A freight ship collision in Baltimore, US, was prevented from turning into a major disaster thanks to the alertness of the Indian crew on board the ship ‘Dali’. President Joe Biden praised their quick response, emphasizing India’s significant contribution to global shipping. The incident highlights the crucial role of Indian seafarers in ensuring maritime safety and efficiency.
After India summoned an American diplomat over their remarks on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case, the US reiterated on Wednesday its call for “fair, transparent, timely legal processes”.
We continue to follow these actions closely, including the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller while responding to questions on India summoning Gloria Berbena, the US Acting Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi.
The meeting at the foreign ministry’s South Block office lasted nearly 40 minutes yesterday with India objecting strongly to the US remarks on the arrest of Mr Kejriwal.
Miller also responded to a question on the Congress party’s frozen bank accounts, saying, “We are also aware of the Congress party’s allegations that tax authorities have frozen some of their bank accounts in a manner that will make it challenging to effectively campaign in the upcoming elections.”
He said the US encourages “fair, transparent and timely legal processes” for each of these issues.
“With respect to your first question, I’m not going to talk about any private diplomatic conversations, but of course, what we have said publicly is what I just said from here, that we encourage fair, transparent, timely legal processes. We don’t think anyone should object to that,” he said.
Mr Kejriwal was arrested last week by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), making him the third Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader to be taken into custody in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.
The US State Department on Tuesday said it is monitoring reports of Mr Kejriwal’s arrest and called on New Delhi to ensure “a fair and timely legal process” for the jailed Chief Minister.
India objected to it and warned of “unhealthy precedents”.
“States are expected to be respectful of the sovereignty and internal affairs of others, and this responsibility is even more so in case of fellow democracies. It could otherwise end up setting unhealthy precedents,” the foreign ministry said.
“India’s legal processes are based on an independent judiciary which is committed to objective and timely outcomes. Casting aspersions on that is unwarranted,” the ministry stressed.
The US remarks came days after Germany’s Foreign Office stressed that Mr Kejriwal is entitled to a fair and impartial trial. The Indian government had reacted strongly and summoned the German envoy, labelling their remark “blatant interference in internal matters”.
The excise policy was introduced to bring an overhaul to the liquor business in Delhi, but was scrapped after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered a probe into the alleged irregularities in the policy. The ED believes the bribe money from the policy was allegedly used for funding the AAP’s election campaigns. It has also called Mr Kejriwal a “conspirator” in the case.
His arrest just ahead of the 2024 2024 Lok Sabha election has also prompted furious protests from the opposition camp.
The Congress today dropped Supriya Shrinate as a candidate from the constituency she contested in 2019, amid roaring outrage over her remarks on actor Kangana Ranaut, the BJP’s pick from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi.
Ms Shrinate had contested the last Lok Sabha polls from Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh but lost to BJP’s Pankaj Chaudhary.
This time, Congress has named Virendra Chaudhary as its choice from the seat, dropping Ms Shrinate, caught in a massive political whirlpool over her post on Kangana Ranaut.
On Monday, an offensive post was put out from Ms Shrinate’s Instagram account with a picture of Ms Ranaut and a derogatory caption. Ms Shrinate promptly clarified that several people have access to her social media accounts, and one of them made the inappropriate post.
“As soon as I came to know, I deleted that post. Everyone who knows me, also knows very well that I can never make personal and indecent comments towards any woman. I wanted to know how this happened,” she said.
Earlier in the day, the Election Commission issued a show-cause notice to Ms Shrinate over her post.
The Congress announced its eighth list on Wednesday for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, naming 14 candidates for four states – Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Jharkhand. The party has announced 208 candidates so far.
The party has fielded Rao Yadvendra Singh against Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna and Pratap Bhanu Sharma against former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Vidisha. Tarvar Singh Lodhi has been nominated from Damoh.
In Jharkhand, it named Kalicharan Munda from the Khunti (ST), Sukhdeo Bhagat from Lohardaga (ST), and Jaiprakashbhai Patel from the Hazaribagh parliamentary constituencies.
In Telangana, the party fielded Suguna Kumari Chelimala from Adilabad, Tatiparthi Jeevan Reddy from Nizamabad, Neelam Madhu from Medak, and Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy from Bhongir.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress nominated Dolly Sharma from Ghaziabad, Nakul Dubey from Sitapur, Shivram Valmiki from Bulandshahr (SC) seat, and Virendra Chaudhary from Maharajganj.