Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday that the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party decided to keep the Congress out of the alliance in Uttar Pradesh to correct the “poll arithmetic” in order to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Twenty officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation have been transferred by interim director M Nageswara Rao just two days before a committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to select a new chief. Rao took over as the CBI director on January 10 after Alok Verma was shunted out by the Centre.
At least 10 people died when two ships caught fire in the Kerch Strait between Russia and Crimea on Monday. The ships were carrying Indian, Turkish and Libyan crew members.
EVM tampering claims: Mayawati says ballot should be used in upcoming Lok Sabha polls
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday reiterated her demand that the ballot be used in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections instead of electronic voting machines.
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EVM ‘hacking’: Election Commission asks Delhi Police to file FIR against alleged expert Syed Shuja
The Election Commission of India on Tuesday asked the Delhi Police to file a First Information Report against a United States-based “cyber expert” a day after he claimed that the 2014 General Elections were rigged.
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Amit Shah claims nine contenders for PM post were present at Opposition rally in Kolkata
Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Tuesday lashed out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, claiming that there were nine prime ministerial candidates at the Opposition unity rally she organised in Kolkata last week.
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Ban madrasas because they promote ISIS ideology, Shia Waqf Board chief urges Narendra Modi
Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board Chairperson Waseem Rizvi on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to shut down primary-level madrasas across India, PTI reported. Rizvi claimed that these madrasas promoted the ideology of the Islamic State terror group.
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Delhi court to hear defamation plea filed by Ajit Doval’s son against ‘Caravan’ on January 30
Vivek Doval filed the criminal complaint after the magazine accused him of running a hedge fund in the Cayman Islands, which is a tax haven. In addition to Editor-in-Chief Paresh Nath and reporter Kaushal Shroff, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh was also named in the complaint filed at the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal at the Patiala House Courts complex.
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Andhra Pradesh will split 10% reservation equally between upper castes and Kapu community
“We had requested the Centre to extend 5% reservation to the Kapu community long ago, but Bharatiya Janata Party leaders did not agree,” the chief minister told Telugu Desam Party leaders during a teleconference from Amaravati.
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Will pay for Sadhana Singh’s head if she does not apologise for comments about Mayawati: BSP ex-MLA
“We demand that she apologise to the women of this country and to Behenji within 48 hours,” Vijay Yadav told reporters in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad. “If she does not do so, we will collect money from our supporters and workers, and give Rs 50 lakh to whoever will chop off her head and bring it to us.”
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Tripura: 96 Christians from Adivasi families converted to Hinduism by Hindutva outfits
“They were Hindus at the beginning,” Hindu Jagaran Manch leader Makhan Lal Nath said. “Nine years back, these 96 persons of 23 families from Rachipara area were converted to Christianity.”
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Google announces measures to ensure transparency in political ads ahead of Lok Sabha polls
Google said it will introduce a Political Advertising Transparency Report and searchable Political Ads Library to achieve transparency. “These will provide comprehensive information about who is purchasing election ads on Google platforms and how much money is being spent,” the tech giant said in a statement.
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EVM ‘hacking’: Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad claims Congress organised event
Syed Shuja, based in the United States, had claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party rigged the electronic voting machines using a modulator which transmits a military-grade frequency. The BJP had won 282 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha in the 2014 elections, the first time that a single party had secured a majority since 1984.
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Supreme Court to take ‘in-chamber’ decision on listing of plea against Article 35A
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would take an “in-chamber” decision on listing a petition challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A. The article, incorporated into the Indian Constitution in 1954, grants special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir.
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Sabarimala judgement: Supreme Court refuses urgent hearing of review petitions
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined an urgent hearing of petitions seeking a review of the top court’s September 28 judgement allowing women of menstruating age to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
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1984 anti-Sikh violence: Delhi issues production warrant against Sajjan Kumar
A Delhi court on Tuesday issued a production warrant for 1984 anti-Sikh violence convict Sajjan Kumar, for January 28. The warrant was issued after authorities in Tihar Jail could not produce him in court on Tuesday.
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Emissions case: No punitive action needed against carmaker Volkswagen, says Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Monday said no punitive action was warranted against German car manufacturer Volkswagen over allegations of using a cheat device that lowered vehicle emissions during tests.
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Varanasi: BJP government ended loot in four years, claims PM Narendra Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday claimed his government had ended loot in the country in four years. He was addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas convention, a conclave of Indian diaspora, in Varanasi.
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Uttar Pradesh: Kept Congress out of SP-BSP alliance to correct poll arithmetic, says Akhilesh Yadav
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav said the Congress was kept out of the alliance with Bahujan Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh to correct the “poll arithmetic” in order to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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J&K: Four photojournalists wounded as security forces use pellet guns against protestors in Shopian
At least four photojournalists were injured in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district after intense clashes erupted around the site of a gun fight between the security forces and militants on Tuesday.
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#MeToo: Delhi court reserves order on summoning Priya Ramani as accused in MJ Akbar defamation case
A Delhi court on Tuesday reserved its order on whether to summon journalist Priya Ramani as an accused in a defamation case filed by Union minister MJ Akbar against her last year. The Patiala House Court will pass its order on January 29.
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Virat Kohli named captain of ICC’s Test and ODI teams of the year featuring Jasprit Bumrah
Indian skipper Virat Kohli was on Tuesday named the captain of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test and ODI teams of the year. Three players each from India and New Zealand feature in the Test team, while four each from India and England are part of the ODI side for the year 2018. “Virat Kohli has been named the captain of both sides following a remarkable 2018 as batsman and skipper,” the ICC said in a statement.
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Sasikala didn’t violate prison rules, claims of special treatment are wrong, claims lawyer
A lawyer representing All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader VK Sasikala on Monday denied allegations that she was given “special treatment” at the Bengaluru Central Prison. “Sasikala has not violated any rules of the Karnataka prisons manual anytime,” said advocate A Ashokan. “She is wearing personal clothes as per the prison rules. The allegations are all wrong.”
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SC rejects plea against parties fielding criminal candidates, asks petitioner to approach EC
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India to restrain political parties from fielding candidates who have criminal records. However, the court said the petitioner can make a representation to the Election Commission.
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Manohar Parrikar’s mind is sharp, but he needs rest, claims Goa Congress leader Chandrakant Kavlekar
Goa’s Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and Congress legislator Chandrakant Kavlekar on Monday said that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar needs to take rest. “His mind is sharp, but physically he looks unwell,” Kavlekar said after attending a meeting of the Legislative Assembly’s Business Advisory Committee in which Parrikar was also present. “It is not nice to see him like this. He needs rest and he should take rest.”
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Lok Sabha polls: Alliance against BJP is ‘a den of corrupt leaders’, claims minister Manoj Sinha
Union minister Manoj Sinha on Monday described the Opposition alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party as a “den of corrupt leaders” and claimed the people will not elect a “head clerk” to run a coalition government at the Centre.
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At least 10 killed as two ships carrying Indian, Turkish, Libyan crew catch fire near Russia
At least 10 people were killed when two ships carrying Indian, Turkish and Libyan crew members caught fire in the Kerch Strait between Russia and Crimea on Monday. A spokesperson at the Novorossiysk maritime rescue center said 10 bodies have been recovered and 12 people were rescued while 10 remain missing.
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India lodges protest against Pakistan for threatening two diplomats in Islamabad
India has accused intelligence agencies of Pakistan of intercepting and threatening two staff members of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad last week. The Indian diplomats in Islamabad were reportedly questioned about an alleged incident of inappropriate behaviour by an official of the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi.
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Assam: Police arrest 30 Rohingya Muslims from Churaibari near Tripura border
The Assam Police on Monday arrested at least 30 Rohingya, including 12 children, from Churaibari village near the Tripura border. The arrests took place even as a group of 31 Rohingya Muslims, including 16 children, remain stuck near the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura after both countries refused to accept them.
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India’s high fiscal deficit a cause for concern, says IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath
International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Gita Gopinath on Monday flagged risks associated with India’s high fiscal deficit. “In the case of India what we flag is the fact that the overall consolidated fiscal deficit remains high and it has been the case for the last five years,” Gopinath said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland.
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Delhi-NCR hit by heavy rain, hailstorm; Jammu-Srinagar national highway closed due to snowfall
Heavy rain and hailstorms swept across parts of Delhi and the National Capital Region on Monday night and early Tuesday. In Jammu and Kashmir, authorities on Tuesday closed the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, which links the Valley with the rest of the country, due to snowfall.
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Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao: Centre spent 56% of funds on publicity, minister tells Lok Sabha
More than 56% of the funds for the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” scheme have been allocated for media-related activities since 2014-’15, with less than 25% being distributed to states and districts, information released by the government has shown. The scheme, launched in January 2015, attempts to address the declining child sex ratio and other issues of women empowerment in India.
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Interim CBI director transfers 20 officers, including those probing 2G scam and Sterlite protests
Central Bureau of Investigation interim director M Nageswara Rao transferred 20 officers on Monday, just two days before a committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to select a new chief for the agency.
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BJP cancels Narendra Modi’s rally in Kolkata citing ‘present circumstances’, short notice
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday announced that it has cancelled a proposed rally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground on February 8. Modi will instead address a public meeting in Asansol the same day, said state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh.
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Police say ‘missing’ boat from Kerala, with at least 100 on board, may be heading to New Zealand
The police on Monday said that a “missing” fishing boat with more than 100 people from Delhi and Tamil Nadu may be heading to New Zealan.
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EVM hacking: AAP denies claims that it contacted ‘cyber expert’ Syed Shuja
The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday rejected a self-proclaimed cyber expert’s claim that the party had contacted him to show how electronic voting machines could be hacked.
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Gopinath Munde’s death: Nephew seeks probe after ‘cyber expert’ claims the BJP leader was killed
Nationalist Congress Party leader Dhananjay Munde on Monday demanded that the Research and Agency Wing or the Supreme Court investigate the allegations into the death of former Union minister Gopinath Munde made by a United States-based “cyber expert”.
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Bhima Koregaon: Education rights forum demands withdrawal of charges against Anand Teltumbde
The All India Forum For Right To Education has condemned the threat to arrest activist Anand Teltumbde, who was charged in connection with the violence at Bhima Koregaon on January 1 last year.
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Lok Sabha polls: Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar likely to launch Bihar campaign at joint rally in Patna
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will address a joint rally in Patna in late February or early March to launch the National Democratic Alliance’s 2019 General Elections campaign in the state.
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