NEW DELHI: India’s main opposition Congress party president Rahul Gandhi is contesting the general election from two seats.
The party announced Gandhi will contest the general election from two seats, from Wayanad in the southern state of Kerala, apart from his traditional constituency of Amethi in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, Indian media said.
The decision has been made to convey the message to the southern states that they are deeply valued and respected, the party said. (Agencies)
NEW DELHI: Chief Minister of New Delhi Arvind Kejriwal said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi refused to forge an alliance with the AAP for the Lok Sabha polls in New Delhi.
Kejriwal told reporters that he had met Rahul Gandhi recently. “The Congress leader refused to forge an alliance with the AAP,” he said.
He, however, said he did not approach Sheila Dikshit, Congress unit president of New Delhi, for an alliance, local media said.
Reports have said that Kejriwal has been urging the Congress to forge an alliance in Delhi for the Lok Sabha elections. (Agencies)
TAIPEI: Taiwan has condemned what it said a “provocative” move by China after two Chinese fighter jets crossed a maritime border separating the two sides amid growing friction between Taipei and Beijing.
Taiwan scrambled aircraft to drive away the two Chinese planes early on Sunday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said, according to media reports.
Issuing a statement, it said that China’s move had “seriously impacted regional safety and stability”.
Beijing, however, has not responded to the statement.
A spokesman for Taiwan’s Presidential Office, Huang Chung-yen, said Beijing “should stop behavior of this sort, which endangers regional peace, and not be an international troublemaker”. (Agencies)
NEW DELHI: Indian actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha said he decided to go with the Congress labeling it as a national party in the true sense.
Sinha, who has announced that he is quitting the BJP, said he has also “advised” Lalu Prasad to do so, Indian media said.
According to Sinha, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, among others, had asked him to join their respective parties.
He, however, said whatever be the situation, the constituency Sinha would be contesting in the Lok Sabha polls would be Patna Sahib.
Sinha, who has been criticizing the Modi government, said it was “painful” for him to leave the BJP. (Agencies)
BEIJING: A plant explosion in China’s Jiangsu province killed seven people, state media reported. Five other have been injured.
Today’s incident took place 10 days after a blast at a pesticide plant killed 78 people in the province.
The blast involved a container of scrap metal that caught fire in a metal-molding plant in Kunshan city, news agencies said.
The cause of the blast was under investigation. (Agencies)
JODHPUR: An Indian Air Force MiG-27 fighter jet crashed in southern Rajasthan’s Sirohi on Sunday, Indian media said.
The pilot, however, ejected safely.
The MiG 27 UPG aircraft, which took off from Uttarlai Air Force base in Barmer, crashed at Sheoganj, around 120 km south of Jodhpur.
The pilot reported an engine problem. No loss of property or life on ground have been reported. It should be noted that this is the 9th Indian Air Force crash in this quarter. (Agencies)
GANDHINAGAR : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Saturday filed his nomination from Gandhinagar constituency for the upcoming elections, Indian media reported.
Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Shah is contesting the Lok Sabha elections for the first time. He has been fielded from Gandhinagar constituency, which is currently held by BJP veteran LK Advani.
KABUL: About 24 people, including 14 police officers, were killed after Taliban militants attacked police checkpoints in Afghanistan, media reports said.
In one incident, nine police officers, including a district police chief, were killed and six police wounded at Ghazni city, capital of eastern Ghazni province.
In northern Badakhshan province, five security forces, two civilians and eight Taliban militants were killed.
NEW DELHI: India has topped the list of the most polluted cities in the world, according to a study by IQAir AirVisual and Greenpeace. Seven among the most polluted cities are in India.
The most polluted city on earth is Gurugram, a home to 1 million people situated about 30 kilometers southwest of New Delhi, followed by Ghaziabad.
Other Indian cities include Bhiwadi (5), Noida (6), Patna (7), Lucknow (9) while Faisalabad (3) and Lahore (10) are in Pakistan and Chinese city Hotan is placed in the 8th position.
There, average air pollution levels in 2018 were more than 13 times the level permitted under WHO guidelines, although air quality had actually improved slightly since the previous year.
Air pollution is an insidious killer. If you are among the 91% of the world’s population who breathes air the World Health Organization (WHO) deems unsafe, then every time you inhale, microscopic particles are being drawn into your lungs.
They get into your bloodstream, causing cancers, strokes and heart disease, stunting children’s growth and development, and even reducing your intelligence.
The research focused on the levels of fine particulate matter known as PM2.5. These microscopic particles 20 times smaller than the width of a human hair are the most dangerous to human health.
(Agencies)
BEIJING: A significant number of Chines people are studying abroad. According to the Ministry of Education, the number of Chinese people studying overseas reached 662,100 last year, 53,700 more than that of 2017.
Among those, 65,800 were sponsored by public funding while 596,300 were self-funded.
Nearly 5.86 million Chinese studied overseas from 1978 to the end of 2018, it said. Among them, over 1.53 million are still in the process of studying and conducting research overseas, over 4.32 million have already completed their studies, and more than 3.65 million chose to pursue a job in China after completing their studies overseas.
(Agencies)