Venezuelan President survives drone assassination attempt
Caracas, Aug 5 : Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has survived what he called an "attempt against his life" involving explosive drones, blaming far-right elements and Colombia's outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos for carrying out the foiled assassination bid.
Maduro was evacuated from a stage on Saturday during a speech at an event event to commemorate the 81st anniversary of the Bolivarian National Guard here after what authorities concluded was an attempted "terrorist attack against the President", reports CNN.
Two drones loaded with explosives went off near the podium from where the President was speaking, Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez confirmed to the media.
Just few hours after the incident, Maduro appeared on national television saying that as he was mid-speech in the event when a device exploded right in front of him.
"A flying object exploded near me, a big explosion. Seconds later there was a second explosion," he said, adding that he initially thought it was fireworks as part of the parade.
Maduro said the investigation into the incident started immediately and that some of those involved in the attack had been captured and charged, although he did not specify the charges against them.
The President also said that authorities were able to obtain evidence of the attack and said the investigation was in an advanced stage.
It was "an attempt to kill me, they have tried to assassinate me today", he added.
"The preliminary investigation indicates that many of those responsible for the attack, the financiers and planners, live in the US in the state of Florida," Maduro said.
"I hope the (President Donald) Trump administration is willing to fight terrorist groups that commit attacks in peaceful countries in our continent, in this case Venezuela."
Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, told CNN he ordered an investigation into the incident.
The Venezuelan government has long blamed Colombia for plotting overthrows and, and far-right elements in Bogota and Miami for attempting to undercut Maduro.
Ivan Duque takes over as the Colombian President next week. The Colombian government however, has denied any involvement, saying there is "no basis" to Maduro's allegations.
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Delhi Polls: Congress promises Rs 500 LPG cylinder, free ration, electricity
New Delhi, Jan 16 (PTI): The Congress on Thursday said it would give Rs 500 LPG cylinder, free ration kits, and free electricity up to 300 units to the city residents if voted to power in Delhi.
The announcement was made by Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy who was addressing a press conference here with AICC Delhi in-charge Qazi Nizamuddin and Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav.
"Congress threw out the minor partner in the liquor scam from power in Telangana and now it was the turn of the people of Delhi to throw out the major partner in the liquor scam, Arvind Kejriwal, from power in Delhi," Reddy said.
He said that there was "political pollution, environment pollution and pollution of lies" and the time has come for the people to make a decisive change by electing Congress to power.
"Congress will fulfil all its five guarantees if it is elected to power in Delhi," Reddy said.
"There is no difference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. They have done nothing for the national capital," Reddy said.
He also said his government in Telangana waived farmer loans to the tune of Rs 21,000 crore in one year.
Having earlier announced three promises, the Congress on Thursday announced two more.
Yadav said the party came up with the promises on the back of the feedback it gleaned from its Delhi Nyay Yatra.
"We took out the Delhi Nyay Yatra and got to know about the issues of people which helped us come up with these five guarantees. Today we have announced two more guarantees -- 'Mehangai Mukti Yojana' and 'Free Bijli Yojana'. We will implement these five guarantees in the first cabinet meeting if we come to power," he said.
Reddy said the Congress fulfilled all its promises within 13 months of coming to power in Telangana and it will do the same in Delhi.
He said the rise in prices of commodities and unemployment had impacted the housewives the most.
The free ration kit will contain five kg of rice, two kg of sugar, one litre of edible oil, six kg pulses and 250 grams of tea, he said.
Reddy said three hundred units of free power will ease people's financial burden.
"Modi talks about sending people to the moon, but he could not address the life-threatening air pollution in Delhi," he said.
The Congress government under Sheila Dikshit carried out unprecedented work, including the creation of the largest metro rail network in the country, but Kejriwal only made false promises in his three tenures as the CM, the Telangana CM alleged.
Yadav alleged that there was a scam in the AAP government's free electricity scheme.
"There was a big scam in Kejriwal's 200-unit free power scheme with the money going through the power distribution companies as Kejriwal refused to audit the accounts of the Discoms due to his complicity with them. The Congress' 300-unit free power will be implemented transparently through direct bank transfer (DBT)," he said.
On January 6, the Congress announced its 'Pyaari Didi Yojana,' promising a monthly monetary grant of Rs 2,500 to women, if it is voted to power.
On January 8, the party announced its 'Jeevan Raksha Yojana,' under which it promised to provide free health insurance of up to Rs 25 lakh.
The party on Sunday also promised to give Rs 8,500 every month to educated unemployed youths in Delhi every month for one year.
Polling for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5 and votes will be counted on February 8.
