The video conference, which began at 11 am, comes amid indications that the central government may extend the nationwide lockdown with some possible relaxations even as Punjab and Odisha have already announced extending the lockdown beyond April 14 when the current spell of 21-day shutdown across the country ends on Tuesday.
The Mamata Banerjee-led party, which has often been mocked by opponents for not having a well-defined ideological plank, seems to have finally found its calling in Bengali sub-nationalism, as a section of top party leaders feel only an 'inclusive message of regionalism, which the Bengalis can identify with, will counter the aggressive nationalism and Hindutva practised by the saffron camp'.
'This time, even the professedly secular parties have maintained a conscious distance from being identified with Muslims.' 'This could be interpreted as a success of the BJP campaign of what it has been calling 'minority appeasement', says Mohammad Sajjad.
From Bollywood strong men to cricketing greats, celebrities upped the glam quotient this poll season. Some we will see as future MPs, the others just have to get back to business. Rediff.com takes a look at some popular faces, who fought Election 2019 and here's the verdict on them.
Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray on Monday suffered a setback with the Supreme Court clearing the way for his prosecution by the Jharkhand police for allegedly inflammatory speeches targeted at people from Bihar, Jharkhand and north India.
Government sources had claimed on Tuesday that four persons have committed suicide in fear of NRC so far, while four others had died while waiting in queues to procure the requisite papers.
Shops remained closed in some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan for a few hours and internet services were restricted in sensitive areas to check 'rumour-mongering', but normal life remained largely unaffected
In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the focus of Modi's remarks at the meeting on Friday was the events of June 15 at Galwan that led to the loss of lives of 20 Indian military personnel.
Delhi's power circles can expect a surprise when a not-so-known officer is appointed to head the CBI.
Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party member H T Sangliana and rebel Janata Dal-United leader Ramswaroop Prasad, who voted in favour of the United Progressive Alliance government in the July 22 confidence motion, were disqualified on Tuesday from the Lok Sabha under anti-defection provisions of the Constitution.
In the second part we will explain the ways of tobacco use and its consequences.
In an order, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said buses shall be used for transport of such groups of stranded people and these vehicles will be sanitised and will have to follow safe social distancing norms in seating.
When Modi's name was called out by the Secretary General for taking oath, Members from the ruling National Democratic Alliance thumped the desk greeting the Prime Minister with slogans such as 'Modi Modi' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.
The Supreme court on Wednesday stayed a non-bailable warrant issued by a Jharkhand court against MNS chief Raj Thackeray for his alleged statements and hate campaign against North Indians.
Former Home Secretary R K Singh and two Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders, who recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, figure in the third list of 97 Lok Sabha poll candidates released by the party on Thursday.
The seats identified are from Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Northeast.
"Raj Thakeray is like a saitan, who has the habit of making remarks to continue being in the news by hurting people's sentiments and creating unnecessary controversy," a usually soft-spoken Nitish Kumar remarked.
Under attack for his campaign against north Indians, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Friday softened his stand on Chhat puja, saying that he was not opposed to the festival being celebrated in Maharashtra but warned against it being used as a show of political strength.
After attacking migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray has now trained his guns at a growing number of North Indian students coming to Pune for higher education. "Pune, with its large number of reputed universities and institutions imparting higher education is attracting students from these states who are being given admissions on massive donations leaving in the lurch the deserving Marathi aspirants," he said.
The election campaign finally ended on Friday, May 17. Arindam Majumder reveals what he discovered on the election front on a long rail journey.
While the Congress has found success in scoring over the BJP on Twitter and Facebook, it has failed to match the Sangh Parivar's finesse at utilizing WhatsApp as its primary medium to send its message across to the Karnataka electorate, reports Archis Mohan.
'The BJP will get the lion's share of the Opposition vote. I would give the Congress-Left around 15 per cent.'
Members of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Saturday celebrated the 40th birthday of their leader Raj Thackeray by organising blood donation camps and other social activities.However, the MNS refrained from holding a Hatt Puja programme, a take-off on the Chhat Puja performed by north Indians, which has become a bone of contention between MNS and migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.Over 20,000 supporters visited the MNS chief's home at Dadar and greeted their leader.
The auto sector in Pune, which houses production centres of the most prominent auto manufacturers in the country, says that 60-70 per cent of its labour is already local. They were reponding to the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's call yesterday urging companies to reserve 80 per cent of all industrial jobs created for local Maharashtrians.
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand will have to do a significant amount of catching up.
PM Narendra Modi took stock of the situation and directed all authorities concerned to be on alert for rescue and relief operations
Two suspected United Liberation Front of Asom militants were killed in an encounter with the army in north Assam's Lakhimpur district while two other persons were injured in a blast that rocked a small western Assam town in two separate incidents violence in the state on Saturday. Security sources informed that two suspected ULFA militants were killed following a gunbattle with a team of personnel from the 2nd Bihar Regiment.
A video clip showing MNS chief Raj Thackeray cutting a cake with inscription 'Bhaiyya' (Mumbai slang for north Indians, especially those from UP and Bihar), has landed Raj in fresh trouble.
'Modi is still immensely popular and, therefore, he can sustain any number of policy failures.' 'Modi himself has worn multiple faces so it would be naive to think that the Modi of 2021 will be the same Modi that will be campaigning for re-election in 2024.'
In its daily briefing, the government also reported Goa is now free of coronavirus.
Home Secretary L C Goyal said 72 deaths were reported from the four states of Bihar -- 56, Uttar Pradesh -- 12, West Bengal -- 3 and Rajasthan --1.
'The foundation of the 2014 triumph was Narendra Modi's appeal to voters in the Hindi belt. The Bihar Vidhan Sabha polls will demonstrate if he continues to appeal to them,' says T V R Shenoy.
Two persons were killed in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district as strong winds and thunder showers hit several parts of the state. While one died in a tree fall incident the other was hit by lightning, the police said.
Unseasonal rain since Wednesday has, meanwhile, hampered culling in Bankura, Birbhum, Coochbehar, Hooghly, Nadia, South Dinazpur, Bardhaman and Murshibadbad districts. There were reports of resentment among poultry owners for not getting the promised compensation.
There is something deeply disturbing about wanting to build such a large temple in what is arguably India's poorest state, a state that like many other states of India, particularly in north India, is crying for more schools, more hospitals and primary health centres, and, dare I say it, more toilets for everyone, says Amberish K Diwanji
Mihir S Sharma gives us a rundown of what could happen, depending on the number.
The highest number of confirmed cases are from Maharashtra (748), followed by Tamil Nadu at 571 and Delhi with 523 cases. Cases in Telangana have gone up to 321, in Kerala to 314, in Uttar Pradesh to 305, while the number of cases has gone up to 274 in Rajasthan.
The country needs a whopping Rs 36,000 crore (Rs 360 billion) investment for developing airports, two-third of which is expected to come from private players, a senior civil aviation ministry official said on Wednesday.
"We are not able to find any work due to the prevailing situation," say migrant labourers who are being forced to move out owing to the unrest.
More than 1.20 lakh Himachalis have already returned home in less than a week's time. There is a list of 21,000 others approved for return, and at least two lakh more are still awaiting official nod for their return. Will this influx see a spike in coronavirus numbers? That is the administration's main worry, reports Ashwani Sharma.
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