The juggernaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, which triumphed in three of the four east and north-eastern states that went for assembly bypolls on Saturday, was halted yet again in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress registered a six-on-six clean sweep.
The bypolls were held in six constituencies - Naihati, Haroa, Medinipur, Taldangra, Sitai (SC), and Madarihat (ST) - following the resignation of MLAs who had vacated their assembly seats after securing victories in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
On Wednesday, August 14, 2024 victims and relatives of people injured and killed during the recent unrest joined a protest demanding justice at Shaheed Minar in Dhaka.
'There are films, documentaries and reportage on the Internet regarding the Godhra riots. But whether the Sabarmati Express burned in an accident or a planned attack, what was the truth?'
"By attending, the Prime Minister has not only laid the foundation of a Mandir, but also the foundation of a Hindu Rashtra," Owaisi told reporters in Hyderabad.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
Beleaguered Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's political credibility will be tested by the outcome of the three by-elections. And cries that he must resign will become shriller if the Congress loses them.
At least five people were killed in separate rain-related incidents on Tuesday in Bengaluru, which has been reeling under incessant rains for the past three days causing widespread flooding in several residential areas and turning roads into virtual rivers.
Shahzahan Bachchu, 60, an outspoken proponent of secular principles and owner of a publishing house 'Bishaka Prokashoni' that specialised in publishing poetry, was gunned down in his ancestral village Kakaldi in Munshiganj district on Monday evening by five assailants.
In a virtual address from his residence in Dharamshala, the Tibetan spiritual leader thanked people from across the globe who greeted him on his birthday and said he would continue to serve humanity and combat climate change.
A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
Once identified, these individuals are drawn into private groups where they are exposed to manipulative content, including fabricated videos depicting atrocities allegedly committed by security forces, the officials said.
B'desh minister termed as "untrue" the allegations of minority repression in the country.
Nitish slammed the opposition and expressed confidence that they will be defeated in the next Lok Sabha elections.
There was a protest in the university demanding Gandhi's resignation as the chancellor and the students decided to walk down to her residence and paste a memorandum demanding her resignation on the door.
Khairul Islam alias Fahim, a leader of intelligence wing of the outlawed Ansar al-Islam also known as Ansarullah Bangla Team, was arrested from Kamlapur Rail Station area in Dhaka on Friday night, said Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of the Detective Branch of Police.
A group of Congress leaders have written to Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to warn party leaders and state ministers, who are weighing in for the chief minister's post, in the event of leadership change in Karnataka.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, the CM said, "There is no situation for revisiting it at the government level. There is no such intention, there is no such proposal."
Ratan Tata was one of the world's most influential industrialists yet he never appeared on any list of billionaires. He controlled over 30 companies that operated in over 100 countries across six continents yet lived an unpretentious life. Ratan Naval Tata, who died at a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday night at the age of 86 years, enjoyed a perhaps unique status -- a corporate titan who was considered a 'secular living saint' with a reputation for decency and integrity.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta posed the question to former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy and lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who sought deletion of the words "Socialist" and "Secular" from the Preamble of the Constitution.
Opposition MPs in the parliamentary committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill are scheduled to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday to protest its chairperson Jagdambika Pal's alleged 'unilateral' decisions and attempts to 'bulldoze' proceedings, indicating that they may disassociate themselves from the panel.
A Blue Corner Notice is issued by the international police cooperation body to collect additional information from its member countries about a person's identity, location or activities in relation to a crime.
Suspended Janata Dal-Secular leader and MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing charges of sexually abusing several women, was on Tuesday defeated in the Hassan Lok Sabha segment, by a margin of 42,649 votes.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also said that no visa is required for diplomatic passport holders to travel to Germany.
Earlier, deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who is also the state party chief, also had separate meetings with Parameshwara and Jarkiholi.
Bangladesh's newly-appointed Home Affairs Ministry adviser has vowed to take swift legal action against those who attack or abuse minorities, stressing that there is no place for violence, conflict, or hatred in the country.
In order to boost its deposit base, State Bank of India (SBI) is focusing on various segments, including JanDhan account holders, trusts, societies, and the segment below the affluent class but above the normal account holders. According to Ashwini Tewari , managing director, SBI, the bank is focusing on three broad segments. One is wealth banking, where the bank is focusing on individuals who perhaps do not qualify for private banking but are above regular accounts and require individual attention.
The PM said the Congress and its allies should not encourage the "Pakistan agenda" and speak the language of separatists.
The Assam assembly will discontinue with the two-hour break provided on Fridays to facilitate Muslim legislators to offer 'namaaz', Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The rule will be implemented from the next session, an assembly official said.
Nasreen accused Hasina of pleasing the 'Islamists', however, the same 'Islamists' have been in the student movement who forced the former Bangladesh PM to leave the country on Monday.
Ruling that Bangladesh is now a secular state, the country's high court has said that the constitution of 1972 has automatically been restored by a landmark judgment of the apex court that nullified a controversial amendment earlier this year. "In this secular state, everybody has religious freedom, and therefore no man, woman or child can be forced to wear religious attires like burqa, cap and dhoti," a high court bench said on Monday.
Janata Dal-Secular leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Wednesday hinted that his party was interested in the agriculture portfolio in the new National Democratic Alliance government.
'For decades, we have heard only lofty claims. We have become accustomed to empty assurances, and it seems that political leaders see us merely as voters'
'Our greatest enemies lie within us Kama -- selfish desires; krodha -- anger; moha -- attachment; lobha -- greed; madha -- pride and matsarya -- envy. Life is a constant battle against these dark forces. An enlightening excerpt from Priya Arora's book, Rama: A Man of Dharma.
The case was registered against Revanna, a former Minister and son of JD-S patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and his confidant Sathish Babanna in Mysuru on Thursday night for allegedly abducting a woman.
'Secularism is associated either with corruption, malgovernance or minority votes.' 'That allows the BJP to construct its own majority vote.' 'It will remain a feature of electoral contests, but it is not the only reason for the BJP's success.'
He was reviled by critics in his party as a neo-liberal in disguise but till the end, he retained his belief in secularism and the humanity of Communism.
The 'deliberate attack' on a Hindu temple in Canada sparked strong condemnation in India on Monday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking the Canadian government to ensure justice and uphold the rule of law.
Participating in the eighth edition of Deepotsav in Ayodhya - the first since the consecration of Ram temple on January 22, Adityanath said, "This is a historic first as after 500 years, Lord Ram is now in his abode in Ayodhya for Diwali."
'If any party talks too much about Muslims, it will lose.'
