While a comprehensive action plan for taking on the PM Modi-led NDA government in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be finalised at the end of the INDIA alliance meeting on Friday, the crucial discussions on a seat-sharing formula are likely to be left to state-level committees comprising leaders of various parties, according to Congress sources.
The Modi government on Thursday announced its plan to convene a five-day special session of Parliament beginning September 18, catching political circles and the opposition by surprise and triggering speculation about Lok Sabha polls being advanced to be held along with the coming round of assembly elections scheduled for November-December.
The IAF is going full steam ahead in making the airspace over the Delhi-National Capital Region as impregnable as possible, with fighter jets, surface-to-air missile systems, anti-drone systems, airborne early-warning and control systems (AEW&C) and other sensors being deployed for the G20 summit on September 9-10.
China justified its decision to release the latest edition of its map, which continued to show Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as part of that country, calling it a routine exercise and asking India to refrain from “over-interpreting” the move. India had on Tuesday lodged a strong protest with China for the map that was released days after PM Narendra Modi’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Johannesburg.
A man from Jammu’s Chatha area suffered injuries in a low-intensity explosion at his brother’s residence on the city’s outskirts on Wednesday, SSP Jammu Chandan Kohli said.
Karnataka's Higher Education Minister MC Sudhakar praised the decision to implement a new state education policy, calling it historic. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar announced the state's plan to create a new education policy, replacing the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP). The decision follows discussions with educational representatives, and a committee will be formed for the new policy.
“Due to the considerable reduction in the flow of pilgrims and the urgent repairs and maintenance of the Yatra tracks at vulnerable stretches being undertaken by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), movement of pilgrims on both tracks leading to the Holy Cave is not advisable,” Shree Amarnath Shrine Board said.
Currently, this team is on a new mission - coaching children stranded in Manipur's relief camps in the midst of an ethnic conflict that has plunged the state into civil unrest since May.
"August 2023 could potentially experience around 40% rainfall deficit - higher than the 25% deficit recorded in 2005 (the driest August in history since 1913)," M Rajeevan, veteran meteorologist and former secretary in the Union ministry of earth sciences, said on Saturday.
At the garden on Saturday, J&K administration’s secretary (floriculture, gardens and parks) Fayaz Sheikh was honoured with the certification by World Book president and CEO Santosh Shukla. World Book editor Dilip N Pandit, the J&K director of floriculture, other officers and the garden staff were also present on the occasion.
CEC discussed preparations in poll-bound Chhattisgarh and discussed some seats. Of 90 seats, the CEC discussed the panel of candidates on 27 seats, the sources said, adding that the party has categorised seats into four categories - A, B, C, D - for better planning in its electoral effort.
An intense spell of heavy rainfall between Sunday night and Monday wreaked havoc in several parts of Uttarakhand, leaving at least three people dead and five missing - taking the toll in rain-related incidents in the state this monsoon to 63 with over 20 still untraceable.
Police medals for bravery in fighting left-wing extremism in India are more numerous than for counter-terrorism operations in J&K, repeating the same trend witnessed earlier this year on Republic Day. Of the 954 police medals announced, 125 were for gallantry in combating left-wing extremism, and 71 for counter-terrorism in J&K.
Over 200 village heads from border villages across five Indian states will attend the Independence Day celebration at the Red Fort in New Delhi. The village heads are part of the Centre's vibrant village programme, which aims to prioritise development in strategically important villages along the border with China. The programme will provide opportunities for livelihood, as well as facilities such as electricity, solar and wind energy, tourism centres and health and wellness centres. The government hopes to prevent migration and promote reverse migration by generating economic activities in the area.
The India Medical Association (IMA) has criticised the National Medical Commission (NMC) over mandatory generic drug prescriptions demanding wider consultation be done before implementation takes place. For doctors not prescribing a generic drug to a patient, the NMC has proposed that penalties will be incurred, however, the IMA believes that this decision will negatively impact patient care and safety.
Weapons, ammunition and explosives were seized during search operations in five districts of strife-torn Manipur as security agencies went into overdrive against the backdrop of militant outfits calling for a boycott of Independence Day celebrations planned by the government across the hill and valley districts.
Ahead of another round of top-level military talks with China on Monday, the Indian defence establishment says there are "more than adequate" number of Army troops deployed in eastern Ladakh, while the IAF is also maintaining a "robust posture" with combat air patrols and induction of new weapon systems like Israeli drones that can carry missiles and bombs.
Indians finally have a data law to guard their online information, and the government has now instructed all the data intermediaries – be it the Big Tech, banks, insurance companies, e-commerce players, or other social media and internet giants – to ‘strictly protect’ the privacy of users or run the risk of facing penalties. Ashwini Vaishnaw, the minister for communications and IT, says India’s legislation is unique as it lays out the law through a simplified version.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023 seeks to introduce a provision for attachment and forfeiture of proclaimed offenders' properties located not just within the country but also outside India. Also, new sections are proposed to be added to make waging of war against the government of a foreign State at peace with India as well as committing of depredation on the territory of such foreign State, an offence punishable with up to seven years in prison.
Fifty nurses, along with their families, are among nearly 1,800 persons invited as "special guests" to listen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on Independence Day from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15. They have been invited as part of the government's initiative to invite people from all walks of life. "It is good that the nursing profession is being recognised.
PM Modi on Saturday told a gathering of G20 ministerial group on anticorruption that his government is “aggressively pursuing” economic offenders and wanted the world’s largest economies to set an example by using non-conviction-based confiscations to expedite the recovery of foreign assets.
The government has deployed three public sector hydro power companies to fast-track 12 languishing hydel projects in Arunachal Pradesh, including the 2,000MW Upper Subansiri project, as a strategic response to China's dam-building spree near the northeast border. Three public sector hydel companies - NHPC, SJVN and NEEPCO, a subsidiary of thermal power giant NTPC - signed MoUs with the Arunachal government in Itanagar for taking over the projects with aggregate capacity of 11,517MW.
Suspecting a systemic flaw in the killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother while in police custody, the Supreme Court Friday sought probe status in 183 encounter killings that took place in Uttar Pradesh after BJP assumed office under CM Yogi Adityanath and said it wanted to put in place a pan-India mechanism, in sync with NHRC guidelines, to probe such killings.
One of the key changes proposed in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, is doing away with the much-misused Section 124A of the existing Indian Penal Code, which deals with the rather loosely defined offence of “sedition”. The proposed law still provides for stiff punishment for “secessionist, armed rebellion and subversive activities” aimed against the country’s sovereignty as well as its unity and integrity.
Large tech giants will be nudged to fall in line with India's new data law by the end of one year, minister of state for IT & electronics Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Friday, adding that it's not just the private entities that will be held accountable for any data leaks and deficiencies in handling privacy of citizens, but the government will be equally responsible and answerable for any kind of data mismanagement.
Aiming to deter hit and run cases, the government has proposed a new provision of up to 10-year jail term and fine for offending drivers, if the accused flees from the scene or fails to report the incident to police or magistrate soon after the incident. Currently, there is no such provision in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
India will once again press for troop disengagement at the strategically located Depsang Plains as well as Demchok in eastern Ladakh during the next round of top-level military talks early next week.The 19th round of corps commander-level talks will be held on the Indian side of the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on August 14, almost four months after the last round failed to break the deadlock, defence sources said on Friday.
The opposition INDIA alliance has instructed spokespersons to refer to the coalition as "INDIA Alliance" or "Team INDIA" and create common social media platforms to counter the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led ruling BJP and NDA. With assembly elections coming up later this year, a major issue is to campaign against the ECI Bill, which proposes to bias the selection committee for the Chief Election Commissioner towards the government. The alliance partners are also focussing on forming committees, state-wise captains, and joint strategies to take on the government.
The Centre on Thursday introduced a bill in the Rajya Sabha proposing a new mechanism to select the chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (ECs) — replacing the Chief Justice of India in the three-member selection panel with a Union Cabinet minister — in effect giving the government a decisive say in appointments to the poll body.
PM Modi Thursday pledged the country’s support to the people in trouble-torn Manipur, calling the northeast a “piece of our heart”. “India stands with Manipur. This House stands with Manipur,” he said, replying to the debate on the no-trust motion brought against the government.
Lok Sabha witnessed a heated exchange on the second day of the debate on the no-confidence motion moved by Congress, with Rahul Gandhi accusing the government of destroying ‘Bharat Mata’ and branding governing party members as “traitors”, which drew a sharp retort from Union ministers Amit Shah and Smriti Irani, who asked the former Congress chief not to politicise the ethnic strife in Manipur.
Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav on Wednesday reached out to All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi and asked him to join hands against the BJP. The move is being seen as a sign of thaw between the two parties which have been at loggerheads.
After clashes in Nuh on July 31 and communal tension in other parts of south Haryana, over 50 panchayats in three districts -- Rewari, Mahendergarh and Jhajjar - have over the past few days released letters, all identically worded, barring the entry of Muslim traders.
As expected, the government and opposition traded charges on the first day of the debate on the no-confidence motion, with Congress leading the attack, attributing the exercise to PM Modi’s ‘maun vrat’ (vow of silence) on Manipur and the treasury benches calling it a vote against a government which worked for the poor.
Terrorism and separatism are on their deathbeds and the time is not far when the terror ecosystem will fully crumble in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha said on Monday, urging every household in J&K to reject terrorism and join the march of peace.
It was a pleasant day for the Congress on Monday as two of its senior MPs returned to Parliament after action was taken against both of them. Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi had lost his membership of the Lok Sabha on March 24 after being convicted in the Modi surname remark case by a Surat court. Rajni Patil was suspended from Rajya Sabha for filming the proceedings of the House. Rahul's disqualification was revoked after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction on August 4. Patil's suspension was also revoked on the recommendation of the basis of the report of the Rajya Sabha's Committee on Privileges.
An Expert Committee constituted in Assam to examine whether the state assembly is competent enough to make a law on ending polygamy in the state submitted its report to chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday. In a press conference, the CM said he will introduce a legislation on the issue in the current financial year.
At least 46 concrete structures, among them houses and business establishments like pharmacies and mobile repair stores, and 39 shanties were brought down in Nuh on Saturday afternoon, a day after state home minister Anil Vij said bulldozers are part of the “ilaaj (treatment)” as the government probes communal violence that began in the district on July 31 and spread to Gurgaon and other parts of south Haryana.
Protests and contrasting sentiments were witnessed in J&K on the fourth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the former state into Union territories, reflecting the continuing divide on the decision that stripped its statehood and special status on August 5, 2019.
BJP's national in-charge of infornation and technology department Amit Malviya on Saturday said Jammu and Kashmir has made a momentous progress after the nullification of Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution on August 5, 2019. He said the Union Territory (UT) of J&K has witnessed tremendous growth and the lives of the people have got transformed in the last four years due to the initiatives of the central government after the abrogation of the two Articles.
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Enforcement Directorate to give “a clear-cut picture” on the money trail in the case relating to change of liquor policy in which Delhi’s former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and several others were arrested.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a defamation case over his Modi surname remark, faulting the trial court order for awarding the maximum punishment of two years — which led to his disqualification from the Lok Sabha — without spelling out any specific reason, though maintaining that his utterance was “not in good taste”. The court's order would restore him as the MP from Wayanad.
As average retail prices of wheat and atta continue to rise, the government is looking at several options, including reduction in the import duty and reducing the quantity of the foodgrain that wholesalers and traders can keep with them at any given point of time, to bring them down. It is likely to take these steps soon, to increase availability in the market and also avoid a spike in prices during the poll year.
An expert committee on reviving stalled real estate projects has proposed several measures, including changes to the insolvency law and a moratorium on payment to land-owning authorities affected by “unusual circumstances” (four years in case of Noida properties) to help improve the finances of builders so that they can complete and hand over apartments to homebuyers.
In a big victory for Antrix in its long-drawn legal fight against Bengaluru-based Devas Multimedia and its foreign investors on American soil, the Ninth Circuit Court in California, which is by far the largest of the 13 US Courts of Appeals, has allowed the appeal of Isro’s commercial arm in totality and reversed the confirmation of the ICC award of $1.3 billion against Antrix earlier given by the district court at Seattle in a decade-old case of the failed satellite deal in 2005.
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