A SWOT analysis of the INDIA bloc, led by the RJD-Congress combine, as Bihar prepares for Assembly elections. Examines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing the opposition alliance.
Union Minister Pankaj Chaudhary stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi strengthened the Enforcement Directorate to combat financial crimes like money laundering and corruption, dismissing allegations of it being used to target political opponents.
The case against Balaji and his aides pertains to his tenure as the state transport minister in the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government during 2011-15.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has criticised the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal, citing the Malda incident as evidence of lawlessness and accusing the party of 'maha jungleraj'. He framed the upcoming elections as a battle between the TMC's 'fear' and the BJP's 'trust', addressing issues such as infiltration, corruption, and demographic change.
'Most of them (H-1Bs) are from one country, India, there's a cottage industry about how all those people make money off this system.'
Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed poll rallies in West Bengal, attacking Mamata Banerjee's TMC and promising development if the BJP wins the state elections. He accused Banerjee of appeasement politics and vowed to prevent the construction of a Babri Masjid-like structure in Bengal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accused the TMC government in West Bengal of 'maha jungleraj' following an incident in Malda where judicial officers were allegedly held hostage. He framed the upcoming elections as a battle between the TMC's 'fear' and the BJP's 'trust', promising accountability for alleged atrocities and a focus on development.
'We could well be in a world where AI already has these dangerous capabilities and that is why there is a need for careful scientific evaluation to determine the risk and capabilities of these machines.'
A high-level three-member committee is formed to grow awareness about fraudulent job offers.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw asserted that the BJP will form the government in West Bengal after the upcoming assembly elections, ending the Trinamool Congress's 15-year rule. He criticised the TMC for vote-bank politics, hindering development, and failing to protect women, while promising unprecedented development under a BJP government.
Two chartered accountants have been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case linked to a cyber fraud involving Rs 641 crore.
The Indian Embassy in Thailand, in coordination with its counterpart in Yangon, Myanmar, has repatriated 549 Indians after rescuing them from scam centers operating near the Myanmar-Thailand border. The nationals were lured with fake job offers and forced to work in scam centers. The Indian Embassy has advised citizens to verify credentials of foreign employers and check the antecedents of recruiting agents before accepting job offers.
Tata Consultancy Services has taken action against six employees after finding them guilty of accepting favours from certain staffing firms in the appointment of contractual workers, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Thursday. The largest IT services exporter is investigating the role of three more of its employees, Chandrasekaran said while speaking at the TCS annual general meeting in Mumbai. "We have banned six employees and also six companies," he said in response to questions from shareholders.
Gujarat Police arrested an Indian national accused of running an international cyber slavery network operated by Chinese gangs from Myanmar and Cambodia. The accused allegedly supplied Indian workers to scam compounds where they were forced to commit cybercrimes.
The INDIA bloc in Bihar has announced Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate, signaling a united front after weeks of internal disagreements. The move aims to challenge the incumbent NDA government, with both sides engaging in political maneuvering and accusations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the record turnout in the first phase of the Bihar assembly polls indicates people's trust in the NDA government. He predicted victory for the NDA, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and lauded the Election Commission for conducting successful elections.
Gujarat police arrest a woman allegedly involved in trafficking job aspirants to Myanmar and Thailand for cyber slavery. The accused lured people with promises of high-paying jobs and forced them to work for international cyber crime syndicates.
The CBI has filed a chargesheet against 17 people, including four Chinese nationals, and 58 companies for their alleged roles in a transnational cyber fraud network that siphoned off over Rs 1,000 crore.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has defended her support for teachers who were dismissed following a Supreme Court verdict, accusing the BJP and CPI(M) of "hatching a conspiracy" to influence the ruling. She dared the BJP to arrest her for supporting the affected candidates, while asserting that her government will abide by the verdict but explore all legal options. The development has triggered political reactions with the BJP demanding Banerjee's resignation, while the CPI(M) expressed concern over the impact on the education system. Banerjee also criticized the BJP's handling of the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, drawing parallels to the school jobs scam in West Bengal.
Sixty-seven Indians who were trafficked and forced to work in cyber-scam centres in Laos have been rescued by the Embassy of India in Vientiane, officials said on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sounded the poll bugle in Bihar, where assembly elections are due this year, calling for 'an NDA government, once again', which would protect the state from the 'evil intentions' of the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress combine.
In a recent operation, Bihar Police busted a fraudulent scheme operating under the guise of 'All India Pregnant Job Service', which deceived men with promises of substantial payments for impregnating childless women.
'Instead of the government and telecom operators solving the mess of their own creation, they're telling us we need to give access to our phones perpetually.'
'A majority of filmmakers cannot truly understand the city because they don't live here,' says Anusha Rizvi, Director, The Great Shamsuddin Family.
Speaking at the 'Samudra se Samruddhi' event, where he inaugurated and laid foundation stones of projects worth Rs 34,200 crore, Modi said all the problems of India have only one solution, and that is self-reliance.
Ten years after a dream electoral debut, which saw him become the deputy chief minister at a young age of 25, the heir apparent of party supremo Lalu Prasad finally won, after trailing for several rounds, from Raghopur, a RJD stronghold.
Writer and director Anusha Rizvi returns to cinema after 15 years with warmth, wit and many a laughs.
'They are clueless about the man on the currency notes.' 'They have been fed with WhatsApp forwards, so either Gandhi is vilified or deified. There's nothing in between.'
At least 47 Indians trapped in cyber scam centres in Laos have been rescued from the Bokeo province of the country, the Indian embassy in the Southeast Asian country said on Saturday.
Call it political opportunism or sagacity, his moves, in effect, have not allowed the Bharatiya Janata Party to appoint its own chief minister to date, despite enjoying a near hegemonic status nationally and the best performance in recently held assembly polls where the saffron party bagged 89 seats, followed by the Janata Dal-United with 85.
After big win in Bihar, the BJP is likely to push harder in Tamil Nadu, where the DMK government and the uneasy BJP-AIADMK alliance are preparing for a tense election filled with seat-sharing fights, changing alliances, and the unpredictable entry of Vijay's TVK party, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Friday said he will participate in the party's protest programme in New Delhi on October 3, a day after he was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the school jobs scam in Kolkata on the same day.
Bhutia and Chaubey have shared a history of verbal spats, with the former frequently questioning Chaubey's leadership, even calling the AIFF a "circus"
Kumar said that Rahul Gandhi's claim that the caste survey in the state was held under the Congress' pressure was 'nonsensical'.
A Congress source termed the process of drafting and presenting of the Bill before the state cabinet on Monday as a "unilateral" effort by the chief minister's office and ministers that are close to him.
A district-level investigation has named several individuals, including relatives of India cricketer Mohammed Shami.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee to appear before it in Kolkata on November 9 in connection with the alleged school jobs scam, a TMC leader said on Wednesday.
The series is held together by a superbly astute performance by Gagan Dev Riar, who moves from cheerful conman to menacing criminal with remarkable skill, observes Deepa Gahlot.
The Supreme Court of India has invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and other staff in West Bengal's state-run and state-aided schools, deeming the selection process "vitiated and tainted." The court ordered the state government to conduct a fresh selection process within three months. The decision comes after a Calcutta High Court verdict in April 2024, which also annulled the appointments. The apex court, while upholding the high court's order, made some modifications, including exempting disabled employees from returning their salaries. The case stemmed from alleged irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC), involving OMR sheet tampering and rank-jumping. The Supreme Court had previously termed it a "systemic fraud." Former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha are among the accused being investigated in the recruitment scam.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
