Ahmed Patel appointed Congress Treasurer
New Delhi, Aug 21 : Ahmed Patel, a long-time political aide of Sonia Gandhi, was on Tuesday appointed as Congress Treasurer and Anand Sharma as Chairperson of its Foreign Affairs Department.
Patel, who was Political Secretary to Sonia Gandhi for 16 years when she was the Congress President, replaces Motilal Vora who was the Treasurer for almost 17 years.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar was made a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee while former Goa Congress chief Luizinho Falerio was appointed General Secretary incharge of the party affairs in the northeast states.
A former Union Minister, Sharma replaces party veteran Karan Singh.
The new appointments were made by Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
A three-time Lok Sabha MP from Gujarat, Patel is now into his fifth term in the Rajya Sabha. He has been a party General Secretary from October 1996 to July 2000.
Patel, among other things, had worked for effective coordination between the party and the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government from 2004 to 2014.
Faleiro replaces C.P. Joshi, who has now been divested of all the states he was made incharge of, including Assam and Bihar.
The party had lost elections in Assam and several northeastern states when Joshi was party incharge. He belongs to Rajasthan which goes to the Assembly polls in 2018.
Falerio has his task cut out as Mizoram will go to Assembly polls this year. The Congress also faces the challenge of containing the BJP in the region in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
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Ready to help, PM Modi tells Myanmar's Senior General as his country recovers from earthquake
Bangkok (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday told Myanmar's Senior General Min Aung Hlaing that India was doing everything possible to assist the nation in recovering from the aftermath of a massive earthquake that killed several thousands.
Modi met Senior General Min, the head of Myanmar's military government, on the sidelines of the Summit meeting of the leaders of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral and Technical Cooperation (BIMSTEC) grouping.
"Met Senior General Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok. Once again expressed condolences on the loss of lives and damage to property in the wake of the recent earthquake. India is doing whatever is possible to assist our sisters and brothers of Myanmar in this critical time," Modi wrote on X.
This was the Prime Minister’s first interaction with Senior General Min, who came to power in a military coup in February 2021.
"We also discussed bilateral relations between India and Myanmar, particularly in sectors like connectivity, capacity building, infrastructure development and more," he said.
India has launched Operation Brahma to help relief efforts in the earthquake-hit Myanmar, where a military coup in February 2021 brought Senior General Min to power.
During the 35-minute meeting, the Myanmarese ruler appreciated the speed at which India sent in assistance immediately after the March 28 earthquake.
“We are ready to help,” the Prime Minister is learnt to have conveyed to Senior General Min.
India has deployed military field hospitals in Mandalay, which was near the epicentre of the earthquake.
A senior official of the Myanmar administration also visited the hospital set up by India in Mandalay.
India has also deployed its National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel who are assisting in the relief work in Myanmar.
Over 3,000 people have died in the Myanmar earthquake, nearly 5,000 have been injured, and over 370 remain missing nationwide.
