1. Rahul Gandhi Unveils Congress’ Manifesto For 2019 Polls
The Congress today unveiled its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections. Party President Rahul Gandhi laid out the five key areas the Congress will be tackling this election – jobs, farmers, education, healthcare and also announced the NYAY or Nyuntam Aay Yojana scheme.
As part of the scheme, India’s poorest will receive money directly in their bank account to ensure they have a minimum monthly income of Rs 12,000.
Charting out a roadmap to boost employment, Rahul Gandhi announced that the Congress will fill 22 lakh job vacancies within the government. He also assured a separate budget for farmers, strengthening public health service and education.
Watch the full story here.
2. Mission Shakti Increased the Risk of Collision With ISS: NASA
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Mission Shakti’ has not been received well by NASA. NASA head Jim Bridenstine called India’s act of shooting down one of its low orbiting satellite, “A terrible, terrible thing”.
He said that the debris created could cause dangers for astronauts aboard the International Space Station, adding that some 400 pieces of debris were scattered in space after India tested its anti-missile weaponry.
He further said the mission had increased the risk of collision with the International Space Station by 44 percent.
Former DRDO scientist Ravi Gupta disagrees. He told the The Quint that the space agency’s statement was not only ‘irresponsible' but also 'discriminatory’. Log on to The Quint to see what he had to say.
Read the full story here.
3. Congress Is Everything I Stand For: Manish Khanduri
As Manish Khanduri, son of former Uttarakhand chief minister BC Khanduri, heads on a campaign trail days after filing nomination, The Quint’s Asmita Nandy caught up with the Congress candidate about his unusual decision to contest from the Pauri-Garhwal seat with a Congress ticket.
Khanduri prepares to battle it out from his father’s constituency, which has been a BJP stronghold.
“The Congress party stands for everything that I stand for. It is basically equity, religious freedom and economic reform with a human face, and it is also about moving the country in a direction in a positive and constructive way.”Manish Khanduri, Congress leader
Watch the full video here.
4. The ‘Silver Touch’ Link Between BJP and a Page Removed By Facebook
A day after Facebook removed over 700 pages that were misleading and were fake accounts, some of these pages were found to have a Congress link. Fifteen pages, groups and accounts out of these were found to have a link with individuals associated with the IT firm Silver Touch. Silver Touch Technologies was associated with pro BJP page, The India Eye, and are also the same IT firm that developed the official Narendra Modi ‘NaMo’ app.
Twitted went into a meltdown soon after as many users with ‘Chowkidar’ affixed to their names slammed the social media site.
5. Don’t Care if Modi Wins or Rahul, We Want Humanity: Dalit Students
“Need more scope for youth in mainstream politics.”
That’s one of the key demands that Dalit youngsters in Nagpur have as they prepare to cast their ballot in the upcoming polls. Reeling under lack of representation, dismay over dynasty politics and forgotten promises by the ruling party, the students made their stand clear.
“When leaders separate Hindus and Muslims for a political agenda, it’s shameful.”Maruti Baghmare, student
Here’s the full story
6. CBFC Should Be Banned: ‘No Fathers In Kashmir’ Director
No Fathers In Kashmir has been in the news for its battle with CBFC over the last couple of months, and The Quint's Nandakumar caught up with the team on their struggle to release the film and why the censor board should be banned.
Catch the video here.
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