BENGALURU: KPCC will send its list of candidates for 200 constituencies to its central leadership soon for final decision.  KPCC president DK Shiv­ak­­umar, former chief minister Siddaramaiah, Campaign Committee chairman MB Patil, and other senior leaders were present during the State Congress Screening Committee meeting in Bengaluru on Tuesday and Wednesday. They examined the applications received from ticket aspirants. 

Party sources said that candidates for 120 seats are almost final, and in around 75 seats, there are two to three candidates. In a few segments, the decision will be taken later as leaders from BJP and JDS are likely to join the party, sources said. The candidates in such constituencies are likely to be decided after March 27 when elections are likely to be announced, sources said.

Earlier, Shivakumar said candidates in 75 per cent of the seats have been finalised, and the list will be sent to central leaders after finalising candidates in all segments. He exuded confidence that Congress will come to power, and BJP will not even cross 65 seats. Responding to question if Minister V Somanna will join Congress, Shivakumar called it a speculation.

CAIRO: At least 14 women and children died in a shipwreck off Yemen’s Red Sea coast earlier this week, authorities said Wednesday.

The boat, with over two dozen of people on board, capsized off the province of Hodeida, according to a statement by the Fisheries Authority in Hodeida, run by the country’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The tragedy happened late on Monday, the statement said. Eleven women and three children drowned while 11 people, including a child, survived. The group was heading to a relative’s wedding party on Kamaran Island when their boat capsized because of high winds and waves.

Authorities dispatched coast guard vessels to search for the bodies in a channel between Kamaran and the province’s district of Luhiya, the statement added.

It was the latest maritime tragedy off Yemen’s shores. Most previous shipwrecks in the region involved African migrants fleeing wars and poverty in their home countries. The migrants risk perilous voyages from Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Somalia to Yemen and on to richer Gulf Arab countries in search of work.

Yemen descended into civil war in 2014 when the rebel Houthis descended from their northern stronghold and seized the capital, Sanaa, along with much of the country’s north. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to try and restore the internationally recognized government to power.

The conflict has spawned one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and pushed impoverished Yemen to the brink of famine.

MUMBAI: Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the most corrupt party in India today and that all opportunists are joining the BJP as a safe haven away from their corruption cases. He was addressing a mammoth crowd at Khed in Konkan. 

This was Uddhav Thackeray’s first public rally at Khed after losing the Shiv Sena (founded by his father Balasaheb Thackeray) and its traditional symbol – the bow and arrow.

Incidentally, Khed is represented by former Shiv Sena minister Ramdas Kadan’s son Yogesh Kadam who is part of the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Uddhav Thackeray while attacking the BJP claimed that earlier, saints used to sit on the BJP’s stage but now it is full of corrupt leaders and opportunists. He said that during campaigning for the recently concluded Meghalaya elections, BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had called Chief Minister Conrad Sangma corrupt and had asked people not to vote for him.

Thackeray went on to add, “But after the elections, the BJP cemented an alliance with Mr Sangma and supported his bid to remain chief minister of Meghalaya. Even Prime minister Narendra Modi tweeted that Conrad’s father late PA Sangma must be happy with this new alliance.” This is the BJP today, which alleges you are corrupt in elections but then sits with the same people in power, Thackeray said.

Uddhav Thackeray also said that all the central agencies and even the Election Commission of India
(ECI) are like slaves in the hands of the BJP’s leadership.

Stating that democracy is in danger, Uddhav Thackery said, “The 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be the last elections in India if the BJP is not thrown out of power. After that, there will be no elections and people will not be allowed to cast their votes as well. All democratic things will end, so people have to decide what to do and protect the democracy in India.”

Talking about the ECI’s order, Thackery said he did not believe in it. The apex poll body had granted Shiv Sena’s name and ‘Bow and Arrow’ symbol faction. 

The ECI’s order in the Supreme Court. How much will the BJP and ‘plunder gang’ (referring to Eknath Shinde) steal? Earlier, they stole the party founded by my father and its symbol and they also want to use his photograph to garner votes. I dare them to use their father and PM Narendra Modi’s photo.. why do they want to use my father’s name and photo,” Uddhav Thackeray asked.

The former chief minister also spoke of businesses being shifted to adjoining states. “Maharashtra has been deprived of the big investment. Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde is more in Delhi than in Maharashtra. He has succumbed to the power of Delhi which was not the case earlier. I worked hard during the pandemic therefore the work of the Maharashtra government was appreciated worldwide but where are we headed today? No jobs, no industry… even the adjoining state of Karnataka has been threatening us and claiming rights over our region,” said Thackeray.

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Thursday began the second round of questioning of former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia at the Tihar Jail here in connection with its money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy, officials said.

The federal probe agency had recorded the statement of the 51-year-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader for the first time on March 7 for about five hours.

Sisodia is currently lodged in judicial custody after the CBI arrested him on February 26 in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor or excise policy for 2021-22.

The ED obtained a local court’s permission to question the politician, who till recently was the deputy CM of Delhi, in the cell number 1 of the jail.

The agency is expected to question him about the alleged change and destruction of cellphones that were in his possession and the policy decisions and the timeline followed by him as the excise minister of Delhi.

These charges were made by it in its charge sheets filed before the court.

It is alleged that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers, who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP.

The policy was later scrapped and the Delhi LG recommended a CBI probe following which the ED booked a case against the same accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

CHANDIGARH: The parents of singer Sidhu Moosewala, who was shot dead last year, sat on a protest outside the Punjab Assembly complex here on Tuesday seeking justice for their son.

Speaking to reporters, an emotional Balkaur Singh said the masterminds behind his son’s murder were still at large. He said nothing concrete has been done by the investigation agencies and demanded a CBI probe into the incident.

Carrying placards, Singh and his wife Charan Kaur sat outside the state assembly. They were accompanied by some senior Punjab Congress leaders, including Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa.

Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, was shot dead in Punjab’s Mansa district on May 29.

“I have come here today as we have no other option. For the last 10 months, nothing concrete has been done. Enough time has been given to police and the administration to act.”

“But the reality is the (murder) case is being suppressed. Crucial witnesses are being eliminated and nothing is going in our favour. So, we are forced to sit outside the Vidhan Sabha,” the singer’s father said.

“Till the time, the state assembly is in session, we will sit outside in protest,” he said.

Meanwhile, Punjab minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal met Moosewala’s parents outside the assembly complex and said the AAP government was with them.

“It is your own government, you do not need to sit on any dharna.

We will fight your battle,” he told Moosewala’s father, adding that all the culprits, including the masterminds of the crime, will be nabbed.

Talking to reporters, Dhaliwal assured that the case is being investigated fairly.

He said 29 people have so far been arrested in the case, adding that two of the accused were killed in an encounter, while five are to be brought from outside the country for which the state government was already in touch with the Centre and other agencies concerned.

Asked if the ongoing probe was being compromised, Moosewala’s father earlier said, “Not only is it being influenced, efforts are on to close the case.

What is the current status of the investigation? “A celebrity was murdered triggering worldwide anger, but the Indian government is not listening,” he said.

“Only the shooters (involved in the case) have been arrested, but what about the masterminds?” he asked.

When asked if he would demand a CBI probe, Singh replied, “Definitely, it should be done. When nothing has been done so far, only shooters involved have been nabbed. So far only supplementary challans have been presented in this case.”

“I have come here because no one is listening to us,” he said.

Drawing parallels, an agitated Singh said when a political figure is killed, prompt action is taken and the accused are brought to the book.

“I have submitted a list of people involved in my son’s killing to the authorities. But nothing has happened. I prefer to die on the road seeking justice for my son,” he said.

“What action has been taken against (Canada-based gangster who had claimed responsibility for Moosewala’s killing) Goldy Brar? A red corner notice was issued against him, but what after that?” he asked.

Moosewala’s father also offered reward money for those giving information about the masterminds behind the killing of the popular singer.

“I have said I would make arrangements for reward money. What pressure is Goldy Brar facing…he is living his life comfortably abroad,” he said.

Pointing towards his wife, Singh said, “Both of us are heart patients. If we do not get justice while we are still alive, what is its worth?” Singh also alleged that he was receiving death threats for pursuing the case.

He added that his family had been cooperating with the administration in probing the case, but they were yet to get any justice.

HYDERABAD: Two days after Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer Foxconn released a statement denying it had “entered into any binding, definitive agreements” in India, the firm’s chairman, Young Liu, in a letter to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday, said that it is committed to setting up a manufacturing facility in Kongara Kalan, situated 35 km away from Hyderabad.

“I was indeed inspired by your vision and the efforts towards the transformation and development of Telangana. I now have a new friend in India and I look forward to working with you in future. As discussed with you during our meeting on March 2, Foxconn is committed to setting up a manufacturing facility at Kongara Kalan and I seek the support of your team in operationalising the Kongara Kalan Park as early as possible. I would also like to take this opportunity to kindly invite you to Taiwan as my personal guest. It would be my honour to host you in Taipei. Look forward to meeting you soon,” the letter read. 

The letter puts to rest a lot of speculations regarding the Taiwan-based company’s commitment to set up an electronics manufacturing unit in the State. It must be noted that Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai was ridiculed by opposition party leaders after the company released a communique denying any binding agreements during its chairman’s visit to the country. 

When Rao and Liu met at Pragathi Bhavan on March 2, it was agreed upon that Foxconn, also known as the Hon Hai Technology Group, would set up an electronics manufacturing facility in Telangana with employment generation potential for over 1 lakh people. Rao, at that time, emphasised that Telangana considers Taiwan as a natural partner and that the State is glad to be a part of Foxconn’s growth story.