Rakesh Tikait, the 51-year-old Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader from the hinterlands of Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh, welcomed the support from international artistes and activists, including Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, but acknowledged he does not know them.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday protected four members of the Editors Guild of India against any coercive action till Monday in connection with two FIRs lodged against them in the state for offences, including promoting enmity between two communities.
The opposition leaders also accused the government of violating Constitutional norms by not inviting President Droupadi Murmu to the event.
Tharoor argued that the proposed bill represents a "grave chapter in the history of the Indian republic, seeking to ratify an ordinance that in many ways is an assault on our democratic heritage and the spirit of federalism."
The entry to the graveyard inside Naqshband sahib Shrine in Khawaja Bazaar near Nowhatta was sealed and security forces were deployed around the area to prevent anyone going inside, officials said.
Educational institutions, shops and business establishments remained closed across the Valley, while all kinds of transport remained off the roads due to the strike.
Faesal, who recently returned from a foreign training and was awaiting posting, said he had decided to resign from Indian Administrative Service, "to protest against the unabated killings in Kashmir, and lack of any sincere reach out from the Union government".
According to DMK, the voters are already consolidated on ideological lines, hence the impact of anti-incumbency, whether against the BJP Centre or the DMK state may not be too much, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Social activist Yogendra Yadav has resigned from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha coordination committee but said he will remain a 'soldier' of the farmers' collective.
He also urged people demonstrating against the laws across the country to observe a day-long hunger strike at their respective protest sites.
Mann said blocking roads by holding sit-ins had become a "trend" during the past few days, taking on the farmers' unions virtually head-on in an uncommon thing for any chief minister of the agrarian state.
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Athletes at the Winter Olympics in Sochi may be punished for making statements on the podium against Russia's anti-gay laws or human rights record but can do so at news conferences without fear of sanction, the IOC said.
She said the situation arising out of demonetisation has triggered a sort of constitutional crisis.
'This award is funded by American money so I took this decision.'
FIFA president Gianni Infantino accused critics of World Cup host Qatar's treatment of migrant workers of hypocrisy.
Except for 69-year-old Xi, all top officials including the number two leader in the Chinese leadership hierarchy Premier Li Keqiang will be replaced in the massive reshuffle to follow during the week.
The father of Amir Magray, one of the four persons killed in an encounter in Hyderpora area of Srinagar in November, on Thursday filed a petition in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court seeking the return of his son's body, maintaining his 'innocence' and the family's long contribution in the fight against terrorism.
The report published in the gazettes of India appeared in local newspapers on Monday and showed that Habba Kadal seat in Kashmir division and Suchetgarh seat in Jammu province had been restored.
Senator Faisal Javed, who was injured when a bullet grazed his face, said that a party worker was killed during the attack, while another was severely injured.
A purported video of the incident showing the mob beating the women up mercilessly on Wednesday was shared in the social media by Amit Malviya, the head of BJP's IT cell on Saturday.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday said that a police case has been filed on the basis of a complaint against the president and three members of the Editors Guild of India (EGI) for a report critiquing media coverage out of Manipur, and accused them of trying to "provoke clashes" in the state.
A group of several hundred people pelted stones at the house of PDP MP Nazir Ahmad Laway and injured two security guards, a police officer said.
"Such a slogan is not a political decision you can choose to take. It is about human rights and they are universal and binding around the world," Neuendorf said.
Gogoi was the only one whose bail was rejected by the court and he was released after spending 567 days in jail once Special NIA Judge Pranjal Das cleared him along with the three others of all charges.
Asiya Jan lived in the Kashmir, where the head is not held high and the mind is full of fear. I have lived in that Kashmir. Millions of others have. Omar Abdullah has not. That is why he failed Kashmir.
Khera said he was not provided the reasons for his arrest or given a copy of the FIR in the matter.
There may be those who could want to go slow, citing the large pendency of follow-up action and court cases that they would have to process and/or proceed with, before raiding more politicians, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and Venkaiah Naidu have also spoken to Thackeray.
Rainbow-themed badge adorns US training facility
A delegation of 21 Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc MPs will pay a two-day visit to Manipur beginning Saturday to assess the ground situation first-hand and then make recommendations to the government and Parliament for a solution to the problems in the violence-hit state.
The BJP has nothing to lose after a point. For the DMK it is a difficult choice, as it would not want to give too much of space to a 'national party' lest the 'Dravidian duel' of the past decades should be lost forever, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Terrorists have stepped up attacks in the Kashmir valley over the past week.
Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border protest site, farmer leaders warned of multiple actions if their main demands are not met. They said that only five per cent of the issues raised by them have so far been discussed in meetings with the government.
"Why are the Prime Minister, Home Minister and Defence Minister quiet on the Agnipath scheme?" Kharge asked.
Wrestler Divya Kakran defends WFI chief Brij Bhushan
The governments at the Centre and in the state were unprepared to handle the massive response to the large numbers of people, as they were not aware of the groundswell of public admonition that was against the Establishment, says N Sathiyamoorthy.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
All these male politicians are unlikely to risk their sinecures to speak up in support of a bunch of women wrestlers who have chosen to challenge a politician who appears to have the ruling regime in a stranglehold, points out Kanika Datta.
'She had the courage to not cow down before the entire law and order apparatus, to remain sane and human despite inhuman suffering meted out to her and her family.'
'They forget that denial of basic rights has helped create a big political void which is adding to a deepening alienation.' 'This creates a fertile ground for extremist elements and targeted killings which we are witness to once again.'
