DH Evening Brief: October 16, 2021

Here are the top headlines this evening.

Rahul Gandhi to 'consider' becoming Congress chief again

The Congress Working Committee on Saturday decided that the elections to the post of Congress president will be held between August 21 and September 20 next year.RahulGandhi, in turn, thanked all the leaders for reposing faith in him and said he would apply his mind on their request and consider becoming the party chief again, the sources said. Read more

15 missing, many feared dead in Kerala landslides, floods

Nearly 15 persons were reported missing in landslides in the Kottayam district of Kerala on Saturday. The incidents occurred in Koottikkal area on the eastern sides of the district. Many regions in the district like Kanjirapally and Poonjar were flooded and major towns of Kottayam district like Pala were under the fear of flood as the water level in the nearby rivers were increasing. Read more

404 buildings in Bengaluru can collapse any time

As many as 404 buildings in Bengaluru are structurally weak and can collapse at any time, a new survey by theBruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has revealed. Read more

I am full-time and hands-on Congress president: Sonia Gandhi to G-23 at key CWC meet

Sonia Gandhi on Saturday sought to blunt the G-23 leaders' campaign for immediate change in party leadership by asserting in a Congress Working Committee meeting that she is a "full-time and hands on" party president and there is no need to speak to her through the media. Read more

Congressmen worse than animals: Pragya Thakur

Lashing out at a Madhya Pradesh Congress legislator for the posters during the Covid-19 pandemic, which claimed that Bhopal's BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur had gone missing, the latter has said "such Congressmen and traitors" have no place in India and only patriots will stay in the country. Read more

LeT commander among two militants killed in encounter in J&K's Pulwama

Umar Mustaq Khandey, a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander, who was involved in the killing of two policemen in February, was gunned down alongwith his associate in an encounter with security forces in Pampore area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Saturday. Read more

Activists to perform 'pothole pooja' in Bengaluru to embarrass govt

Activists in Bengaluru are gearing up to protest pothole-ridden roads across the city by performing 'pothole pooja' (worshipping potholes) as the government is turning a blind eye to the plight of vehicle riders. Read more

Rahul Dravid all set to take over as full-time coach of Indian cricket team

India's batting stalwart Rahul Dravid is all set to take over as the national cricket team's head coach following the T20 World Cup in the UAE, having agreed to the BCCI's offer after initial reluctance. Read more

In Pics: Durga Puja festivities end with idol immersion

The Durga Puja festivities concluded with the idol immersion ceremony with a restricted number of people participating at the river ghats across the country amid adherence to Covid-19 protocols. See pics

Singhu lynching case: Nihang Sikh member surrenders, admits to killing man

A man was lynched, his hand chopped off and the body bearing over 10 wounds caused by sharp-edged weapons tied to a barricade at a farmers' protest site at Kundli near the Delhi-Haryana border, a gruesome incident being blamed on a group of Nihangs. Read more

Veg vs non-veg: The battle within Hinduism

Two unrelated incidents last week brought into focus the clout vegetarians enjoy in a country where the majority eat meat. In Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, Navratri was marked by the forcible closure of shops selling meat, including eggs. And in a distant suburb of Mumbai, a Marathi-speaking businessman was told he would not be sold a flat because only Gujaratis, Marwaris and Jains could buy property in that housing society, specifically not Marathis, Muslims and Christians. In Mumbaispeak, this meant the society was reserved for vegetarians. Read more