India News
Rahul Gandhi and the VIP mangoes of Uttar Pradesh
By Vikram Kilpady
Rahul Gandhi has been a target for the media from 2007 onwards when he was appointed party general secretary during the first United Progressive Alliance government led by Manmohan Singh. A constant stream of twitter abuse ended with people calling him Pappu and other pejoratives. While it was Jupiter’s escape velocity in 2013, a simile to illustrate the immense effort and force needed for Dalits to escape societal abuse under the caste system, this time he’s getting the stick for apparently not liking a certain mango, popular in Uttar Pradesh. Ergo, he is now The Man who Hates UP’s Mangoes!
The escape velocity comment was milked dry a year ahead of the 2014 elections when Narendra Modi led the BJP and the NDA to power thanks to the media’s eagerness to evict the Congress from its minority government perch. Gandhi’s harmless dislike for mangoes from Uttar Pradesh has now turned into another opportunity for TV channels to juice it up ahead of UP Assembly elections next year.
Here’s one case:
Please hear the voiceover repeatedly play up the word “bilkul” when Gandhi just said he doesn’t like, and NOT that he can’t stand or some other stronger word.
In the usual pre-presser banter, Gandhi said he likes mangoes from Andhra Pradesh and not UP, he said Langdas are doable but Dussehris are too sweet for his liking. But in the quote hungry world of TV news, that was enough. This morning he’s been charged with divisive regionalism by UP CM Yogi Adityanath. The TV media has spun the remark in such a way that any dislike of mangoes from UP and liking mangoes from elsewhere becomes regional chauvinism since Rahul Gandhi is now tied to the South only because Wayanad chose to send him to the Lok Sabha while Amethi chose Smriti Irani as its MP in 2019.
Maybe Yogi Adityanath could have just sent the Gandhi scion some choice UP mangoes to convince him otherwise, but present-day take-no-prisoner politics usually leaves such grace of the old times behind.
Like the Dussehris, Langdas and Ratauls, the last of which would bring Pakistani mango lovers into the picture. They too swear by their Anwar Ratauls, which are said to be a version of the UP original. Imagine Pakistanis and the UP CM on one side, defending their province/state’s produce against Rahul Gandhi. Sigh!
While we don’t know for certain if Rahul Gandhi is referring to the Banganapalle variety, which Andhra Pradesh touts as its best (he may well have been),the political significance of the state and its Telugu twin Telangana for the Congress cannot be ignored.
After all, it is only since the division of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh into Telangana and the new Andhra, with Amaravati as its capital, that the Congress has warmed the opposition benches in the Lok Sabha.
A similar decimation of the Congress in Delhi happened when Gandhi’s brother-in-law Robert Vadra called Arvind Kejriwal mango man in reference to the aam aadmi. The Congress is still unrepresented in the Delhi Assembly after that quote.
Though Mani Shankar Aiyar’s chaiwala-neech comment backfired, social media has been serenading the Congress leader for his farsightedness in identifying the chinks in the BJP, given the depths plumbed in the Pegasus spying scandal.
It is indeed fortunate that Gandhi didn’t say he liked Alphonsos better, which would have brought in other mango loyalties into the picture. But given his complaint about UP mangoes, he may end up drinking a lot of Chausa/Dussehri/Rataul smoothies from the residence of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress general secretary for UP. And the Langda faithful among the media could revisit their biases against Rahul Gandhi, who would now be praised for his good taste.
India News
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav shares video of cop thrashing ice-cream vendor | WATCH
The vendor, in fear, can be seen continuing on as the unruly policeman returned back to the other side of the road. The video also shows several people complacently witnessing the assault by the policeman.
Former CM and Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav shared a video of a policeman thrashing an ice cream vendor. Yadav in his tweet questioned the state of UP as he questioned the UP administration for their brutality.
Samajwadi Chief in his tweet also wrote and took a dig at the BJP by questioning if this is what they meant when they said that UP has worked for ease of doing business.
In the video, a policeman can be seen intercepting an ice cream vendor who was returning to his home. After stopping the ice cream vendor, the policeman out of the blue slapped the vendor without saying anything twice.
The vendor, in fear, can be seen continuing on as the unruly policeman returned back to the other side of the road. The video also shows several people complacently witnessing the assault by the policeman.
Watch video here:
The Samajwadi Party leader has been actively sharing videos from Uttar Pradesh in a bid to slam the UP government over their alleged inadequacy to govern. Yadav has, of late, increased the staunch attack on the Yogi government ahead of the Lok Sabha Election due in 2024.
Twitter reactions
After the video went viral, many users came forward to add their take on the incident as one user wrote and said that everyone is a goon nowadays, implying that the state of UP has boiled down to rule of goons.
One user wrote and highlighted how the policeman beat up the vendor, but didn’t say a word to the people in the car. The user further questioned if the police only show authority to the poor and not the rich. The user also alleged the UP police of torturing, killing and bullying the poor.
One user also wrote and slammed the government for being high on power and further accused the government and administration of using bulldozers on the public which is condemnable.
India News
Bank holidays April 2023: Banks to be closed for 15 days next month, check state-wise bank holiday list here
With the new financial year starting on April 1, major changes are anticipated as these changes are connected to money and banks.
April is just a few weeks ago and with the new financial year starting on April 1, major changes are anticipated as these changes are connected to money and banks.
As per the Reserve Bank of India’s calendar, all public and private banks will remain shut for 15 days in April 2023 for multiple festivals and occasions including Mahavir Jayanti, Good Friday, Tamil New Year’s Day, Biju festival, Bengali New Year’s Day, Ramazan Eid, Himachal Day, Jumat-ul-Vida, and others.
State-wise bank holidays list for April 2023
| Date | Occasion | Region, Nation Specific |
| April 1 | On the occasion of banks’ closing of accounts | Banks will remain closed across India except in Aizawl, Shimla, Chandigarh, and Shillong |
| April 2 | Sunday | Across India |
| April 4 | Mahavir Jayanti | Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Belapur, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Raipur, and Ranchi |
| April 5 | Babu Jagjivan Ram’s birthday | Hyderabad |
| April 7 | Good Friday | Banks will be closed in Aizawl, Belapur, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Gangtok, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Imphal, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Panaji, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi, Shillong, and Thiruvananthapuram |
| April 8 | Second Saturday | Across India |
| April 9 | Sunday | Across India |
| April 14 | Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti, Bohag Bihu, Cheiraoba, Vaisakhi, Baisakhi, Tamil New Year’s Day, Maha Bisubha Sankranti, Biju Festival, Buisu Festival celebrations | Agartala, Ahmedabad, Belapur, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Gangtok, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Panaji, Patna, Ranchi, Srinagar, and Thiruvananthapuram |
| April 15 | Vishu, Bohag Bihu, Himachal Day, Bengali New Year’s Day (Nababarsha) | Agartala, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Shimla, and Thiruvananthapuram |
| April 16 | Sunday | Across India |
| April 18 | Shab-l-Qadr | Jammu and Srinagar |
| April 21 | Id-Ul-Fitr (Ramzan Eid), Garia Puja, Jumat-ul-Vida | Agartala, Jammu, Kochi, Srinagar, and Thiruvananthapuram |
| April 22 | Eid-Ul-Fitr, fourth Saturday | Belapur, Bhopal, Chennai, Dehradun, Guwahati, Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Panaji, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi, Shillong and Srinagar for Eid and across India for fourth Saturday |
| April 23 | Sunday | Across India |
| April 30 | Sunday | Across India |
India News
Indian Railway cancels, reschedules multiple trains today, check the full list here
Passengers who booked their tickets online from the IRCTC website will be refunded automatically to their source account.
Indian Railways on Saturday cancelled and rescheduled several trains today due to its maintenance and Navaratri rush.
Passengers who booked their tickets online from the IRCTC website will be refunded automatically to their source account. Others who booked their tickets from the reservation counter will need to visit the booking counter and claim their refund.
Full list of trains cancelled today
• 04449 New Delhi-Kurukshetra EMU special CO 25.03.2023.
• 04452 Kurukshetra – Delhi special JCO 25.03.2023.
• Train No 04651 Jaynagar – Amritsar In (JYG-ASR) 17.03.23, 19.03.23, 21.03.23, 24.03.23, 26.03.23, 28.03.23, 31.03.23, 02.04.23, 04.04.23, 07.04.23, 09.04.23
• Train No 04652 Amritsar Jn – Jaynagar (ASR-JYG) 17.03.23,19.03.23, 22.03.23,24.03.23, 26.03.23, 29.03.23, 31.03.23, 02.04.23, 05.04.23, 07.04.23,09.04.23.
• Train No 14331 Delhi In. – Kalka (DLI-KLK) 17.03.2023 to 10.04.2023
• Train No 14332 Kalka – Delhi Jn. (KLK-DLI) 18.03.2023 to 11.04.2023
• Train No 04523 Saharanpur – Nangal Dam (SRE-NLDM) 17.03.2023 to 10.04.2023
• Train No 04524 Nangal Dam – Ambala Cant J (NLDM-UMB) 18.03.2023 to 11.04.2023
• Train No 04590 Ambala Cant Jn – Kurukshetra In (UMB-KKDE) 17.03.2023 to 10.04.2023
• Train No 04589 Kurukshetra Jn – Ambala Cant J (KKDE-UMB) 17.03.2023 to 10.04.2023
• Train No 04584 Ambala Cant Jn – Panbari (UMB-PNP) 17.03.2023 to 10.04.2023
• Train No 04013 Panbari – Ambala Cant J (PNP-UMB) 17.03.2023 to 10.04.2023
• Train No 04579 Ambala Cant Jn – Ludhiana Jn (UMB-LDH) 17.03.2023 to 10.04.2023
• Train No 04504 Ludhiana In – Ambala Cant J (LDH-UMB) 17.03.2023 to 10.04.2023
• Train No 04578 Ambala Cant In – Saharanpur (UMB-SRE) 17.03.2023 to 10.04.2023
• Train No 04139 Kurukshetra In – Ambala Cant In (KKDE-UMB) 17.03.2023 to 10.04.2023
• Train No 04176 Panbari – Ambala Cant Jn (PNP-UMB) 17.03.2023 to 10.04.2023
• Train No 04140 Ambala Cant Jn – Kurukshetra In (UMB-KKDE) 17.03.2023 to 10.04.2023
• 01135 Bhusaval -Daund MEMU JCO 02.03.2023, 09.03.2023 16.03.2023 and
23.03.2023
• 01136 Daund- Bhusaval MEMU JCO 02.03.2023, 09.03.2023 16.03.2023 and
23.03.2023
• 14525/14526 Ambala Cantt -Shri Ganganagar- Ambala Cantt Express JCO 15.03.23 to 24.03.23.
• 01625/01626 Dhuri-Bathinda-Dhuri Passenger Special Express ]CO 15.03.23 to 24.03.23.
• 04548/04547 Bathinda- Ambala Cantt – Bathinda Special Express JCO 15.03.23 to 24.03.23.
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