Delhi Confidential: Alliance signal
Gathering Pace
With the BJP organisational elections gathering steam, insiders say the entire exercise will be completed by this month. According to party leaders, presidents have been appointed in eight states in the last two days, adding to the 14 state chiefs already appointed. Two more announcements are likely coming on Wednesday and another one the following day, making the total number to 25, more than the required to go for the national president's election. However, a number of politically crucial states are still to get a chief, most prominent being Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Gujarat.
Kolkata Hackathon
Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav was in Kolkata on Monday for the finale of a 110-hour national hackathon that sought solutions to tackle challenges to biodiversity and climate change. Yadav awarded a cash prize of `1 lakh to the winners. Last year, the ministry had organised a hackathon seeking ideas from students to tackle local environmental issues using technology.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
15 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Congress slams Modi govt over Pakistan's UNSC presidency, calls it 'diplomatic setback'
The Congress on Wednesday (July 2, 2025) slammed the PM Modi-led government for 'failing to prevent Pakistan' from assuming key positions in the United Nations, calling it a 'major diplomatic setback for India'. Pakistan on Tuesday said that it assumed the Presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of July. The presidency of the Security Council — the world body's power centre — is part of Pakistan's two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UNSC, which began in January 2025. In addition, Pakistan will chair the Taliban Sanctions Committee and serve as vice-chair of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee. Speaking to reporters here, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "the terror state of Pakistan has now been made the global security broker. The devil is now in the chair." Pakistan, "a terror state with a proven record of harbouring terrorists, promoting terrorism, and exporting terror to India" was being elevated to global leadership positions, even as India continues to face terror attacks sponsored by it, he said. "This happened just weeks after the Pahalgam terror attack, which was Pakistan-sponsored," Mr. Surjewala alleged, questioning the Modi government's "silence and inaction". He claimed Pakistan's elevation came "despite all the bravado on foreign policy" displayed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, who, he alleged, had failed to rally global support to prevent this outcome. 'Repeated violations' Citing a specific instance, Mr. Surjewala pointed out that Pakistan assumed the vice-chair of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee on June 4, 2025, despite its repeated violations of international resolutions on terrorism. "What are the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and India's Permanent Representative to the UN doing," he asked. He also criticised the government for failing to protest when Pakistan, allegedly backed by China, blocked India's proposal to designate Abdul Rauf, a known anti-India terrorist, as a global terrorist in the same Counter-Terrorism Committee. "The same Pakistan becomes vice-chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, and the Government of India raises no objection," Mr. Surjewala claimed. He also lamented the 'decline' of India's traditional diplomatic ties. "Our old and trusted allies, relationships built by the Congress across the world, in Asia, and our neighbourhood have been alienated. Today, we are isolated. Even smaller nations like the Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka no longer stand with us." "Diplomacy requires more than photo-ops and optics," he said.
Time of India
15 minutes ago
- Time of India
Is working for Dalits, farmers 'anti-national' ?: Medha Patkar slams BJP MPs over meeting walkout
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads A day after BJP MPs walked out of a parliamentary panel meeting she was invited to, activist Medha Patkar on Wednesday hit back, asking if standing up for Dalits, Adivasis, farmers and labourers now counts as "anti-national".A meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj to discuss the implementation of the land acquisition act ended abruptly on Tuesday as BJP MPs protested against the panel's decision to hear Patkar , who had led protests against raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat under the banner of ' Narmada Bachao Andolan '.The panel, headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, had called Patkar to hear her views on the implementation and effectiveness of the land acquisition law enacted by Parliament when the Congress-led UPA government was in power in Union minister and BJP MP Parshottam Rupala was joined by other lawmakers from his party as they walked out of the meeting, with some dubbing Patkar as "anti-national". A BJP MP even said he had no idea that leaders from Pakistan could also be called to such a meeting."What is the charge of being anti-national? We are working with Dalits, Adivasis, farmers, labourers... Is that something anti-national? To protect their rights under the law and the Constitution, and the human rights, which are above the constitutional rights," Patkar told PTI."And even if whatever we are saying is wrong, they can oppose it. But that doesn't mean that they can call us anti-national or 'urban naxals'. This democratic process includes the parliamentary standing committee proceedings," she said she has participated in parliamentary panel discussions earlier and has been part of consultations carried out by the government for framing the Land Acquisition Act of 2013."Even when Sumitra Mahajan was in the Chair, we were given a good hearing," she said, referring to the former Lok Sabha Speaker and BJP said they were invited to appear before the panel, made their submissions, and all due process was said she was informed that a communication was sent by the secretary general of the Lok Sabha to the chairperson -- Congress MP Ulaka -- to cancel the meeting due to a lack of quorum. The activist said she was told by officials that 17 MPs had come for the meeting, and questioned how there was a lack of quorum."The written letter that the secretary general gave to the chairman to cancel the meeting gave only one reason that there is no quorum. The fact that I was invited to appear was not mentioned as the reason," she prime minister H D Devegowda's Janata Dal (Secular), which is a part of the BJP-led NDA, also participated in the meeting but not in the walkout, Patkar said."Mr. Devegowda, he did not walk out. He was just sitting quietly near the chairman," she about the Narmada Bachao Andolan, Patkar said they only demanded what was awarded by the Narmada Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT) was established in 1969 to resolve the water-sharing disputes among Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan concerning the Narmada River."They are mentioning the position taken by the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Our position has been that the award by the Narmada tribunal should be implemented," she said."Even the World Bank stopped funding this project (Sardar Sarovar Dam), saying that it was an ill-planned project. The statistics on which the decision is based the data is flawed. The World Bank took a position that they had not followed the law," she World Bank had agreed to fund the project to increase the height of the dam in 1985. However, following protests by the NBA led by Patkar, they formed the Morse Commission to look into factors like environmental cost and human the World Bank decided to pull out of the project, the government cancelled the loan sanctioned by the World Bank on 31 March stressed that the rehabilitation of the families that were to be dislocated was important."There were thousands of families living in this area. How could they be denied fair and full rehabilitation? That was the question. Now, about 50,000 families have received rehabilitation. Whatever is remaining, a few thousand in Madhya Pradesh, hundreds in Maharashtra, hundreds in Gujarat, the dialogue is still going on," she said."We want the government to take immediate action and decision, but they are not doing it on war footing," she added.
NDTV
16 minutes ago
- NDTV
7 Possible Reasons Why Siddaramaiah Is Still Karnataka Chief Minister
New Delhi: The Congress' peace-making efforts in Karnataka have paid off, for now, after disgruntled Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar backed down in his bid to replace Siddaramaiah in the top post. The party sent senior leader Randeep Surjewala to broker a truce between Sidda and DKS, as they are popularly called, and managed to do that; Shivakumar sat stoically by his side Tuesday afternoon as Surjewala told the press the Congress has no plans to drop Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister. But why did DKS stand down? Shivakumar reportedly had the support of an overwhelming majority of the Congress' 138 MLAs, a claim made by one of his loyalists - Iqbal Hussain - and could point to a power-sharing deal, albeit never publicly acknowledged, after the 2023 election to make his point. NDTV Explains | Siddaramaiah vs Shivakumar Isn't New. What Happened In 2023? What happened in meetings between Sidda, DKS, and Surjewala will likely remain between them, to be shared only with the Congress' central leader ship, i.e., party boss Mallikarjun Kharge and the Gandhis, but there are likely seven reasons why Siddaramaiah is still Chief Minister of Karnataka. Sources said Sidda's behind-closed-door message to DKS was this - if you want to be Chief Minister, resign as President of the Congress' state unit. DKS, sources said, does not want to do because Siddaramaiah can then appoint a loyalist and exert proxy control. Bihar will vote later this year. Patna is over 2,000km from Bengaluru, but the Congress is wary of the optics of sacking a leader from a marginalised community ahead of voting in a state with 64 per cent backward and extremely backward classes population. Apart from not playing out well in voters' eyes, it will also give the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal Secular fuel attack the Congress' and its alliy, the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The third reason why Sidda's job is safe, at least till after the Bihar election (likely in October/November) is the stampede after the Royal Challengers Bengaluru won their first Indian Premier League title. Eleven people were killed as RCB tried to celebrate the win, and while the cricket team has been held 'prima facie responsible', DKS has come under fire for reportedly permitting the event despite crowd control warnings. A fourth reason is that DKS continues to be under investigation by federal agencies, and was even jailed in 2019 - from September 3 to October 25 - over money laundering charges. The Congress, sources said, felt promoting him now exposes the party to an Arvind Kejriwal-like situation, i.e., have a sitting Chief Minister be sent to jail. The fifth reason? Ironically Siddaramaiah's job is safe, for now, because there are multiple dark horses eyeing his job, including Congress boss Mallikarjun Kharge and his son, Priyank. Sources said the Kharge duo may put themselves forward for the post at some time, and the party is unwilling to rush now and then reconsider options later. There is a personal angle to Siddaramaiah stubbornly holding on to the top post, according to sources. He reportedly wants the record of the longest-serving Chief Minister, a mark of seven years and 238 days held by Devraj Urs. Sidda has been Chief Minister for seven years and 48 days. Sources said he has told the Congress' central leadership he will both stand down and retire from politics, clearing the way for DKS. That means DKS has time on his side, and he knows this. After the 2018 and 2023 wins he had been left feeling sidelined. Aware of this, and eager to avoid a repeat of Rajasthan - the Ashok Gehlot-Sachin Pilot spat- and Madhya Pradesh - between Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia - the Congress has promised Shivakumar his due.
