Amidst raging protests across the country against the Citizenship Amendment Act, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government of showing "utter disregard" for people's voices and using brute force to suppress dissent that was "unacceptable" in a democracy. Condemning the government's action, she expressed Congress's solidarity with students and citizens in their just struggle.
In March, he had said that China is responsible for the spread of the novel coronavirus and called the COVID-19 as the "Chinese Virus".
The American-born Indian scholar, sociologist and human rights activist was well known for her writing on Dalits, OBCs and Adivasis.
The clarification was issued through an advertisement in local dailies after facing political backlash, including from parties perceived close to the government.
The number of Indians over 15 either working or looking for work is lower as a percentage than in the United States, China, Bangladesh or Pakistan, points out Aakar Patel.
'It will be wrong to raise the expectations of tribals because of a tribal President. 'Tribal issues have not been resolved for 150 years.'
'But will there be matching action as far as tribals are concerned on the ground?'
As an admirer of Japan for close to half a century, I care for Japan and expect Suga to respect the sentiment of his people and cancel the Olympics without further delay, says Rajaram Panda.
Senior Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said the government cannot implement the recommendations of the central panel on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, as those are "far from legal reality".
"What is this? Last time you (West Bengal government) had given an undertaking, which we wanted to record, that the commission will not proceed. You had said that it was not necessary to record in the order. Again you started inquiring," said the bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana
Noting that while every MP has a constitutional right to speak in Parliament and express his/her views on various topics, he said it is also one of the foremost duties of every member to maintain decency and should not speak anything that would lower the dignity of Parliament and categorised as 'Contempt of the House'.
Addressing civil servants on the 15th Civil Services Day at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, he said every decision should be evaluated on the basis of its capacity to strengthen the country's unity and integrity.
Asked about the report, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "The political judgements of Freedom House are as inaccurate and distorted as their maps."
The judiciary cannot be controlled, directly or indirectly, by the legislature or the executive, or else the rule of law will become illusory, he said.
India has called the remarks by foreign leaders and organisations on protests by farmers as "ill-informed" and "unwarranted", asserting that the matter pertains to the internal affairs of a democratic country.
The Supreme Court Friday asked the Chief Justices of all high courts to use information and communications technology (ICT) tools to ensure that the access to justice is 'democratised and equitably allocated', saying as per the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), over 91 lakh bail pleas are pending in high courts alone.
Kumar said the Commission will follow the time-tested methods of consultations and consensus building in bringing about any reforms and will not shy away from tough decisions, according to an Election Commission (EC) statement.
The expectation is that the government will not abuse its authority and that a political party not misuse the State. What we are seeing today is the clear evidence that this is not enough, argues Aakar Patel.
Biden is best qualified to address the root cause of the polarisation in American politics before it turns into terminal malignancy, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The ministry of home affairs has made the use of Aarogya Setu app mandatory for all employees, both private and public, and pinned the responsibility for compliance on the head of respective organisations.
Bhagwat further emphasised that no Muslim will face any loss due to the citizenship law.
'This year felt different -- and was different.' 'For the first time, the Indian American voter seemed to matter.'
The former chief minister had on Tuesday alleged that Army personnel had thrashed a family in Tral town of Pulwama and injured a female member. Mufti said she was going to meet the family on Wednesday.
Voicing his support for the farmers' protest in India, the Speaker of Wisconsin State Assembly has urged the Indian government to reconsider its decision on the three farm laws and listen to the concerns of the affected farmers.
On such things as the meat ban and hijab ban, we are finding that elements that comprise the system are enthusiastic about denying people their rights. It says something awful about us as a society, asserts Aakar Patel.
The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to promulgate an ordinance to give effect to the contentious law against religious conversions.
The modern world will not accommodate bigotry of the sort India is showing the world today, argues Aakar Patel.
Ramesh Menon, the veteran journalist suggests Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi what he should do if he wants to win 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The new group's website said it aimed to advance progressive values.
Showcasing the efforts of the Centre for ensuring democracy at grass-roots level, the newly-elected members of the DDC would be meeting besides holding a meeting with a few prominent citizens and administrative secretaries.
Bush, however, also said that outgoing President Donald Trump has the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges, with any unresolved issues to be "properly adjudicated".
The plea said there should be a total ban on such populist measures to gain undue political favour from voters as they violate the Constitution and the ECI should take suitable deterrent measures.
The Tamil Nadu assembly on Wednesday adopted a resolution urging the Centre to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 to protect and ensure unity and communal harmony and uphold the secular principles enshrined in the Constitution.
The Trinamool Congress supremo said at an election meeting at Bhabanipur where she is contesting by-polls to be held on September 30, that she had been invited to Rome in the first week of October to attend a global peace meeting in which the Pope, other religious heads, dignitaries from various countries are slated to attend, where she would have been the only Indian and 'only Hindu lady'.
'Many Indians are not voting mostly on the basis of issues like the economy and their own well-being as measured by data provided by the government.' 'They seem to be as concerned and perhaps more concerned about other things, especially those that have to do with the harassment of India's minorities,' asserts Aakar Patel.
'Removing Biplab Deb and replacing him with Manik Saha is a fruitless exercise that the BJP national leadership has indulged in.' 'It is foolish to think that people will forget what these two have done to the state and its people in the last four years.'
Today beef, tomorrow namaz, the third day Sunday mass the fourth day hijab, the fifth day halal, the sixth day love jihad will always be the issues on hand, asserts Aakar Patel.
'After taking the decision on Kashmir, nearly 20 days have passed and even now, the people there are not allowed to react or respond to it'
The bill was passed by a voice vote after Shah sought to allay concerns raised by the Opposition, which claimed the draft law was "draconian".
If we have already excluded Muslims from political office by default, and if we are already harassing them daily through laws, like Nazi Germany did and like Pakistan did, then why do we need a Hindu Rashtra or a change from the present set of laws? argues Aakar Patel.
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