A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde, hearing a petition filed by lawyer Vineet Dhanda seeking stern legal action against those disturbing peace and harmony in the country in the name of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, said, "The country is going through a critical time, the endeavour must be to bring peace and such petitions do not help."
The SC issued notice to the Centre on the batch of pleas seeking stay on the operation of the law.
"I don't want Z category security. I want to be an A-category citizen, at par with you all. Why was UAPA not invoked against those who fired at me? ...I want to live, to speak. My life will be safe when the poor are safe. I will not get scared of those who shot at my car," he said in Parliament.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
The polling started at 7 am and would continue till 5 pm.
the PM said, "Hatred and violence have no place in diverse and democratic societies."
Amidst the Owaisi row, thousands of Muslims will hoist the Indian flag, sing the national anthem and chant the slogan at the famous Mahim Dargah.
The opposition on Tuesday termed as an 'election jumla' the women's reservation bill brought by the government with many leaders raising questions over the proposed legislation, contending it doesn't account for reservation for OBC communities and that it will be effective at the earliest by the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
In 2014, young Muslims became Owaisi fans. But five years of BJP rule and a weakening Opposition have drawn older Muslims too towards the AIMIM chief. Not enough, though.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that India's High Commission in New Zealand is in touch with local authorities for more information.
The tepid economy has hit most sectors, from automobile and pharmaceutical industries in the district to its tourist footfall, reports Archis Mohan
What are the political equations, the challenges, and the threats?
Releasing the manifesto titled 'Badlav Ka Sankalp' (commitment to change) in the presence of All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and other Mahagathbandhan leaders, Tejashwi Yadav said their government, if elected, would first approve the process for appointments on about 10 lakh jobs in the government.
Singh, known for his hardline religious rhetoric, was suspended by the party following protests in Hyderabad against his comments leading to his arrest by the Telangana Police.
'They have been imposing Hindi on Tamil Nadu,' says DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai.
The alliance won 41 of the 48 seats leaving the Congress-NCP combine with just 5 seats.
Bhim denotes Dalit icon Bhimrao Ambedkar, while Mim denotes the letter 'M' in the Urdu alphabet; the party used the slogan effectively in the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections
'The Shiv Sena and the Ambedkarites are two powerful social forces in Maharashtra with a presence in the toiling classes. However, they were made to fight each other by the powers that be. Now, they are joining hands while overcoming this contentious past.'
Uproar was witnessed on Tuesday in the Lok Sabha as several parties got together to demand a resolution to condemn Israeli raids in Gaza Strip but the government did not oblige.
Zubair joined the probe on Monday and after gathering sufficient evidence on record, he was arrested.
Counting of votes will be held on Sunday in assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana in what is seen as a semi-final contest ahead of the general elections in less than six months.
Counting of votes for the bypolls in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand will be taken up on Sunday.
Rama Rao's appointment was necessitated as Chandrasekhar Rao will have to concentrate on national politics and also focus on various developmental activities in the state, a release from the chief minister's office said.
Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, which is going to contest next year's Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls on the promise of creating leadership among Muslims, has created unease in the political parties that so far considered the members of the minority community as their core "vote bank".
Indian Members of Parliament have written to President Barack Obama, urging the US Administration to maintain the current policy of denying visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
As the election approaches, the earthquake survivors and the scientists urge political parties to take note of warning signs before it's too late.
Thackeray said he has to undergo a surgery on June 1 and after recovering from it, he would again address a public meeting.
Sources in the prominent Muslim body Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind said it was not in favour of filing a review petition and wants the matter to end.
A voter turnout of over 40 per cent was recorded till 1 pm on Monday in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 96 constituencies spread over 10 states and Union Territories amid incidents of violence in Andhra Pradesh and reports of poll boycott in some villages of Uttar Pradesh.
The pleas, which were earlier heard by a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Jyoti Singh, have now been transferred to a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani through an administrative order of January 28.
It said as and when the protestors tried to infringe the law and failed to obey directions of enforcement agencies, appropriate legal action was taken against the miscreants.
Kovind may bag over 62 per cent votes but fall short of the 69 per cent votes polled by incumbent Pranab Mukherjee in 2012.
After a spirited eight-hour debate in which 60 members participated, the Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, with 454 members voting in favour and two against it.
Altogether 160 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion while no vote was cast against the same.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won the mayoral elections in 10 of the 17 municipal corporations in Uttar Pradesh, results for which were announced on Saturday, virtually adding a third engine to its "double-engine" government.
Among the notable absentees were Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's M K Stalin, Telugu Desam Party chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Delhi chief minister and Aam Admi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
The BJP chief also said there is no need to say 'Bharat Maata Ki Jai' under pressure from the RSS or the BJP.
'Thakur will not attend meetings of BJP parliamentary party during the session'
A car and some window panes were damaged in the attack that took place around 1.30 am when Jadhav, who is the son- in-law of state Bharatiya Janata Party chief Raosaheb Danve.
Notwithstanding exit polls giving a clear mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance the Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Friday said the party still prefers to support a Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.