Wajahat Habibullah, chairperson, National Commission for Minorities, speaks to Kavita Chowdhury on reservation for Muslims, the RTI Act and the controversy over withdrawal of AFSPA in Kashmir.
Pressing for 5 per cent reservation, Gujjars on Sunday intensified their agitation by blocking highways in parts of Rajasthan and threatening to expand it across the state as they alleged that the state government had failed to offer any concrete proposal to meet their demand.
Reviving their demand for five per cent reservation in jobs, Gujjars in Rajasthan on Thursday launched an agitation, blocking railway tracks, even as the state government expressed readiness to have talks with them.
A day ahead of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's visit to Rajasthan to raise the voice of the farmers against the farm laws, he said that the Centre should withdraw the laws and after thorough consultation with farmers and states, come up with a new set of legislations which the tillers would themselves want and is not something that is forced upon them.
Gujjars remained adamant for calling the committee of ministers at Bayana in Bharatpur for holding talks to resolve the issue
There will be total of 51 seats going to polls spread across 7 states in the fifth phase.
An alert has been sounded by the Delhi government after the water level of Yamuna river crossed the danger mark, an official said.
A day-long bandh called by Gujjars in support of their demand for five per cent reservation in government jobs hit vehicular traffic in Dausa district even as Gadia Luhar community joined the stir which entered the fifth day on Friday.
According to a statement issued by the VHP in Delhi, Togadia, 62, who suffered from low blood sugar levels, was found in an unconscious state in Shahibaug and was taken to Chandramani Hospital located in the same area.
Elections in four assembly seats, Nasirabad in Ajmer, Kota South and Weir in Bharatpur and Surajgarh in Jhunjhunu, are scheduled for Saturday. Results will be declared three days later on September 16
Nature photographer Nayan Khanolkar will conduct a workshop on bird photography at Bigwan, near Pune on January 30 and 31, 2010.
There was one case of cow-smuggling against Umar at the Govindgarh police station of Alwar, which was registered in 2012.
The body of Umar Khan, hailing from Ghatmika village in Bharatpur district, was recovered near Ramgarh on Saturday.
Delhi Tour and Travel provides discount travelling in and around New Delhi.
The apex court also directed the state government to explain why there was a sudden flurry of activities in and around the Taj Mahal and the Taj Trapezium Zone and why leather industries and hotels were coming up there.
"Rescue operation are still going on and we fear more recovery of bodies from the debris," Circle Officer of Deeg police station Prem Shankar Meena told PTI over phone. Six houses collapsed following explosions at an illegal crackers factory at Deeg on Wednesday.
A large number of Gujjar protestors including women disrupted train movement by squatting on the tracks at a bridge over Banganga river in Bandiqui area in Dausa district, where 14 people were killed in police firing and clashes on May 24, officials in the adjoining district of Bharatpur said. Rail commuters were stranded in Jaipur, Dausa, Kota, Jhalawar and other stations with trains either been cancelled or diverted in the wake of the Gujjar stir for ST status.
A Muslim cleric of the Jama Masjid in Bharatpur has been detained for interrogation in connection with the Jaipur serial blasts that killed 66 people, the police said on Monday. Mohamaad Ilyas, the Imam of the Jama Masjid, was detained on Friday and had been taken to Jaipur for further investigations by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), Circle Officer (City) Ratan Lal Bhargava said.
Attempts to end the 16-day-old agitation by the state government to bring 70-year-old Bainsla to the negotiating table failed on Saturday as the two sides refused to budge on their stand over the choice of the venue. The government had this time conveyed its decision that the talks be held only in Jaipur in a letter to Bainsla, camping in Bharatpur's Karwadi-Pilupura area, the agitation hotbed, through it chief negotiator S N Thanvi.
Four columns of the army were deployed in violence-hit Bayana town and nearby villages on Saturday after 15 people were killed in clashes between members of Gujjar community and police. Gurjar Arakashan Sangarsh Samiti convener Kirori Singh Bhainsla said Gujjars will not settle for nothing less than the state's letter of recommendation to the Centre for the ST status.
Later, nearly 5,000 Gujjars squatted near the damaged track as senior district and police officials persuaded them to disperse
Gujjar Mahasabha patron Col (retd) K S Bainsala, Congress MP Sachin Pilot, BJP rebels Atar Singh Bhadana and Prahlad Gunjal, Lokjanshakti Party MLA Ranveer S Gudha were among those who courted arrest.
At least 15 people, including a policeman, were on Friday killed in police firing and clashes between members of Gujjar community demanding Scheduled Caste status for them and cops at Bayana in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district, after which the Army was deployed in the area.
The aerial survey was conducted in Bharatpur, Dholpur, Alwar, Dausa, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Jaipur rural, Kota and Tonk.
These directives were issued on Thursday night, along with prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC that will remain in force till June 6 in the two districts.
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The absence of Rajasthan BJP leadership in Narendra Modi's rallies in the poll-bound state is fuelling speculations. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
In the late 1990s, the construction cost of the Ram temple, according to unofficial estimates, was pegged at Rs 120 crore. Adjusting for inflation to the current financial year, the edifice would entail an investment of nearly Rs 450 crore, excluding the land cost.
A Sikh delegation on Thursday held a demonstration in front of the district Central jail in Bharatpur following which they were allowed to meet the Sikh prisoner whose hair was allegedly cut by other inmates.
Ashok Gehlot can never be a challenger to the first son of the Congress party. The Scindias and Pilots will be Rahul's rivals should the party's fortunes revive, says Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Go, live your life in Leh for as long as you want.
Readers share impressions of their favourite beaches.
It seems that to shed her Royal background tag, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is going the 'commoner' way, just like Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
Swirling waters inundated 12 districts in the state.
'Yogiji is saying he is doing good work, but when you go on the ground you will see the reality.'
One of India's foremost wildlife photographers Rathika Ramasamy shares her most favourite photographs that'll make you go 'wow'.
Called Mewar Express, this train will run between Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi and Udaipur City.
External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh has to deal with the Indo-Pak peace process at a crucial stage and tough negotiations underway with China to expeditiously resolve the complex boundary issue.
Fallout of cyclone Hudhud which caused havoc in Andhra Pradesh has brought unusual rains in Rajasthan causing the night temperature to dip by one to three degree in areas across the state, the MET department has said.
Gujjar protesters blocked the Delhi-Mumbai rail route and a key national highway for the fifth day on Monday after negotiations with the government over their demand of five per cent quota were stalled due to disagreement over the meeting venue.
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