Congress leader Shashi Tharoor met with the parents of 26-year-old Anna Sebastian, an Ernst & Young employee, who reportedly died due to extreme work pressure. Tharoor highlighted that if a company requires employees to work 16-hour days consistently, they should consider hiring more staff.
During his “emotional” visit, Tharoor shared a picture with Sebastian’s parents on social media handle X. Congress MP informed that he spoke with them about the urgent need for an inquiry and accountability, as well as a new law to address “toxic work culture”.
Paid an emotional visit to the parents of EY India’s Anna Sebastian Perayil, who died of a heart attack at age 26 from overwork and intolerable stress &pressure from her managers. Discussed with her anguished parents the need for an inquiry and accountability, new laws and… pic.twitter.com/2Lebg5NSbc
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 25, 2024
“Discussed with her anguished parents the need for an inquiry and accountability, new laws and regulations to reform the toxic work culture of bottom-line-obsessed under-staffed establishments, & better training for mid-level managers,” the post read.
“If a company needs 16-hour days and nights from its employees all the time, it needs to hire more people, not abuse the rights of those it recruits and exploits,” he further added.
Earlier, the Tharoor shared that he had a deeply emotional conversation with Anna’s father, Shri Sibi Joseph. Tharoor said their agreement on the need to address this issue by proposing legislation in Parliament for a fixed calendar to regulate working hours across all workplaces.
The tragic death of 26-year-old Anna Sebastian Perayil, a chartered accountant at Ernst & Young (EY) in Pune, has raised serious concerns about work pressure in high-stress environments. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor shared that he had a deeply emotional conversation with Anna’s father, Shri Sibi Joseph. Tharoor emphasised their agreement on the need to address this issue by proposing legislation in Parliament for a fixed calendar to regulate working hours across all workplaces.
Tharoor Rection On The Incident
On the microblogging site X, Mr Tharoor, a Member of Parliament from Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, announced that Anna passed away from a cardiac arrest after “four months of deeply stressful, seven-day weeks of 14-hour days” at the Big Four accounting firm.
“Had a deeply emotional and heartrending conversation with Shri Sibi Joseph, the father of young Anna Sebastian, who passed away after a cardiac arrest, following four months of deeply stressful seven-day weeks of 14 hours a day at Ernst&Young,” the post read.
‘He suggested, and I agreed, that I raise the issue of legislating, through Parliament, a fixed calendar for all workplaces, whether in the private sector or the public, that would not exceed eight hours a day, five days a week,” Thiruvananthapuram MP said.
Had a deeply emotional and heartrending conversation with Shri Sibi Joseph, the father of young Anna Sebastian, who passed away after a cardiac arrest, following four months of deeply stressful seven-day weeks of 14 hours a day at Ernst&Young. He suggested, and I agreed, that I…
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 20, 2024
He questioned why human rights don’t extend to the workplace and asserted that he would raise this matter at the first opportunity during the next session of Parliament.
“Inhumanity at the workplace must be legislated out of existence with stringent punishment and fines for offenders. Human rights do not stop at the workplace! Will raise this matter at the first opportunity during the next session of parliament,” he added.
Anna’s mother, Anita Augustine, recently reached out to EY India Chairman Rajiv Memani, expressing her distress over the overwork within the company. This incident has raised urgent questions about employee well-being in the corporate sector.
New Delhi: Amidst the ongoing violence in Bangladesh, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said that it is challenging for people in India to remain indifferent when every symbol of friendship between the two countries is under attack.
While highlighting the turmoil in Bangladesh, Tharoor said that it is tragic to witness what was once celebrated as a democratic revolution devolving into anarchy, and violence targeting the minorities and the Hindu minority.
He further added that India needs to stand with the people of Bangladesh.
“It’s extremely tragic that what was hailed as a democratic, popular revolution has degenerated into anarchy, and violence targeting the minorities and the Hindu minority… We in India must stand with the people of Bangladesh. But it’s difficult for us to be indifferent when every symbol of India’s friendship with Bangladesh is being attacked,” Tharoor said, ANI reported.
Tharoor exaggerated how several institutions were vandalised during the ongoing violence, making it a “very negative” sign for people in India.
“The statue of the surrender of the Pakistani forces to Indian soldiers has been smashed to bits. The Indian Cultural Centre is destroyed, and a number of institutions are vandalised, including the ISKCON temple. All of these things are very negative signs for people in India. It is not in Bangladesh’s interest either to come across in this way,” he said.
“They should be saying that this is about the restoration of their democracy, but in the process, you turn against the minorities and in particular one minority, inevitably, that will be noticed and resented in our country and elsewhere…” Tharoor added.
Bangladesh is facing a volatile political situation after Sheikh Hasina resigned as Prime Minister on August 5. The protests, led mainly by students demanding an end to a quota system for government jobs, evolved into anti-government demonstrations.
New Delhi: Ahead of the PM Modi’s swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi, Congress senior leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday took a jibe at the landmark event. Congress leader said that will watch the India-Pakistan match instead of attending the ceremony. “I have not been invited to the swearing-in, so I’ll be watching the (India vs Pakistan) match,” Tharoor told ANI after a Congress parliamentary party meeting here on Saturday. India and Pakistan are set to play a World Cup T-20 match in the United States on June 9 at around 8 PM IST.
#WATCH | On leaders of foreign countries invited for the swearing-in ceremony of PM-designate Narendra Modi, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor says, “I think that’s a good tradition of inviting the neighbouring countries. But this time there’s one less. He has not invited Pakistan.… pic.twitter.com/ztCTVprpX6
— ANI (@ANI) June 8, 2024
PM Modi’s Oath Ceremony
Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi is set to take the oath on June 9 at 7:15 PM. As Narendra Modi will be sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third consecutive time, several leaders and State heads of neighbourhood region and Indian Ocean region have been invited for Modi’s swearing-in ceremony as distinguished guests, a testament to India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in an official statement on Saturday said, “President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe; President of Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu; Vice-President of Seychelles, Ahmed Afif; Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina; Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth; Prime Minister of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’; and Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, have accepted the invitation to attend.”
The Congress leader said, “The event marks a good tradition of inviting the leaders of the neighbouring countries.” Tharoor also noted the significance of inviting the Maldives to the swearing-in, despite recent controversies. He expressed confidence in the meeting between the Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu and Prime Minister Modi after the ceremony.
No Invitation To Pakistan
For the oath-taking ceremony, India has invited its neighbouring countries, except Pakistan.”India has invited its neighboring countries except Pakistan, which is sending a signal,” Tharoor commented. “That’s a good tradition that was started in Prime Minister Modi’s swearing-in ceremony. But this time there’s one less. He has not invited Pakistan. So again, that also sends a signal,” he said.
Adding further he said, “It’s good that at least the Maldives is at least making the effort to come here and speak. They have not been particularly friendly or receptive to our interests for some time now. This particular president is coming here for the first time. I am assuming that the visit will be taken advantage of for some meetings on the side as well.”
On being asked about how you see the country’s foreign policy under PM Modi’s era, Tharoor remarked, “It’s long and complicated with a mixed record of some positive and negative experiences, which need to be discussed in Parliament,” he told ANI.
Lok Sabha Elections Results 2024
The BJP got 240 seats and NDA has secured 292 seats out of 543 Lok Sabha seats. The INDIA bloc has bagged 233 seats. Others have won 18 seats in the lower house of Parliament. The Congress secured 99 seats. Samajwadi Party got 37 seats while Trinamool Congress 29. DMK managed to win 22 seats.
Kerala Lok Sabha Elections 2024: 25.61% of polling was recorded till 11 am in Kerala’s 20 Lok Sabha seats for the 2024 general election after commencement of voting at 7am on Friday. People began arriving at the state’s over 25,000 polling booths early in the morning to avoid the expected hot weather later in the day. During the election, over 66,000 security personnel were deployed and a webcasting system was used to monitor the process.
Voting began with a mock poll that included votes for all candidates, including NOTA, listed on an EVM.
According to the EC’s instructions, at least 50 votes were cast in the mock poll, and actual polling began after the EVMs were cleared. Around 2.77 crore voters will decide the fate of the 194 candidates contesting the state’s 20 Lok Sabha constituencies.
Will the BJP’s drought in Kerala end? Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sharp attack on the Congress boost turnout after a relatively muted voter enthusiasm last week? These are some of the questions on people’s minds ahead of the second phase of Lok Sabha elections.
Key Candidates In Fray In Kerala Lok Sabha Elections:
Among the notable candidates contesting in this phase are Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Kerala’s Wayanad, where he faces the CPI’s Annie Raja and state BJP chief K. Surendran, and Congress’ Shashi Tharoor vs BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram.
Two union ministers, the majority of sitting MPs, a state minister, three actors, and a few MLAs were among the candidates who tried their political luck this time in Kerala, where the CPI(M)-led ruling LDF, the Congress-led UDF, and the BJP-led NDA all ran active and aggressive poll campaigns.
The BJP is relying on actor Suresh Gopi, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and Anil Antony, the son of veteran Congress leader A K Antony, to establish a presence in Kerala, which has never elected a BJP MP. Chandrasekhar faces three-time Congress MP Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram.
senior congress leader Shashi Tharoor Called the New Delhi Declaration at the G20 Summit a diplomatic victory for India. He praised External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant for successfully organizing the event. He said, this was a proud moment for India in G20.
Tharoor said – Very good Amitabh Kant
Tagging Kant’s comments regarding building consensus on the paragraph on Russia-Ukraine in an interview, Shashi Tharoor wrote on social media platform ‘X’, Well done Amitabh Kant. It seems that when you selected the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Forest Service lost an excellent diplomat. Tharoor said in a post on Saturday night, regarding the consensus on ‘Delhi Declaration’, India’s G20 Sherpa says that talks were held with Russia, China, the final draft was received last night itself. Proud moment for India in G20.
Government does not show G20-like spirit of accommodation in resolving domestic issues: Tharoor
senior congress leader Shashi Tharoor Taking aim at the Centre, he said on Sunday that the way efforts were made to create a consensus on the ‘Delhi Declaration’, it is a matter of regret that the government did not show the same level of reconciliation and cooperation in resolving domestic issues. Emotions are not visible. He said that it is sad that the spirit of adjustment seen in G20 is absent in Indian politics. Tagging one of Kant’s early posts, Tharoor said on ‘X’ on Sunday that it was regrettable that the government does not adopt the same approach of reconciliation and cooperation in resolving domestic issues.
#WATCH , On G-20 Summit, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, “I’m in touch with both Amitabh Kant, the G-20 Sherpa, and with our foreign minister, and I would congratulate them because what they have done is certainly very, very good for India. It is not easy to pull off a… pic.twitter.com/9DavRq7FUe
Tharoor’s pain expressed over opposition not being included in the conference
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor expressed his pain over not including the opposition in the G20 summit. “The failure to invite the leader of the opposition and indeed any opposition MP to any G20 event, reception, dinner etc underlines my point,” he said. No other democracy would ignore its own MPs in this manner on such a global stage.
Ukraine issue handled very effectively: Tharoor
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, while discussing India’s diplomacy at the G20 summit, said, the Ukraine issue was handled very effectively in the summit. In fact, in the ‘New Delhi Leaders Summit Declaration’ of the G20 countries on Saturday, it was said that today’s era is not an era of war and in view of this, the declaration called upon all countries to maintain the principles of international law including territorial integrity and sovereignty. And it was advocated for maintaining peace in Ukraine. Threatening to use nuclear weapons is unacceptable, the manifesto said.
IMEE Economic Corridor new initiative: Tharoor
Congress leader Tharoor said on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, the India Middle East EU initiative is completely new. It has tremendous potential for the future, provided it is implemented properly. I would say on this, this is a welcome initiative. But we have to see how well it is implemented in our country and in other countries that are part of this initiative.
No government has celebrated hosting like this: Tharoor
Regarding the G20 summit, Shashi Tharoor said, India has hosted many summits in the past as well, but no government has celebrated hosting like this. “It really made it a big nationwide event,” he added. 200 meetings in 58 cities. All these things were unprecedented. The credit for taking the message of G-20 to all the people goes to India. But this is also an attempt by the ruling party to use G-20 in its own interest.
Delhi was locked down for three days: Tharoor
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor strongly criticized the Narendra Modi government at the Center for shutting down Delhi for hosting the G20 summit. He said the national capital was completely closed for three days for the summit. It is noteworthy that Delhi Police had made it clear that entire Delhi will not remain closed during the summit, restrictions have been imposed only on the area where the event is being held.
India got big success in G20 summit, approval given to New Delhi Leaders Summit
It is noteworthy that India achieved a major diplomatic victory on Saturday and despite many differences on the Russia-Ukraine war, India unanimously issued a declaration at the G20 summit. Amitabh Kant said on Sunday that a team of Indian diplomats held continuous talks for more than 200 hours to reach a consensus on the ‘G20 Declaration’ adopted at the ‘Leaders’ Summit here. A team of diplomats, including joint secretaries E Gambhir and K Nagaraj Naidu, held 300 bilateral meetings and distributed 15 draft drafts to their counterparts on the contentious Ukraine conflict to build consensus on the first day of the ‘G20 Leaders Summit’. Kant said, the most complex part of the entire G20 summit was to build a consensus on the geopolitical paragraph (Russia-Ukraine). This was done with over 200 hours of continuous negotiations, 300 bilateral meetings, 15 drafts. Kant said that Naidu and Gambhir supported him a lot in this endeavour.