The Indian government has defended the use of Amritsar as a deportation hub for US flights carrying Indian deportees, despite objections from Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Government sources said Punjab has the highest number of deportees among Indian states, with 126 out of 333 people deported since February 5. The sources added that 23 flights carrying Indian deportees have arrived in the country since May 2020, all landing in Amritsar. The move has sparked controversy, with opposition parties protesting the treatment meted out to the deportees and demanding that the Indian government take up the issue with the US. Mann has accused the Centre of trying to defame Punjab and said a holy city like Amritsar should not be made a "deport centre".
'It was a machinery of death. A large number of Hindus were first converted and then persecuted from 1560 all the way to 1812!' says novelist Richard Zimler.
With the two gold on Monday, Desinghu has won nine medals so far in the Games, having earlier won five gold (200m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay and 50m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay), one silver (50m butterfly) and one bronze -- (4x100m relay medley).
On the basis of her committee's report, the UCC in Uttarakhand established mandatory registration for marriages and live-in relationships, banned polygamy, and provided equal inheritance rights for women.
Rising sprinter Animesh Kujur and star hurdler Jyothi Yarraji picked up their third and second gold medals respectively at the National Games.
Independence Day was celebrated across states and Union territories on Thursday, as several chief ministers announced job schemes while some others vowed their support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
At the brand new Trishul Shooting Range in Dehradun, Haryana's Asian Games bronze medallist shooter Ramita Jindal turned in a world class performance to top the qualification round in the women's 10m air rifle event.
Karnataka's 14-year-old swimming sensation Dhinidhi Desinghu won her fourth gold medal, even as weightlifters continued to impress with Manipur's Bindyarani Devi smashing a National record, on a day when the tiny northeastern state rose to the top of medal tally at the National Games on Friday.
Debutant legislator Rekha Gupta was sworn in as Delhi chief minister along with six ministers on Thursday in a grand show of strength full of colour and spectacle to mark the Bharatiya Janata Party's return to power in the city after more than 26 years.
'When the girls said they want to play football, the mothers were encouraging.' 'It was the fathers who were against the idea.'
Lieutenant Commanders Dilna K and Roopa A have successfully crossed the most dangerous passage in their historic 8-month sailing expedition around the globe.
Goa has the highest number of people who could 'search the Internet for information and can send or receive e-mails and can perform online banking transactions'.
Holi was celebrated with pomp and splendor across India on Friday, with people soaking in the festivities by smearing 'gulaal' on each other and exchanging greetings and sweets. Homes and streets wore a colourful look as the revellers splashed colours and feasted on traditional delicacies. Public transport did not ply in the morning in most major cities while metro services started functioning from noon. As Holi coincided with the second Friday prayers during the holy Islamic month of Ramzan, security -- including increased patrolling and picketing -- was beefed up in several states. In Delhi, more than 25,000 security personnel were deployed. Police closely monitored about 300 sensitive areas with CCTV cameras and drones.
The Election Commission on Wednesday slapped show-cause notices on Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dilip Ghosh and Congress leader Supriya Shrinate for their offensive remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Kangana Ranaut respectively.
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday approved 139 Padma awards including seven Padma Vibhushans, 19 Padma Bhushans and 113 Padma Shris.
While the BJP and the Congress have always supported the bill, opposition by other parties and demands from some for quota for backward classes within the women's quota have been key sticking points.
Vishwajit Rane, who had unsuccessfully lobbied for the CM's post, has been given crucial Health and Town and Country Planning Portfolios along with Urban Development, Women and Child, and Forest departments.
'That was my mistake.' 'Gautam Adani was not involved in forming the Maharashtra government.' 'Adani was not there in the meeting.' 'The meeting was at his guest house and we were sitting in his guest house.'
While assembly polls in Goa and Uttarakhand were completed in a single phase, for Uttar Pradesh, Monday was the second of a seven-phase election.
Two passengers died and 75 others were rescued after a speed boat crashed into a ferry off the Mumbai coast. The ferry, carrying 80 passengers and five crew members, was on its way to Elephanta Islands when the speed boat circled it before crashing into it. The Navy and Coast Guard launched a massive rescue operation, with 11 Navy boats, three Marine Police boats, and a Coast Guard boat deployed. Four helicopters were also involved in the search and rescue operation. Police, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority personnel, and local fishermen are assisting in the rescue efforts. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that seven to eight passengers remain missing.
In their resignation letter to All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) chief Mamata Banerjee, the departing leaders said, 'We had thought that the AITC is a secular party but with deep regret, we would like to bring to your notice that AITC has tried to divide Goans on the basis of religion by aligning with Sudan Dhavalikar.'
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday said the state government will challenge in the high court journalist Tarun Tejpal's acquittal in a 2013 rape case by a district court in Panaji.
Lieutenant Commanders Dilna K and Roopa A will remain at sea for 8 months. They will rely on wind power, do the repairs on the boat themselves and navigate some the world's most treacherous waters.
Goa has been following the Portuguese Civil Code 1867, which is also called Uniform Civil Code.
Nearly three months after joining the Trinamool Congress, former Goa legislator Lavoo Mamlatdar on Friday resigned from the party, accusing it of being communal and trying to create a divide between Hindus and Christians for votes ahead of the state Assembly polls.
He further commented on the current state of public discourse, saying a "mob rule" is being created wherein politicians capitalise on certain incidents and assure people of the death penalty for culprits even though only the judiciary has the power to pass legal verdicts.
The top court said there are serious lapses in the enforcement of the 2013 Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act.
Football fans in Goa are shaking off their sussegado and becoming an animated, raucous, even belligerent lot.
It's all about women power. According to data compiled by the Election Commission, women have outnumbered men in casting their vote in five of the 13 states and union territories, which went to polls in the first four phases of the Lok Sabha elections. Additionally, an increase in aggregate voter turnout was also witnessed as compared to the last general elections.
Zakir Hussain was the maestro of tabla, percussionist, composer and even actor -- a legend who was India's very own and yet belonged to the world. Hussain died from 'idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis', a lung disease, in a San Francisco hospital early Monday. He was 73.
Non-BJP chief ministers holding the home portfolios are Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha) and MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu).
'It was tough financially for the first few years but my friends and family supported me and once he did well at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, there was no looking back.'
A low-down on the eight runners -- four men and four women -- who finished second in their qualifying heats to make the Olympic cut.
Campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the single-day election in Uttarakhand and Goa, two states known for political volatility where the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to retain power, and for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 14.
Tejpal, former Tehelka editor-in-chief, was accused of sexually assaulting the colleague inside the elevator of a luxury hotel in Goa in 2013.
The protest continued even as the Supreme Court intervened in the matter and constituted a 10-member National Task Force to formulate a protocol for ensuring the safety and security of doctors and other healthcare professionals.
Keeping up his tradition of celebrating the festival with soldiers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sir Creek near the Indo-Pak border in Gujarat's Kutch district and offered sweets to jawans.
Women, if addressed properly, have the potential to become a decisive factor in elections.
They said this was preliminary voter turnout and the final figure may cross 80 per cent as electoral fate of 301 candidates were locked in EVMs which will be opened on March 10 for counting.
According to the cause list of August 20 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is scheduled to hear on Tuesday.
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