Top news: Rishi Shukla takes charge as CBI director amid agency’s stand-off with Kolkata police

Bihar: Man arrested for tweeting derogatory comment against Priyanka Gandhi

The Bihar Police on Monday said they have arrested a man for posting an allegedly vulgar tweet about All India Congress Committee’s Uttar Pradesh (East) General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, reports said. Vadra is Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s sister.

Sabarimala row: Only two women of menstruating age, not 51, entered shrine, says Kerala government

The Kerala government has retracted its earlier statement to the Supreme Court in which it had claimed that 51 women of menstruating age had entered the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala during the last pilgrimage season. The U-turn by the government, which admitted that only two women of menstruating age have entered the hill shrine till date, came two days before the Supreme Court is expected to take up a bunch of review petitions challenging its September 28 verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the temple.

Bengal chit fund scams: BJP shares Rahul Gandhi’s old comments against Mamata Banerjee

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday criticised Congress President Rahul Gandhi for allegedly changing his stance on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s role in the Saradha chit fund case. The saffron party “diagnosed” him with multiple personality disorder and wished him a “speedy recovery”. The BJP tweeted its snarky post after the Congress chief posted a statement in solidarity with Banerjee, who accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah of plotting a coup.

Forest Rights Act: Politicians, adivasi groups ask Centre if it wants to ‘sacrifice’ the law

Leaders of the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and three organisations working for Adivasi and forest dwellers’ rights have written a letter to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, wondering if the Centre has decided to “sacrifice” the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The signatories also include the Adivasi Congress and the All India Forum of Forest Movements.

Ayodhya dispute: Petition in SC challenges validity of Act transferring land to central government

A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday challenging the constitutional validity of The Acquisition of Certain Area At Ayodhya Act, 1993. The law, which transfers disputed land to the central government, was challenged on the grounds that Parliament has no legislative power to take over property belonging to the state.

Sunanda Pushkar death: Delhi court sends case against Shashi Tharoor to sessions court

A Delhi court on Monday sent the case against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who has been accused of involvement in his wife Sunanda Pushkar’s death, to a sessions court for further proceedings. The court also rejected Bharatiya Janata Party MP Subramanian Swamy’s petition seeking to assist the sessions court during the trial.

Finance Ministry refuses to share details on amount of black money held by Indians, says report

The Ministry of Finance has refused to share copies of three reports on the amount of black money held by Indians in the country and overseas, PTI reported on Monday. The ministry said in response to a Right to Information query that these reports are being examined by a Parliamentary panel, and revealing them would be a breach of Parliamentary privilege.

Assam: 251 sedition cases filed since BJP alliance came to power in 2016, minister tells Assembly

The Assam government has registered 251 sedition cases since the alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata party came to power in the state in 2016, the Assembly was told on Monday. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, in a written reply to Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia, said 251 cases were filed against individuals and organisations starting May 2016.

Anna Hazare protest: Shiv Sena claims Centre may be hoping the social activist dies while fasting

The Shiv Sena on Monday told the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre to save the life of social activist Anna Hazare. Hazare has been on a fast for the last six days to protest against the delay in appointment of a Lokpal at the Centre and the passage of the Lokayukta Act in Maharashtra.

Assam: Bags of explosives found at Guwahati railway station

Three bags containing detonators and gelatin sticks were found on a platform at the Guwahati Railway Station in Assam on Monday morning. Another bag of explosives was found near a toilet on board the Awadh Assam Express train at Jagiroad Railway Station.

Kerala: Endosulfan victims call off fast after state promises to include children in relief package

Victims of endosulfan poisoning in Kerala on Sunday said they were calling off their strike after the Kerala government promised to include children affected by the poisoning in its financial assistance package.

Gurugram: Man allegedly murders wife by stabbing her over 40 times, arrested

A man allegedly murdered his wife by stabbing her over 40 times in Gurugram’s Ashok Vihar area last week, the police said on Sunday. The police found Vanshika Sharma’s body on Saturday. Her husband Pankaj Bhardwaj, 28, and his accomplice, Nashim Ahmed, 39, have been arrested.

Delhi: 27 trains and several flights delayed as fog engulfs national Capital

Twenty-seven trains to and from Delhi and several flights were delayed on Monday morning as a thick blanket of fog engulfed the national Capital. The minimum temperature was 8 degrees Celsius, below the season’s average. The air quality was in the ‘poor’ category on Monday, with the index value at 294.

Sabarimala: Women who entered shrine have received death threats, say police

The two women who became the first of menstruating age to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala on January 2 have received death threats, police officials said on Sunday. Civil servant Kanakadurga and law lecturer Bindu Ammini had offered prayers at the Ayyappa shrine after weeks of massive protests in the state against the Supreme Court’s verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the temple.

Madhya Pradesh: Congress claims Governor is acting like a BJP worker, asks her to resign

The ruling Congress party in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday sought Governor Anandiben Patel’s resignation and accused her of working like a Bharatiya Janata Party worker. The allegation came after Patel was heard telling a group of people to keep Prime Minister Narendra Modi in mind and “look after” him.

Parliament adjourned amid uproar over row between CBI and West Bengal government

Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned minutes after proceedings began on Monday, amid ruckus from Opposition parties protesting against the row between the Central Bureau of Investigation and the police in West Bengal. The Budget Session, which began on January 31 will be on till February 13.

Rishi Kumar Shukla takes charge as new CBI director

Newly-appointed Central Bureau of Investigation Director Rishi Kumar Shukla took charge of the probe agency on Monday. Shukla was appointed to the post on February 2 for a term of two years. The Cabinet’s Appointments Committee approved Shukla’s name based on a selection panel’s recommendation. Shukla took over from interim director M Nageswara Rao, who was appointed after Alok Verma was removed from the post on January 10.

Jammu and Kashmir: Father of Aurangzeb, the soldier who was killed by militants, joins BJP

The farmer of soldier Aurangzeb, who was abducted and murdered by militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwara in June 2018, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modiin Jammu on Sunday.

‘First take care of your home, then work for party and country’: Nitin Gadkari advises ABVP workers

Union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nitin Gadkari said party workers should fulfil their domestic responsibilities first before working for the party and the country. Gadkari made the statement while addressing a gathering of former workers of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the BJP’s students’ wing, in Maharashtra’s Nagpur on Saturday.

More than half of India’s working-age population out of labour force: Report

The National Sample Survey Office’s Periodic Labour Force Survey showed that India’s labour force participation rate, which is the proportion of the population working or seeking jobs, fell to 49.8% in 2017-’18 from 55.9% in 2011-’12. In 2004-’05, 63.7% of the population was part of the labour force.

West Bengal: CBI to move Supreme Court today against police, Mamata Banerjee continues dharna

The Central Bureau of Investigation will move the Supreme Court on Monday after a face-off with Kolkata Police officials on Sunday. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee continued her sit-in protest to “save the Constitution” on Kolkata’s Esplanade.

‘I will leave politics the day Narendra Modi retires,’ says Union minister Smriti Irani

Union minister Smriti Irani on Sunday said she will leave politics the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi decides to retire. “The day ‘pradhan sevak’ Narendra Modi decides to hang [up] his boots, I will also leave Indian politics,” she said.

Andhra Pradesh: Three gem-studded gold crowns worth Rs 50 lakh stolen from temple in Tirupati

Three diamond-studded golden crowns adorning the presiding deities were reported missing from the Govindaraja Swamy temple in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati on Saturday.

Anna Hazare threatens to return his Padma Bhushan on fifth day of hunger strike

Social activist Anna Hazare on Sunday warned that he would return his Padma Bhushan if the Centre does not fulfil its promises “in the next few days”. Hazare’s indefinite hunger strike at his village Ralegan Siddhi of Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district entered its sixth day on Monday.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee begins dharna after stand-off with CBI

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah of plotting a coup, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday night began a “Save the Constitution” protest on Kolkata’s Esplanade. Her protest came hours after officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation attempted to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with two Ponzi scams.