Indefinite nationwide truck strike begins
Kolkata, June 18 : Truck owners and operators launched an indefinite nationwide strike on Monday against increasing diesel prices and a sharp hike of third party insurance premium.
"The indefinite strike against the soaring diesel prices and steep rise in the third party insurance premium begun this morning. About 90 lakh trucks are expected to be off the road and as of now, over 60 per cent trucks were not plying on the roads across India," the All India Confederation of Goods Vehicle Owners' Associations President Channa Reddy told IANS.
"The government's argument is that the fuel price increase was due to international prices. However, we think the reason for price increase is not due to international prices but high taxes levied by the governments, Centre and the states," Reddy said.
Demanding the inclusion of diesel prices or petroleum products in the ambit Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Federation of West Bengal Truck Operators' Association Joint Secretary Sajal Ghosh said there has been a good response in the state where about 3.5 lakh trucks would not ply on the roads.
He said the Federation is also protesting police and Motor Vehicle Department officials' alleged excesses in the state.
Moreover, truck owners requested the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India to detariff the third party insurance premium as it has done in the case of comprehensive insurance policy, Reddy said.
"Since the trend of annual increase of third party insurance premium has been continuing for last 15 years even after opening of the insurance sector. To stop the increase per year, we have requested the IRDAI to detariff this. But, the authority has not responded to our demand," Reddy added.
The strike is likely to cause a hike in prices of perishable goods items due to supply constraint.
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Rahul targets Jaishankar, says his silence is 'damning'
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday launched a fresh attack on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, saying his silence on the number of aircraft India "lost" after Pakistan was "informed" about the military action under Operation Sindoor is "damning".
The Congress leader had earlier also targeted the government on the issue, suggesting that the Indian side informed Pakistan ahead of the military strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
"EAM Jaishankar's silence isn't just telling, it's damning. So I'll ask again: How many Indian aircraft did we lose because Pakistan knew?" he asked in a post on X.
"This wasn't a lapse. It was a crime. And the nation deserves the truth," Gandhi also said.
Gandhi had earlier shared an undated video clip of Jaishankar and wrote, "Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI (government of India) did it."
"Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result," the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha had asked.
The Ministry of External Affairs had described as "utter misrepresentation" claims that Jaishankar acknowledged that India alerted Pakistan before the launch of Operation Sindoor on May 7.
"The external affairs minister had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Operation Sindoor's commencement," the external publicity (XP) division of the ministry said.
"This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out," it said in a brief statement.
Under Operation Sindoor, India, on early May 7, destroyed nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK) in retaliation against the Pahalgam terror attack.
All subsequent retaliations by Pakistan were carried out under the operation.
The two sides reached an understanding on cessation of hostilities on May 10 after four days of confrontations.
