Happening Now
Govt defends ‘merging’ of India Gate ‘eternal flame’
The Amar Jawan Jyoti or the “eternal flame” for soldiers at India Gate will be put out after 50 years and merged with the torch at the National War Memorial in a ceremony today. A part of the flame will be carried to the war memorial this afternoon....
Priyanka says she is UP Chief Minister candidate
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra dropped a bombshell this morning – that she could be her party’s chief ministerial candidate for next month’s Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was releasing a manifesto outlining job creation plans for the youth of UP, was asked about speculation over...
Aparna tweets photo showing blessings of Mulayam
Akhilesh Yadav’s relative Aparna Yadav, fresh from her headline grabbing switch to the BJP weeks before the Uttar Pradesh election, today tweeted a photo of her meeting with Samajwadi Party founder and her father-in-law Mulayam Singh Yadav in Lucknow. “Took the blessings of my father/netaji in Lucknow after...
Supreme Court upholds quota in NEET
Merit cannot be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive examination which only provides formal equality of opportunity, the Supreme Court said yesterday as it upheld 27 per cent Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation in All India Quota (AIQ) seats in the NEET for UG and...
3.17 lakh new Covid cases, positivity up to 16.41%
India added 3.17 lakh new Covid cases today, taking the tally to 3.82 crore. As many as 491 people have died of Covid during the past 24-hour period, according to the Health Ministry. This includes 134 deaths in Kerala in the last few months, added based on pending appeals...
Mulayam’s daughter-in-law joins BJP in high profile poaching
Aparna Yadav, married to Akhilesh Yadav’s brother, joined the BJP today, in a huge blow to the Samajwadi Party just weeks before the Uttar Pradesh election. Aparna Yadav is the wife of Akhilesh Yadav’s brother Pratik Yadav, the younger son of Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. BJP leaders,...
Akhilesh to contest in UP assembly election
Akhilesh Yadav, after much dilly-dallying, has likely decided to contest the Uttar Pradesh election, sources said today. He had earlier said he would not contest the polls and would prefer to focus on every seat in the state. Akhilesh Yadav is the Lok Sabha MP from Azamgarh in eastern...
India covid cases up 18% in one day
Over 2.82 lakh new Covid cases were reported in India over the past 24 hours, a rise of 18 per cent from yesterday’s case count. The positivity rate, which is an indicator of the spread of the infection, has climbed marginally from 14.43 per cent to 15.13 per cent....
Cong video projects Channi as CM face
A video shared by the Congress party on its Twitter handle has triggered speculation as to who will be the Chief Ministerial face of the party in the upcoming Punjab assembly elections. In what is being seen as a snub to state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, who has...
UK to freeze BBC funding for 2 years in ‘cultural vandalism’
Britain said on Monday it would freeze funding for the BBC for two years and begin a debate on whether a universal licence fee should continue in the modern television age, drawing opposition complaints of “cultural vandalism”. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries told the parliament that the corporation, at the...
Uttarakhand Minister Sacked Amid BJP Infighting Ahead Of Polls
Just weeks ahead of the Uttarakhand assembly elections, the BJP on Sunday expelled Harak Singh Rawat, a minister in the state government, from the party. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami has also written to the governor about removing Mr Rawat from the cabinet, party leaders said. The BJP has...
Severe cold in Delhi, temperature dips to season’s lowest
Delhi shivered under “cold day” conditions for a second consecutive day on Saturday, recording the season’s lowest maximum temperature at 14.8 degrees Celsius, with thick fog blotting out the sun. The minimum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory, which is considered the official marker for the city, settled at 6.1...
Bhim Army chief says no alliance with SP
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad said Saturday that his political outfit – the Azad Samaj Party – would not ally with the Samajwadi Party for next month’s Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav “does not want the support of Dalits”, Mr Azad told reporters. “Yesterday Akhileshji humiliated...
Bishop accused of nun’s rape acquitted
Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun several times between 2014 and 2016, has been acquitted by a court in Kerala. Franco Mulakkal was the first Catholic bishop in India to be arrested for assaulting a nun. A court in Kottayam acquitted him of all charges after a...
Outreach for votes lands BJP MLA in voter’s bathroom
With the Election Commission banning rallies over Covid and candidates resorting to door-to-door visits, a widely-circulated video from Kanpur shows a leader’s campaign taking an amusing turn as he interrupts a voter’s bath-time. Surendra Maithani, the BJP MLA from Kanpur, has posted several photos showing his interaction with people,...
Khattar claims Punjab govt told farmers to block PM’s convoy
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday accused the Charanjit Singh Channi government of Punjab of endangering Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s life by asking farmer leaders to block the rout of his convoy to Ferozepur. Mr Khattar made the allegation in the wake of a sting operation of...
2.47 lakh new Covid cases; positivity up to 13%
India reported 2.47 lakh coronavirus cases today, the highest single-day rise in the ongoing wave. The country’s tally now stands at 3.63 crore, which includes 5,488 cases of Omicron variant reported across 28 states and union territories. The active cases comprise 3.08 per cent of the total infections,...
Case against actor Siddharth over comment against Saina Nehwal
Hyderabad Police on Wednesday filed a case actor Siddharth for allegedly making derogatory comments against Olympic bronze medalist Saina Nehwal on Twitter. In a telephonic conversation, KVM Prasad, Additional DCP, Cyber Crime Wing, Detective Department, Hyderabad said, ” A woman named Prerna approached Cyber Crime Wing and lodged a...
