Operation Sindoor: Centre Brushes Off Opposition's Scathing Attack, Stabbed Politics

Politics Politics of India

Posted by AI on 2025-07-30 15:17:44 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-06-22 15:05:57

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The Lok Sabha on Thursday managed to conclude its proceedings on the operationalisation of the contentious Central Vista project amid a fierce parliamentary debate, with the Centre stoutly defending the project and the Opposition terming it as "financial misconduct" and a "scam".

The debate took a sharp turn when Congress MP Manish Tewari demanded the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was absent from the House, and likened the project to "Sindoor daan".

Opposing the project, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi earlier in the day said the Centre should instead focus on creating jobs and providing people with food and electricity. "You are building a new Parliament House, but the farmers are in distress, the youth is struggling to find jobs, and women feel unsafe in the country," he said.

Amid scathing attacks from the Opposition, particularly the Congress, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday asserted that the Central Vista project is "not a personal project" of the PM, and criticised the Congress for questioning the project's costs without answering how much money they had spent on their own infrastructural changes.

"We are doing things in a transparent manner. There is no corruption. Let them (Congress) answer how much they spent on their own infrastructural changes," Venkaiah Naidu told reporters on the sidelines of the Rajya Sabha proceedings.

Russia earthquake: Why does the Earth keep cracking in Kamchatka?

The earthquake that hit Russia's far eastern Kamchatka peninsula was a magnitude 7.4 tremor, according to the United States Geological Survey, although the Russian emergency authorities gave its estimate at magnitude 7.1.

The quake, which struck at a depth of around 640 kilometres, triggered waves that posed a threat to coastal communities in the region, with authorities saying that the potential wave height could be anywhere from 0.5 to 10 metres.

A sizeable precaution surge could be observed in real-time via satellite, with the wave allegedly reaching a height of roughly 0.5 metres and rolling ashore.

The Kamchatka peninsula, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, experiences frequent earthquakes, thanks to several tectonic plates colliding under its soil.

The most powerful earthquake to hit the region was in 1952, when a magnitude 9.0 tremor struck, followed by a devastating tsunami.

The 1952 quake left more than 1,000 people dead and around 5,000 others injured. Over the past century, the peninsula has experienced more than 10 quakes of magnitude 8 or higher.

The Kamchatka region has a population of around 450,000, with its capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, having a population of more than 187,000 people.

The peninsula, known for its stunning volcanic landscapes, is a popular tourist destination for adventurous travellers.

Apart from the potential damage to buildings and infrastructure, like any quake, today's incident also poses a threat to the region's volcanic activity, with the area being home to around 300 volcanoes, 30 of which are active.

The aftershocks of the quake could trigger more volcanic activity, which could, in turn, set off more earthquakes, creating a dangerous cycle that might take a severe toll on the region's infrastructure and, more importantly, its people.

The Russian authorities have reportedly not issued any tsunami warning yet, but the region's civil defence authority has asked locals to refrain from visiting coastal areas and stay away from potentially dangerous buildings and structures.

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