Won't comment on Pranab Mukherjee's book before reading in full: Veerappa Moily
Bengaluru, Dec 13: Senior Congress leaders have said it's premature to comment on the new book by late former President Pranab Mukherjee which presented a critical point of view for the party without reading it in full.
Former union minister M Veerappa Moily, who was part of the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh, noted the book was yet to be released and one had to understand the context in which Mukherjee made the observations.
"Unless you go through the book and read in full, I don't want to comment", the former Karnataka Chief Minister said.
The memoir, titled "The Presidential Years", will be globally released inJanuary 2021, publisher Rupa Books announced onFriday.
The former president presents a critical point of view for the Congress, in which he was a senior leader for over five decades.
Mukherjee candidly refutes the view of leaders of the party, who believed had he become the PM in 2004, the party might have averted the 2014 Lok Sabha drubbing.
"Though I don't subscribe to this view, I do believe that the party's leadership lost political focus after my elevation as president. While Sonia Gandhi was unable to handle the affairs of the party, Dr Singh's prolonged absence from the House put an end to any personal contact with other MPs," he wrote, according to excerpts from the book released by Rupa.
The book, according to the publisher, will recount his fascinating journey from growing up under the flicker of a lamp in a remote village of Bengal to walking the rampart of the Rasthrapati Bhavan as the first citizen of India.
Former union minister Salman Khurshid also said he needs to read the book in full before offering comments.
"......because when somebody with such vast experience writes something, it's generally something you need to read in full to understand what is the context", Khurshid told PTI.
"You cannot take a phrase here or phrase there, that would be wrong".
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Austrian police detain suspect in case of rat poison found in baby food jars on supermarket shelves
Vienna (AP): Police in eastern Austria say a 39-year-old suspect has been arrested after rat poison turned up in some HiPP baby food jars on supermarket shelves in central Europe.
HiPP, which recalled some of its baby food jars in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic after the case came to light last month, said in a statement Saturday it was “greatly relieved” by the arrest, and would provide further updates as verified details come in.
The Burgenland State Criminal Police Office, under the direction of prosecutors, said a probe was launched after poison turned up in a baby food jar purchased at a supermarket in the city of Eisenstadt on April 18.
It said the suspect was being questioned, and that no further details would be immediately provided. The Burgenland public prosecutor's office has announced an investigation into suspected “intentional endangerment of the public.”
The Austrian Press Agency reported that an expert report on the toxicity of the poison was pending. A total of five tampered baby food jars were seized before they could be consumed, APA reported.
Authorities said previously they believe the tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-olds that were sold from SPAR supermarkets in Austria.
HiPP responded by recalling all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution. Vendors in Slovakia and the Czech Republic also removed all of the brand's baby jars from sale.
The company said the recall was not due to any product or quality defect on its part, and said the jars left its facility in “perfect condition.”
Police said a customer at the time of the discovery had reported that a jar appeared to have been tampered with, but no one had consumed the baby food.
