Daily wrap: Shotgun joins Cong; Mamata writes to EC on cop transfer
Shatrughan Sinha joins Cong, terms BJP ‘one-man show, two-men army’
Dissident BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha on April 6 joined the Congress, which welcomed him with a Lok Sabha ticket, as he lambasted his former party, terming it a “one-man show and two-men army”. Within hours of joining, the Congress fielded Sinha from Bihar’s Patna Sahib seat, where he will contest against BJP leader and Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Mamata writes to EC against transfer of senior police officers
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on April 6 wrote to the Election Commission protesting transfers of four IPS officers, including Kolkata and Bidhannagar police commissioners. The Election Commission’s decision is “unfortunate”, highly arbitrary, motivated and “biased’ and was taken at the behest of the BJP, she said in the letter.
India chose lower orbit for A-SAT test to avoid debris threat: DRDO
India chose a much lower orbit of less than 300 km during Mission Shakti for “capability demonstration” and to avoid threat of debris to global space assets, DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy said on April 6. His remark comes days after NASA raised concerns about the spread of debris from the Anti-Satellite Test (A-SAT) test India conducted on March 27.
Court summons Michel’s business partner in VVIP chopper case
A Delhi court on April 6 summoned David Nigel John Syms, an alleged middleman and business partner of British-national Christian Michel, a co-accused arrested in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper case. Special judge Arvind Kumar asked Syms, named as an accused in the supplementary charge sheet, to appear before the court on May 9. The court also summoned two firms — Global Services FZE and Global Traders — as accused in the case.
UK starts issuing passports without ‘European Union’ on cover
Britain has begun issuing passports with the words “European Union” removed from the front cover – despite Brexit being delayed and uncertainty over when the country will leave the bloc. The interior ministry confirmed that some passports introduced from March 30, the day after Britain was originally due to depart, no longer include references to the EU following a 2017 decision. However, it said some newly-issued travel documents would still bear the bloc’s name – which has sat atop British passport covers – in a bid to save public money.
Income tax won’t be raised to fund NYAY scheme: Rahul
Congress President Rahul Gandhi has said his party’s manifesto was an expression of the people of India and ruled out burdening the middle class to fund the anti-poverty scheme Nyunatam Aay Yojana (Nyay). “The middle class will not be taxed and income tax will not be increased to implement the Nyay scheme where ₹72,000 will be deposited in bank accounts of poor people every year if the party is voted to power,” he said.
PM unable to list even one achievement of his 5-year rule: Priyanka
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he should tell the country what he did in the last five years instead of seeking an account of the work done by former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Priyanka, who was speaking after holding a road show in support of party candidate Dolly Sharma, alleged that the Prime Minister was serving lies to the masses and is unable to list a single achievement of his five-year tenure.
US Treasury official David Malpass named World Bank President
David Malpass, a top US Treasury official in Trump administration, was on April 5 unanimously selected as the new president of the World Bank. Malpass, 63, a loyalist of President Donald Trump, succeeds Jim Yong Kim, who stepped down on February 1 to join an investment firm. Kristalina Georgieva, chief executive officer of the bank, has been acting as the interim president.
