Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday, expressed that he will render full support to Rahul Gandhi for the PM post after the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

Addressing a campaign rally in Ballary to support Congress candidate V S Ugrappa, Deve Gowda said that he and his party will completely support Rahul Gandhi for the post of PM after Lok Sabha polls in 2019 and also challenged that he will come up with a strong secular brigade to counter the communal BJP.

When questioned about the senior Congress leader P Chidambaram’s statement in which he had mentioned that the Congress party has not yet declared its PM candidate, Deve Gowda firmly replied that he doesn’t want to react to a statement made by a senior leader.

PTI

For Dheeraj Kumar, it was an exciting assignment that turned into a story of pure horror.

“We were planning to cover a newly-built polling station in Nilwaya where people haven’t voted since 1998,” the 37-year-old Doordarshan journalist, who survived the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewadaon Tuesday morning, said.

Kumar was a part of a team, including cameraman Achyutananda Sahu and light assistant Mormukt Sharma, that the public broadcaster had sent to cover the upcoming assembly election in the state.

A resident Bihar’s Begusarai district, Kumar and his team were heading to Nilwaya about 5 km from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp at Sameli, when they came under the attack. Sahu and two policemen, sub-inspector Rudra Pratap and assistant sub-inspector Manglu, were killed in the ambush at about 11.20 am.

They were being accompanied by security personnel on half a dozen motorcycles, the most favoured vehicle to commute in the Maoist heartland where cars and vans are often known to be blown up in the scores of landmines planted by the rebels.

“At around 10.25 am, I saw the motorcycle which was heading our group, suddenly fall down. My cameraman, who was just behind the first motorcycle, was hit by a bullet and he fell down in front of my eyes. Our motorcycle also lost balance … Luckily, I fell in a ditch and crawled deeper,” Kumar recounted.

“For the next 45 minutes, it was pure horror. I kept lying in the ditch and all I heard was the sound of bullets. I felt that around 50 bullets whizzed past, over my head,” Kumar, who is still at Sameli camp and luckily sustained no injuries, said.

He said before going for the coverage in Sameli, he informed Dantewada’s superintendent of police Abhishek Pallav, who gave his nod and assured that security will be provided.

Pallav could not be reached as he rushed to the spot after the tragic incident.

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“The injured have been brought to Dantewada for treatment. He went to cover development work in that region when the ambush took place. Rest of things are under investigation,” special director general of police (Naxal operations) DM Awasthi said.

A 20-year-old student was killed when the car he was driving jumped the median and collided with an SUV on Hebbal flyover on Tuesday. Two others, including an elderly woman, were injured.

Vehicles were stuck in the consequent pileup there for more than an hour, before the Hebbal police pulled the damaged car to the side of the road.

The deceased, Sachin, was a second-year engineering student at a private college. Afsar, 32, who was driving the SUV, and the passenger, Lakshmi Varadaraj, 61, sustained injuries and are recovering in a private hospital, said the police.

The accident occurred around 1.45 p.m. when Sachin was returning home from college. “He was speeding and and trying to overtake a car, when he crashed into the median. The car landed on the adjacent lane and collided with a cab that was heading towards the airport, before overturning on the flyover,” said a police officer. Passers-by pulled out Sachin and moved him to a private hospital, where he died.

Vehicles moving to the airport were diverted to the service road. It took almost an hour to tow away the vehicles involved in the accident, much to the inconvenience of passengers. “We have not found any documents in the car so far. We are yet to ascertain if Sachin had a valid licence,” a police officer said.

For the first time since his discharge from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who is battling pancreatic cancer, on Tuesday chaired a meeting of the Investment Promotion Board at his private residence.

The chief minister has not been seen in public since he was discharged from AIIMS on October 14, sparking speculation about his health condition with the opposition Congress alleging that his signature was being forged on official files and demanding that the government release video proof of his health condition.

The move to host the meeting at his residence is seen as a bid to quell mounting speculation about the condition of his health.

Speaking to reporters after emerging from the meeting, minister of information technology Rohan Khaunte said that the chief minister was ‘very good’.

“His health is good. He has chaired the meeting effectively. We have held a one-on-one and a half-hour group meeting, that itself tells of the health status of the chief minister. He has given certain directions on what needs to be done, based on how we need to go about. These types of meetings will be held continuously ,” Khaunte said.

“We have complained (to the police) that there is apprehension that somebody is forging his signatures. We have only made known our apprehensions about a crime that can happen. The file goes (to the CM’s office), Krishnamurthy (principal secretary to the chief minister) says, ‘I have spoken to the CM and he has approved the files.’ We do not know whether this is authentic,” Said Congress legislator Reginaldo Lourenço.

The chief minister is expected to similarly chair a meeting of the state cabinet on Wednesday, the first since August.

Earlier, the chief minister chaired a meeting of Goa’s Investment Promotion Board via video conferencing. However, a suspicious Congress demanded that the government release the video clip showing whether the chief minister really chaired the meeting via video conferencing.

The Congress demand is believed to have prompted the chief minister to summon the members of the board to his residence to hold the meeting.

Earlier, too, the Congress had demanded the state government ‘prove’ that the chief minister is recovering as state BJP president Vinay Tendulkar claimed he was.

“With today’s technology, it is not difficult. Let them show us how he is walking and talking,” Congress spokesperson Jitendra Deshprabhu had said.

Last week, Tendulkar had claimed that Parrikar would resume office in the first week of November.

HT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel unveils 182-metre high ‘Statue of Unity’ in honour of country’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Kevadia, Gujarat on Oct 31, 2018. Also seen BJP chief Amiyt Shah. Narendra Modi said on Wednesday India now meets the world on its own terms and is moving towards becoming a economic and military superpower.

“India is moving ahead on the path shown by Sardar Patel. There was a time when we were seen as weak. But (Sardar Vallabhbhai)Patel turned those very weaknesses into our strength — showed us the right path,” Modi said unveiling the ‘Statue of Unity’ honouring the country’s first Home Minister.

Dedicating the 182-metre bronze figure to the nation, Modi said if we were connected from Rajasthan’s Kutch to Nagaland’s Kohima and Jammu and Kashmir’s Kargil to Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari, it was because of Patel’s determination.

The former Deputy Prime Minister played a major role in integrating over 550 princely states into the Indian Union after the Partition of 1947.

Unveiling the statue built on Sadhu Bet Island on Narmada river for Rs 2,389 crore, Modi touted it to be the world’s tallest — surpassing China’s Spring Temple Buddha that stands at 153 metres by 29 metres and nearly doubling the 93-metre Statue of Liberty in New York.

IANS

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday paid tributes to late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary.

They paid floral tributes at the slain leader’s memorial at Shakti Sthal here.

“Remembering Dadi (grandma) today with a deep sense of happiness. She taught me so much and gave me unending love. She gave so much of herself to her people. I am very proud of her,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted.

“Today we honour… the first female Prime Minister of India and one of the strongest leaders our country has seen,” the Congress party said.

“Through her premiership, our nation saw great victory, incredible development and most importantly upliftment of all sections of society,” the party tweeted.

On October 31, 1984, two of Indira Gandhi’s bodyguards — Satwant Singh and Beant Singh — gunned her down at her 1, Safdarjung Road residence here.

IANS

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday flagged off the ‘Run for Unity’ here to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel.

Former Indian hockey player and Arjuna Awardee Zafar Iqbal, five-time World Amateur Boxing champion Mary Kom, artistic gymnast and Olympic medalist Dipa Karmakar were among those present as the Minister flagged off the run from Major Dhyan Chand Stadium on National Unity Day.

Thousands of people in the age group between seven and 70 years participated in the over one km run that would culminate at the India Gate’s Amar Jawan Jyoti.

The day’s dedication was expected to reinforce unity, integrity and security of the nation.

Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar, Harsh Vardhan, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Hardeep Singh Puri and R.K. Singh were present on the occasion.

IANS