A Congress worker died during a protest near the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in Lucknow, India, on Wednesday. The Congress party alleged the worker, Prabhat Pandey, died due to "police brutality," while police said he was brought to the hospital unconscious and had no visible injury marks. An investigation is underway, and a post-mortem is to be conducted by a panel of doctors.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
Following a stampede at the Maha Kumbh that killed 30 people, the Uttar Pradesh government has stepped up security measures and crowd management efforts. Despite the tragedy, millions of devotees continue to flock to the religious gathering, undeterred by the pre-dawn chill and dense fog. Security forces are being deployed in larger numbers, and new restrictions will be imposed at key locations to prevent further incidents. The authorities are also conducting a thorough review of the arrangements in the Mela area, and several officials are being assigned to oversee operations until February 12.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of Nationalist Democratic Alliance-ruled states and prominent personalities from industry and Bollywood on Thursday attended the grand swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in Mumbai.
At least 30 people were killed and 60 others injured in a pre-dawn stampede at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh early on Wednesday as crores of pilgrims jostled for space to take a holy dip on the occasion of one of the most auspicious days of Mauni Amavasya, officials said.
BP Plc has won a bid to operate ONGC's giant Mumbai High oil and gas field by offering up to 60 per cent increase in output over baseline, the state-owned firm said on Wednesday. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) had in June last year floated a tender seeking foreign partners to reverse declining output at its flagship Mumbai High fields, offering a share of revenue from incremental production plus a fixed fee but not any equity stake.
While the Congress demanded immediate sacking of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, the Samajwadi Party and a few others sought imposition of President's rule in the state that has witnessed sporadic violence in since May 3.
An impressive performance in Jharkhand and, especially, Maharashtra assembly polls next month by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will lay to rest the doubts over the party's political dominance after its underwhelming performance in the Lok Sabha polls and strike a body blow to the Opposition.
The mortal remains of former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh were consigned to flames at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday amid the chanting of religious hymns. The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh.
The Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Tripura's capital Agartala on Tuesday announced the suspension of all visa and consular services with immediate effect until further notice because of 'security reasons', a day after the mission's premises was breached by a group of people protesting against the arrest of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in Dhaka.
Despite the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance throwing all its weight to snatch Jharkhand from the hands of a Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-headed coalition, the saffron camp suffered a debacle leaving the party's rank and file wondering what had gone wrong.
Sparks flew on the first day of the debate on the no-trust motion moved by the Congress with the Opposition on Tuesday asserting that it was forced to do so to break Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'maun vrat' (vow of silence) on Manipur and the treasury benches hitting back saying it was a no-trust vote against a 'poor person's son' who has worked for the welfare of the people.
As soon as the House reassembled, Sarma stood to give his reply, which was objected by all opposition members saying "the matter was over".
Amid the political blame game over Bengal's potato ban, which led to shortages in Jharkhand and Odisha, Uttar Pradesh farmers are the unlikely winners.
Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly byelection results declared on Saturday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal.
The main Opposition parties in Assam -- Asom Gana Parishad, Bharatiya Janata Party and All India United Democratic Front -- have come down heavily on the Congress government in Assam for presenting an 'election-oriented populist' interim budget for the year 2014-15.
In a stunning comeback, Hemant Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led alliance on Saturday stormed to power in Jharkhand for a second consecutive term, winning 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, despite an all-out blitz by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance which managed only 24 seats.
Assam's opposition parties including the BJP, AGP and AIUDF accused the ruling Congress of murdering democracy even as party won the election to two of the Rajya Sabha after four of the BJP MLAs and two AIUDF MLAs decided to vote for Congress candidate defying a party whip to vote for opposition's common candidate Jayanta Baruah, a media baron.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is visiting Karnataka, said he intended to shut all the madrasas (Muslim religious schools) in his state, as they were not needed in "New India".
Hazarika, a former minister, said that he resigned from all posts in the AGP, including that of the general secretary.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the opposition of playing 'negative politics' and said now the entire country is rooting for corruption, dynasty and appeasement to 'quit India'.
'Most senior Congress leaders in Assam have a secret understanding with the BJP.' 'They are hobnobbing with the chief minister for their self-interest.'
Sarma claimed there has been a lot of improvement in the neighbouring state in the last month.
The opposition has criticised the manner in which the drive against child marriage was being carried out, equating the police action with "terrorising people".
The drive met with opposition in Tinsukia in upper Assam leading to lathicharge by the security forces, while in Sonitpur the alleged illegal settlers claimed that it was launched about a week before the stipulated date.
Assam's Education and Health minister, Dr Himanta Bishwa Sharma on Tuesday fired a broadside at the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)- anti-talks faction- for trying to malign his image by stating that he was a former member of the non-military (political wing) of the outfit.
During the Zero Hour of the Lok Sabha, BJP MP Anurag Thakur tried to corner the Leader of Opposition and Congress MP, Rahul Gandhi, by alleging that he has not spoken about ensuring the safety of minorities in Bangladesh.
Amid protests in Barak Valley, Morigaon and Dhubri, the crackdown on child marriage in Assam entered the fourth day on Monday, with the number of arrests rising to 2,441.
Banerjee said her microphone was stopped after five minutes, while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer durations.
However, in 950 booths, voting will end at 4 pm, though people standing in the queue at that time will be able to exercise their franchise.
The government has granted Geographical Indications (GI) tag to various products, including Gamosa of Assam, Tandur Redgram of Telangana, and an apricot variety of Ladakh. The commerce and industry ministry said on Wednesday that the total number of GI has reached to 432. "Famous Gamosa of Assam, Tandur Redgram of Telangana, RaktseyKarpo Apricot of Ladakh, Alibag White Onion of Maharashtra have got their GI tags," it said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted that she did not threaten junior doctors at state-run hospitals, who have been continuing cease-work for 21 days now to protest against the alleged rape and murder of a woman medic. Addressing a rally organised by the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad, Banerjee had on Wednesday urged the agitating junior doctors of Bengal to urgently consider returning to duty and said she doesn't want to lodge first information reports (FIRs) against the striking doctors in consideration of their future careers.
Gohain claimed that his discussions with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma regarding the delimitation "did not bring any positive outcome".
Legal experts and opposition parties in Assam have slammed the police for arresting the teacher and the judiciary for sending her to jail as consumption of beef, even in public places, is not illegal in the state.
"I am a son of Assam and if a single person who has not applied for NRC in the state gets citizenship, I will be the first to resign," the chief minister said on the sidelines of a programme at Sivasagar.
The BJP won both the Rajya Sabha seats from Assam.
Once people throw out the Congress, they do not let it come back. They put 'no entry' boards for the Congress, he said. It always thought power was its birthright but it has now been exposed, the prime minister said
The Bharatiya Janata Party's tally in Rajya Sabha has dipped below 90 for the first time in several years but the party and its allies are expected to not only recoup the their losses but also make some gains when by-elections to fill the existing vacancies are held in the coming weeks.
The Assam government on Tuesday began clearing nearly 1,900 hectares of forest and government land in Sonitpur district, affecting 12,000-odd people who were allegedly staying there illegally for decades, a senior official said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to the North East from Tuesday, during which he will attend the oath-taking ceremonies of new governments in three states of the region.
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