Sachin Pilot has been appointed Congress General Secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh today as the party continues its organisational overhaul with an eye on the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been replaced as the party’s Uttar Pradesh in charge.

She continues to be the party’s General Secretary “without any assigned portfolio”, the party said in a statement. Avinash Pandey has replaced her in the state.

Sachin Pilot’s appointment is being seen as a move to pacify the leader, who has been seeking a greater role in the party. Mr Pilot’s dissatisfaction with the party’s Rajasthan leadership almost cost Congress the desert state mid-term in 2020, when the disgruntled leader, then the Deputy Chief Minister, led a coup against Ashok Gehlot.

After days of stalemate during which Mr Pilot moved to a resort in Haryana with his loyal MLAs, the Congress leadership managed to placate him. Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka assured Mr Pilot his grievances will be addressed.

As the Congress somehow managed to hold onto power in Rajasthan, the rift between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot widened. Despite the party’s efforts to put up a united front, it failed to retain Rajasthan this year.

The party, following an abysmal show in three heartland states, retained the chiefs of Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh. However, in Madhya Pradesh, former Chief Minister Kamal Nath was replaced as the Congress’ state unit chief with OBC leader Jitu Patwari.

In addition, Mukul Wasnik has been assigned Gujarat, Jitendra Singh Assam with the additional charge of Madhya Pradesh, Randeep Surjewala Karnataka, Kumari Selja Uttarakhand, while Deepa Dasmunshi got Kerala, Lakshadweep, and the additional charge of Telangana.

In Bihar, the party has appointed Mohan Prakash as the state in-charge. Mr Prakash has close ties with both Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar. He is a socialist who has been a part of Janata Dal.

The appointments come two days after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, chaired by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge. It was attended by senior leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

A chemical tanker struck Saturday off the coast of India was targeted “by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

The attack took place around 10 am local time (0600 GMT) and caused no casualties aboard the Japanese-owned vessel, it said, adding that a fire was extinguished. 

The US military “remains in communication with the vessel as it continues toward a destination in India,” it added.

The Pentagon statement said the Chem Pluto ship flew under a Liberian flag and was operated by a Dutch entity.

The drone strike occurred 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) off the coast of India, it said, adding that no US Navy vessels were in the vicinity.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strike which came amid a flurry of drone and missile attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels on a vital shipping lane in the Red Sea.

The Huthis say they are conducting the attacks in solidarity with Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Indian Navy said it had responded to a request for assistance. 

“An aircraft was dispatched and it reached overhead the vessel and established safety of the involved ship and its crew,” a navy official told AFP. 

“An Indian navy warship has also been dispatched so as to provide assistance as required.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A 53-year-old senior professor of IIT Kanpur has died due to cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture during an alumni meet, institute authorities said on Saturday.

Sameer Khandekar, who was the dean of student affairs and the head of the mechanical engineering department, collapsed on the dais while addressing the gathering on Friday, they said.

He was taken to the hospital where he was declared dead upon arrival, the authorities added.

A professor said that Mr Khandekar was diagnosed with high cholesterol levels about five years ago.

Talking to PTI over the phone from Delhi, former IIT Kanpur Director Abhay Karandikar expressed shock over the sudden demise of Sameer Khandekar whom he described as an outstanding teacher and researcher.

Mr Khandekar was delivering a lecture when he felt severe chest pain and started sweating profusely. Before anyone could make sense of what was happening, he collapsed on the stage, Mr Karandikar added.

He said the body has been kept at the IIT Kanpur’s health centre and final rites would be performed only after the arrival of his only son Pravah Khandekar who is studying at Cambridge University.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)