VK News Today https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html ‘Should end war now’: Iran prez claims world ‘acknowledges’ Tehran’s victory over US Mark Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla Chan’s parents fled Vietnam by boat; their daughter became the first in her family to attend college and later pledged millions to scientific research | World News Rahul Gandhi staged dharna outside the police station. NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Friday registered an FIR over an alleged pellet-gun injury suffered by student protester Sahil Lochab during the July 20 Jantar Mantar demonstration, news agency ANI reported quoting sources.The FIR came after Rahul accompanied Lochab to the DCP office and demanded action on his complaint alleging excessive use of force during the students’ “Sansad Chalo” march.Rahul later staged a sit-in outside the police station, alleging that police had refused to register the complaint. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also joined him in the dharna.According to Congress sources, Lochab and his lawyers had submitted a written complaint to Delhi Police on August 14 but were allegedly not given an I/O number or acknowledgement. The complaint was followed up on August 17 through email and phone, the sources said.The complaint relates to alleged police action and pellet-gun firing during the July 20 student protest over the NEET paper-leak controversy.Rahul demands justice for studentAfter meeting senior police officials, Rahul had alleged that Lochab was not being allowed to file an FIR.”Sahil wants to file FIR for justice, but that is not being allowed,” Rahul said.He then sat on a dharna outside the police station with Lochab. Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed at the spot as the confrontation continued.Rahul accused the authorities of undermining constitutional principles, saying that refusing to register an FIR amounted to the “Constitution being trampled”.In a post on X, Rahul said Lochab was “severely injured” during the alleged police crackdown and claimed that his vision in one eye was at risk.’Over 200 pellets in his body’Speaking to reporters, Rahul displayed pellets and claimed that more than 200 pellets were lodged in Lochab’s body.”Look at this pellet carefully. This is a pellet. Where did these pellets come from? They came from his body,” Rahul said.He claimed that three pellets were lodged in Lochab’s eye and that he had lost vision in that eye. Rahul also said some pellets were lodged close to his heart and could not be removed.Rahul questioned the Delhi Police’s alleged claim that its personnel had not fired pellets.”Delhi Police has said that they did not fire the pellets. So, there is only one question: If you did not fire them, then someone must have fired these pellets,” he said.Rahul also targeted Union home minister Amit Shah, whose ministry oversees the Delhi Police.”Such brutality against a peaceful protest is not just illegal — it’s a serious crime,” Rahul said, accusing Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of failing to respond to the students’ concerns.”Amit Shah ji, why are you so scared of justice? This fear shows that you are admitting to your crime,” he said.Rahul demanded a judicial inquiry and said those responsible for the alleged violence should face action.”The FIR will be filed. A judicial inquiry will take place. And action will be taken against everyone, from top to bottom, who is guilty of this brutality,” he said.Student says vision remains unclearLochab said he was injured during the July 20 protest and was first admitted to Lady Hardinge Hospital before being referred to AIIMS, where he underwent surgery.”On 20th July, pellet guns were fired at me. I was admitted to Lady Hardinge, from there, I was referred to AIIMS. I underwent surgery at AIIMS. But the vision in my eye is still not clear,” he said.He said he had submitted a seven-page complaint through his lawyer on August 14.The July 20 “Sansad Chalo” march was part of student protests over alleged irregularities in examinations and the NEET paper-leak controversy. The police action during the protest had triggered a political confrontation, with opposition parties accusing the government of using excessive force against students.Join conversationView All Comments →Share your thoughts in the commentsInsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig DevelopmentPost CommentBe respectful · TOI community guidelinesThis protest was Rahul’s second major intervention over the issue. Earlier, he and other opposition leaders had marched towards Prime Minister Modi’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg over the alleged crackdown and were briefly detained by police.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.About the AuthorPallaviNews desk journalist, digital, at The Times of India, with a focus on Indian politics. Over a decade of chasing stories, taming headlines and arguing with commas like they’re part of the opposition. Tracks elections, policy pivots, party drama and the fine print of power, where every word can tilt the narrative. Believes good journalism is clarity under pressure, ideally filed before the next breaking alert crashes in. Powered by deadlines, context, sharp edits and a steady supply of strong tea.Read MoreEnd of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideosRevanth Reddy’s US Trip Cancelled After MEA Denies Clearance, Telangana Delegation Goes AheadPellet-gun Row: Rahul Gandhi At Parliament Street Police Station To Lodge Complaint With DCP‘Don’t Politicise Our School’: Villagers Block CJP Visit As Party Alleges BJP Attack In RajasthanModi Pushes AI, Youth And Data Agenda, Tells Secretaries To Break Government Silos And InnovatePirates Hijack Two Ships Carrying 22 Indians Off Yemen And Somalia, Crew Safety Raises Concern‘NEET, Delimitation, Cauvery, Drugs’: Vijay’s Key Requests Before Amit Shah At Tamil Nadu MeetingPolicy Shift Or Just Words? 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NEW DELHI: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said political clearance was denied for Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy’s proposed visit to the United States, saying the programme submitted for the trip was not considered appropriate to the office he holds and the purpose of the visit.MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in his briefing said visits by chief ministers and other dignitaries are assessed by the ministry before political clearance is granted.”Let me say that the visit of chief ministers, as indeed of other dignitaries, are assessed by the Ministry of External Affairs in order to accord political clearance,” Jaiswal said.”The programme proposed, in such cases, should be appropriate to the office held and the purpose of the visit. In this particular case, that was not so in respect of the United States, and therefore the clearance was denied,” he said.Jaiswal, however, clarified that the Centre had granted political clearance for Reddy’s visit to the United Kingdom.Join conversationView All Comments →Share your thoughts in the commentsInsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig DevelopmentPost CommentBe respectful · TOI community guidelines”Incidentally, let me also tell you that clearance was given for his visit to the United Kingdom,” he said.The MEA’s clarification came hours after the Telangana CM office said Reddy’s proposed US visit had been cancelled after the Centre denied permission on “political grounds”.Reddy is currently in London as part of an official TelanganaRising delegation. He was scheduled to travel to the US after his UK engagements and return to Hyderabad on August 30.According to the Telangana CMO, Reddy will now return to Hyderabad on August 23 instead of travelling to Boston.”The official TelanganaRising delegation led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has been forced to cancel their visit to the United States of America (USA) after the Ministry of External Affairs has denied permission, saying … clearance from political angle is denied,” the CMO said in a release.The Telangana government had planned the US leg as part of its TelanganaRising outreach, with the CM scheduled to engage with stakeholders during the proposed visit.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.About the AuthorPallaviNews desk journalist, digital, at The Times of India, with a focus on Indian politics. Over a decade of chasing stories, taming headlines and arguing with commas like they’re part of the opposition. Tracks elections, policy pivots, party drama and the fine print of power, where every word can tilt the narrative. Believes good journalism is clarity under pressure, ideally filed before the next breaking alert crashes in. Powered by deadlines, context, sharp edits and a steady supply of strong tea.Read MoreEnd of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideosRevanth Reddy’s US Trip Cancelled After MEA Denies Clearance, Telangana Delegation Goes AheadPellet-gun Row: Rahul Gandhi At Parliament Street Police Station To Lodge Complaint With DCP‘Don’t Politicise Our School’: Villagers Block CJP Visit As Party Alleges BJP Attack In RajasthanModi Pushes AI, Youth And Data Agenda, Tells Secretaries To Break Government Silos And InnovatePirates Hijack Two Ships Carrying 22 Indians Off Yemen And Somalia, Crew Safety Raises Concern‘NEET, Delimitation, Cauvery, Drugs’: Vijay’s Key Requests Before Amit Shah At Tamil Nadu MeetingPolicy Shift Or Just Words? 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New evidence suggests some Great Lakes fish may reach more than 400 years ‘Proportionate response’: MEA on bulldozer action outside Pakistan high commission Singapore rebuilt a vanished 1920s lake inside a new housing estate; engineers turned it into a flood-control system and wildlife habitat | World News NEW DELHI: The success of the student-powered Jantar Mantar protests seems to have forced political parties, on both sides of the divide, to return to the drawing board and redraw their strategies to woo the youth. The fact that CJP-led protests mobilised youth in large numbers against the government and forced Dharmendra Pradhan to resign left the opposition in a tight spot – as the students achieved what the parties couldn’t in the last 12 years.Little wonder then, the Congress Working Committee – the highest think tank of the grand old party, that met earlier this week devoted a lot of time discussing how to reclaim youth support for the party. The Congress announced a slew of measures to lead the fight for issues that have enraged the youth against the government and perhaps also the political parties.Rahul’s renewed youth outreach A glimpse of the new Congress strategy was visible today when Rahul Gandhi reached a police station in the national capital with a victim of a pellet gun used allegedly during the July 20 Sansad Chalo protest of the Jantar Mantar students, and sat on a dharna demanding that police lodge a complaint.Rahul’s police station protest follows Congress’s renewed pitch on youth outreach, deliberated and decided at the party’s Working Committee meeting held earlier this week. The CWC meeting, attended by the party’s top brass, finalised several steps to win the confidence of the youngsters and reclaim the opposition leadership space vis-a-vis the students.While the working committee launched a broadside against the Modi government for betraying the youth, it also finalised initiatives to win back their confidence.Education-to-employment roadmap’Education-to-Employment Roadmap’ for the youth was one of the key measures announced after the CWC meeting. The Congress has asked its four chief ministers to prepare a report on the reforms needed in the education and examination system in their respective states and submit it to Kharge within a month.Sources said Rahul Gandhi stressed that the chief ministers should prepare this report in consultation with education experts and all stakeholders. The objective of the exercise should be to improve the education and examination system in their respective states and secure the future of students.The Congress also announced plans to expand its ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ programme, which has been used by Rahul Gandhi to interact with students, to nearly 800 cities across the country. This programme has already been held with reasonable success in Kota, Dehradun and Prayagraj and is scheduled in Pune this weekend.‘Modi govt never had time to listen to youth’Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in his opening remarks at the CWC, set the agenda for youth outreach, accusing the Narendra Modi government of “destroying” students’ future.”The anger that has arisen among the youth across the country is not a sudden or one-day phenomenon. This government has never had the time to listen to them; instead, it has consistently sought temporary measures to sidestep the issues. Consequently, they have been forced to take to the streets,” Kharge said in his CWC speech.The CWC passed a resolution expressing its “deep distress” over the plight of the youth and accusing the Modi government of betraying young people.”Over the past decade, paper leaks have assumed epidemic proportions, with at least 152 cases of paper leaks reported since 2014. The recent cancellation and re-conduct of the NEET examination alone resulted in at least 26 student suicides, while more than 90 other students have lost their lives for similar reasons over the past five years,” the CWC resolution said.”Young people are bearing the greatest brunt of unemployment, and with 12 years having passed and opportunities shrinking, their circumstances continue to worsen. Unemployment among educated youth has now become a crisis of systemic government failure,” it said.The CWC also strongly condemned the “arbitrary and brutal repression unleashed by the Modi government against student movements – including attacks on young women and children, the use of electric shock batons, tear gas, pellet guns and AK-47s, and the blatant censorship of voices of dissent”.The CWC resolution also targeted Prime Minister Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah for staying away from Parliament and not answering questions on these alleged “serious failures.”How CJP protest surprised political partiesThe Congress recalibration follows the CJP protest, which started on June 6 and put all political parties in a Catch-22 situation.When the protest started, most of the mainstream parties stayed away. Then activist Sonam Wangchuk joined and amplified the agitation with an indefinite fast starting June 28. The initial days of his fast saw a largely muted response from most of the political parties.But the dynamics changed on July 20 – the opening day of the Monsoon session of Parliament – when the protesters went ahead with their “Sansad Chalo” march. The police crackdown on protesters catapulted the protest into a national concern and gave the opposition parties a weapon to attack the government.Congress forced to actThe Congress, which till then remained largely away from the CJP movement – focusing instead on Rahul Gandhi’s “Chhatron ki goonj” programme- was forced to act proactively to ensure it was not missing in action.So, on July 21, Congress leaders were invited to party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence — 10 Rajaji Marg — to wish him on his birthday. Once they all assembled there, they marched to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg and staged a sit-in protest there against the alleged brutality committed against students during the Cockroach Janata Party’s march to Parliament. The surprise sit-in led by Rahul, Kharge and Priyanka sent the government into a tizzy. It first tried to persuade the leaders to vacate the sensitive site. But when that did not work, police moved in to clear the protesters.This was the Congress’s first direct attempt to take a lead on the students’ protest. However, the effort fizzled out as the Modi government relented on July 25 and accepted CJP’s demand for Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.The Congress then shifted focus to the issue of police brutality against the student protesters on July 20 and trained its guns on Union home minister Amit Shah. It unleashed a relentless campaign inside and outside Parliament seeking Amit Shah’s resignation over the alleged use of pellet guns against protesters.Rahul backs Jharkhand protestersWhen students in Jharkhand followed the Jantar Mantar template and began a hunger strike against alleged irregularities in examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC), Rahul Gandhi went public with his support for the protesting students, despite the Congress being part of the state government.Rahul wrote a letter to Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, a Congress ally, urging him to personally meet representatives of students protesting irregularities in state recruitment examinations and address their remaining concerns.The former Congress chief called the youth “India’s future” and said: “We owe them our solidarity and support at this moment of crisis. Please do your utmost to hear them out and take appropriate action towards the resolution of this issue.”Days later, the Jharkhand government accepted most of the students’ demands, and the protest ended. It’s a different matter that the protesting students may feel high and dry as the Jharkhand high court put a stay on the government’s decision to cancel all previous competitive exams.Congress follows CJP in RajasthanWith the CJP shifting focus on Rajasthan government schools, the state unit of the Congress was quick to react and take to the streets in support of the students. When a team of CJP was attacked outside a school, the state Congress quickly condemned the incident. Leader of opposition in state assembly Tika Ram Jully denounced the use of violence, stating that the public has a right to know the status of local educational facilities.”This is wrong. I condemn this. There should be no violence. The condition of schools should come to light. There is no place for such violence in India. People must present their views in a non-violent manner. Schools are in bad condition; they want to hide it and cover up their sins. They won’t be able to do it,” Tika Ram Jully said.The state Congress leaders also slammed a recent state government order restricting unauthorised entry, media coverage, and filming on public school campuses, perhaps aimed at restricting the entry of CJP teams in state government schools.Join conversationView All Comments →Share your thoughts in the commentsInsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig DevelopmentPost CommentBe respectful · TOI community guidelinesNow this is a clear change in stance, as far as the Congress is concerned. For those who remember, the Congress, for a long time, distanced itself from the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar.Congress’s course correctionClearly, the Congress strategy in Rajasthan is part of the party’s course correction after the Jantar Mantar fiasco. The Congress realises the importance of youth support and is trying to prioritise the issues that catch the imagination of young people. The CWC has laid out a roadmap for expanding the party’s GenZ outreach. The party has a government in four states, and this provides it with a great opportunity to showcase its intent in doing something different for the youth. Will they be able to do it? Well, we will have to wait and see.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.End of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideosRevanth Reddy’s US Trip Cancelled After MEA Denies Clearance, Telangana Delegation Goes AheadPellet-gun Row: Rahul Gandhi At Parliament Street Police Station To Lodge Complaint With DCP‘Don’t Politicise Our School’: Villagers Block CJP Visit As Party Alleges BJP Attack In RajasthanModi Pushes AI, Youth And Data Agenda, Tells Secretaries To Break Government Silos And InnovatePirates Hijack Two Ships Carrying 22 Indians Off Yemen And Somalia, Crew Safety Raises Concern‘NEET, Delimitation, Cauvery, Drugs’: Vijay’s Key Requests Before Amit Shah At Tamil Nadu MeetingPolicy Shift Or Just Words? 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Here’s how to wash them without harsh chemicals | India’s office market set for sustained growth as 77% of firms plan to expand: Report | Nadda said that the Supreme Court has already constituted a 5-member panel to probe the alleged use of excessive force by police on students NEW DELHI: Union minister JP Nadda on Friday slammed leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for staging a sit-in outside Sansad Marg police station, claiming that the protest was a symbol of the Congress leader’s “hunger for media attention.”Nadda said that Rahul’s sit-in protest was an attempt to divert attention from the criticism Congress is facing for disrespecting “Vande Mataram”.”The entire nation is once again witnessing the kind of cheap, attention-seeking politics that Rahul Gandhi displayed today outside the Sansad Marg police station. Rahul Gandhi’s sit-in protest today is neither for the students nor for the sake of justice; it is a symbol of the Congress party’s political desperation and Rahul Gandhi’s hunger for media attention,” Nadda said.”If we consider the timing of this entire drama, we realise that the Congress party is currently facing intense criticism across the nation over the issue of ‘Vande Mataram’. The public is demanding answers from the Congress regarding the disrespect shown to the national song, especially as a senior Congress leader was seen cutting a cake designed to look like the Tricolour. To conceal this anti-national face of his and to divert attention from the massive embarrassment he has faced, Rahul Gandhi has hastily orchestrated this new drama as a distraction,” he added.This comes after Rahul, along with Congress leaders, staged a “dharna” outside the police station after claiming that the cops refused to register a complaint over the “police brutality” on student protesters during July 20 “Sansad Chalo” march.However, Nadda claimed that the Supreme Court has already taken cognisance of the issue and constituted a 5-member high-powered committee headed by a former SC judge.”The whole country knows that the Supreme Court has already taken cognisance of the July 20th incident and has constituted a five-member high-powered committee headed by a former judge,” Nadda said.”When the country’s apex court is investigating the matter, what does Rahul Gandhi hope to prove by sitting in front of cameras outside the police station? Does the Leader of the Opposition lack faith in the country’s judiciary? The truth is that Rahul Gandhi is staging this ‘camera-centric’ drama merely to keep himself in the headlines,” he added.Join conversationView All Comments →Share your thoughts in the commentsInsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig DevelopmentPost CommentBe respectful · TOI community guidelinesEarlier in the day, Rahul accompanied Sahil Lochab, who Congress alleges suffered pellet injuries during a July 20 protest, to the DCP office to seek action on the complaint and press for registration of an FIR.They alleged that the DCP again did not provide details of the case officer or the I/O number.The complaint relates to police action and excessive use of force, including the alleged firing of pellet guns, against student protesters during the July 20 demonstration in Delhi.According to the complainant, the incident amounts to a cognisable offence and warrants registration of an FIR. Rahul has sought action on the complaint and demanded justice for Lochab.After meeting senior police officials, Rahul came out of the police station and said Sahil had not been allowed to file an FIR. “Sahil wants to file FIR for justice, but that is not being allowed,” Rahul said.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.About the AuthorRohitashwa RanjanRohitashwa Ranjan is a digital journalist with The Times of India, where he decodes Indian politics as a carefully staged production with scripts, subtext and everything behind. His stories track elections, party dynamics and the things that often are buried beneath the headlines. When not parsing vote shares or alliances, he is usually reading between the lines, where the real story tends to reside.Read MoreEnd of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideosPellet-gun Row: Rahul Gandhi At Parliament Street Police Station To Lodge Complaint With DCP‘Don’t Politicise Our School’: Villagers Block CJP Visit As Party Alleges BJP Attack In RajasthanModi Pushes AI, Youth And Data Agenda, Tells Secretaries To Break Government Silos And InnovatePirates Hijack Two Ships Carrying 22 Indians Off Yemen And Somalia, Crew Safety Raises Concern‘NEET, Delimitation, Cauvery, Drugs’: Vijay’s Key Requests Before Amit Shah At Tamil Nadu MeetingPolicy Shift Or Just Words? 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BJP’s goons have brutally attacked CJP’s volunteers. They beat them up, tore their clothes and smashed the car windows,” Kejriwal said.”Is all this just so they can’t raise their voices for giving kids a good education? If the kids get educated, what’s BJP’s problem with that? Why do they want to keep our children illiterate?” he added.Earlier in the day, CJP founder Abhijit Dipke claimed that “BJP goons” attacked organisation co-convenor Ashutosh Ranka and other members during their visit to a government school in Rampura-Kanwarpura village.”Ashu has been attacked by BJP goons in Rajasthan. Ashu and other volunteers of CJP were beaten up and have been injured. Rajasthan Police has allowed this to happen,” Dipke said in a social media post on X.Meanwhile, Ranka said the attack on the volunteers started as soon as they entered the village. He alleged that stones were pelted by village residents and that the police “remained mute spectators.””The entire country saw BJP’s hooliganism live today. Stone pelting was already happening there, but the police remained mute spectators. Police said that they won’t do anything. This has been done at the behest of Madan Dilawar. Our volunteers had their hands broken. Our vehicles have been vandalised. There was stone pelting here,” Ashutosh Ranka told news agency PTI.”Elderly people pelted stones at the women in our team and broke their phones. This was pre-planned. All these goons should be arrested within 48 hours and the order should be withdrawn; otherwise, this protest will expand from education to Madan Dilawar now. You should be ashamed of yourself. The school has been running in a buffalo shed for a year now. We want to get it repaired. BJP goons were present there. This is a black day for democracy in Rajasthan,” Ashutosh added.Ranka threatened to launch a statewide agitation if the alleged attackers were not arrested, saying the protest would also seek Dilawar’s resignation.Join conversationView All Comments →Share your thoughts in the commentsInsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig DevelopmentPost CommentBe respectful · TOI community guidelinesMeanwhile, a villager said the community did not want the issue to be politicised and that Rs 12 lakh had already been approved for the school.”We don’t want to politicise the issue. Rs 12 lakh has been approved for our school. Villagers are capable of building the school. We had constructed a temple earlier and we are capable of building a temple of education as well. We don’t want any support from Cockroach Janata Party,” the villager said.”We are opposed to such a party which calls for dividing the country and says bad things about Lord Ram. We oppose such people. We need people who work for the country,” the villager said.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.About the AuthorRohitashwa RanjanRohitashwa Ranjan is a digital journalist with The Times of India, where he decodes Indian politics as a carefully staged production with scripts, subtext and everything behind. His stories track elections, party dynamics and the things that often are buried beneath the headlines. When not parsing vote shares or alliances, he is usually reading between the lines, where the real story tends to reside.Read MoreEnd of ArticleFollow Us On Social MediaVideosPellet-gun Row: Rahul Gandhi At Parliament Street Police Station To Lodge Complaint With DCP‘Don’t Politicise Our School’: Villagers Block CJP Visit As Party Alleges BJP Attack In RajasthanModi Pushes AI, Youth And Data Agenda, Tells Secretaries To Break Government Silos And InnovatePirates Hijack Two Ships Carrying 22 Indians Off Yemen And Somalia, Crew Safety Raises Concern‘NEET, Delimitation, Cauvery, Drugs’: Vijay’s Key Requests Before Amit Shah At Tamil Nadu MeetingPolicy Shift Or Just Words? 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