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Kovind panel submits report on 1 Nation, 1 Poll
The high-level committee headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind today submitted its report on ‘one nation, one election’. The report was submitted to President Droupadi Murmu this morning. The concept refers to holding simultaneous polls across the country. The proposal is to conduct elections for Lok Sabha and...
Mamatal declares public holiday on Ram Navami
Ram Navami on April 18 this year has been declared a public holiday in West Bengal. The move came “too late”, said BJP, claiming Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wants to “redeem her anti-Hindu image”. Durga Puja, Kali Puja and Saraswati Puja – the major festivals in West Bengal –...
Supreme Court rejects SBI plea for more time for bond details
In yet another serious setback to the Modi government and the State Bank of India, the Supreme Court has thrown out the plea by the SBI to grant an extension of the deadline set by the court to publish details of the electoral bond donors and the recipients from...
Rift with CEC may have prompted Arun Goel to quit
Arun Goel stirred up a row yesterday when he abruptly resigned from the Election Commission just weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. His exit has left the three-member Election Commission of India with only one office-bearer – Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. While he stated “personal reasons” in...
Talks between BJP, Naveen Patnaik’s party reported stalled
The much-anticipated pre-poll alliance and seat-sharing talks between Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have hit a roadblock, raising the prospect of both parties contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha and state assembly elections independently. The talks, which took place in Delhi, failed to...
Sudha Murty nominated to Rajya Sabha
Author and philanthropist Sudha Murty has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha by President Droupadi Murmu. Congratulating Ms Murty, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said her presence in the Rajya Sabha is a powerful testament to the country’s ‘Nari Shakti’ as the announcement came on International Women’s Day. I am...
Delhi court summons Kejriwal on Mar 16 on ED’s new complaint
In the latest development in the drama surrounding the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) summons to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his refusal to appear before it, a Delhi court has asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader to appear in court on March 16. The fresh summons comes after the...
Security beefed up as farmers headed for Delhi
Protesting farmers will start marching towards Delhi to press their various demands to the central government today. The announcement has prompted the police to increase security at the Punjab and Haryana borders. The Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political), the two umbrella bodies that are leading...
Mann fumes at Congress leader over assembly ‘lock’
The Punjab Assembly on Monday witnessed chaotic scenes during the discussion on the state budget when Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann engaged in a heated argument with the Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa following the former’s request to the Governor to “lock” the opposition in...
No immunity to MLAs, MPs in bribe-for-vote cases: SC
Lawmakers in parliament and state legislatures are not immune from prosecution in bribery cases, the Supreme Court said today in a landmark verdict by a seven-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud. The verdict set aside a 1998 judgment in which a five-member Constitution bench had...
AAP announces Rs 1,000 monthly assistance to all Delhi women
Delhi Finance minister Atishi on Monday announced the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana’ under which Rs 1,000 will be given monthly to all women aged above 18 from the fiscal year 2024-25. Atishi announced the scheme in her maiden budget speech. “The Kejriwal government will give a monthly amount of...
BJP list has message for MPs headlined for hate speech
As the BJP released its first list of 195 candidates for Lok Sabha polls, some omissions stood out more than the names that made it to the list. These include firebrand leader Pragya Thakur and sitting MPs from Delhi, Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma and Ramesh Bidhuri. The three leaders...
6 HP cross-voting Cong MLAs disqualified by Speaker
Six Congress MLAs from Himachal Pradesh who cross-voted for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha election has been disqualified from the assembly, the Speaker announced today. The BJP had clapped for and congratulated the six MLAs for their ‘bravery’ yesterday when they came to the assembly, after staying the...
Deft BJP moves after RS shocker seals fate of Sukhu ministry
Amidst the political conundrum in Himachal Pradesh since Tuesday, after six Congress MLAs voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls, Congress sources say the grand old party has sought disqualification of the six rebel MLAs. Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu reached Hotel Sisil and...
Virbhadra Singh’s son quits as minister, cornering Cong further
Compounding the Congress’s problems in Himachal Pradesh, state minister Vikramaditya Singh quit as minister this morning after accusing Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu of overlooking MLAs and disrespecting his father and the Congress’s tallest leader in the hill state, the late Virbhadra Singh. This comes amid dramatic developments in...
Palestinian prime minister resigns over Gaza situation
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday announced the resignation of his government which rules parts of the occupied West Bank. “I submit the government’s resignation to Mr President (Mahmud Abbas),” Shtayyeh said, adding it comes in the wake of the “developments related to the aggression against the Gaza...
ED money laundering case against key TMC man in Sandeshkhali row
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today registered a case against Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan, the central figure in the Sandeshkhali row in West Bengal, on money laundering charges. Raids are underway at Sheikh Shahjahan’s house and six other locations. The women in Sandeshkhali have accused Sheikh Shahjahan of involvement in...
Yet another summons to Arvind Kejriwal in liquor policy case
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has received a seventh summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), officials told NDTV this morning. Kejriwal has been asked to appear on February 26 for questioning in connection with the Delhi liquor excise policy case. He skipped the Enforcement Directorate’s sixth call on Monday with...
