Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. Tune in to get updated about the major news stories of the day.
[00:00:10] Hello, this is your Daily Dose of News from Onmanorama. I am your host Deepa Soman and
[00:00:16] these are the major news stories of Wednesday, May 8th, 2024.
[00:00:24] The Congress has distanced itself from Sam Pitrodha's racist analogies even as the BJP
[00:00:30] claimed the remarks showed the opposition party's divisive politics. Civil Aviation Ministry
[00:00:38] has sought a report from Air India Express. This is after a sudden strike by cabin
[00:00:44] crew led to widespread cancellations. Even as battles raged around Rafa in Gaza, US has
[00:00:53] paused the transfer of some weapons to Israel. A day after the government lost absolute majority,
[00:01:02] Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini downplayed the withdrawal of independent MLA support.
[00:01:10] 99.69% for this year's SSLC examinations has more than 4 lakh students qualify for
[00:01:18] higher education. Let's get into the details.
[00:01:24] Congress leader Sam Pitrodha triggered another controversy on Wednesday with his remarks.
[00:01:29] In a podcast, he said, People of the East looked like the Chinese and those of the South
[00:01:34] look like Africans. The ruling BJP latched on to his racist comments and claimed that
[00:01:40] his words have exposed the opposition party's divisive politics.
[00:01:45] Congress, however, distanced itself from Pitrodha's remarks describing those as unfortunate and
[00:01:51] unacceptable. Congress said the party completely dissociates itself from the comments.
[00:01:57] In the podcast, Pitrodha, the head of the Indian Overseas Congress, said, We have survived
[00:02:03] 75 years in a very happy environment where people could live together leaving aside a
[00:02:08] few fights here and there. We could hold the country as diverse as India together
[00:02:14] where people in the East look like the Chinese, people in the West look like the Arabs,
[00:02:18] people in the North look like maybe white and people in the South look like Africans.
[00:02:23] It does not matter. All of us are brothers and sisters. We respect different languages,
[00:02:29] different religions, different customs, different food. The interview was widely circulated
[00:02:34] on social media.
[00:02:35] The Civil Aviation Ministry on Wednesday sought a report from Ayrungia Express on
[00:02:43] cancellation of its flights on Tuesday and Wednesday. This is after a section of cabin
[00:02:48] crew members reported sick to protest against alleged mismanagement of the airline. Nearly
[00:02:53] 90 flights have been cancelled by Ayrungia Express since Tuesday night due to cabin crew
[00:02:58] woes. An official on Wednesday said the ministry has called for a report from Ayrungia
[00:03:04] Express regarding the same and asked them to resolve issues promptly. The airline
[00:03:09] has also been advised to ensure facilities to passengers as per DGC and norms. The cancellation
[00:03:15] led to protests by passengers at several airports, though the airline offered refunds or rescheduling
[00:03:20] of flights as solutions.
[00:03:24] Palestinian outfit Hamas said on Wednesday that it was battling Israeli troops on the
[00:03:29] outskirts of the Gaza Strip's crowded southern city of Rafa. This is after a US
[00:03:35] official said Washington had halted a shipment of powerful bombs that Israel could use
[00:03:41] in a full-scale assault. The United States said it believes a revised Hamas ceasefire proposal
[00:03:47] may lead to a breakthrough in an impasse in negotiations with talks resuming in Cairo
[00:03:52] on Wednesday. Israel has threatened a major assault on Rafa to defeat thousands of Hamas
[00:03:58] fighters, but Western nations and the United Nations have warned a full-scale attack
[00:04:03] on the city would be a humanitarian catastrophe.
[00:04:09] Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Seini has responded to the recent withdrawal of support
[00:04:14] by three independent MLAs from the BJP government of the state.
[00:04:18] When I heard about it, I knew that moment the Congress is trying to fulfill their wishes.
[00:04:23] Everyone has a wish, but the people know. They know the Congress has got nothing
[00:04:28] to do with the wishes of people, but only with fulfilling their personal wishes,
[00:04:32] Seini said.
[00:04:33] According to reports, Seini downplayed the situation as not alarming.
[00:04:38] The independent MLAs, Sombir Sanghwan, Ranthir Singh Golan and Tharampal Gondar withdrew support
[00:04:43] to the government and announced they would back the Congress, reducing the Daya Singh
[00:04:48] Seini government to a minority in the state assembly.
[00:04:54] The past percentage for this year's SSLC examinations, aka class 10 final exams,
[00:04:59] under the Kerala State syllabus stood at 99.69%.
[00:05:04] The results were announced by Kerala's General Education Minister Vishwan Kudi on Wednesday
[00:05:09] afternoon. 4,25,463 students qualified for higher education.
[00:05:17] While announcing the results in Tiruvannathapuram, the ministers said 71,831 students scored
[00:05:23] A plus grade for all subjects. He said, 4,27,153 students had attended the exam.
[00:05:32] This year's past percentage was only 0.01% lower than last year's 99.7%.
[00:05:39] Among the revenue districts, Kottem secured the highest past percentage of 99.92% while
[00:05:45] Tiruvannathapuram witnessed the lowest past percentage of 99.08%.
[00:05:53] That brings us to the end of this episode.
[00:05:55] Thanks for listening to Daily News Dose hosted by me, Deepa Soman and produced by
[00:05:59] Vishnu Murlidran with technical support from Idea Brew Studios.
[00:06:03] Follow onmanurumar.com for detailed updates on the latest news and be sure to come back
[00:06:08] tomorrow.