IPA Webdesk
Cong junks reports of possible alliance with TMC for Goa polls
The Congress on Monday debunked all media reports claiming a possible alliance of the party with Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) for the upcoming Goa elections 2022. Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal called such reports “baseless and untrue” and said the grand old party is “confident” of winning...
MP to install Rs 2,000-cr Shankaracharya statue
The Madhya Pradesh government has said that a Rs 2,000 crore project to set up a 108-feet tall statue of religious leader and philosopher Adi Shankara, or Shankaracharya, and an international museum in the state will connect it to the rest of the world. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan last...
Digvijaya says Savarkar had backed two-nation theory
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Monday used the “termite” analogy to target the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the BJP, which he said is damaging the entire system. Speaking to reporters here in Madhya Pradesh, Singh also targeted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, saying his...
Odisha opposition parties want civic poll defered
Ahead of the Panchayat polls, politics has now heated up in Odisha with major opposition parties like BJP and Congress demanding postponement of the polls in view of the current Covid-19 situation in the State. The ruling party BJD, on the other hand, has demanded the election in due...
Hospitalisation rate much higher than in second wave
India is witnessing a hospitalisation rate of 5-10 per cent in the third Covid wave, the government said today, adding that the situation is “dynamic and evolving and the need of hospital care may change rapidly”. In the second wave, the official data says, the hospitalisation rate was...
PM photo to be off vax certificates in poll-bound states
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photograph has been taken off vaccine certificates in five states where elections will be held next month, sources have said. Official sources said filters have been applied on the CoWIN platform to exclude PM Modi’s photo in the five states as the model code of...
Parliamentary panel meetings called off due to staff Covid infections
With the spike in Covid-19 cases in Delhi and over 400 staff members testing positive for the virus in Parliament, the pandemic has led to the cancellation of standing committee meetings. Till now, at least five standing committee meetings have been cancelled after taking stock of the situation as...
Goa minister quits BJP ahead of poll
Goa minister and BJP MLA Michael Lobo on Monday resigned from the Pramod Sawant-led ministry and also as member of the Legislative Assembly, ahead of the state polls scheduled next month. Lobo, who represented the Calangute Assembly constituency, submitted his resignations to the chief minister’s office and the Goa...
Setback for Cong as another senior leader joins SP
In what could be termed as another setback for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, senior party leader Imran Masood on Sunday confirmed that he will be switching to Samajwadi Party soon as the fight in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections was mainly between the SP and BJP. The move by Masood was speculated since September last year after he had openly praised Samajwadi Party terming it as the main contender for the 2022 UP polls. As per news agency ANI, the...
Farmers party leader rules out alliance with AAP
Sanyukt Samaj Morcha leader Balbir Singh Rajewal on Sunday ruled out the alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party for next month’s Punjab Assembly polls and said they will declare their candidates within a week. Various Punjab farmer bodies who had taken part in the stir against the Centre’s now...
EC warns parties against hate speeches
The Election Commission on Saturday cautioned political parties over hate speeches and said it is closely monitoring social media posts to ensure clean assembly polls in five states. Political parties and their candidates must ensure that their supporters do not indulge in hate speeches and fake news, Chief...
Case against Muslim man for dressing as Hindu deity
Mangaluru: A case was registered against a Muslim bridegroom and family members of the bride for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Hindus during a wedding ceremony. The case was registered based on a complaint from Chethan from Vitla Padnuru village of Bantwal taluk, that the bridegroom had dressed up...
No lockdown if people cooperate, says Kejriwal
New Delhi: There will be no Covid lockdown in Delhi if people follow protocol – wear face masks in public and maintain social distancing – Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Sunday, as the national capital scrambles to contain a frightening surge in new cases over the past few days....
Muslim women ‘auction’ app creator held in Delhi
Delhi Police today detained a Madhya Pradesh man who is the alleged creator of the application ‘Sulli Deals’. The app, which was launched last year, had listed Muslim women for ‘auction’ with photographs sourced without permission and doctored. The accused, Aumkareshwar Thakur, was apprehended by the Intelligence Fusion and...
Cong ready to take support of any party to defeat BJP: Chidambaram
The Congress is ready to accept the support of any party that is keen to defeat the BJP in the upcoming Goa Assembly elections, senior leader P Chidambaram said on Saturday. His statement has come shortly after Trinamool Congress Party’s Goa desk in-charge Mahua Moitra suggested that the...
Nitin Gadkari disowns Haridwar hate assembly speeches
New Delhi: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said the recent hate speeches — as happened at religious conclaves in Haridwar and Delhi — should be “negated and given no importance”. In such cases, the law should be allowed to take its course, he told NDTV in an exclusive...
BJP forms ‘Mandir Prakoshth’ to woo Brahmins before polls
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has established a mandir prakoshth (temple cell) to woo the Brahmin community ahead of the crucial Assembly elections this year and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Senior party leaders said the panel, formed after a “suggestion” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, came into being...
Foreign funds licence for Mother Teresa’s charity restored
New Delhi: The FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) licence for Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity was restored Saturday, two weeks after the Home Ministry cited “adverse inputs” to refuse a renewal request by the Kolkata-based organisation. The loss of the license – needed to receive funding from abroad – left...
