The Assam cabinet on Monday decided to book men who marry girls below 14 years in the state under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
As forty-five people lost their lives and 200,000 people were rendered homeless in the week-long communal violence between the Bodo tribals and the Muslim immigrants, the Assam government in northeast India ummed and ahhed, says Bibhu Prasad Routray
'This is not the first time that a large contingent of Assam armed police led by senior officers attacked and destroyed farm huts, crops and plantations of Mizo farmers.' 'There have been a series of such intrusions in the past and the pace of such intrusions increased in the recent past.'
The veteran diplomat said Hasina has stayed in India before after the assassination of her father and Bangladesh independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who later became the country's prime minister. Rahman was assassinated in August 1975.
Gen Sharma served as the Army chief from 1988-1990 and was a colonel when he took part in the 1971 war.
In the Doordarshan Kendra Chennai's Hindi month valedictory function, a sentence Thekkanamum adhil sirantha Dravida nal thiru naadum went missing when the singers sang the anthem at the DD Tamil office in Chennai.
The prime minister told the MPs that the northeast is very close to his heart and his love for the region is very natural. Quoting Modi, Rijiju saidthe PM asserted that he doesn't look at the region from the prism of politics.
"Around 20 candidates have been shifted to Jaipur from Assam today," said Congress chief whip in the Rajasthan assembly, Mahesh Joshi.
The party is less forthcoming about who the chief minister will be if it stays in power.
While interacting with all Officers-in-Charge (OCs) of the state's many police stations on 'Redefining Policing Standards in Assam', the Assam chief minister issued directions to police to strictly deal with crimes against women and show zero tolerance towards such crimes.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Wednesday that he along with Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma will meet Union home minister Amit Shah to submit the recommendation of the two Northeastern states for resolving the boundary dispute in six areas.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Nagaland counterpart Neiphiu Rio held closed door interaction with NSCN (IM) chief negotiator Thuingaleng Muivah at Dimapur on Tuesday, a government official said.
Even if the Congress is unable to defeat the political appeal of Narendra Modi, the resources and talent of the BJP and its managers, it is relying on issues like the Citizenship Amendment Act and the perceived threat to Assamese identity, along with the future threat of the National People's Register to ensure it continues to be a force in the state. Aditi Phadnis reports.
On India, while appreciating the measures adopted by it to address discrimination, the Committee expressed concern about alleged discrimination and violence against minority groups, including religious minorities, such as Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs, "scheduled castes" and "scheduled tribes", and LGBTI people.
As a consequence of prominence given to the brutality during those few days, a very important aspect of that episode got almost glossed over. This was the intervention by a very significant section of people who restored faith in humanity, and conveyed the message that only a small section of Indians, that too politically backed, were consumed by anti-Sikh majoritarianism. The overlooked facet of the events of 1984 was the story of significant sections of the city's populace, public figures and nondescript ones, stepping out hand-in-hand, to first stand with little but bravery in hands, in the way of attackers, and thereafter to provide immediate relief to those who lives were uprooted and who lost family members in the violence, recalls Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
After the 18-member 'Assam Advisory Committee' suggested the two organisations to form a political party, a source close to the development said the new outfit will be launched within the next 10 days.
Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma added to the mystery by declaring only that the next CM would be from the BJP, without naming Sarbananda Sonowal, the CM of the outgoing government.
Uddhav Thackeray and his followers have the option to stop riding a tiger and commence work around a more meaningful and enduring political ideology. It is an option Eknath Shinde's side may not have, supported as they were by the BJP, to maintain continuity of the old Sena, argues Shyam G Menon.
Soren, who is scheduled to join the Bharatiya Janata Party on August 30, also resigned as an MLA of the state assembly and a minister in the Jharkhand Cabinet.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has tested positive for Covid-19.
The manifesto, released by BJP national president JP Nadda, promised to protect "genuine Indian citizens and to detect infiltrators" to ensure the Ahom civilization stays safe.
The bandh, called by Barak Democratic Front and supported by political outfits including opposition AIUDF and social organisations, was "total" and there was no report of any untoward incident from any district, another official said.
The committees headed by a cabinet minister will have bureaucrats and maybe a local representative as members and they will visit the disputed sites, interact with the civil society members and complete the discussions within 30 days, Sarma said.
The BJP won both the Rajya Sabha seats from Assam.
The Congress said the PM has neither found the time nor even had the inclination to visit the state for even a few hours.
The 84-year old veteran Congressman, who died from post-COVID complications on Monday, was a Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist.
Banerjee said her microphone was stopped after five minutes, while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer durations.
In total, 17 people, including Telangana Chief Minister and Congress leader Revanth Reddy, have been issued notices to appear before the Delhi police's investigation officer (in connection with the case. Sources, however, said Reddy is "unlikely" to join the probe and may send his representative.
Two senior government functionaries said the central government does not want to take any decision that may further escalate the ground situation.
'Someone who cannot even take his cabinet into confidence, how will he take the NDA alliance into confidence?'
'They know everyone and have everyone's horoscope. If they feel Himanta Biswa Sarma is the right man for Assam, they will give it to me, if they feel Sarbananda Sonowal is the right man, they will give it to him, or if they feel both of them are not good, let's bring another person'
Bangladesh is in turmoil, which is not good news for India, which shares a porous 4000 km border with it. There is a danger of fundamentalism growing there, and India has to move in to reset its ties with the new dispensation before China and Pakistan make capital out of it, alerts Ramesh Menon.
'Unfortunately, there is no movement towards peace in Manipur.'
Sixteen per cent of the candidates contesting in the first phase of Assam assembly elections have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to a report by poll rights group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
'The BJP and RSS were working on the ground to define who is an illegal immigrant.'
APCC president Ripun Bora said following discussions with various parties, it has been decided that the Congress will join hands with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist and the Anchalik Gana Morcha.
While Himanta Biswa Sarma scotched rumours that he would be the king this time, political sources in Guwahati maintained that he, and not Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, had a bigger say in choosing candidates, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Sisodia claimed that while the Assam government procured PPE kits for Rs 600 a piece from other companies, Sarma gave urgent supply orders to the firms of his wife and son's business partners for Rs 990 a piece "taking advantage of the COVID-19 emergency".
There were certainly qualities adhering to the Tata Group, which emanated from the persona of Ratan Tata. Most notable of these would be the low profile he maintained, which sharply contrasted the in-your-face celebrity status, celebration of wealth and pursuit of importance many of liberalised India's rich, love, notes Shyam G Menon.
A video of the attack which went viral on social media showed that a person, apparently looked like the doctor, was being assaulted by a group of people, including women.
