INDIA bloc reschedules EC protest to August 11 after Shibu Soren's death
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The Opposition's march to the Election Commission of India headquarters against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar has been rescheduled to August 11, a source said on Tuesday.The march, earlier scheduled to be held on August 8, was rescheduled after the death of former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren The schedule of the dinner meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders remains the same, and will be held on the evening of August 7 at Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi 's new residence - 5, Sunehri Bagh road.Popularly known as Guruji, Shibu Soren died at a private hospital in Delhi on Monday.Several Opposition leaders are visiting Ranchi on Tuesday to pay their last respects to the leader credited with leading the agitation for the formation of the state of Jharkhand.Following his death, a protest that the Congress was to hold in Bengaluru on Tuesday was postponed to August 8. That protest is to be led by Rahul Gandhi.The Congress is protesting against what it calls large-scale manipulation of electoral rolls in Bengaluru's Mahadevapura constituency in the 2023 Assembly polls.At a meeting of the INDIA bloc parties on Tuesday morning, Opposition leaders agreed that SIR remains the key issue for the Monsoon Session, and they will continue protests inside, as well as outside, the House, pressing for a debate on the issue.Opposition parties have warned that the exercise may lead to disenfranchisement of many, and have called it "vote-bandi" and "vote-chori" (vote theft).
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Hindustan Times
10 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
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Indian Express
10 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Informed Home Minister, still waiting for a response, says Tamil Nadu MP on chain snatching in Delhi
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Time of India
10 minutes ago
- Time of India
From Russia…
Washington is no slouch when it comes to buying from Moscow. So what's India doing wrong When Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014, US punished it with sanctions. US-Russia trade, which was worth over $38bn in 2013, slipped to under $35bn in 2014, $23bn in 2015, less than $20bn in 2016, and then started rising again from 2017, although Crimea remained with Russia. What changed was that Obama left White House and Trump came in. In 2021, the last year before Putin invaded Ukraine wholesale, Russian exports to US amounted to $29.6bn – almost the same as in 2012. This recap is important when Trump is threatening to make an example of India with 'substantially' higher tariffs for buying Russian oil. The same Trump who, in Feb, said Ukraine 'should have never started' the war. Look at Europe, too. EU's own data shows it supplied 10.3% of Russian imports last year, and bought 7.3% of its exports. Total goods trade between the 'virtuous' and the sanctioned amounted to a not insignificant $78bn – much more than the $69bn India-Russia bilateral trade last year. And data from the nonprofit CREA shows EU's spending on Russian energy last year – $25.3bn – was more than its financial assistance to Ukraine – $21.6bn. That's why the West's moral grandstanding on the Ukraine war fails to convince. For Trump officials to accuse India of financing Putin's war, while ignoring EU's Russia trade, and America's own $3bn worth of Russian imports, is nothing but hypocrisy. How is it kosher for US to continue buying enriched uranium from a sanctioned Russia to meet its energy needs, while frowning upon India's purchase of Russian oil to fuel its growing economy? MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal pointed out in a tweet on Monday that US had nudged India to buy more Russian oil at the start of the war 'for strengthening global energy markets' stability'. Europe was the biggest buyer of Russian oil and gas then, and for it to take a righteous stand, 'traditional supplies were diverted to Europe'. India at that time sourced less than 1% of crude from Russia. By making the switch, it spared the world an inflationary wave so soon after the pandemic. As things stand, India's saving not more than $2bn a year by buying discounted Russian oil. It can pivot to West Asian suppliers again, but everybody – including US – will then feel inflationary pain. Trump shouldn't forget that while trying to armtwist India into a trade deal. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
