Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said provocative comments by Bharatiya Janata Party during the Delhi poll campaign may have cost it the elections.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said that political parties must upload details of criminal cases against candidates on their websites, newspaper and social media platforms. The court also said that a party must clarify the reasons for fielding a particular candidate. It added that nominees must be selected on the basis of merit.
BJP may have lost Delhi polls due to remarks such as ‘goli maaro’, says Amit Shah
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said provocative comments by Bharatiya Janata Party during the Delhi poll campaign may have cost it the elections, PTI reported. “Statements like ‘goli maro’ and ‘Indo-Pak match’ should not have been made,” Shah said at the Times Now Summit in Delhi.
UK: Narayana Murthy’s son-in-law Rishi Sunak appointed finance minister by PM Boris Johnson
Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s son-in-law Rishi Sunak was appointed the new finance minister of the United Kingdom on Thursday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his decision hours after Sajid Javid stepped down as chancellor of the exchequer.
Anti-CAA protests in Bengaluru curtailed illegally on December 18, says Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court on Thursday said the imposition of prohibitory orders in Bengaluru on December 18 ahead of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act was illegal and “cannot stand the scrutiny of law”.
2012 Delhi gangrape: Hearing on execution dates adjourned till February 17 by sessions court
An additional sessions court in Delhi on Thursday adjourned till February 17 the hearing of a plea for new death warrants for the four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder case,. The death warrants were first issued for January 22, and then postponed to February 1 because of the mercy pleas filed by two of them. The execution has now been put on hold indefinitely.
Assam NRC: Case filed against former official after data disappears
The Assam Police have filed a case against a former woman employee after the data of Assam’s National Register of Citizens, published last August, disappeared from the official website in January. Authorities had cited the non-renewal of a contract with Information Technology firm Wipro as the reason for the data’s disappearance.
Hyderabad rape: Delhi HC orders Twitter to reply to plea against it for disclosing woman’s identity
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday warned social media company Twitter that it could face costs up to Rs 10 lakh if it fails to file a response to a petition, seeking action against media houses and online platforms for revealing the identity of the woman who was raped and murdered in Hyderabad last year, PTI reported.
J&K: ‘Actions have severe consequences’, say four US senators, seek review of human rights situation
Ahead of United States President Donald Trump’s visit to India later this month, four American senators on Wednesday sought an assessment of the human rights situation in Kashmir, and expressed concern about detentions of political leaders in the region, PTI reported on Thursday.
Coronavirus: Two Indian passengers from Bangkok test positive at Kolkata airport
Two more Indians have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, PTI reported on Thursday. They had landed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata from Bangkok earlier this week, officials of the Airports Authority of India said. With this, three people have so far tested positive for the virus in Kolkata.
Bookie Sanjeev Chawla, accused in 2000 cricket match-fixing scandal, extradited to Delhi from UK
Bookie Sanjeev Chawla, who is an accused in the 2000 cricket match-fixing scandal, was extradited from London and brought to New Delhi on Thursday, PTI reported. He will face charges of match fixing during South Africa’s tour of India in 2000.
Chawla is alleged to have played a central role in conspiring with Hansie Cronje, the late South African cricket team captain, to fix matches during South Africa’s tour to India in February-March 2000. Chawla had allegedly suggested to Cronje that he could make a lot of money if he agreed to lose matches. Both Chawla and Cronje were named in a 70-page chargesheet filed by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police, according to reports. Chawla has also been accused of trying to bribe two England players in August 1999.
Nagaland: 22 BJP leaders join Naga People’s Front in protest against Citizenship Act
Twenty-two workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday joined the Opposition Naga People’s Front to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, EastMojo reported on Wednesday.
Naga People’s Front President Shurhozelie Liezietsu welcomed the BJP leaders at a function held in Dimapur, according to a press statement by the party. More leaders from the saffron party are expected to join the party in coming days, it added.
J&K: Polls for vacant panchayat seats to be held in March, Ladakh excluded
Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir for nearly 13,000 vacant seats will be held next month, NDTV reported on Thursday. This is the first major political exercise in the region since August 5 last year, when the erstwhile state’s special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was revoked, and it was bifurcated into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Blast at Lucknow court, at least three lawyers injured
At least three lawyers were injured in a blast at a Lucknow court on Thursday afternoon, reported PTI. Three live crude bombs were recovered from the spot.
The explosion took place at the Lucknow collectorate in Hazratganj, near the district magistrate’s office. The collectorate is located near the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, reported NDTV.
UP: Suspected rapist allegedly kills girl’s father, family says police ignored threat
The Uttar Pradesh police on Wednesday arrested a man for allegedly killing the father of a 15-year-old rape survivor in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad city, PTI reported on Thursday. The man, Achaman Upadhaya, was accused of raping the Class 11 student in August but was not arrested.
The girl’s family on Wednesday said that they had earlier informed the police that Upadhyaya had threatened to kill them if they did not drop the rape case against him. The police, however, never took it seriously, the family alleged.
Ahmedabad: Civic body builds wall to mask a slum area on Modi-Trump roadshow route, says report
Construction work is underway for a wall to purportedly shut out a slum area on the route that United States President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi would take for a roadshow in Ahmedabad later this month, The Indian Express reported on Thursday. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is erecting the wall along the road connecting the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport to Indira Bridge.
Karnataka bandh: Protestors damage bus in Mangaluru, BS Yediyurappa appeals for calm
Normal life was affected in Mangaluru in Karnataka on Thursday due to a strike called by some Kannada organisations to agitate for the implementation of a very old report of a committee on providing more jobs for Kannadigas in the government and the private sectors, India Today reported.
Hafiz Saeed sentencing: India questions efficacy of move, days before FATF plenary, say reports
India on Thursday questioned the efficacy of the verdict by a Pakistani court, sentencing Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed to five years in prison for terror financing, the Hindustan Times reported. The Indian government said it was peculiar that the decision was taken on the eve of the plenary meeting of global anti-terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force.
Meerut: AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan’s kin allegedly baton-charged by police during victory celebration
Relatives of Aam Aadmi Party politician Amanatullah Khan were allegedly baton-charged by police in Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh when they were celebrating his successful re-election bid from Okhla constituency of Delhi, the Hindustan Times reported. Police said the celebrations were stopped as prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code were in place in the district.
SC ruling on reservations: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad calls for Bharat Bandh on February 23
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad on Wednesday called for a nationwide strike on February 23 to protest against the Supreme Court’s ruling that there is no fundamental right to reservations in promotions in government jobs, The Indian Express reported on Thursday. Azad also urged MPs and MLAs belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to urge the Centre to bring an ordinance to nullify the verdict.
Attacks on field enumerators over NPR fears put Census in deep trouble: Statistics panel chief
Recent attacks on field enumerators in some parts of the country have put the upcoming Census procedure in “deep trouble” and may risk contaminating data collected in household surveys, former Chief Statistician of India Pronab Sen has said.
Field investigators of the National Sample Survey were attacked in the past, but by now citizens had got comfortable with them as they got familiar with the process, Sen told The Indian Express in an interview. What is new this time is that the house-listing operations, a key step in the Census, will be conducted along with the population register exercise, said Sen, who heads the standing committee on economic statistics.
Karnataka BJP Twitter account blocked for a day, party says it will continue to tell the ‘truth’
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Karnataka unit on Wednesday said the social media company Twitter had blocked its account for its tweets about “liberals”. This was the handle’s first tweet in 36 hours.
“It is unfortunate that our handle was locked out by Twitter for speaking the truth about liberals,” the state unit tweeted. “We will not step back in our efforts to bring out the truth in the public domain. A big thanks for your support and encouragement. Satyameva Jayate! Jai Hind.”
2012 Delhi rape: SC issues notice to two convicts in Centre’s plea against executing them together
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday heard the Centre’s appeal against the Delhi High Court order that the convicts in the 2012 gangrape case should not be executed separately, Bar and Bench reported. The bench comprises Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna.
Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for convict Mukesh Singh, informed the court about the petitions filed by the Tihar Jail authorities and the parents of the victim in a Delhi court, seeking a date for the execution of the death warrants. She said legal aid is being provided to convict Pawan Gupta, and that the pleas will be heard on Thursday.
Political parties must upload details of criminal cases against candidates, says Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Thursday said that political parties must upload details of criminal cases against candidates on their websites, newspaper and social media platforms, reported Live Law. The court flagged an “alarming rise in the criminalisation of politics” in the last four Lok Sabha elections.
The court also said that a party must clarify the reasons for fielding a particular candidate. It added that nominees must be selected on the basis of merit. “The reason to select candidates should be based on merit and not winnability,” the court said, according to NDTV.
The court said political parties will be liable for contempt if they fail to comply with the order. It asked the Election Commission to file contempt petition in Supreme Court if political parties do not follow the order.
J&K: Mobile internet services suspended after rumours about Hurriyat leader’s health, say officials
Mobile internet services were suspended in Jammu and Kashmir once again on Thursday, PTI reported. Officials said the step was taken to prevent the spread of rumours about the health of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Authorities have also beefed up security at “vulnerable places” across Kashmir, said the officials.
Muzaffarnagar CAA protests: 53 suspected protestors asked to pay Rs 23 lakh in damages
The administration in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district has asked 53 persons to pay Rs 23 lakh collectively as compensation for damage to public property during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act on December 20, The Indian Express reported. They had been issued notices after the protests turned violent.
As many as 295 people in the districts of Lucknow, Kanpur, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Sambhal, Rampur, Bijnor and Bulandshahr had reportedly received notices in connection with property damage worth at least Rs 1.9 crore in December. Muzaffarnagar is the first to start the process to recover the damages.
‘Kejriwal sympathises with terrorists, questions Army,’ says newly-elected BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma
Bharatiya Janata Party’s newly-elected legislator Om Prakash Sharma on Wednesday called Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal a terrorist sympathiser, ANI reported. Sharma reiterated what several saffron party leaders had claimed before the Delhi Assembly elections.
“Arvind Kejriwal is a corrupt man,” Sharma told the news agency after a meeting with Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari. “He sympathises with terrorists, plays the role of the Pakistan Army’s spokesman, raises questions on the Indian Army and supports the ‘tukde-tukde gang’. Indeed, terrorist is the appropriate term for him.”
Delhi: Ten arrested for allegedly molesting students at Gargi College fest
Ten youths were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly molesting students at an all-women college of the Delhi University last week, the Hindustan Times reported. Those arrested are students in private and government colleges in the National Capital Region, the police said.
On February 6, during the annual cultural festival “Reverie” at Gargi College, hundreds of unruly, drunk men allegedly mobbed the entrances of the college and forced their way in. Students alleged that the group sexually assaulted them while the police looked on.
Uttar Pradesh: At least 12 killed as bus collides with truck on Agra-Lucknow Expressway
At least 12 people were killed and eight seriously injured after a bus collided with a truck on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway on Wednesday night, PTI reported. The incident took place in Firozabad district of Uttar Pradesh.
The bus, which was headed from Delhi to Motihari in Bihar, hit the truck from behind, police official Rajesh Kumar told PTI. The injured were taken to a hospital in Saifai in Etawah, he said. The number of deaths was confirmed by District Magistrate Chandra Vijay Singh.
No one asked why it took India 70 years to become $3 trillion economy, says PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said it took India 70 years to become a $3 trillion economy and wondered why no one had asked any questions about why it took so long, the Bharatiya Janata Party tweeted.
“Making Indian economy worth $5 trillion is not easy but is still achievable,” he said while speaking at the Times Now Summit in Delhi. “Today, India’s economy is worth $3 trillion...Did you ever hear that in the country a target was set to reach $3 trillion economy? Never. We reached [the target] of $3 trillion in 70 years.”
Pulwama attack: NIA files supplementary chargesheet against four Jaish aides of alleged mastermind
The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday filed a supplementary chargesheet against four operatives of militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad for allegedly plotting terror attacks across India, PTI reported. One of the accused, Sajjad Ahmad Khan, was also a close aide of 2019 Pulwama terror attack mastermind Mudassir Khan, who was killed last year in March.
The other accused charged by the agency were identified as Bilal Ahmad Mir, Ishfaq Ahmad Bhat and Mehraj-ud-Din Chopan. All of them are residents of Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir.
Goa: Fashion designer Wendell Rodricks dies at 59
Fashion designer and activist Wendell Rodricks died at his residence in Colvale village in Goa on Wednesday at the age of 59, PTI reported.
Rodricks was awarded the Padma Shri in 2014. He was also associated with causes such as LGBT rights and the environment.