A high-level committee on Thursday recommended simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days.
The Congress on Thursday renamed the Rahul Gandhi-led Manipur-Mumbai yatra starting on January 14 as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will travel through 100 Lok Sabha segments in 15 states including Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted it will prove to be as 'transformative' as his earlier cross-country march.
Andhra Pradesh has been demanding a Special Category State status from the Centre ever since the state's economic powerhouse Hyderabad, which housed several IT and pharmaceutical companies as well as PSUs, went to Telengana in the bifurcation
Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is among six personalities chosen for this year's Padma Vibhushan.
His immediate challenge is the February 8 Delhi assembly polls followed by year-end elections in Bihar. However, his big test would be the next year's assembly polls in West Bengal, a state where the BJP has emerged as a strong challenger to Mamata Banerjee-headed TMC.
India saw a single day rise of 21,880 coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,38,47,065, while the active cases rose to 1,49,482, according to the Union health ministry data.
The death toll due to the viral disease has gone up to 5,25,870 with 45 more fatalities.
According to the ministry's data updated in the evening, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 1,574, followed by Tamil Nadu at 911 and Delhi at 903.
The proposed Communal Violence Bill on Saturday ran into trouble with the National Democratic Alliance-ruled states and Congress ally Trinamool Congress opposing it as "dangerous" legislation and arguing that it would hurt the federal structure of the country.
Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state with 41,642 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (13,967 cases), Gujarat (12,905 cases), and Delhi (11,659 cases).
Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attended the swearing in ceremony, while former AICC President Sonia Gandhi was absent. Chief Ministers of Congress ruled states Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and Sukhvinder Singh Sukku (Himachal Pradesh) and several top party leaders were also in attendance.
With 20,279 new coronavirus infections being reported, India's tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,38,88,755, while the active cases increased to 1,52,200, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Sunday.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the Centre's review petition on the Jat reservation issue which demanded a review of the apex court's previous order scrapping Jat reservation.
There are 907883 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 13.44 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are the states most likely to be hit again.
The death toll has climbed to 5,26,312 with 44 new fatalities, the data updated by the government at 8 am said.
This is the third consecutive day when COVID-19 cases increased by more than 45,000.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to Varanasi to inaugurate the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor project.
Punjab, starting the penultimate day on 73/3 and needing 144 more runs, crumbled under pressure from Sindhu's relentless spin and Jayant Yadav's precise off-spin (3/35 in 10.4 overs), collapsing well before lunch and handing Haryana their second outright win in four matches.
Himachal Pradesh, who were bowled out for 130 in their first innings, were 79 for one at stumps on day three needing another 393 runs for an improbable win.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate due to the coronavirus infection has further dropped to 1.66 per cent.
Kerala has retained the top rank in Niti Aayog's SDG India Index 2020-21, while Bihar has been adjudged as the worst performer, according to a report released on Thursday. The Index for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) evaluates progress of states and union territories on social, economic and environmental parameters. Kerala retained its rank as the top state with a score of 75. Both Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu took the second spot with a score of 74. Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam were the worst performing states in this year's India index.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Telangana, UP and Andhra Pradesh contribute to around 75 per cent of the new cases, according to the Union health ministry data.
Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani grabbed a match haul of 10 wickets as Mumbai defeated Andhra by 10 wickets to secure a successive bonus-point victory in the Ranji Trophy in Mumbai on Monday.
According to the ministry's data updated at 8 am on Saturday, 6,53,750 people have recovered from the disease so far.
The death toll from the pathogen climbed to 95,542 with 1,039 more deaths. There are 9,62,640 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), comprising 15.85 per cent of the caseload, according to the ministry data.
With as many as 2,30,599 COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state, followed by Tamil Nadu (1,26,581) and Delhi (1,07,051).
A map showing the number of road accident deaths per 1,00,000 registered vehicles in each state of India.
The Congress will begin the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from the violence-hit Manipur on Sunday, in what is being seen as the party's bid to set the narrative in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and put the spotlight on issues such as unemployment, price rise and social justice.
The COVID-19 caseload zoomed to 5,08,953, while 384 fresh fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours. The number of active cases stands at 1,97,387, while 2,95,880 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, according to the updated figure at 8 am.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar blew away Bengal top-order in an incredible five-wicket haul
The total coronavirus cases mounted to 40,23,179, while the death toll climbed to 69,561 with 1,089 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, data updated at 8 am showed.
There are 8,15,538 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country.
Brushing aside objections over brand dilution, the government has reportedly begun work on modifying the IIT Act, 1961, to ensure that the eight new engineering institutes it is setting up come under the premier Indian Institute of Technology umbrella.
The death toll climbed to 66,333 with 1,045 more fatalities reported in 24 hours.
As the new year arrives, what is clear is that the BJP's stars continue to shine the brightest while its rivals' search for a way to dim their glow go on.
The total coronavirus cases rose to 35,42,733, while the death toll climbed to 63,498 with 948 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.
With 1,73,195 cases, Maharashtra has the highest number of active cases.
COVID-19 cases in the country jumped from 10 lakh to 20 lakh in 21 days, while it had taken 59 days for the cases to cross the 10 lakh-mark.
In response to a question on whether younger population were getting more affected, Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said the comparison of data during the first and the second wave of COVID-19 has shown that there is not much age difference.
