Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will address a mega rally in Bhubaneswar on Friday, following which they will hold closed-door meetings with leaders of the party’s state unit.
Addressing a press conference, state Congress president Bhakta Charan Das said Gandhi and Kharge will be accompanied by Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal.
Das said that soon after arriving at the city airport, the leaders would travel to the Baramunda Ground where the ‘Samvidhan Bachao Samavesh’ will be held at 1 pm.
After the rally, a meeting of the extended political affairs committee of the state Congress will be held, and central leaders will take part in it. Later, they will hold another meeting with state Congress functionaries and MLAs, Das said.
This would be Gandhi’s first visit to Odisha after the BJP came to power in the state last year.
Air India crash preliminary report may be made public
The preliminary report on the June 12 crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft in Ahmedabad is likely to be made public on Friday, according to sources in the know.
The preliminary probe report is expected to be released by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is leading the investigation. While there were a few reports on Tuesday that a preliminary report had been submitted to the government, sources indicated that no such report was submitted.
AAIB officials also provided this information to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture on Wednesday, giving it an update on the ongoing investigation into the tragic plane crash that led to 241 of the 242 people on board perishing, along with some on the ground, it is learnt. According to the government, the data from the doomed aircraft’s black boxes has been downloaded and is being analysed as part of the ongoing investigation.
It is not clear how much light the preliminary report would shed on the causes of the accident. According to sources, it is expected to provide the sequence of events before the accident, a detailed description of the accident, and the steps so far in the investigation, along with any notable findings that may have come to light this far. But a more detailed identification and analysis of the most probable causes is expected over the coming months.
‘Dakshin Samvad’ to be held
Amid the raging language debates in various states, the Department of Official Language, Ministry of Home Affairs, will host Dakshin Samvad (Southern Dialogue) in Hyderabad on Friday.
Special guests include Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.
The event will see participation from senior officials, scholars, and language enthusiasts from across southern India—including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Puducherry.
The release noted that India is divided into A, B, and C regions based on the use of Hindi in official work. To support the effective implementation of the Official Language policy, Town Official Language Implementation Committees (TOLICs) have been established across the country.
The central theme of the event is to foster dialogue and cooperation among Indian languages, with Hindi “positioned not as a replacement, but as a bridge connecting India’s rich multilingual fabric”, the release added.
– With PTI inputs