Until I shiver, I won't wear sweater: Rahul Gandhi on using T-shirt amid winter chill
Chandigarh (PTI): Amid talk raging about his wearing a T-shirt despite the winter chill during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said he decided to wear only T-shirts during the march after meeting three poor girls "shivering in torn clothes" in Madhya Pradesh.
"People ask me why I am wearing this white T-shirt, don't I feel cold. I will tell you the reason. When the yatra began... in Kerala, it was hot and humid. But when we entered Madhya Pradesh, it was slightly cold.
"One day three poor girl children in torn clothes came to me...When I held them, they were shivering as they were not wearing proper clothes. On that day, I took a decision that till the time I do not shiver, I will only wear a T-shirt," Gandhi said, while addressing a street corner meeting in Haryana's Ambala this evening.
Gandhi said that he wants to give out a message to those girls.
"When I start shivering, then I will think of wearing a sweater. I want to give a message to those three girls that if you are feeling cold, then Rahul Gandhi will also feel cold," he said.
During Uttar Pradesh-leg of the yatra, the Wayanad MP had last week said that the media is highlighting his attire but taking "no notice of the poor farmers and labourers walking along with him in torn clothes".
"My being in T-shirt is not a real question, the real question is why are the farmers, poor labourers of the country and their children are in torn clothes, T-shirts and without sweaters," he had said in Bhagpat.
On Monday, Gandhi also targeted PM Fasal Bima Yojana and said when crops are destroyed due to vagaries of weather and other reasons and affected beneficiaries go to seek compensation, they come to know that the company is nowhere to be found.
Citing newspaper reports, the former Congress chief further said in Himachal Pradesh, entire apple trade is in the hands of one industrialist. "If you go to Jammu and Kashmir, again entire apple trade in the hands of same industrialist," he said.
Touching upon farmers who protested against now repealed central farm laws, Gandhi said Congress party raised demand in Parliament that "700 farmers had died during stir against farm laws, at least acknowledge their sacrifice and give them martyr status, but government does not accept they had died".
Currently, the march is passing through Haryana.
The yatra, which started from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu on September 7, will end after reaching Srinagar on January 30 with Gandhi hoisting the national flag there.
The march has so far covered Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
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Airlines got 999 hoax bomb threats till Nov 14 this year; 256 FIRs filed: Govt
New Delhi, Nov 28: Airlines received 999 hoax bomb threats this year till November 14 and as many as 256 FIRs have been filed while guidelines have been issued by aviation security regulator BCAS for objective assessment of threats, the government said on Thursday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said a total of 1,148 hoax bomb threat messages/calls have been received since August 2022 till November 14, 2024 threatening the operations of international and domestic air travel.
While 999 threats were received by airlines during the period from January to November 14, 2024, the count stood at 122 last year and at 27 for the August-December 2022 period.
"256 FIRs have been filed since January 2024 till 14 November 2024, out of which 163 FIRs have been filed during 14 October- 14 November 2024. 12 arrests have been made in view of hoax bomb threat since January 2024 till 14 November 2024," the minister said.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued guidelines for objective assessment of threats. The indicative factor has been useful in reducing time taken by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) during the decision-making process.
"Also, to reduce the overall time taken for convening BTAC to less than 5 minutes, virtual assembly of BTAC through pre-generated video link has been set up. Further, advisories for compulsory 10 per cent of secondary ladder point check-in for all flights, strict monitoring of non-scheduled flight operations, enhanced security measures and surveillance at cargo terminals were issued," Mohol said.
Further, the minister said the government is considering amending the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 to put hoax threat messenger in the no-fly list.
"It is also being considered to amend Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation for covering Aircraft in flight as well as on ground, airport etc," he added.
