Voting was underway on Friday in 102 Lok Sabha seats spread across 21 states and Union territories in the first of the seven phases of the world's largest electoral exercise, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers.
China on Monday signed a defence cooperation agreement with the Maldives to provide free military assistance to foster "stronger" bilateral ties with Male, weeks after President Mohamed Muizzu set a deadline for the withdrawal of the first group of Indian military personnel from his island nation.
The meeting between Jaishankar and Zameer in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala came amid an unease in the Maldives' bilateral ties with India.
The Maldives still considers India a friend, the tourism-dependent country's economic minister has said while defending President Mohamed Muizzu's stand against the presence of "foreign soldiers" in the archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean.
The interim budget 2024-25 on Thursday allocated Rs 202868.70 crore to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with the highest share of funds going to the paramilitary forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial Secular Force (CISF), showing priority on internal security and border guarding.
The diplomatic rift between India and Maldives, coupled with the suspension of flight bookings on one of India's major travel portals, has sent jitters down the spine of tour operators in the island nation. The Maldivian Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO), a forum for travel agents, has stressed that the Indian market is important to the success of tourism in Maldives.
The attorney general's office filed the case on Sunday, the same day when clashes broke out in the House between pro-government MPs and opposition lawmakers following differences over the approval of four members of his cabinet.
The President stated that due to his government's success in expelling Indian troops from the country, people who spread false rumours, are attempting to twist the situation, a news portal Edition.mv reported.
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He presented the first-ever National Creators' Awards at the Bharat Mandapam in the national capital.
In a statement, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said that in yet another crackdown on press freedom, two editors from two language newspapers have been arrested by the Manipur government.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
People familiar with the matter said the new Maldivian government conveyed to the Indian high commission in Male that Muizzu wishes to travel to India.
"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC said.
In a major organisational rejig ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Saturday appointed Avinash Pande the general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, replacing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra while Sachin Pilot was made the general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh.
India has expressed concern about the movement of the Xiang Yang Hong 03 vessel in Indian Ocean waters and also prevailed on Sri Lanka to refuse permission for the ship to dock at Colombo port.
The IMD has warned of heatwave to severe heatwave conditions in parts of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh during the next five days.
On Thursday, in his first interview with the local media since assuming office, Muizzu said India was instrumental in providing aid to the Maldives and has implemented the "greatest number" of projects.
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Nazim confirmed the meeting and said the agenda for the meeting was the request to withdraw troops by March 15.
The permission to allow the Chinese ship comes amid strains in ties between India and Maldives after its new President Mohamed Muizzu came to power and made Beijing as his first port of call early this month after assuming office.
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Tamil Nadu government deployed state and national disaster response force teams in Kanyakumari district, which bore the brunt of the rain fury.
He urged China to bolster the flow of its tourists to the Maldives.
Describing the comments as "uncalled for", he said that the ruling party has these "extreme elements" who are calling for India out.
A depression over the southeast Arabian Sea, south of Porbandar in Gujarat, is likely to move northwestward and intensify into a cyclonic storm, the India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday.
One out of every six sedition cases registered in India between 2014 and 2021 came from Assam.
On being asked if the ongoing spat between the two countries is going to have an impact on the India-Maldives ties, as well the revenue that Indian tourists have generated for the island nation over the years, the Maldivian leader, who was also the former Minister of Economic Development of Maldives, asserted that it is much more than economics or revenue.
'Everyone is so excited. There is a lot of excitement everywhere. This was a long time desire of many people.'
Sulthana was booked on June 10 on sedition charges following a complaint by a Bharatiya Janata Party leader that she spread false news about the spread of COVID-19 in the union territory during a TV debate.
Bypolls in three assembly constituencies in as many states passed off peacefully on Monday with around over 70 per cent voter turnout, though some technical glitches in electronic voting machine were reported in Tamil Nadu and the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal alleged that the Central Reserve Police Force was "influencing" voters.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha is likely to hear the matter.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Lakshadweep Research Collective said it along with 60 other signatories from the scientific community have written to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking his intervention to withdraw the "incautious draft" Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation of 2021.
The bench said that it has to be in exceptional circumstances when the conviction needs to be stayed and it cannot be a norm.
'What you need is a credible Opposition, a credible platform to persuade people to believe that it can replace this government.'
The agency had received Rs 946.51 crore to manage its affairs in the Budget Estimates for 2023-24, which was later increased to Rs 968.86 crore in the Revised Estimates.
Earlier, senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the former Lakshadweep MP, had submitted that the person has not been reinstated as an MP despite his conviction and sentence being stayed by the high court.
'The administration started intruding into the kitchens and bedrooms of the local community.'
'For the first time in 50 years the people of Lakshadweep who have till now never raised their hands, got out on the streets and started raising their voices.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as a Lok Sabha member was against the basic tenets of the Constitution and was a 'condemnable' move that highlighted the curtailment of democratic values, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has said.
Meteorologists earlier said Cyclone 'Biparjoy' had been impacting the intensity of the monsoon and that its onset over Kerala would be 'mild'.
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