This is the first time that the IT ministry has outlined its stance in a dispute between users and social media platforms.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Monday took a swipe at the Aam Aadmi Party government, saying the country cannot run on 'Mohalla Sabhas' and a law cannot be decided on the streets.
A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
Central Bureau of Investigation has written to the law minister expressing reservations over the new provisions introduced through Lokpal where the agency will have to take the nod of Central Vigilance Commission before filing charge sheets in cases referred by the anti-corruption watchdog.
The 55th International Film Festival of India kicked off in India's party venue, Goa, and the stars added to the dazzle.
Two years after his dismissive stance on India's AI potential raised eyebrows here, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Wednesday gave a ringing endorsement to Artificial Intelligence momentum in the country -- and billed India as an important market not just for the new-age technology itself but for the ChatGPT creator as well. In New Delhi on Wednesday, Altman -- while sharing dais with Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw -- said India is the second biggest market for the company and that Open AI had tripled its users here in the last year.
The Maha Kumbh, billed as the world's largest gathering, concluded on Wednesday after 45 days, with lakhs of devotees taking a dip in the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers. Despite a stampede that killed at least 30 people, millions continued to visit the Kumbh, seeking salvation through the ritual bath. The event saw a mix of faith, tradition, and technology, drawing pilgrims and tourists from across the globe.
Students from de-notified tribes, nomadic tribes and semi-nomadic tribes will receive coaching fees of up to 1,20,000 and additional benefits for preparing for entrance examinations such as JEE, NEET, CLAT and the NDA.
Modi also suggested them to identify redundant laws in their respective ministries and move towards scrapping them, the sources said.
'Some of the astounding proposals, if translated into statutory provisions, would be suicidal.' 'This would not be a wonder cure for increasing insurance penetration and only result in mushrooming growth of players like paan kiosks with deleterious consequences.'
Simultaneous polls will help save resources, spur development and social cohesion, deepen "foundations of democratic rubric" and help realise the aspirations of "India, that is Bharat", the panel had said.
The top court asked the state government to spell out details of its actions taken against the culprits and the encroachers.
"Over the last year or even more, the kind of things that we have seen attacking Indian diplomats, threatening, intimidating, harassing Indian diplomats...Yes, the threats have increased," he added.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi on Sunday released its manifesto for the Maharashtra assembly polls, promising free cervical cancer vaccines for girls aged 9 to 16 and and two optional leave days for women employees during menstruation.
The Delhi High Court has reserved its order on a plea by jailed MP Rashid Engineer, facing trial in a terror funding case, seeking custody parole to attend the ongoing Parliament session. Engineer, a Baramulla MP, was opposed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) who argued that he has no vested right to attend Parliament and there were security concerns. The court said though there might not be a vested right to attend the session, it could exercise its discretion. The NIA also argued that Rashid misused the telephone facility in Tihar jail and that allowing him to attend the session would be a security risk.
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde wondered whether Indira Gandhi was also anti-Constitution as she had praised Savarkar as a "remarkable son of India".
The Uttar Pradesh government has deployed two senior IAS officers, who were part of the team that successfully conducted the 2019 Ardh Kumbh, to oversee the smooth conduct of the Maha Kumbh Mela in the wake of the recent stampede that left at least 30 pilgrims dead. The officers, Ashish Goyal and Bhanu Chandra Goswami, have extensive experience in administration in Prayagraj, including crowd management and inter-agency coordination. They will join Mela Adhikari Vijay Kiran Anand, forming a trio that was part of the mega fair six years ago. The government has also deployed additional senior police officers to strengthen security and crowd management ahead of Basant Panchami, one of the key bathing days of the festival, on February 3.
The details of the sexual offenders convicted under the charges of rape, gang rape, harassing women and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act are available on the database.
The cabinet of the new government led by Rekha Gupta balances representation of all major communities that propelled the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in Delhi with a massive majority after over 26 years.
The priest of a Hindu temple in the Canadian city of Brampton has been suspended for spreading 'violent rhetoric' during recent clashes between protesters carrying Khalistani flags and the people present there.
'India has the maths talent, academic institutions, and research institutions to do the next big thing.'
Gallant, who was a longtime rival from within the Likud Party, will be replaced by Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Minister without Portfolio Gideon Sa'ar will replace Katz, as per Times of Israel.
The leaders also noted the "negative impacts" of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, especially for developing and least-developed countries.
Allowing 12-hour shifts for all and night-time work for women was meant to benefit software firms, but is said to have clinched Foxconn's Rs 80 billion investment.
The petition also sought a direction to include a chapter on dharma and "religion" in the syllabus of primary and secondary schools "in order to educate the masses and control the religion-based hatred and hate speeches".
The agencies have also found some common lines and words used in these fake threats like "bombs", "blood will spread everywhere", "explosive devices", "this is not a joke" and "you will all die" and "bomb rakhwa dia hai" (Hindi for bomb has been placed) among others.
From bhikshus of Ashokan 3rd century BC and medieval Sufis to Oxfam, Omidyar and Soros now, non-State actors have any real power only when they work in conjunction with a real State, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
A young Indian man was arrested in Pakistan after illegally crossing the border to meet a Facebook friend he wanted to marry. However, the woman told police she was not interested in marrying him. The man, Badal Babu, was arrested in the Mandi Bahauddin district of Pakistan's Punjab province on December 28. He had crossed the border to meet his Facebook friend, Sana Rani. Rani, in her statement to police, said she had been friends with Babu for the past two-and-a-half years but was not interested in marrying him. Babu's family has appealed to the Indian government to intervene for his release.
The number of cyberfraud cases has skyrocketed from 2,677 in 1999-2000 to 29,082 in FY24 -- more than a 10-fold increase. The RBI pegs digital payment frauds at Rs 1,457 crore in FY24, up more than five times in a year. It's not just the number of frauds. What's alarming is the growing sophistication of the fraudsters, exposing the vulnerabilities within the financial system, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Banerjee stressed she wished for harmony, fraternal ties and cordial relationship to remain between all communities living in Bangladesh and elsewhere.
The Modi government's flagship initiative 'Make in India' launched 10 years ago has helped the country boost exports, push investments and promote manufacturing. Under the initiative, launched on September 25, 2014, a series of measures have been taken by the government to boost local manufacturing. These initiatives include the rollout of production linked incentive (PLI) schemes for 14 sectors, easing foreign direct investment (FDI) norms, reducing compliance burden to improve business climate, all approvals through single window, and rolling out of the national logistics policy.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra claimed that the home ministry's decision to cancel the FCRA licences of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust for alleged violation of laws has "exposed" their corruption.
The Centre has granted absolute powers to the Delhi lieutenant governor to constitute any authority, board and commission such as the Delhi Commission for Women and the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission.
Senior advocate S Muralidhar, appearing for the petitioner on whose plea the verdict was delivered, said a prayer in the application sought non-hinderance to the exercise of the NCRB data collection by the direction of caste reference removal from the registers.
On Thursday, the Chinese military published its ICBM launch photos, shedding its secrecy.
Novak Djokovic could be barred from playing in the French Open as things stand now after the Sports Ministry said on Monday there would be no exemption from France's new vaccine pass law.
The top court said since the remit of the panel has been expanded, the committee would submit its report by September 30 on various measures to rectify deficiencies in the examination system.
As far as India is concerned, interests of people of Bangladesh are foremost in our mind, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.
In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider the separate pleas of opposition-ruled Kerala and West Bengal, alleging the denial of assent to bills passed by the respective legislative assemblies.
The government is proposing to use Artificial Intelligence and other innovative methods to check traffic violations and ensure that penalties are levied accurately, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday. Addressing the 12th edition of the Traffic InfraTech Expo, the minister outlined plans for upgrading toll collection methods, including the exploration of satellite toll systems, which would improve efficiency and ensure transparency in toll collection. Gadkari noted that road safety cannot be achieved without integrating advanced engineering solutions, enforcement of laws, and the adoption of cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI).
