: A coalition comprising digital media giants Facebook, Google and Twitter (among others) have spoken out against the new regulations approved by the Pakistani government for social media, threatening to suspend services in the country if the rules were not revised, it was reported.

In a letter to Prime Minster Imran Khan earlier this month, the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) called on his government to revise the new sets of rules and regulations for social media, The News International reported on Friday.

"The rules as currently written would make it extremely difficult for AIC Members to make their services available to Pakistani users and businesses," reads the letter, referring to the Citizens Protection Rules (Against Online Harm).

The new set of regulations makes it compulsory for social media companies to open offices in Islamabad, build data servers to store information and take down content upon identification by authorities.

Failure to comply with the authorities in Pakistan will result in heavy fines and possible termination of services.

It said that the regulations were causing "international companies to re-evaluate their view of the regulatory environment in Pakistan, and their willingness to operate in the country".

Referring to the rules as "vague and arbitrary in nature", the AIC said that it was forcing them to go against established norms of user privacy and freedom of expression.

"We are not against regulation of social media, and we acknowledge that Pakistan already has an extensive legislative framework governing online content. However, these Rules fail to address crucial issues such as internationally recognized rights to individual expression and privacy," The News International quoted the letter as saying.

According to the law, authorities will be able to take action against Pakistanis found guilty of targeting state institutions at home and abroad on social media.

The law will also help the law enforcement authorities obtain access to data of accounts found involved in suspicious activities.

It would be the said authority's prerogative to identify objectionable content to the social media platforms to be taken down.

In case of failure to comply within 15 days, it would have the power to suspend their services or impose a fine worth up to 500 million Pakistani rupees ($3 million).

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News Network
February 3,2020

New Delhi, Feb 3: In the third such incident inside of a week, two unidentified persons opened fire outside Gate No. 5 of Jamia Millia Islamia on Sunday night, the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) said.

A statement issued by the committee, a group comprising students and alumni of the university formed to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, said the attackers were on a red Rcooty.

No one was injured in the attack. One of the miscreants was wearing a red jacket, the statement said.

"Firing has taken place at Gate No.5 of Jamia Millia Islamia right now by two unidentified persons. As per report, one of them was wearing a red jacket and driving a red Scooty having vehicle no. 1532 or 1534," the statement said.

Police said they were verifying the JCC's claims.

Asim Mohammed Khan, former Congress MLA from Okhla, said the incident occurred around 11.30 pm. "We heard the gunshot. That is when we stepped out to see and the two men left on a Scooty," a student said.

"We have taken down the vehicle number and called police," he added.

This is the third firing incident in the Jamia Nagar area in a week.

On Thursday, a minor fired at anti-CAA protesters marching towards Rajghat, injuring a student.

Two days later, a 25-year-old fired two rounds in air in Shaheen Bagh in Jamia Nagar. No one was hurt in the incident.

The incident on Sunday night triggered panic in the area. A police vehicle had reached the spot after the incident but was chased away by angry students.

Hundreds of students and locals gathered outside the university.

Many raised slogans against the Delhi Police. They also staged a dharna outside the Jamia Nagar police station.

Shezad Ahmed, a JMI student and resident of Zakir Nagar, said they were not even allowed to protest peacefully.

"We are not going to be deterred by such incidents. We will continue with our protest," he added.

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News Network
January 12,2020

Kolkata, Jan 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said a section of the youth is being misguided about the Citizenship Amendment Act and asserted that it will not take away anybody's citizenship.

Modi also said whoever has faith in India and believes in its Constitution can become an Indian citizen.

“There are a lot of questions among the youth about the new citizenship law, and some are being misled by rumours around it... it is our duty to clear their doubts,” the PM said during an address at Belur Math in Howrah district.

“I want to make this clear again that the CAA is not about taking away anybody's citizenship, but about granting citizenship,” he added.

Modi said that some people with political interests are deliberately spreading rumours about the new citizenship law.

Lauding the youth for speaking against religious persecution of minorities, the prime minister said the energy of the country's young will form the basis of change in the 21st century. The PM is on a two-day visit to the city.

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