New Delhi Apr 23 PTI The Congress on Saturday slammed the Union government over the inflation issue and asked what it was doing to bring down the prices of essential commodities which were grinding the households of common peopleFormer Congress president Rahul Gandhi said while the rate of inflation was 695 per cent the interest rate of fixed deposits in banks was only 5 per centForget depositing Rs 15 lakh to your bank accounts PM Modis masterstrokes have demolished your hard-earned savings he said on TwitterCongress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said that whenever the party raised the issue of rising prices the debate got centred around petrol diesel and LPG but the reality was that Consumer Price Inflation Index has seen a higher percentage rise than petrolShe claimed that 235 out of 299 things on that list that included that includes poultry fish milk ghee basic flour Atta edible oil pulses onion brinjal and many other vegetables have seen a higher percentage price rise than petrol in the last eight yearsShrinate also claimed that the cost of getting treatment in a hospital has gone up 71 per cent while medicines eating out tuition fees and house rents have all seen a steep price rise than even fuel pricesWe have two questions to raise before the government What is the governments strategy to rein in inflation This price rise has come at a time when 84 per cent of people have seen their incomes erode and 15 crore of the poorest households have seen their incomes half due to this government she saidWe demand that the government cuts the prices of diesel petrol and LPG sharply which will have a cascading effect on most of these things It is high time that instead of distracting and shifting the blame the government must present a white paper on high prices and the economy Shrinate said PTI SKC NSD NSD NSD

New Delhi Sep 23 PTI The Congress Thursday said the Supreme Courts oral directive to set up a technical expert committee to inquire into the Pegasus snooping row is a step in the right direction but asserted a full investigation monitored by the apex court is the simple solutionThe Pegasus Spy scandal is not an issue to protect national security but an assault on national security and privacy by the Modi government Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala saidThe solution is simple -- A SC-monitored full investigation SC observation of setting up a technical committee is a right step in this direction he said on TwitterCongress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also said that based on media reports a probe into the matter will ensure that national security is not compromisedShe said one should also understand that the people allegedly snooped upon were not just political opponents of the ruling party but also those in constitutional positionsThe reality is that snooping was done on people who were in elected positions of power which also compromises the Official Secrets Act and there was never a bigger compromise on national security than Pegasus she saidWe will only say that there has to be a full-fledged probe by the Supreme Court of India under its supervisionbecause anything less than that is not going to be satisfactory as far as national security is concerned Shrinate saidThe Congress leader said the party welcomes the setting up of the technical expert but it has to be a part of a larger probe And I hope it will beIn a significant development the Supreme Court Thursday observed orally that it will set up a technical expert committee to inquire into the Pegasus snooping matter and pass an interim order next week on a batch of pleas seeking an independent probe into the entire issueThe apex courts observations on constituting the committee assume significance in view of the Centres statement that it would set up an expert panel on its own to look into the grievances of the alleged surveillance of certain eminent Indians by hacking their phones using Israeli firm NSOs spyware PegasusA bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana which was to hear some other matter addressed senior lawyer C U Singh one of the counsels in the pleas that the order will be pronounced next week PTI SKC TIR TIR