WION news brief, March 4, 2018
Follow UsStory highlights
The Congress has staked its claim to form the next government in Meghalaya. Senior party leaders met Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad last night to stake claim.
In its letter to the Governor, the Congress said that it was the single largest party in the state and should be invited to form government at the earliest.
"Congress has become the single largest party in the state and constitutional propriety dictates that the Congress be invited to form the government at the earliest. Majority would be proven on the floor House at the date and time decided by you (Governor)"
Riding the crest of a Modi wave, the BJP on Saturday demolished the communist citadel of Tripura, winning a two-third majority with ally IPFT and ending 25 years of uninterrupted rule of the CPI(M)-led Left Front.
In Nagaland, though the BJP-NDPP alliance failed to secure a majority with the state throwing up a hung Assembly, the party's participation in the future government looks certain.
The ruling NPF, which emerged as the single largest party, extended invitation to the BJP to join the new dispensation, though the BJP-NDPP combine might be able to form a government with help from smaller parties like the NPP, JD(U) and an Independent.
The NPF is the single largest party in the House with 27 seats.
The BJP-NDPP combine has won 29 seats (BJP 12, NDPP 17). The NPP of Conrad Sangma, an NEDA partner of the BJP, has won two seats and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) one.
A North Korean official on Sunday threatened the US yet again if it takes part in the joint military exercises with South Korea in the coming months.
The United States is due to start joint exercises in early April, a South Korean presidential security adviser said this week according to Yonhap news agency - the latest in a series of drills that the north has regularly described as a threat.
“If the U.S. finally holds joint military exercises while keeping sanctions on the DPRK, the DPRK will counter the U.S. by its own mode of counteraction and the U.S. will be made to own all responsibilities for the ensuing consequences,” North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said in its commentary, saying the drills would harm reconciliation efforts on the peninsula.
The authorities on Sunday confirmed the death of the gunman, who had shot himself in front of the White House on Saturday.
"Adult male has been declared deceased," the Washington, DC Police Department said on Twitter.
The gunman has been identified by the Secret service and the Metropolitan Police Department, but his name has not been disclosed citing security reasons.
India shooter Shahzar Rizvi made his maiden International Shooting Sports Federation World Cup appearance a memorable one by winning the gold medal in the 10m air pistol event at Guadalajara in Mexico on Saturday.
Rizvi shot a world record score of 242.3 points in the final to beat Christian Reitz of Germany, 239.7 points, to win the top honour.
Ace India shooter Jitu Rai won the bronze in the event with a score of 219 points. In the Women's 10M Air Rifle, Mehuli Ghosh grabbed bronze for India.