Maharashtra police on Tuesday raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links. Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi. Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj and Farreira were arrested. Although Navalakha was also arrested, the Delhi high court ordered police not to take him out of the national capital at least until Wednesday. According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided are Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa. The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year. Here are their brief profiles:
'Nobody can control Kashmir and what happens here.' 'Even a government with a full sweeping majority and strong mandate hasn't been able to control the state.'
The location of the landfall is north of Dhamra and south of Bahanaga, close to Bahanaga block, on the coast, around 50 km of Balasore, he said.
This comes after the ministry of home affairs issued guidelines for the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown, giving power to states and union territories to delineate red, green and orange zones as per the COVID-19 situation taking into consideration the parameters shared by the union health ministry.
An official said the attack appears to be a reprisal for killing of several Lashkar terrorists.
Ahead of VK Sasikala's return to Tamil Nadu on February 8, there are some important questions facing her. One, does she carry electoral weight more now than her brainchild AMMK had in the 2019 LS polls? Two, can she retain or build upon the five per cent vote-share from that time? And finally, is there space for Sasikala to retrieve, first within the AIADMK and then across the state, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The committee has to consider a wide range of issues relating to the national anthem, and have extensive discussions with various ministries.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Friday that Rahul Dravid will continue as coach for the India 'A' and Under-19 teams for the next two years.
While the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 7,409, as many as 764 people have been cured and discharged, and one had migrated, it said. Of the total 273 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 127 fatalities, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 36, Gujarat at 22 and Delhi at 19.
National flags were lowered and people bowed their heads as the silence began at 8:30 am local time, the time the first of the attacks occurred on Sunday.
Communist Party of India-Marxist Polit Bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan will be the next Chief Minister of Kerala.
'If the blatant criminal act of destroying a place of worship is to be rewarded by giving the whole land to those who committed that act, then it raises lots of questions.'
Narendra Modi's mother washed utensils to make a living. Madhusudan Mistry's grandmother, who brought him up, was a vegetable vendor. Mistry's trajectory from poverty to membership of the all powerful Congress Working Committee is moving. the man who has Rahul Gandhi's ear and is all set to take on Narendra Modi in Vadodara, speaks to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt in a fascinating interview.
'The situation is so bad that they are now sleeping on bridges or footpaths.' 'Therefore, they want to go and die before their parents or wife in case they get infected with COVID-19.' 'Workers don't want to die a dog's death in cities.'
'It's the brazen corruption involving politicians that makes you sit up years after the event,' notes Nivedita Mookerji after reading B K Syngal's Telecom Man.
While his critics described him as a leader 'with no smile on his face, and the most feared politician in Kerala', his party rivals have often accused him of deviating from the party line.
Despite just one bid and the sponsorship rights going for its base price, the Board of Control for Cricket in India expressed satisfaction with its deal with Star India Pvt Ltd and ESPN for all 13 home international fixtures till March 2014.
The ban will be in place for a month or till further orders, whichever is earlier, said an order issued by Principal Secretary Home R K Goyal.
He expressed hope that it will also benefit a large number of Hindi-speaking umpires and those giving training in this field, to whom the rules in English are hard to understand.
Google will build its largest campus outside the Unites States in Hyderabad.
Interestingly, PM Modi had thanked his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for offering the support to the rain-battered state on August 18.
He said his administration will spare 'no resources or expense in this effort' to investigate who sent the packages.
The faction of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland led by Ranjan Daimary on Friday signed a Suspension of Operation agreement with the Government of India in Guwahati.
Massive crowds thronged liquor stores, more vehicles plied on roads and cab-hailing platforms resumed services as India entered the third phase of the lockdown on Monday with further easing of curbs except in containment zones in the shadow of the highest rate of recovery yet from coronavirus.
Amid the escalating Lieutenant Governor-Chief Minister feud, the Centre on Friday backed Delhi LG Najeeb Jung making it clear that it was not mandatory for him to consult Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on matters like appointment of bureaucrats.
The government plans to expand the programme of using head post offices as PSKs.
Hospital authorities said of the deceased at the GTB, at least nine received gun shots. One of the deceased is also a woman, they said.
As the number of cases crossed 2,56,000 with more than 7,100 fatalities, according to Union health ministry figures, and the country made a calibrated exit from the lockdown in non-containment zones, shop shutters in many malls went up for the first time since March 25 but the sprawling retail places were eerily empty.
'Our boxers are mature and strong enough to withstand these kinds of shocks.'
'The worst affected is the electricity supply. A huge number of poles, some 6,000 to 8,000 poles have been damaged completely. That will take a lot of time for restoration.'
Important for Chinese President Xi Jinping will be Zhao's discussions on the issues of Tibet and the Dalai Lama and his assessment of the likely results of India's coming national elections, notes former senior RA&W officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
Its economy dependent on tourist arrivals, the hill state is looking at a summer of discontent. Not that the rest of the year promises to be any different. Ashwani Sharma reports from Shimla.
Addressing his council of ministers in a video conference, Modi asked them to prepare business continuity plans to fight the economic impact of COVID-19 on a war footing, but also asserted that this crisis is an opportunity to boost the 'Make-in-India' initiative and reduce dependence on other countries.
Haryana Director General of Police K P Singh has kicked up a controversy with his remarks that common people coming across any miscreant trying to outrage the modesty of a woman or indulging in acts of arson or murder have the right to "take his life".
An entirely preventable disease claimed the life of 173 children -- thanks to state apathy.
Sepp Blatter will not travel to Canada for Sunday's final of the women's World Cup.
'Credit expansion is probably the quickest way to get the economy going again.' 'Easy credit is like a shot of nitro in a race car: In timely, small, quick, doses it can give a tremendous boost but carried to extreme it can destroy the engine,' points out S Muralidharan, former managing director, BNP Paribas.
'It is important to make a clear distinction between the officers and jawans. The officers retire at 54 and with two extensions can go up to 58 years before they go home. A jawan on the other hand retires at 38. Therefore, to portray a picture that all army men retire young is wrong.'
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A two-year extension at the helm of the RBI still looks a real possibility
