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Sonia slams Congress leaders for speaking to media

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4 years ago

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 Addressing the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, interim President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday slammed party leaders for speaking to the media.

In her opening remarks, she said: “I have always appreciated frankness. There is no need to speak to me through the media. So let us all have a free and honest discussion. But what should get communicated outside the four walls of this room is the collective decision of the CWC.”

Sonia Gandhi’s statement comes after after senior party leader Kapil Sibal had recently said that “there is no president in our party, so we do not know who is taking all the decisions. We know it, yet we don’t know, one of my senior colleagues perhaps has written or is about to write to the interim president to immediately convene a CWC meeting so that a dialogue can be initiated”.

In her remarks on Saturday, she also said the party is ready for the internal elections.

“The entire organisation wants a revival of the Congress. But this requires unity and keeping the party’s interests paramount. Above all, it requires self-control and discipline. I am acutely conscious of the fact that I have been interim Congress President ever since the CWC asked me to return in this capacity in 2019. We had thereafter, you may recall, finalised a roadmap for electing a regular President by June 30, 2021.”

But due to the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic in the country, this deadline was extended indefinitely by the CWC in its meeting held on May 10, she added.

“Today is the occasion for bringing clarity once and for all. A schedule for the full-fledged organisational elections is before you.”

She also praised young leaders for taking over leadership role

“In the last two years, a large number of our colleagues, particularly the younger ones have taken on leadership roles in taking party policies and programmes to the people, whether it be the agitation of farmers, provision of relief during the pandemic, highlighting issues of concern to youth and women, atrocities on Dalits, Adivasis and minorities, price rise, and the destruction of the public sector. Never have we let issues of public importance and concern go unaddressed.”

Regarding the farmers protests, the Congress interim President said: “The shocking incidents at Lakhimpur Kheri betrays the mindset of the BJP, how it perceives the Kisan Andolan, how it has been dealing with this determined struggle by Kisans to protect their lives and livelihoods.

She said that the economy continues to be a cause of great concern in spite of the government propaganda and the only answer the Centre seems to have for the country’s economic recovery is selling off national assets built with great effort over the decades.

“The public sector has had not just strategic and economic objectives, it has had social goals as well, as, for instance, empowerment of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and development of backward areas. But all this is in jeopardy with the Modi government’s single-point agenda of ‘Becho, Becho, Becho’.”

She said that prices of essential commodities, including food and fuel continue to rise unabated.

“Could anyone in the country ever imagine that petrol prices would be over 100 Rs rupees a litre, diesel would be nearing the Rs 100 a litre mark, a gas cylinder would cost Rs 900 and cooking oil would be Rs 200 a litre. This is making life unbearable for people across the country.”

Sonia Gandhi also condemned the killings in Jammu and Kashmir and said minorities clearly have been targeted.

“This must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. We have done so and I do so again this morning. Jammu and Kashmir has been a Union Territory for two years. The entire responsibility for bringing the perpetrators of these barbaric crimes to justice is that of the Union government. Restoring social peace and harmony and confidence amongst the people in Jammu and Kashmir rests with the Modi government too.

“There has always been a broad consensus on foreign and neighbourhood policy in our country. But that consensus has been damaged because of the Prime Minister continued reluctance to take the Opposition into confidence in any meaningful manner. Foreign policy has become a diabolical instrument of electoral mobilisation and polarisation. We face serious challenges on our borders and on other fronts. The Prime Minister telling the opposition leaders last year that there had not been any occupation of our territory by China and his silence ever since is costing our nation dearly,” she added.

The Congress faces many challenges but, “if we are united, if we are disciplined and if we focus on the party’s interests alone, I am confident that we will do well”.

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Crime

Mumbai Airport Customs Seize ₹43 Crore Drugs, ₹1.51 Cr Gold & ₹87 Lakh Diamonds In 15 Smuggling Cases Over Past 8 Days

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15 hours ago

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December 10, 2025

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Mumbai, Dec 10: The Mumbai Airport Customs in 15 cases over the past eight days have seized smuggled drugs worth ₹43 crore, gold worth ₹1.51 crore and diamonds valued at ₹87 lakh.

According to the Customs, during December 03 till December 10 they detected ten cases of smuggling of hydroponic weed.

“Based on spot profiling, a total of 37.26 kg of suspected hydroponic weed valued at approximately ₹37.26 crore in the illicit market were recovered under seven cases from nine passengers who had arrived from Bangkok via various flights and were arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act,” said a Customs officer.

“The modus operandi used by the accused in these cases were that the passengers attempted to smuggle hydroponic weed by concealing the contraband inside the trolley bags and using the baggage tags of another flight to avoid detection by Customs Officers. In some cases, the passengers attempted to smuggle hydroponic weed by concealing the contraband inside the lumps of tamarind to avoid detection,” the officer said.

In three other cases, based on specific intelligence, a total of 6 kg of suspected hydroponic weed, valued at approximately ₹6 crore in the illicit market were recovered from three passengers who had arrived from Bangkok via various flights and were arrested under the provisions of the NDPS Act.

“Other than the NDPS cases, four gold smuggling cases were booked in which a total of 1,256 grams of gold valued at ₹1.51 crore were recovered and seized from four passengers. In one case, diamonds valued at ₹87.75 lakh were recovered and seized from one passenger,” the officer said.

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National News

Major Blow To Naxal Network In Maharashtra: 11 Top CPI (Maoist) Leaders With A Cumulative Bounty Of ₹82 Lakh Surrender

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18 hours ago

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December 10, 2025

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Nagpur: In yet another success to the Maharashtra government’s campaign to end left-wing extremism, 11 CPI (Maoist) commanders and cadres carrying a cumulative bounty of ₹82 lakh surrendered before the Gadchiroli police on Wednesday morning in the presence of Director General of Police Rashmi Shukla.

The surrendered group includes several high-ranking leaders — Divisional Committee Members, Platoon Committee Members and Area Committee Members — marking one of the most significant mass surrenders in recent years. Security was tightened at the venue as four of the Maoists arrived armed and in full uniform.

Among those who surrendered were Ramesh alias Baju Lekami and Bhima alias Kiran Hidma Kowasi, both Divisional Committee Members of the banned outfit. Senior Platoon Committee members Poriya alias Lucky Adama Gota, Ratan alias Sanna Masu Oyam, and Kamala alias Rago Iriya Veladi also laid down arms. Others include Poriya alias Kumari Bhima Veladi, Ramji alias Mura Lachhu Pungati, Sonu Podiyam alias Ajay, Prakash alias Pandu Pungati, Sita alias Jaini Tonde Pallo, and Sainath Shankar Made.

Local officials believe the surrender has delivered a major blow to Maoist operations across the Dandakaranya region, spanning Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Telangana. The event was attended by Additional Director General (Special Actions) Dr Tshering Dorje, DIG Ankit Goyal, DIG (CRPF) Ajay Kumar Sharma and Superintendent of Police Neelotpal.

Wednesday’s surrender is being hailed as one of the biggest successes for Gadchiroli police since Bhupathi alias Mallojula Venugopal Rao, a Politburo member of the CPI (Maoist), surrendered before Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on October 15 along with 60 others.

“This is the beginning of the end of Naxalism in Gadchiroli. We are committed to the Union government’s deadline of March 31, 2026, to eliminate leftwing extremism from India,” DGP Rashmi Shukla said, adding that over 100 Maoists have surrendered in Gadchiroli district this year.

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Business

BSE launches 4 new BSE 100 large-cap TMC universe factor indices

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18 hours ago

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December 10, 2025

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New Delhi, Dec 10: The Bombay Stock Exchange’s (BSE) subsidiary BSE Index Service on Wednesday announced the launch of four new factor Indices from the universe of BSE large-cap total market capitalisation (TMC) index with 5 per cent stock level capping.

The newly introduced indices are BSE large-cap 100 momentum 30, BSE large-cap 100 low volatility 30, BSE large-cap 100 enhanced value 30, and BSE large-cap 100 quality 30.

“BSE Index Services Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of BSE, today announced the launch of 4 new BSE factor indices from the BSE 100 large cap TMC index as the universe with 5 per cent stock level capping,” the exchange said in a press release.

These Indices are Reconstituted Quarterly, have a base value of 1000, and the first value date is June 20, 2005, along with the additional screening for the liquidity profile, the release added.

BSE large-cap 100 Momentum 30 will track the performance of the 30 companies in the BSE 100 large-cap TMC that exhibit the most persistence in their relative performance, based on their momentum scores. Constituents are weighted based on their momentum score.

BSE large-cap 100 Low Volatility 30 will measure the performance of the 30 least volatile companies in the BSE 100 large-cap TMC. Constituents are weighted by their inverse volatility.

BSE large-cap 100 Enhanced Value 30 measures the performance of the 30 companies in the BSE 100 large-cap TMC with the most attractive valuations, based on their value scores. Constituents are weighted based on their value score.

BSE large-cap 100 Quality 30 measures the performance of the 30 companies in the BSE 100 large-cap TMC that exhibit the most persistence in their relative performance, based on their momentum scores. Constituents are weighted based on their momentum score.

“Building on the success of factor launches on the BSE 500 universe earlier in the year, we are pleased to expand our factor family with the launch of four new factor indices, this time on the large-cap universe,” BSE Index Services Pvt. Ltd MD & CEO Ashutosh Singh said.

“These indices, in the same vein as our BSE 500 universe factor family, will be reset on a quarterly basis with the introduction of an innovative score-based only weighting method,” he added.

The index said that these new indices can be used for running passive strategies such as ETFs and Index Funds.

It can also be used for benchmarking of PMS strategies, MF schemes and fund portfolios. Additionally, investors can now access a broader spectrum of market opportunities, further enriching their investment strategies with this latest addition to BSE’s suite of indices.

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