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Ramachandra Guha’s ‘dynast’ remark sparks Twitter war with Shashi Tharoor Historian Ramachandra Guha’s recent remarks about Rahul Gandhi being a “fifth-generation dynast” have appeared to cause a furore on Twitter, and triggered a debate with senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. Guha remarks at the Kerala Literature festival have divided Twitter. In the same segment, Guha also called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a self-made man but said Kerala’s election of Rahul Gandhi meant that it was “handing over an advantage to Narendra Modi”, The remarks have drawn criticism from supporters of Congress, forcing Guha to issue a long thread of clarification...

RSS believes in Constitution, not any other ‘power center’, says Mohan Bhagwat Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday reiterated that the Sangh considered 130 crore people of the country as “Hindus” while saying that the outfit believed in the Constitution and not any other “power center”. “When workers of RSS say that this country belongs to Hindus and 130 crore people are Hindu, it doesn’t mean that we want to change anyone’s religion, language or caste… We don’t want any power center other than the Constitution because we believe in it,” ANI quoted Bhagwat as saying. His remarks...

Russian president Vladimir Putin names head of tax service Mishustin as new prime minister President Vladimir Putin has named Tax Service chief Mikhail Mishustin as Russia’s new prime minister, the Kremlin said Wednesday. The 53-year-old Mishustin has worked in the government since 1998 and kept a low profile while serving as the head of the Federal Tax Service since 2010. The Russian leader made the appointment after he engineered a surprise shakeup of Russia’s leadership and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev submitted his resignation earlier in the day. Putin proposed changes to the constitution that could keep him in power well...

Sania Mirza completes dream comeback with Hobart International doubles title In a dream start to her second innings after a two-year break, Sania Mirza lifted the WTA Hobart International trophy with partner Nadiia Kichenok after edging out Shaui Peng and Shuai Zhang in the final, here on Saturday. The unseeded Indo-Ukrainian pair pipped the second seed Chinese team 6-4 6-4 in one hour 21 minutes. Playing her first tournament after giving birth to son Izhaan, the 33-year-old Sania has begun well in the Olympic year as she warmed up for the Australian Open in style. It is Sania’s 42nd WTA...

No State can deny implementation of CAA, says Kapil Sibal There is no way a State can deny the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) when it is already passed by the Parliament, said Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Saturday. He also said that doing so would be “unconstitutional“. “If the CAA is passed no State can say ‘I will not implement it’. It is not possible and is unconstitutional. You can oppose it, you can pass a resolution in the Assembly and ask the central government to withdraw it. But constitutionally saying that I won’t implement it is...

Morgan Stanley starts cost-cutting plan with CEO, slashes Gorman’s salary by 7% Morgan Stanley just had its most profitable year on record. It wasn’t enough for its chief to land a raise. James Gorman’s compensation fell as the firm announced he will receive $27 million for 2019, according to a regulatory filing Friday. That’s a 6.9% decline from the prior year and on par with the package the chief executive officer received in 2017. The move is another signal that the New York-based bank is focused on keeping costs down. It recently embarked on a plan to cut 2% of its global...

Successful disinvestment of BPCL, CONCOR to lay path for ambitious stake sales in future: Garg New Delhi: Successful disinvestment of Bharat Petroleum, Container Corporation of India and Shipping Corporation will lay the foundation of a much ambitious programme for stake sale in the central public sector undertakings, Former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said on Friday. From the perspective of non-tax income and receipts, 2019-20 will be an eventful year witnessing some extra-ordinarily positive events and a few misses, Garg said in a blog. “Initiation of strategic stake sale in BPCL, CONCOR and SCI was a path-breaking measure and if carried to...

CAA should make an exception for free-thinker Muslims, says Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen While terming the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) “very good” and “generous”, Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Friday said that the law should make an exception for Muslim “free-thinkers, feminists, and secularists” from the neighbouring countries. “It is nice to hear the religious persecuted minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan will get citizenship (of India). It is a very good idea and very generous one. But I think that there are people like me from the Muslim community, free thinkers and atheists, who too are persecuted in Pakistan, Bangladesh...

A man challenged Tulsi Gabbard to a push-up contest, and he lost Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard got into an impromptu push-up challenge during a Town Hall meeting recently and emerged victorious. The representative from Hawaii was taking questions from attendees in New Hampshire, when a man asked her if she could take on Joe Biden in push-ups. “Former Vice President Biden has randomly challenged people in the audience to a push-up contest even if they’re in walkers. Do you think you could take him?” the man asked referencing when former US vice-president challenged an 83-year-old retired farmer to do...

Former principle secretary to PM, Nripendra Mishra made chairman of NMML executive council Former principal secretary to the Prime Minister, Nripendra Misra, has been appointed chairperson of the executive council of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), the latest in a string of appointments in the last six months. In November last year, the government reconstituted the NMML society removing Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh and Karan Singh as its members and inducting television journalist Rajat Sharma and adman Prasoon Joshi among others. Source: MoneyControl