Congress appoints Uday Bhanu Chib as president of Indian Youth Congress

The Congress on Sunday appointed Uday Bhanu Chib as the president of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), replacing Srinivas B V.
 

Srinivas B V had held the post for over five years and his tenure was seen as an eventful one for IYC with his relief work during the Covid pandemic being a major talking point in the media.
 

Chib was serving as the general secretary of IYC and is a former president of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Youth Congress.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has appointed Uday Bhanu Chib as the president of the Indian Youth Congress with immediate effect, a party statement said.

The party appreciates the contributions of the outgoing president Srinivas B V, it added.
 

On Friday, Chib had posted a picture with Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and wrote, "A memorable meet with my leader @RahulGandhi ji! Your struggle and perseverance for social justice is an inspiration to all of us." Chib hails from Paloura, Jammu, and is the son of Congress leader Hari Singh Chib.

Tirupati laddoo controversy: Amul lodges FIR; Rahul Gandhi reacts to row

Congress leader and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi leaves after a CEC meeting on Haryana, at party HQ in New Delhi, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024.

Amid the ongoing controversy linked to preparation of laddoos at the famous Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati, dairy company Amul on Saturday lodged an FIR against seven users of social media platform 'X' for allegedly spreading misinformation against the brand.

Gujarat-based Amul clarified that it has “never supplied ghee to the Tirupati temple.”

What is the laddoo controversy at Tirupati?

The controversy was triggered after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged on Wednesday that sub-standard ghee containing animal fat was used to make the laddoos during the rule of his predecessor, Jaganmohan Reddy. Naidu alleged that the low-quality ghee had pig fat and fish oil in it, a claim vehemently rejected by Reddy’s YSRCP.

On Friday, Reddy reacted to the incident for the first time, saying that “only Naidu can use God for political gains.”

Temple trust says lab report confirmed animal fat presence in ghee

The Union health ministry has sought a report from Naidu on the matter. However, the controversy has further snowballed amid speculations about the contractor, which provided ghee to the temple. 

On Friday, temple trust the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), tasked with the shrine's management, echoed Naidu's statement about the presence of animal fat in the ghee. These allegations are being made based on a lab report, for which TTD had provided ghee samples for testing. This report, being circulated by Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party, has not been officially presented by the Andhra government.

Rahul assures EY employee's parents to fight for better working conditions

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday spoke with the parents of Anna Sebastian Perayil, who died due to alleged extreme work pressure at Ernst & Young, and assured them that he will fight for the cause of improving working conditions for the millions of professionals in India.

Gandhi spoke with the parents of Anna Sebastian via a video call arranged by the Chairman of All India Professionals' Congress (AIPC) Praveen Chakravarty who visited their home in Kochi.

He offered his sympathies at Anna's sudden and tragic demise and lauded the family's courage and selflessness to speak up at this extremely difficult moment about this issue in the larger interest of improving working conditions for the millions of professionals in India, a statement issued by the AIPC said.

 

Gandhi assured them that he will fight for this cause in his capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, it said.

Gandhi also instructed the AIPC Chairman to create an awareness movement in Anna's memory for all working professionals in India.

"Following Gandhi's instructions, AIPC will announce a helpline soon to collect information from corporate professionals about issues related to work stress and toxic work culture. Post which, AIPC will seek to come up with draft guidelines for better working conditions for professionals in the corporate sector," the statement said.

In a post on X last night, senior Congress leader and former AIPC Chairman Shashi Tharoor said he had a deeply emotional and heartrending conversation with Sibi Joseph, the father of Anna Sebastian who passed away after a cardiac arrest following four months of deeply stressful seven-day weeks of 14 hours a day at Ernst & Young.

He suggested, and I agreed, that I raise the issue of legislating, through Parliament, a fixed calendar for all workplaces, whether in the private sector or the public, that would not exceed eight hours a day, five days a week. 

Inhumanity at the workplace must be legislated out of existence with stringent punishment and fines for offenders. Human rights do not stop at the workplace!" Tharoor said.

"Will raise this matter at the first opportunity during the next session of Parliament," Tharoor said.

Perayil was a 26-year-old chartered accountant (CA) who died allegedly due to extreme work pressure at the firm.

EY on Wednesday had issued a statement stating, "We are deeply saddened by Anna Sebastian's tragic and untimely passing in July 2024."
Since the death, EY has been in touch with the family, helping them but it is only now that her family has chosen to write to the company, complaining about the "excessive workload", it had said.

EY has said it will continue to improve and provide a healthy workplace in its offices throughout the country.

The Ministry of Labour & Employment is investigating an alleged "unsafe and exploitative work environment", days after the tragic demise of Anna Sebastian Perayil who worked with S R Batliboi, a member firm of EY Global.

The hearing in the MP-MLA court here in a case of defamation against Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was on Thursday postponed due to unavailability of the complainant's lawyer.

Plaintiff Vijay Mishra's advocate Santosh Kumar Pandey cited several cases scheduled in different courts on Thursday, and sought additional time, which the court of special judge Shubham Verma accepted

The next hearing has now been set for September 21.

Gandhi has been accused of making objectionable comments during the 2018 Karnataka polls about Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was then the BJP president.