Navy Chief visiting Bangladesh
New Delhi, June 24: Navy chief, Admiral Sunil Lanba is on a "goodwill visit" to Bangladesh from June 24 to 29 to consolidate bilateral defence relations and to explore new avenues for naval cooperation, an official statement said on Sunday.
During the visit, Lanba will hold discussions with the chiefs of the three armed forces of Bangladesh besides government and military officials, as per the Defence ministry statement.
He is also scheduled to call on President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
"In addition to Dhaka, the Admiral is also scheduled to proceed to Chittagong and Khulna where he will be visiting various Bangladesh Naval establishments," the statement said.
Lanba is also scheduled to inaugurate the first edition of Indian Navy - Bangladesh Navy Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) which is being instituted as an annual feature between the navies of both countries.
"The commencement of CORPAT is major step towards enhanced operational interaction between both navies.
"Naval cooperation between India and Bangladesh has been traditionally strong, encompassing a wide span which includes operational interactions through port calls, passage exercises along with capacity building, capability enhancement and training initiatives," it said.
Bangladesh Navy was also the Chair of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), launched by the Indian Navy in 2008, from 2016 to 2018.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Rahul Gandhi pledges to remove 50% reservation cap, calls for nationwide caste census
_vb_11.jpeg)
Ahmedabad: Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday said that the Congress party is committed to removing the 50% ceiling on reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) in education and government jobs.
Speaking at a Congress session in Ahmedabad, Gandhi said the party would implement across India what the Telangana government has recently done. Telangana had recently passed a bill raising the reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) to 42%, taking the overall reservation above the 50% limit set by the Supreme Court in a landmark 1992 judgment.
“Telangana has taken a revolutionary step and shown the way to the country. I want to assure you that this 50 per cent wall will be broken. What happened in Telangana, we will do in Delhi and for the entire country,” Gandhi said.
He argued that the population composition in Telangana—where around 90% of residents belong to OBCs, extremely backward classes, Dalits, minorities, and Adivasis—is similar to the rest of the country. Given this, he said, the existing limit on reservations does not reflect social realities and should be dismantled.
Gandhi reiterated the Congress party’s demand for a nationwide caste census, stating that without accurate data on caste composition, it is not possible to ensure fair distribution of government benefits, educational opportunities, and jobs.
He also referred to the Supreme Court’s 1992 ruling in the Indra Sawhney (Mandal Commission) case, which capped reservations at 50%. The Congress has consistently argued that the cap restricts justice for marginalised groups and needs to be re-evaluated.
Earlier this week, during a 'Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan' in Patna, Gandhi had said, “I told Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha, right in front of him: if you don't dismantle this artificial 50 per cent barrier on reservations, we will break it, destroy it, and throw it away.”
In Ahmedabad, Gandhi also accused the BJP of having an “anti-Dalit mindset,” referring to a recent incident in Rajasthan, where a former BJP MLA reportedly used Ganga water to "purify" a temple after a Congress leader from a Dalit background took part in a consecration ceremony.
