The ten-day agitation by the Jat community in Uttar Pradesh demanding their inclusion in the list of Other Backward Castes in government job quota received a setback on Friday with the Allahabad high court asking the Maywati administration to get into action.
In line with exit poll predictions, the Bharatiya Janata Party has taken an early lead in Uttar Pradesh, after one hour of counting.
Several migrants in Bengaluru were desperate to return home as they were out of job and money.
On the eve of the final phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani reviews the political landscape in the epicentre and beyond.
Hukum Singh said the 'migration' of Hindus from Kairana in western Uttar Pradesh was 'not communal' in nature but had more to do with the law and order situation.
None of the political parties in UP has any effective plans to create jobs.
'Farmers will block rail tracks in various places. Markets and transport services will be closed during 'Bharat Bandh'
The BJP campaign highlighted Yogi's persona as a tough-as-nails leader and an incorruptible man with no nest to feather; Modi's charisma which was turned on full blast in the penultimate phases; Amit Shah's ground work; a well-oiled party organisation, and the RSS's back-up.
The next meeting has been scheduled for January 22, a day after the farmer unions hold their internal discussions on Thursday, farmer leaders said after the 10th round of talks ended at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi after nearly five hours of talks, including two breaks.
He said the incident is not linked to communalism but it is a social issue concerning emotions of the Hindu community.
Sowing had started on a sluggish note in several parts of the country because of delay in the onset of the monsoon but has picked up pace subsequently as the rains progressed and performed appreciably well in August.
Ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati has put a new caste card into play by announcing her support to the ongoing agitation by the Jat community in the western parts of the state. Mayawati on Monday made it loud and clear that she was going to back the Jats in pushing their demand for declaring the community a backward class.
The seventh round of talks between protesting unions and three central ministers ended inconclusively on Monday as the farmer leaders insisted on the repeal of the three contentious farm laws right from the beginning, even as the government listed various benefits from the Acts.
British lawmakers will debate the issue of press freedom and safety of protesters in India next Monday in response to an e-petition which had crossed the 1,00,000-signature threshold required for such a debate, the House of Commons Petitions Committee had confirmed earlier this week.
The Students Islamic Movement of India was formed in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, in April 1977. SIMI had originally emerged as a student's wing, which aimed to 'liberate' India from the 'western materialistic culture'. Its founder president was Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiquie.
Of the 76 Central Reserve Police Force personnel who died in the Naxal attack in the Mukrana forests in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, 42 of them hailed from Uttar Pradesh.
In a jolt to the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court on Friday restrained it from proceeding on the ambitious Ganga Expressway project aimed at connecting the state's eastern and western parts and directed it to obtain prior environmental clearance.The order was passed by a division bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhusan and Justice Arun Tandon, on a petition filed by a Varanasi-based social organisation 'Ganga Mahasabha'.
The Samajwadi Party stormed to the power with 224 of the 403 assembly seats.
Likening Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the character of an arrogant king, 'ahankari raja', from stories of yore, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said he is unable to understand that the 'jawan' who has kept the country safe is also the son of a farmer.
In an apparent bid to cash in on the Muslim vote bank, a number of outfits representing the community in Uttar Pradesh have decided to field candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. Projecting them as the the "real" well wishers of the minorities, these organisations have already announced their candidates.
Nath had said in Bhopal, "Lot of industries are set up in which people from other states, like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, come to work. I do not want to criticise them, but the youth of Madhya Pradesh are deprived (of jobs)."
Eleven rounds of talks have been held over the contentious farm laws but the impasse continues as the farmer unions remain firm on their demands -- the repeal of the three laws and legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price.
During the meeting, the leadership of the India Caucus, which is the largest country-specific caucus in the House of Representatives, condemned the violence on January 26 in Delhi.
The ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh seem to be making the most of the prevailing crisis in Moradabad to serve their political ends.
"We expect over five lakh people to attend the rally where Mayawati will outline Bahujan Samaj Party's agenda for Maharashtra," Maharashtra's BSP president Vilas Garud said.
Total area impacted across India pegged at 18.9 mn hectares.
He interrupted his speech to observe a minute's silence in the House along with other Opposition leaders, mainly the Congress, to pay tribute to farmers who had lost their lives during the two month agitation.
The field operations are on in the sub-Himalayan terai region stretching from the Gorakhpur district in eastern UP to Bijnore district in western UP. The two companies were given prospecting licences sometime back, he informed. The licence allows the licence holder to undertake mineral substance prospecting works within a specific area.
The module was in touch with foreign handlers, whose identity is yet to be established, NIA Inspector General Alok Mittal told reporters.
Many non-NDA parties have extended support to the nationwide 10-hour strike on Monday called by farmers protesting against the three agri laws under the aegis of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM).
It also asked the farmer leaders to submit their response within three days, explaining why legal action should not be taken against them as they did not follow conditions set for the parade.
As cracks began to appear in their ongoing agitation against the agri laws, farmer unions on Wednesday cancelled their planned march to Parliament on February 1 when the Budget would be presented.
Days after the suspension of Indian Administrative Service officer Durga Shakti Nagal, an Indian Police Service officer was transferred two days after he reopened the history-sheet of the father of a Congress member of Legislative Assembly in Rajasthan, who had allegedly been involved in smuggling and other anti-social activities.
"The question of entering into Delhi is a law and order matter and will be determined by the police," the bench said.
India has surpassed China to become the world's most populous nation with 142.86 crore people, shows the latest United Nations data, even as UN projections estimate that the country's population is expected to grow for the next three decades after which it will begin declining.
It is essentially a Christmas 'Made in India' that the western world is celebrating this year!
"I welcome private investment in all sectors of the economy. Corporate retailing will not be stopped," the UP chief minister said in an interview.
SIMI does not believe in a nation-state. Its ultimate aim is to have an Islamic Caliphate with an Islamic India an integral part of such an arrangement. And to achieve this, SIMI sees secular, democratic modern India as a hurdle. Yet it is the secular cabal that acts as a cheerleader for SIMI!
As power generation across northern and western India bore the brunt of the coal scarcity, spot prices at IEX rose to Rs 10.8 a unit during August 25-27, compared with Rs 8.7 a unit on August 22.
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