To review the security and other poll arrangements ahead of Assembly elections in five states, the Election Commission will hold a meeting of chief secretaries, directors general of police and chief electoral officers of poll-bound and neighbouring states in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The Congress continues to decline and BJP's regional rivals are making their presence felt, even in Uttar Pradesh where Samajwadi Party consolidated anti-BJP votes to a large extent.
A key United States Congressional committee has called for a public hearing on the rights and freedoms of religious minorities in India to be held early next month.
'Sikhs can never forget how RSS activists protected them during the partition and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots,' Tarlochan Singh said.
Lalpura, who took over as the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) chairperson last week, asserted that his priority would be to dispel 'false narratives' fuelling insecurity among minorities.
Banks do extensive investigation before declaring an account fraud; they owe it to us as they deal with our money. Why would they try to fix an innocent borrower? asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
A UK Judge on Friday stated that the ruling in fugitive diamond dealer Nirav Modi extradition case will be made on February 25. The extradition trial of Nirav Modi has concluded today at Westminster Magistrates' court in London. District judge Samuel Goozee confirmed the timeline. Nirav Modi, who is wanted in India for allegedly defrauding Punjab National Bank (PNB) of an estimated $2 billion, was re-remanded on December 1 by a judge at Westminster Magistrate Court in London.
"Would your Lordships give me time till Monday? I have almost got it done. We are working something out," senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the UP government, told the bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana. "List on Monday," said the bench which, also comprised justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, acceding to the request.
The top court also asked the state governments of Punjab and Haryana to pursue the farmers for two weeks not to do stubble burning.
The EC's advisory, re-issued ahead of the three-phase elections in Bihar beginning later this month, asked the media, both electronic and print, to 'refrain' from airing and publishing such programmes during the prohibited period to ensure free, fair and transparent polls.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday appointed Chandra as 24th CEC on Monday.
The Congress won 77 seats or 42% of seats in the 2017 polls. How then can Gujarat be called a BJP bastion, asks Sanjeev Nayyar.
Claiming that the BJP's government's works in the three holy cities are only follow-ups of her government's initiatives, Mayawati went on to promise, in what is being seen as a subtle shift towards soft Hindutva ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, to complete all those work on time.
'The prowess with which they executed the shootings unmistakably bear the imprint of someone who has had professional training.'
The top court also held that medical opinion regarding the age of an accused cannot be 'brushed aside' in the absence of statutory proof on the same issue.
As the new year arrives, the Bharatiya Janata Party's finds itself on the cusp of the most consequential cycle of state polls since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as the results will tell if the road ahead in its bid for a third straight term at the Centre is getting any bumpier or a strong opposition challenge remains elusive.
If the protests have cemented the ties between the peasantry and the traders, the political implications for the BJP might become too serious to be disregarded because its core base was made up of the urban Khatri merchants.
'Though federal, the Constitution is unitary in nature. All matters relating to revenue are centralised. It is necessary that matters related to finance have to be decentralised... States need more freedom in designing schemes with their interest in mind. There has to be a Constitutional amendment to give more powers to the states. A special session of Parliament should amend the Constitution, especially the 7th Schedule,' Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
Goa, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya will initiate schemes to enable 24x7 power to consumers.
All equipment from the Army which were part of the Republic Day celebrations are made-in-India, Chief of Staff Delhi Area Maj Gen Bhavnish Kumar had earlier said.
Shah said that the people of the country will decide about the principal opposition party to BJP in the 2024 polls and they have not given this label to any party.
The Supreme Court Friday granted the 'last opportunity' to the Centre to file its reply on a public interest litigation seeking directions for framing of guidelines identifying minorities at the state level as Hindus are in a minority in 10 states and are not able to avail the benefits of schemes meant for minorities.
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 Supreme Court of India on Wednesday appointed Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court, to supervise the Uttar Pradesh SIT's probe on day-to-day basis into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which eight people including four farmers were killed on October 3.
Army veterans in Punjab have stepped forward to fight a legal battle on behalf of Gurmehar Kaur.
'They have been pursuing their agenda of bulldozing everything and everybody on their way.' 'They suddenly see Rahul Gandhi standing in front of them without fear and fighting against them aggressively.' 'He doesn't show any compromise in his attitude towards fascism.'
'Modiji did not say anything so that there was no influence. He endured all this silently'
'It is quite clear that the agitation against the farm laws is against the Centre and they will try to create all hurdles they can in that. They are using all tactics as their sole purpose is to defeat the agitation'
Neither Union agriculture minister nor junior ministers were present to hear our concerns. We asked why the minister is not meeting us, why the government is playing double standards by calling us here and ministers holding virtual meetings in Punjab. There was no proper response," Darshan Pal, member of the coordination committee of 29 farmers' organisations, said after the meeting.
Who took the decision for the prime minister, the nation's single most popular leader, to take the road route when they should have already known about the farmers' protests and also the grave risks involved, when and how, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Elections are scheduled in five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab.
Violation of the provisions entails a punishment of a jail term of up to five years or with fine up to Rs one crore or with both.
The apex court has also sought details of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the judicial enquiry commission, reportedly set up by the state government.
The pan-India survey, conducted with a sample size of over four lakh people by location-based social network platform Public App, also found that over 80 per cent of respondents trust the current voting process in the country.
Any defeat for the BJP now would imply that anti-incumbency against Modi has set in, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
"While there is a protest against reforms, lakhs of farmers are also gathering to express support for bills. Today, thousands of farmers gathered in Gwalior for it," said Tomar while addressing an ASSOCHAM session via video conferencing on Wednesday.
The BJP stormed back to power in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, trouncing its main rival SP, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asserting that people have buried the politics of caste and religion.
The party also rejigged its Central Election Committee and included former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Om Mathur and its women wing chief Vanathi Srinivasan.
Thousands of farmers have reached the national capital on their tractor-trolleys and other vehicles, responding to the 'Delhi Chalo' call against the agri-marketing laws enacted at the Centre in September. On Saturday morning, it wasn't clear if they will agree to move to the Burari ground on the outskirts of the city, where police said they can continue with their protest. Many protesters were demanding a better venue in the centre of Delhi. Originally, the protest was meant to be on November 26 and 27.
An application has been filed by advocates Shiv Kumar Tripathi and CS Panda in the suo motu case registered on a letter petition sought setting aside of the order dated February 10 of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court.
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