Gunman kills 4 at Oklahoma hospital
In 2014, Narendra Modi became only the second Indian Prime Minister to ascend to the top post while being a sitting chief minister. This is why when PM Modi spoke of cooperative federalism, there was a sense he genuinely wanted to reimagine the skewed balance of power between the Centre and state governments. Eight years later, that promise of a federal compact is falling apart, trapped in vindictive politics, mutual recrimination and the hubris of near-absolute power, writes senior journalist and author Rajdeep Sardesai. A broader, more ominous Centre versus states conflict is raging on a range of issues, from revenue-sharing formulas and administrative controls to the implementation of the NEET medical exam. There is another sharpening cleavage: BJP versus non-bjp-ruled states. While the Centre may feel emboldened to call the shots, the institutional damage an asymmetry of power between the Centre and states could do is enormous.
A man armed with a rifle and a handgun killed four people inside a medical building in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Wednesday before fatally shooting himself, police said, in the latest of a series of mass shootings to rattle the United States. Police arrived at the St. Francis Hospital campus three minutes after receiving a call about the shooting on Wednesday afternoon. Police said they were trying to determine the suspect’s identity, who they estimated was aged between 35 and 40, and had no details yet on his motive. The building in question contains doctors’ offices including an orthopedic centre, Tulsa deputy police chief Eric Dalgleish said, adding he believed the victims included employees and patients. It was not clear how many other people might have been wounded.
Patidar leader Hardik Patel, who quit the Congress last month, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday, months ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections. Addressing reporters, Patel said his fight to seek reservation in government jobs and colleges for his community under the other backward classes (OBC) category ended in 2019 when the Centre approved a 10% quota for economically backward classes (EBC) in general category. “My fight for reservation had ended then. The EBC quota includes not just the Patidar community but other communities as well,” Patel, who joined the BJP in the presence of state party chief CR Patil. The 28-yearold said he joined the BJP without any expectation of getting a ticket for the upcoming polls. He said he would serve as a “common worker” and as a “small soldier” under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.