Governments in most of the world saw their approval ratings dip as they struggled to contain the raging virus, which hit economy hard everywhere, but Indian politics followed a different script, with the outgoing year marking further shrinking of a rudderless Congress while the ruling BJP soared riding on Modi's enduring appeal.
With almost all opposition parties too backing the 'Bharat bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure peace is maintained.
It is likely that the party's allies in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, two of the five states going to the polls in April-May, might insist on allocating fewer seats than they did in 2016, reports Archis Mohan.
According to SOP, those testing positive will be isolated in a separate unit of an institutional facility.
Patole wrote that he was resigning as the chairman of the Kisan Congress and 'dismissing' the unit.
A message from KCR on Thursday evening persuaded the Congress to take its MLAs to Hyderabad.
Alleging that ruling Congress is "not serious" about bringing Lokpal Bill, the Bharatiya Janata Party has said that the United Progressive Alliance government could have brought the anti-graft legislation long ago as there was consensus over the issue.
Only after the final bill for Telangana goes to Parliament will the disturbances in Andhra Pradesh subside. Sheela Bhatt reports
The SIMI members, wanted by the National Investigation Agency, were arrested from a house in the steel city after a three-hour long operation.
Addressing a press conference, NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul said concerns about adverse effects and serious problems post immunisation, as of now, seem to be unfounded, negligible and insignificant, and stressed that both the vaccines -- Covishield and Covaxin -- are safe.
The counting will begin at 8 am, and as per the Election Commission's COVID-19 guidelines, a candidate, his poll agent and counting agent can remain present in the counting hall, officials said, adding various measures have been taken to ensure social distancing and avoid crowding.
On its own or with allies the Congress has a strong presence in states that account for a total of 253 LS seats, or 20 short of the magic figure of 272 required to form a government at the Centre. So what is Mamata Banerjee talking about, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Most of those who tested positive either recently arrived from African countries or were in contact with such people.
However, the number of confirmed cases reported by states rose by over 500 to cross 3,000 with at least 90 dead. While Maharashtra, Telangana and Delhi disclosed several new cases of the deadly virus infection, government officials said the numbers have risen in last few days mostly due to one event -- referring to the Tablighi Jamaat's religious gathering in the national capital attended by thousands of people last month.
The ruling alliance also has some smaller parties like Republican Party of India-Athawale, Asom Gana Parishad, Mizo National Front, National People's Party, Naga People's Front, Pattali Makkal Katchi and Bodoland People's Front, which have one seat each, totalling seven seats.
They said stranded Indians in central Asia as well as in various European countries will be brought back home in the second phase of evacuation beginning May 15.
The country has recorded over 20,000 cases of the infection for the fourth consecutive day. India went past Russia on Sunday to become the third worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi President K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday voiced his opposition to any proposal making Hyderabad a permanent joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh or a Union Territory.
The Congress expressed its 'whole-hearted' support to the 'Bharat bandh' called by farmer unions against the new agri-marketing laws and announced that it will hold protests that day at all district and state headquarters in solidarity with the demands of the farmers. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the party rank and file would actively participate in the bandh to ensure it was a success.
The Centre stressed that the next three weeks will be critical for the country reeling from the worst health crisis as it announced a series of measures to shore up medical infrastructure and supplies and scale up vaccination.
Earlier, KCR had met West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee as part of efforts to build a non-Congress, non-BJP third front ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
By 2022, there is a plan to make an mRNA-technology vaccine, for which it has tied up with Canadian firm Providence Therapeutics.
A number of senior faces from the outgoing cabinet including Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal, Narendra Singh Tomar and Prakash Javadekar are expected to figure in the new cabinet.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi has decided to abstain from voting in Thursday's Presidential election, top party sources said on Wednesday.
India is the seventh worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of the number of infections, after the US, Brazil, Russia, the UK, Spain and Italy. While the recovery rate in coronavirus infections is improving and has reached 48.19 per cent in India, there has been steady decline in the case fatality which is now 2.83 per cent, the health ministry said.
After weeks of bargaining, discussing and protesting, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Telugu Desam Party have come to an agreement on a seat sharing arrangement in Andhra Pradesh.
Will acting LG Soundararajan invite N Rangaswamy to form a government or recommend President's rule, so close to the assembly election, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Hit hard by volatility in yarn prices, 50% of the looms said to be operating only 3-4 days a week.
Leaders of various parties from both sides of the political divide met President Pranab Mukherjee at the Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad on Monday night and put forth their arguments for and against the proposed bifurcation of the state.
Reddy -- an Indian-American from Telangana who wrote the speech that outlined Biden's goals for his administration, focusing on healing from the current state of division in national politics -- has been praised for his "calming" and "inspiring" words.
Even as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and others celebrated the Centre's announcement to initiate the process for carving out a separate Telangana State, over 200 people were taken into preventive custody on Thursday after widespread protests in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions of the state.
The remarks come amid suspected cases of COVID-19 reinfection being reported from abroad and from Indian states like Telangana, Karnataka, Gujarat, Punjab and Maharashtra.
The rate of doubling of COVID-19 cases has increased to 12.6 days
Reacting to allegations that his party was dividing anti-BJP votes, Owaisi said he was running a political party that has a right to contest on its own.
'Those who are part of the NDA, like the JDU and LJP in Bihar, should also think. Polls are approaching in Bihar, people will seek answers from them'
'There are 8-12 members living in the same accommodation. While in pre-lockdown days, since most were out on work, social tension among them was less because of limited interaction. But now, no food and livelihood, along with having to live in cramped conditions, is taking a toll on their mental health.'
India's COVID-19 recovery rate rose to 63.13 per cent on Wednesday with a record 28,472 patients recuperating from the disease in 24 hours, while the case fatality rate further dropped to 2.41 per cent, the Union health ministry said.
'Tamil Nadu is a state of temples, it's a holy land. People don't seem to realise that.'
In yet another indication of mounting trouble for the Telugu film industry due to the growing regional divide in the state, a group of pro-Telangana activists attacked the shooting of a film featuring young actor Manoj, son of actor and producer Mohan Babu.
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