Here's the full text of President's Ram Nath Kovind's address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on the first of Budget Session 2022.
The Delhi government had been forced to impose lockdown amid a steep rise in COVID-19 cases on April 20. Although, the cases have come down and positivity rate has reduced from the high of 35 per cent on April 26 to around 23 per cent now, but strictness is needed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Punjab visit was cut short on Wednesday after a "major security lapse" as he was stranded on a flyover for 20 minutes due to a blockade by protesters, prompting the Union Home Ministry to seek an immediate report from the state government and strict action against those responsible.
Reviving their demand for five per cent reservation in jobs, Gujjars in Rajasthan on Thursday launched an agitation, blocking railway tracks, even as the state government expressed readiness to have talks with them.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the worst Covid-19 affected state of Maharashtra to be more vigilant and make concerted efforts in identifying and sending the migrant workers still stranded there to their native places. The top court, which directed all states and Union territories to transport all stranded workers by train, bus or other modes within 15 days, said there were "huge lapses" by the Maharashtra authorities in dealing with the issue and asked the government there to announce a suitable place for their registration.
The accused in the sensational murder of 24-year-old IT professional Swathi on a railway platform allegedly committed suicide at the Puzhal Central prison in Chennai on Sunday, police said.
The waterlogging under the colonial-era bridge has again come into sharp focus after a 56-year-old driver of a mini-truck died allegedly due to drowning there on Sunday following a heavy downpour in the morning.
During this period, all government and private offices, shopping complexes, malls, bars, sports complexes, pubs and beauty parlours will remain closed.
Why should an elected government, any party's government, need a law to protect itself from its people? asks Shekhar Gupta.
'This is not the first time that a large contingent of Assam armed police led by senior officers attacked and destroyed farm huts, crops and plantations of Mizo farmers.' 'There have been a series of such intrusions in the past and the pace of such intrusions increased in the recent past.'
The chief minister pointed out that prompt action had been taken by the Punjab Police and the accused had been caught without delay, unlike in the Hathras incident. "That was why Rahul Gandhi had to rush to Hathras, to secure justice for the victim's family, and did not need to visit Hoshiarpur," he said.
Torrential rains pounded the tiny Himalayan state of Sikkim and the tea growing region of North Bengal, causing landslides that cut off National Highway-10, the main road linking Gangtok with the rest of the country.
A separate standard operating procedure will be issued by the tourism department for precautions to be taken while operating these establishments, an official release said.
Even as the Maharashtra government claims it is implementing in phases the Ram Pradhan committee report, which examined the government's response to the 26/11 terror attacks, gaping holes still exist in the security apparatus.
Rahul Kulkarni, journalist with a Marathi news channel, was arrested by Mumbai Police on Wednesday, a day after several migrant workers gathered near Bandra station in Mumbai demanding that they be sent back to their home towns.
Addressing a press conference on measures taken during 21-days lockdown imposed from March 25 to contain the spread of Covid-19, MHA joint secretary Punya Salila Srivastva said the situation of essential goods and services is under control. To strengthen this situation, the home ministry has written to state governments that both inter-state and intra-state movement of trucks and goods carriers should be allowed during the 21-day countrywide lockdown announced by the central government irrespective of the cargo being essential or non-essential.
On Wednesday, Bengal's own daughter she firmly pitched herself as, was sworn in as the chief minister of the turbulent state for the third successive term amid raging fires of political violence and a rampaging pandemic.
A tragic train accident in Amritsar on Friday took a political turn with the Opposition accusing the state's Congress government for lapses in allowing celebrations near railway tracks.
Maharashtra CM said a high-level committee will probe the circumstances under which the 40-year-old overbridge collapsed.
Muslims across the country have joined the agitation, apprehending that the move could be a precursor to a country-wide NRC.
The weekend curfew, aimed at breaking the chain of spiralling coronavirus infections, was clamped at 10 pm on Friday and will continue till 5 am on Monday.
The Indian Meteorological Department, meanwhile, warned of intense spell of 30 to 50 mm rainfall per hour with strong winds in Mumbai and suburban areas.
A day after the Patna high court slammed the Bihar government for its poor handling of the second wave of the pandemic and sought to know whether it was enforcing lockdown or not, the administration on Tuesday announced imposition of lockdown from May 5 to May 15.
Some eyewitnesses said the driver, who is among the injured, tried to speed across the level crossing even when onlookers tried to draw his attention to the approaching train.
The deadline given by the Haryana police to controversial 'godman' Rampal to surrender and his followers to vacate his ashram has ended. Police said that water and electricity connection to the ashram have been cut off.
The Wuhan lockdown was lifted even as epidemiologists warned that it is not the time to completely lower the guard and ease on full-scale restrictions, considering the looming asymptomatic patients and possible rebound in infections, the official media reported.
"For decades in our country, the meaning of the Budget was restricted to what announcements were made in whose name. The Budget was turned into an account of the vote bank," Modi said.
'The bureaucracy in J&K feel completely disowned by the Centre.' 'The majority of officers under the scanner have not committed any irregularities and the Centre knows that.'
Mohare, who is in his mid-20s, lived close to the girl's home, Kamla Nagar police station in-charge Alok Shrivastava said.
The West Bengal government on Saturday sought support of the Indian Army, railways and port for restoring essential infrastructure and services in the cyclone-ravaged areas of the state. It also urged private entities to provide manpower and equipment for the purpose.
Incidents of arson, firing and vandalism were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab as protesters agitated against the dilution of the SC/ST Act.
Samples of 1,143 servitors were tested on Monday night, as per directives of the Supreme Court.
An eyewitness said some people in a minibus and private cars were trapped.
Thackeray said he was in constant touch with the Centre over the issue of running more trains to ferry migrant labourers, stranded due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, to their native places.
Hitting out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah's 'Didi-Bhaipo' jibes, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday challenged him to contest an election against her nephew Abhishek Banerjee and then think of fighting her.
The saffron party took out rallies in several parts of the state, with BJP workers sporting black badges.
UP police said that a three-foot portion of the track where the train derailed was missing.
Train services were severely hit in middle Assam after Special Police Officers' took out a march along the railway tracks protesting against alleged wage cut, though the government said their salaries would not be reduced.
With about 18 weeks to go for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the state is being barnstormed by one notable politician after another.
Two days after a toddler died in a West Delhi slum cluster demolished by railways, triggering a political slugfest with ruling AAP targeting the Centre and Congress coming down hard on both.
