The Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee has formed a four-member panel to investigate alleged irregularities in pilgrims' offerings and donations at Badrinath Dham. The allegations, which went viral on social media, have sparked political controversy in Uttarakhand, with the Congress demanding strict action. The inquiry will examine CCTV footage and statements, with a report due in seven days.
An employee of the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) has been suspended following a preliminary inquiry into alleged irregularities in the management of donations at Badrinath Dham. Both the BKTC and the Uttarakhand government have launched separate investigations into the matter, which gained attention after social media allegations and a formal complaint. The government committee is expected to submit its report within 15 days.
The Uttar Pradesh government has appointed Kulshekhar Singh, an ex-joint director of the Department of Prosecution, as legal aid defence counsel for the accused in the alleged Ram temple donation embezzlement case, following a boycott by the Faizabad Bar Association.
'People don't like leaders who just crib and complain without offering a clear objective.' 'Theoretically and pragmatically, Rahul has to show an agenda beyond bad-mouthing Mr Modi on economic policies, foreign policy...'
Students at Tezpur University in Assam have shut down the institution, protesting against Vice Chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh over allegations of corruption and financial irregularities. The shutdown has led to the cancellation of end-term examinations and has garnered support from teachers and non-teaching staff.
'She was not a yes person. She would tell the truth and her feelings to Indira Gandhi, and Indira Gandhi would value her opinion. The same was the case with Rajiv Gandhi who would value her opinion.'
The Deepa Thoon controversy, if not allowed to die a natural death, could take the election focus away from the anti-incumbency impacting the DMK and into the secular space. Stalin would love to have it that way, all over again, after the three past elections, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'When you attend an RSS function, the nation is your first priority.'
Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the FBI, told lawmakers that he has faced racism while growing up. During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patel said he had been subjected to threats after his personal information was released by Congress. Patel said he was called a "detestable sand nigger" and told to "go back to where you came from." He said his family members, including his father and mother, were present at Capitol Hill during the hearing. Patel said his father fled Idi Amin's genocidal dictatorship in Uganda, where 300,000 men, women and children were killed based on their ethnicity. He said his mother is originally from Tanzania. Patel said he believes that people who put politics and personal ambition over service to the country should be named and that Americans deserve transparency.
Alleging negligence in the construction of the temple, Das claimed that there was also no arrangement for the drainage of rainwater from the temple premises after the showers on Saturday midnight.
'Only because of the absence of a dedication record in writing, how can such properties be treated as located on misappropriated government land?'
Shah also challenged the Congress to implement its Lok Sabha election promise of providing Rs 8500 monthly to women in states ruled by the party.
Jagdeep Dhankhar's sudden resignation as Vice President has led to speculation about underlying political tensions and disagreements with the ruling alliance.
Stirring up controversy, a Lingayat seer on Monday alleged that mutts (monasteries) are equally affected due to rampant corruption prevailing in Karnataka as they too pay a commission of 30 per cent to get the sanctioned grants released for them.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should avoid visiting the birthplace of Srimanta Sankardeva at Batadrava on January 22, as there can be no competition between Lord Ram and the medieval age Vaishnav saint revered as an icon in the state.
With his three-week temporary bail for poll campaign ending, Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be back in Tihar Jail on Sunday as a court here put off till June 5 its order on his plea seeking interim bail on medical grounds.
He accused the BJP of creating friction between communities and 'igniting' fire and ramped up his attack on the PM.
With Ram temple issue once again coming into focus before 2014 Parliamentary elections through VHP yatra, a BJP sub-committee under the campaign panel headed by Narendra Modi is gathering feed back from people on Ayodhya and other burning issues to gauge "country's mood".
For the first time in his political career, he failed to carry his party to even a working majority -- and again, for the first time in his career, he finds himself in a situation where he cannot rule by dictatorial fiat, points out Prem Panicker.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
It will be in Modi's interest to reinvent his party, read the writing on the wall that voters wrote, and move ahead. He has little choice now. The country is watching, asserts Ramesh Menon.
"The Congress is "going to (fight) the election with unity" and it will win the polls," Sharma said after the meeting at Pilot's Civil Lines residence that lasted for nearly half an hour.
Through gestures and decisions, the BJP high command has signalled that Raje may not be the lead actor but rather play a supporting role in a high-stakes election in its stamping ground.
The BJP's challenge is whether it can again deflate a Congress, which now looks reinvigorated and has adopted sharper messaging around its 'guarantees', and several regional parties, especially in Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
A fierce competition among parties to offer freebies and guarantees, a scramble for tribal, OBC, women votes and a touch of Hindutva -- all have combined to make the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls a high-stakes battle with main rivals BJP and the Congress pulling out all the stops to gain power.
'We have to change the Dravidian influence on the people.'
Accusing Congress of 'abuse culture', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to punish those indulging in abuse, while casting their vote in polling booths on May 10.
Aaditya, son of Shiv Sena president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, dubbed the searches by the I-T department on Kanal as 'invasion by Delhi' ahead of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
Babulal Chourasia, who had quit the Congress six years back, re-joined the party on Thursday in the presence of its state unit chief Kamal Nath in Bhopal. The move comes ahead of the local body elections in the state.
There are clear signs that the party is re-starting its journey to relevance by going back to its core Panthic agenda, on the basis of which it was founded over a century ago, reports Sai Manish.
Some 1,100 years ago, Uthiramerur had an election system similar to what India has today.
'Since we defeated their evil designs on July 10, their poaching approach became more aggressive with using blackmail and money power as tools to finish off the political opposition in Goa.'
Altogether 160 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion while no vote was cast against the same.
He also accused the Congress of delaying a solution to the Kashmir issue for seven decades.
This election will decide in what shape and form the Akali Dal will survive.
'The Congress is trying to cover up their anti-incumbency by highlighting the Dalit CM factor.'
The AIADMK's staying power is not in question, but it has to regain the winning streak. That will require its leaders and leadership to re-wire themselves, to be able to re-think situations in ways different from what they had been accustomed to, suggests Sathiya Moorthy.
'The government and the court have to interfere and stop both fireworks and elephants at festivals.'
Unlike the regimes of Jayalalitha, Palaniswami and Karunanidhi, ministers are actually getting to make decisions on their own, with the unmentioned rider that they would be held responsible and accountable, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Verdicts paving the way for construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya and India's multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France were 2019's landmark imprints of the Supreme Court, which also found itself at the centre of a controversy with then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi being accused of sexual harassment before getting the clean chit.
