5 things to know about former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy who remained undefeated for over 5 decades

News Network
July 18, 2023

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Two-time Kerala Chief Minister and and veteran Congress leader Oommen Chandy, 79, passed away early morning on Tuesday, July 18 at a hospital in Bengaluru. The news was shared by his son Chandy Oommen on Facebook. "Appa has passed away," he wrote at 4.30 AM.

The former CM had been ailing for over three years. He was under treatment in Berlin’s Charite Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram’s NIMS Medicity and Bengaluru’s Health Care Global Enterprises.

Oommen Chandy was a towering figure in Kerala politics with a career spanning over five decades. His death has triggered a wave of mourning in the Congress, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge hailing the 79-year-old as a visionary leader. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condoled Chandy's passing away through a tweet.

Here are the five major points you should know about Oommen Chandy:

1) Oommen Chandy was a two-time Kerala Chief Minister. His first tenure began in 2004 and lasted till the 2006 Kerala assembly elections which the Congress lost. He then was appointed the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly till the 2011 elections which the Congress-led coalition won. Chandy then governed as the Chief Minister for the full term of five years till 2016.

2) Chandy has the record of being the longest-serving MLA in the Kerala assembly. Since he first won the Puthuppally assembly constituency in 1970, no one had been able to win it from him in these 53 years. He won 12 consecutive elections from the seat and in August last year achieved the record for being the longest serving legislator in the assembly of the coastal state.

3) He also held important portfolios as a minister in the state assembly four times. He was the Minister of Labour (April 11, 1977-April 25, 1977 and April 27, 1977 – October 27 (1978), Home (December 28, 1981-March 17, 1982), and Finance (July 2, 1991 – June 22, 1994) in governments headed by K Karunakaran and A K Antony.

4) In 2013, Chandy received the prestigious United Nations Award for Public Service. He received the award for his mass contact programme in the state as CM.

5) Born in 1943, Chandy ventured into politics in his student days. He joined the Kerala Students Union, the student wing of Congress in Kerala, and in 1967 rose up to the post of president in the organisation. In 1970, he became the president of the state Youth Congress. In the same year, he was elected in the Kerala Assembly from the Puthuppally seat, which was considered a bastion of the Left at that point.

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News Network
September 17,2024

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New Delhi, Sept 17: Atishi will be the new Chief Minister of Delhi. The decision came after a legislative party meeting was chaired by Arvind Kejriwal at his Delhi residence earlier today.

Kejriwal is expected to tender his resignation later today, and will also meet Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at 4.30 pm.

On September 13, Arvind Kejriwal was released from Tihar Jail, where he had been lodged for his alleged involvement in the Delhi liquor policy case. Nearly two days after his release, on Sunday, Kejriwal said he would resign as the Chief Minister within 48 hours.

He also sought early polls in Delhi, and vowed not to sit in the chief minister’s chair until people gave him a “certificate of honesty”.

On Monday, the AAP held a series of meetings as Kejriwal sought feedback from members of the political affairs committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, on his successor in one-on-one meetings at his official residence.

Names of Delhi ministers Atishi, Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot and Saurabh Bharadwaj were making the rounds as contenders, news agency PTI had quoted party insiders as saying and added that Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal and Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel were also the probables.

Mangolpuri MLA Rakhi Birla, who is also the deputy speaker in the assembly, and Kondli legislator Kuldeep Kumar were also potential candidates, they added.

Earlier, sources with the AAP had told PTI that the surprise candidate could also be a member of the minority community as the party has witnessed its support among the community wavering since the 2020 Delhi riots.

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News Network
September 17,2024

Kalaburagi: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Tuesday said that alleged role of "outsiders" belonging to the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) in the violence at Nagamangala will be examined and action taken based on the probe report.

Clashes broke out between two groups during a Ganesh idol procession in the town in Mandya district following which mobs went on a rampage targeting several shops and vehicles leading to tension on September 11 night.

"Everything will be examined, investigation will be done, on getting the report we will decide. We will not protect anyone, and unnecessarily no one will be punished. We will look into the facts based on the inquiry report and take action accordingly," Parameshwara told reporters here.

He noted that two officials -- Deputy Superintendent of Police and Inspector -- have already been suspended, and added that further action will be taken based on the report.

The Minister said the government has taken the Nagamangala violence seriously and there is no question of taking such incidents lightly. "BJP makes such allegations, but we too have responsibility, we don't take anything lightly."

On allegations that "outsiders" were involved in the violence, Parameshwara said if inquiry reveals complicity of such elements, it would be examined and action taken accordingly.

Regarding claims that those belonging to the banned PFI were involved, he said: "It will be known from the probe."

On demand for a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into Nagamangala violence by BJP which alleged "failure" of state's home department, Parameshwara said: "they keep saying such things, we will not listen to all that."

According to police, an argument had broken out between two groups, when the procession by devotees from Badri Koppalu village reached a place of worship on September 11, and some miscreants hurled stones, which escalated the situation.

Following the clashes between the two groups, a few shops were vandalised and goods torched and vehicles set on fire, they added.

To allegations from some BJP leaders that the party MLA Munirathna was arrested "hurriedly", Parameshwara said, police acted after the complaint was given, "what's wrong in that?"

Munirathna, who represents Rajarajeshwari Nagar Assembly segment here, was picked up from Nangli village in Kolar’s Mulbagal on Saturday evening on charges of harassing a Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) contractor for bribe, casteist slurs on a former corporator, and also cheating, criminal intimidation and insulting a woman’s modesty.

Asked about "illegal items" seized from the prison here recently by officials, he said an investigation has begun on this.

When a photo of actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, who was lodged in Parappana Agrahara Prison here, hanging out with other inmates surfaced recently, action was taken based on the probe report and eleven officials were suspended.

"I will look into recent seizures made too and action will be taken; also probe is on at other prisons in the state and action will follow if anything wrong is found," the Minister added.

Police raided the high-security wing of Parappana Agrahara Central Prison here on Saturday and seized smartphones and other illegal goods.

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News Network
September 19,2024

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Narendra Modi-led government of India has abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution that demanded that Israel bring an end, “without delay”, to its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory within 12 months.

The 193-member General Assembly adopted the resolution, with 124 nations voting in favour, 14 against and 43 abstentions, including that by India.

Those abstaining included Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Nepal, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

Israel and the US were among the nations who voted against the resolution titled ‘Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and from the illegality of Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory’.

The resolution adopted Wednesday demanded that “Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a wrongful act of a continuing character entailing its international responsibility, and do so no later than 12 months from the adoption of the present resolution.” 

The Palestinian-drafted resolution also strongly deplored the continued and total disregard and breaches by the Government of Israel of its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations, international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions, and stressed that such breaches seriously threaten regional and international peace and security.

It recognised that Israel must be held to account for any violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including any violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and that it “must bear the legal consequences of all its internationally wrongful acts, including by making reparation for the injury, including any damage, caused by such acts.”

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