Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on Friday for 88 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister alleged that government employees were 'forcibly mobilised' and ferried to Modi's rally to paint a 'pretty picture that all is well' post 2019, when the Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union territories.
Several states and union territories, including Maharashtra, Punjab and Delhi, have announced closure of schools or suspended classes briefly till the COVID-19 situation is further reviewed in the wake of rising cases across the country.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd made a number of electoral bond purchases close to the date of bagging crucial projects, including the all-weather Zojila tunnel that is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore in Jammu and Kashmir.
Eleven states and Union territories -- Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand -- had a voter turnout lower than the national average of 67.40 percent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
It will be for the first time in nearly nine years India's external affairs minister will travel to Pakistan even as the ties between the two neighbours remained frosty over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
Kumar also hinted that the Maharashtra elections could be held after Diwali.
Earlier in the day, President Ram Nath Kovind accepted Murmu's resignation as the Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
Ahead of a crucial meeting on Jammu and Kashmir, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Thursday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and is believed to have discussed the security situation in the Union territory which has witnessed a spate of targeted killings since May 12.
'If the country felt very strongly about the BJP, then why did the country not put money where the mouth is?'
He said the case was cracked within three days with the arrest of a 'recycled' terrorist with five more improvised explosive devices in his possession, including three ready-to-use sticky bombs.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna 'belongs to that school of legal luminaries who give the highest primacy to facts.'
Was the decision taken by the Centre on August 5, 2019 to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which bestowed a special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, constitutionally valid? The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on Monday on a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370.
'If the BJP does not change its stand, we will hope that those who are in favour of protecting Ladakh come to power.'
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 move comes three months after Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two UTs -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The detenues are likely to be released on Saturday as some of them are lodged in prisons located outside the union territory in places like Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, they said.
'We don't have any agenda in that, there will be no discrimination against anyone. Constitution will be Gita in that'
On August 10, he will inaugurate the headquarters of J&K unit of the Congress and address a meeting of parry workers and leaders in the union territory.
A group of Union ministers will visit Jammu and Kashmir later this month to spread awareness about the positive impact of abrogation of Article 370 provisions.
Once people throw out the Congress, they do not let it come back. They put 'no entry' boards for the Congress, he said. It always thought power was its birthright but it has now been exposed, the prime minister said
The United States in a new travel advisory on Tuesday urged its citizens to exercise "increased caution" while travelling to India and advised them to not to travel to Jammu and Kashmir and within 10 km of the India-Pakistan border.
If Rashid cannot be the king, he could be the kingmaker after October 8 when the results to the J&K assembly are declared.
India has adopted a tit-for-tat posture in replying to ceasefire violations by Pakistan, officials said.
However, there is no restriction on the movement of people anywhere in the valley, the officials said.
The US had also said there was an "urgent need" for dialogue among all actors to reduce tensions and to avoid a potential military escalation in South Asia.
Article 370 of the Constitution, which bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, was a 'temporary provision' and any interpretation of the provision cannot postulate that integration of J-K with India was temporary, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday.
Asgar said landline telephone services will be restored in 15 more exchanges by Tuesday evening.
A worker from Punjab who was injured in Wednesday's terror attack in Srinagar's Habba Kadal area died at the SKIMS hospital in Srinagar on Thursday morning, taking the toll to two in the first targeted killing of the year by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
Polling is scheduled in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, six seats in Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
'The government of India must deliberate, for how long the police personnel will be sacrificed in such a manner. This is a big issue which must be resolved for the sake of the people of Jammu and Kashmir'
The principal opposition party though appeared content securing 99 of the 543 seats in the 2024 national elections as against its all-time low of 44 in 2014 and then 52 in 2019.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said on Sunday the dialogue process initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Jammu and Kashmir's mainstream leadership can gain credibility by ending what she called an 'era of oppression and suppression' in the union territory and understanding that a dissenting voice is not a criminal act.
According to new guidelines imposed by authorities on Sunday, shops have been allowed to open on alternate days.
UP's representation in the government could diminish, given the BJP's decreased seat count in that state.
He also assured people of J&K that they will get opportunity to elect their representatives in a transparent way.
Lone, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Baramulla constituency, said one of the reasons he wants to go to Parliament is to strive and advocate for the same set of laws for the children of Kashmir and the rest of the country.
Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have topped an index that ranks states on food safety parameters for the 2020-21 year, according to an FSSAI report unveiled by Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday. The index ranks states on five parameters of food safety: human resources and institutional data, compliance, food testing facility, training and capacity building besides consumer empowerment. Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have topped in the list of large states on the index.
A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court by two Kashmir residents challenging the Centre's decision to constitute the delimitation commission for redrawing the assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The ministry said Pakistan negatively perceiving India's developmental move is not surprising as the neighbouring country has utilised such sentiments to justify its cross-border terrorism.
