Top Stories on 7th February in a Capsule
Congress divided the nation for selfish gains: PM Modi
In a scathing attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the party devoting its energies to "the interests of one family," while neglecting the interests of the nation. He also added that the nation is still paying for the sins of the Congress. He further said that Rahul Gandhi’s elevation as Congress president was a ‘coronation’, not an election. He continued the attack in Rajya Sabha, telling lawmakers that it was Mahatma Gandhi who had first pitched the idea of a Congress-free India. On the Kashmir issue, PM Modi said that if Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was elected as the first PM instead of Nehru, Kashmir’s condition wouldn’t have been this bad. Taking on the Congress over the 1984 Sikh riots, the Prime Minister asked if the party wanted the emergency era back. "You don't need a new India, you need that India where law bends its knees in front of the powerful," he said.
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Actor Jeetendra accused of sexual assault by cousin
Veteran actor Jeetendra has been accused of sexual harassment by his cousin in Himachal Pradesh when she was 18 years old and Jeetendra was 28. The woman decided to file a complaint after the death of her parents, as she did not want to hurt them with this, considering Jeetendra was their nephew. According to her, Jeetendra had taken her for a film’s shoot with her father’s permission, where he then sexually abused her. She is now seeking a closure for the mental stress she had to undergo for the last so many years.
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PM Modi’s wife injured in accident, relative dead
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wife Jashodaben was injured and her relative was killed when their car rammed into a truck in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh, police said. Jashodaben did not suffer any major injuries in the accident in which four other people traveling with her was also injured, SHO Parsoli Shyam Singh said. The deceased was identified as Basant Bhai Modi (67), a relative of Jashodaben, who died while undergoing treatment, the police said. The accident took place in Parsoli Police Station area when Jashodaben and others were traveling to Chittorgarh after attending a function in Kota, they said.
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RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6%
The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday kept the repo and the reverse repo rates unchanged at 6% and 5.75%. The bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee meeting, headed by Governor Urjit Patel, kept the rates unchanged owing to concerns of inflation, and also for maintaining price levels after the Union Budget announcement. Five members of the panel voted to keep rates unchanged, while Michael Patra, executive director at the central bank, wanted to raise rates by 25 basis points. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
*Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends money to other banks.
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Donald Trump orders Pentagon to plan grand military parade
President Donald Trump has asked the Pentagon to plan a grand parade of the US armed forces in Washington this year to celebrate military strength, officials said on Tuesday. The Washington Post, which was first to report the plan, said Trump wants an elaborate parade this year with soldiers marching and tanks rolling, but no date has been selected. According to media reports, Trump wants the Pentagon to “explore a celebration” that will allow Americans to show appreciation for the military. A Pentagon spokesman, Charlie Summers, said Pentagon officials are aware of the request and are “looking at options.”
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In a first, Kim Jong Un’s sister to visit South Korea
The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un will visit the South this week for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Seoul said on Wednesday. She will be the first member of its ruling family ever to do so. She is a senior member of the ruling Workers' Party, will be part of a high-level delegation due on Friday. The two Koreas have been divided by the Demilitarised Zone since the end of the Korean War in 1953. But the Olympics have triggered a rapid rapprochement on the peninsula.
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