Rahul Gandhi to hold key Cong meet during K'taka visit to attend Siddarmaiah's 75th birthday bash
Chitradurga, July 31: Karnataka Congress President D K Shivakumar on Sunday said party's national leader Rahul Gandhi will attend its political affairs committee meeting on August 2, amid rumblings within ahead of 2023 assembly polls, as he will be in the state to take part in senior leader Siddaramaiah's 75th birthday bash.
He will also be visiting the Murugarajendra Mutt, a prominent Lingayat seminary in the region, during the visit.
"On August 3, Rahul Gandhi has desired to meet Chitradurga's Muruga mutt seer (Sri Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru) and other seers. Before that he will be attending the party's state political affairs committee meeting of about 35 state leaders on August 2 evening in Hubballi," Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters here after meeting the seer at mutt, he said, on August 3, Rahul Gandhi will be attending the 75th birthday celebrations of Siddaramaiah at Davangere, following which he will be leaving to New Delhi via Hubballi.
Gandhi's visit to other prominent mutts in Davangere and surrounding areas is still being worked out, as he will be once again travelling in the region during Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in September and thinking on whether visits to other mutts can be planned then, he added.
The visit comes even as the Congress in Karnataka seems to be in a conundrum, as many within the party fear about it imploding ahead of assembly polls, amid a game of one-upmanship between its two top leaders-Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar- as to who will be the Chief Minister in the event of the party coming to power.
There is also palpable worry within the party about a virtual division getting created between the camps of both leaders, and it diminishing its prospects in the polls.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
