Rahul Gandhi 'insulted' Northeast by not wearing 'Gamosa' at Rashtrapati Bhavan's At-Home: BJP
New Delhi (PTI): A political row erupted on Monday over Rahul Gandhi allegedly refusing to wear an Assamese 'Gamosa' given to all the guests at a reception hosted by President Droupadi Murmu, with the BJP alleging that the Congress leader insulted the country's Northeast.
The BJP also accused the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha of showing disregard for President Murmu by not wearing the 'Gamosa' while the Congress countered by pointing out that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had also not worn the "patka (scarf)".
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma demanded an "unconditional apology" from Gandhi, alleging that it was deeply insensitive and insulting to the people of the entire Northeast with the Congress leader choosing not to wear the traditional patka, which is a symbol of the region's rich cultural heritage.
The development took place after a section of the media claimed that all guests except Gandhi wore the Gamosa presented to them at the event.
Citing certain media reports, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said in a post on X, "Shameful! Rahul Gandhi has insulted the north east and also disrespected our very hon'ble President."
Hitting out Gandhi, Sarma said that times may change, but the attitude of the "de facto supremo" of the Congress party "regrettably" appears unchanged.
"From the President and the Prime Minister to foreign dignitaries, everyone wore the Patka with respect and pride. Mr Gandhi alone stood apart, reinforcing a perception of disregard towards the North East," the Assam chief minister wrote on X.
Such a conduct explains why his party has "lost the trust of the region and much of the country. Yet, this repeated insensitivity continues", he charged.
"Mr Rahul Gandhi must issue an unconditional apology to the people of the North East for this affront. The people of the region deserve respect," he added.
The Congress hit back at the BJP with the party media and publicity department head Pawan Khera posting on X a picture of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, asking the Assam chief minister if he will demand an apology from Singh also for not wearing the patka.
"Hey @himantabiswa, will you seek an apology from @rajnathsingh ji too? Or your entire strategy to fight anti incumbency is to pick up such non issues?" Khera asked, tagging both Singh and Biswa in his post on the micro-blogging platform.
Congress MP Manickam also slammed the BJP over the issue and asked the Assam chief minister why Defence Minister Rajnath Singh did not wear the Northeast patka.
"The 2016 batch of betrayer must stop this nonsense. Why is @rajnathsingh ji not wearing the North east patka then? Stop dragging the Hon'ble President @rashtrapatibhvn into your cheap politics," Tagore said in a post on X.
"The 2016 batch of betrayer must stop this nonsense. Why is @rajnathsingh ji not wearing the North east patka then? Stop dragging the Hon'ble President @rashtrapatibhvn into your cheap politics," Tagore said.
This comes on a day the Congress accused the NDA government of insulting the Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge respectively, by seating them in the third row during the Republic Day parade event at Kartavya Path.
Sharing pictures of their leaders seated in the back rows during the ceremony, several Congress leaders raised questions over the "protocol mess-up" and propriety.
Hitting back, Poonawalla accused the Congress of putting "entitlement and ego" as well as "parivar and position" of Gandhi family above the people.
"They feel 'parivar tantra (family system)' is above 'sanvidhan tantra (constitutional system)'. Seating is decided by a set format -- Warrant or Table of Precedence. One can see even senior cabinet ministers around or even behind Rahul Gandhi but none of them made it an issue," the BJP spokesperson said in a post on X.
"Rahul thinks he is the owner of India? By the way, why does he bunk important programmes? Where was he during the VP Oath? CJI Oath? I-Day programme?" Poonawalla asked.
Reacting sharply, another BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari accused the Congress of politicising the seating arrangements at the Republic Day and called Gandhi an "insincere politician".
"Shameful of the Congress to politicise even seating arrangements at Republic Day'. Rahul Gandhi is an insincere politician, who chooses politics over national interest," Bhandari charged.
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Not UN’s role to regulate AI, says Guterres as world body plans annual global dialogue
United Nations (PTI): It is not the UN’s role to regulate AI, Secretary General Antonio Guterres has emphasised as he pointed to an annual global dialogue being planned at the international organisation on AI with participation from all countries, governments, private sector as well as civil society.
Guterres will soon be arriving in New Delhi to attend the India AI Impact Summit, the first-ever summit on Artificial Intelligence hosted in the Global South.
In an exclusive interview to PTI ahead of his visit to India for the Summit, Guterres outlined efforts by the international organisation aimed at global cooperation on Artificial Intelligence (AI), emphasising that these are “perfectly in line” with the strategy demonstrated by India in its leadership of the AI summit.
Guterres highlighted three key areas under the Global Digital Compact initiated at the UN to contribute towards the global AI architecture.
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The first is the creation of a new high-level Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence comprising 40 experts from around the world.
The UN General Assembly last week appointed the 40 members recommended by Guterres to the independent panel.
Head of the Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DSAI) at IIT Madras Balaraman Ravindran is among the global group of 40 distinguished experts recommended by Guterres to serve on the panel for a three-year term from date of appointment.
Guterres said that through the panel, “We will have a totally independent and universal…scientific body (that will be) able to tell the world at each moment where are we in relation to AI? What are the advances that were made? What are the discoveries that were established? What are the risks of (various) mechanisms or instruments, and to do it in a totally independent way.”
He described this as a “fantastic source” of information for governments to take the right decisions in policies and measures in relation to AI and “for the people at large to know public opinions, in democratic countries like India that is very important.”
Guterres also pointed to an annual global dialogue being planned at the UN on AI with participation from all countries, governments, private sector as well as civil society.
Emphasising that it is not the UN’s role to regulate AI, Guterres said the global dialogue will be a “platform where everybody can come and everybody can discuss, and where we can learn with each other and eventually come to some possible consensus on the best way to maximise the opportunities of AI and minimise its risks.”
Lastly, he expressed hope that his proposal of a fund will be approved.
“There was an agreement in the General Assembly in order to support developing countries to build capacity to be able to benefit from AI. So these are three very important contributions of the UN and I believe that these contributions are perfectly in line with the strategy that India has demonstrated in the leadership in the preparation of the present Summit,” he said.
The UN chief has proposed a voluntary global fund of up to three billion dollars to support countries in the field of AI capacity building.
The Global Digital Compact, adopted at the 2024 Summit of the Future, had set out a shared vision for an open, safe and inclusive digital future.
Among its commitments was the creation of an Independent International Scientific Panel on AI to advance scientific understanding and ensure that international deliberations are informed by the best available evidence, the UN has said.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, told reporters that Guterres is scheduled to participate in the Summit’s opening ceremony, a plenary with heads of state and government, as well as a session on the role of science in international AI governance.
The Secretary-General will have bilateral meetings with President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will also meet with other global and tech leaders attending the Summit, as well as members of the International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.
While in India, Guterres is also scheduled to take part in a roundtable organised by the UN to discuss renewable energy and energy transition.
"With India emerging as a global leader in renewable energy expansion, the discussion will bring together senior figures from industry, finance, policy and civil society to identify concrete steps to further accelerate renewable energy deployment, strengthen grids and storage, and mobilise investment at scale.
“This engagement is part of the Secretary-General’s continued efforts to advance a faster, fairer and more inclusive global energy transition, aligned with the Paris Agreement,” Dujarric said.
United Nations India said in a statement that over 30 events organised by the UN system are scheduled during the five-day summit, and will include sessions on AI for resilient agriculture, health systems innovation, ethical AI governance, women’s leadership in technology, digital capacity-building in the Global South and responsible business practices.
The statement by the UN in India said that discussions will focus on “how AI can accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals while safeguarding human rights and addressing emerging risks”.
At the Summit, Guterres will be joined by senior UN leaders, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk; Under-Secretary-General and UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology Amandeep Singh Gill and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction Kamal Kishore.
Also participating are Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva; Director-General of the International Labour Organisation Gilbert Houngbo and Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union Doreen Bogdan-Martin.
