QBullet: BJP, TMC Clash in Kolkata; Jet Airways’ CEO Resigns
From clashes between the BJP and TMC to resignation of Jet Airways’ CEO, here are the top stories of the day.
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1. Bengal Simmers After BJP and TMC Clash During Shah’s Kolkata Roadshow
Campaigning for the last phase of Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal took a violent turn Tuesday as bottles, bricks and stones flew freely and a bust of Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was destroyed in pitched battles between the BJP and TMC student wing workers on the streets of Kolkata during BJP president Amit Shah’s roadshow in the city.
The clashes outside University of Calcutta’s College Street campus and Vidyasagar College on Bidhan Sarani left several injured and police told Shah to wrap up the roadshow. Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajesh Kumar said: “Over 100 people have been detained by police. We will take strong action against those who are responsible for the incidents.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Decision on Oil Purchase After Lok Sabha Polls, India Tells Iran
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj informed her Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif on Tuesday that a decision on purchasing Iranian oil in the face of US sanctions will be made after the conclusion of India’s general election, people familiar with developments said.
Iranian oil exports and Tehran’s approach to recent developments in the region, including tensions between Iran and the US over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iranian nuclear deal, figured in the discussions between Zarif and Swaraj.
Zarif arrived in New Delhi late on Monday for a previously unscheduled visit to lobby for India’s support against the backdrop of the Iran-US tensions. He last visited India in January, and the current trip was organised at short notice at Zarif’s request, the people cited above said.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. After CFO’s Resignation, Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube Puts in His Papers
Hours after embattled carrier Jet Airways’ deputy chief executive and chief financial officer (CFO) resigned, the airline’s Chief Executive Officer Vinay Dube resigned with immediate effect on Tuesday, citing ‘personal reasons’.
Dube’s exit follows the resignation of the chief financial officer of the grounded carrier, Amit Agarwal, on Monday. Agarwal’s resignation is effective from 13 May.
This is the second high profile exit in as many days at the grounded Jet Airways.
An Indian-American, Dube had joined Jet Airways in August 2017 after serving various roles at Delta Airlines, Sabre Inc and American Airlines in the US, Europe and Asia.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. ‘Can’t Win Polls, so Competing to Abuse Me,’ Says PM Modi After Aiyar Jibe
Opposition leaders are competing with each other to abuse Narendra Modi because they have figured that they will lose the national elections, Prime Minister Modi said at an election rally hours after a fresh controversy erupted over Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s opinion piece.
PM Modi said the writing on the wall, after six rounds of voting, was clear and this is why, opposition leaders are angry.
“This is why the competition to abuse Modi has picked up pace. They can’t win so they are venting their frustration by abusing (me),” the prime minister said at an election rally in Bihar’s Buxar before moving on to attack the alliance of opposition parties.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Says DMK in Talks With Party, Stalin Says Prove It
DMK chief M K Stalin on Tuesday hit back at Tamil Nadu BJP president Tamilisai Soundararajan for her remarks that the DMK is holding talks with the saffron party, and dared her or Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prove this allegation of back-channel talks.
Calling it a lie, Stalin said he will quit politics if either Soundararajan or Modi is able to prove this allegation. In a strongly worded statement, he asked whether either of them will quit politics if they fail to prove it.
Interacting with the media earlier in the day, Soundararajan had claimed that the ruling AIADMK, which is contesting in alliance with BJP in Tamil Nadu, will have a big victory in both the Lok Sabha polls and by-elections to the 22 Assembly seats. She claimed that Stalin is nervous, which made him meet Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on Monday evening.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. “Junior Captain” Amarinder Singh Behind Ticket Snub: Navjot Sidhu's Wife
Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife, has said that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh blocked her attempt to secure a Lok Sabha election nomination from Amritsar, her husband's former parliamentary constituency. Indicating that she might not campaign for the party in the state, she taunted Mr Singh, saying the "junior captain" was capable of winning all 13 seats alone.
"Captain Sahib (Amarinder Singh) and Asha Kumari think Madam Sidhu does not deserve an MP ticket. I was denied the ticket from Amritsar on the ground that I could not win in the aftermath of the Dussehra train tragedy in Amritsar last year," she was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
(Source: NDTV)
7. Mamata Meme Controversy: BJP Youth Wing Leader’s Mother Celebrates ‘Victory’ With Plans for Biryani – ‘Priyanka’s Favourite’
Calling the Supreme Court’s order to immediately release West Bengal BJYM activist Priyanka Sharma a “victory” for the family, her mother Raj Kumari Sharma on Tuesday said that Priyanka has for some time now actively taken part in BJP programmes in the area, and had officially joined the BJYM, the saffron party’s youth wing, two years ago.
“From the beginning, Priyanka did not like the TMC,” Raj Kumari said at the family home – a two-storey house in Dasnagar area of Howrah district, about 10 km from Kolkata, across the Howrah Bridge.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Church Member in Admissions Panel: Stephen’s Warns 3 Teachers
St Stephen’s College principal Tuesday issued “warning letters” to three teacher representatives in the college’s Governing Body (GB), for their “false and irresponsible comments on the Church’s intervention in admissions”.
On Monday, teachers Nandita Narain, N P Ashley and Abhishek Singh condemned the decision by Principal John Varghese in a Staff Council meeting to include one member of the Supreme Council (consisting of six members from the Church of North India) in the admission interview panel.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Sri Lanka Blasts Accused Was on Radar of Indian Agencies
A key accused in the recent serial blasts in Sri Lanka, Aadhil AX, was reportedly under surveillance by Indian agencies including Gujarat’s Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS), following the arrest of two Islamic State (IS) suspects Ubed Mirza and Kasim Stimberwala. The arrested persons were allegedly in touch with Aadhil via WhatsApp.
Both Mirza and Stimberwala were arrested by the Gujarat ATS and are in judicial custody in Surat. They have been charge-sheeted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which accused them of plotting a lone wolf attack in Ahmedabad. Mirza is a lawyer while Stimberwala is a medical technician.
(Source: The Hindu)
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