MLA followers involve in sand mafia at Bantwala: Cong leader
Mangaluru, July 24: Congress leader Jagdish Koyla alleged that the followers of MLA Rajesh Naik Ullapadi have involved in sand business.
Speaking to reporters at the party office here on Tuesday, he said that MLA’s followers like Praveen Alva, Nandappa Rai and Prakash Alva have been running illegal sand business. The sand and tipper lorry confiscated near Mullarapatna bridge were belonged to Praveen Alva. In order to cover-up this, the BJP leaders have been pointing towards former minister Ramanath Rai. The BJP leaders were alleging that Mullaraptna bridge was collapsed because of the illegal sand business of the followers of former minister Ramanath Rai. But people knew that who have involved in the illegal sand business. Just beside the pillar of the Mullarapatna bridge, a pipeline was laid by making dredging and the sand removed from dredging was transported illegally by Bantwala town municipal BJP councilor Govind Prabhu in his tipper lorry. In spite of this, the BJP leaders have been trying to shield their leaders and accusing others, he said.
The Congress would fight against BJP leaders who have involved in illegal sand business legally. A complaint would be lodged against Govinda Prabhu and an engineer of a company with the Mines and Geology department and Lokayukta. After the collapse of the bridge, the people were facing the problem. MLA Rajesh Naik Ulepadi should take steps solve this problem, he demanded.
ZP members Chandra Prakash Shetty and Padma Shekhar Jain, Bantwala Block Congress president Mayilappa Salian, BUDA president Sadashiva Bangera, leader Baby Kunder and others were present at the press conference
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
