Akshita Kapoor

[ad_1] Prime Minister Narendra Modi NEW DELHI: PM Modi Tuesday aggressively defended the amendments to the Waqf Act, asserting these were necessary to neutralise the changes made by the Congress-led UPA as part of "politics of appeasement", which primarily served the interests of fundamentalists and land grabbers, and had also led to India's Partition."The 2013 changes placed the interests of... land mafia above the Constitution and effectively shut out avenues for justice for their victims," the PM said as he referred to the appropriation of plots belonging to govt, churches, temples, gurdwaras and farmers by declaring them waqf property. The new law, which came into force on Tuesday, aims at rectifying these issues, he said.The PM made these remarks at the "Rising Bharat Summit" organised by News-18 Group.Pasmanda Muslims, everyone else will benefit from Waqf Act: Modi The PM's comments […]

[ad_1] AHMEDABAD: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have told party members that there should be no reservation in naming a group that is targetted, as he reiterated that Congress stands for all religions and groups.Rahul is learnt to have mentioned that a community, be it Christian, Muslim, Sikh, OBC or deprived classes, be named. He said Congress is not associated selectively with any group.The remark at the meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) reportedly came after some questions from party leaders about clarity on political strategy. It has been a subject of debate in political circles and in Congress on how to address the hard polarization pitch of BJP. Rahul stated he had no confusion about the strategy.The extended CWC, led by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, met at the Patel Memorial here for […]

[ad_1] KOLKATA: Stoked by veteran Trinamool MP Sougata Ray's "he should be removed as (party's Lok Sabha) chief whip and none (in the party) likes him" comment and his WhatsApp texts in a closed group being gleefully shared by Bengal BJP, TMC MP and senior lawyer Kalyan Banerjee launched an unprecedented fusillade against a party MP, whom he did not name. In subsequent attacks, Banerjee did not spare Ray, and Kirti Azad, another TMC MP.In a no-holds-barred attack, Banerjee questioned how a woman MP could ask BSF personnel at Nirvachan Sadan "to arrest him" and refer to him as a "chhotolok". Banerjee also referred to Ray's role in the Narada sting tapes and hit out at Azad for "advocating for a sweet shop". He said he had complained to the party's "top leadership".The issue referred to the April 4 deputation […]

[ad_1] DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand high court, while hearing three petitions against non-renewal of licences of six liquor vends in Rishikesh on the ground that these are located near "holy places", said: "It is an irony that only a particular place is called a 'holy place' when the entire state is called Dev Bhoomi." HC reprimanded the excise commissioner and said, "Prima facie, there is negligence and abuse of power." It then directed him to deposit Rs 5 lakh in each case (total Rs 15 lakh) in court within a week."If the court concludes that the action of the excise commissioner is wholly arbitrary, the amount would be paid to the petitioners," the HC said and directed the commissioner to "forthwith" process the applications for renewal of licences. Counsel for the petitioners - Siddhant Bailwal, Tejendra Singh and Pawan Kumar - during […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed the CBI probe ordered by Calcutta high court against those responsible for preparation of a note based on which the West Bengal cabinet had allowed creation of supernumerary posts for appointment of teachers in May 2022 and said attaching criminality to cabinet decisions would be devastating for the country's federal structure."How can one attach criminality to a cabinet decision when no appointment has been made pursuant to the decision?" asked a bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar. The CJI said, "How can a central investigating agency investigate a cabinet decision of a state? Will it not defeat the entire purpose behind federalism? There are clear provisions under Articles 74(2) and 163(3) which bar inquiry into any cabinet decision."SC: HC not justified in asking CBI to probe cabinet note preparation […]

[ad_1] SAMBHAL: Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on Tuesday restored the "historic name" of the 16th-century Mughal-era Shahi jama masjid in Sambhal to ‘Juma masjid' and prepared a new blue signboard to replace the green one that stood outside the mosque for several decades. ASI officials said a sign would soon be installed to mark the site as a protected monument after a recent legal dispute and communal unrest.A senior administrative official said, "The new blue board is not just a formal identification. It will also communicate to the people that this building is an ASI-protected monument. This step clarifies the historical identity and legal status of the site, which is now under ASI's supervision."The monument was earlier marked with a green sign that read ‘Shahi jama masjid'. ASI's lawyer Vishnu Kumar Sharma said, "The masjid is an ASI-protected structure. […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: Frowning upon the Tamil Nadu governor for acting in violation of constitutional provisions by sitting on bills forwarded to him after being passed by the state assembly, Supreme Court, in an extraordinary and first-of-its-kind decision, held that 10 bills reserved by the governor be deemed to have been assented by him, and fixed a timeline for Raj Bhavans to decide on giving or denying nod to bills passed by state legislatures in a time-bound manner in order to prevent what happened in Tamil Nadu.As the Constitution restricts itself to saying that the governor has to act "as soon as possible" but does not prescribe any timeline, a governor can delay the decision on assent, a prerequisite for a legislation to become law, for months. The court said if assent was to be given, then it has to […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: In a money laundering case against CPM-controlled Karuvannur cooperative bank in Thrissur, Kerala, ED on Tuesday interrogated CPM central committee member and Lok Sabha MP K Radhakrishnan in connection with loans of more than Rs 150 crore sanctioned by the bank to 'customers' on the basis of alleged bogus documents.These loans were disbursed in cash, and in return cash donations were received by the party from them, according to the probe findings of ED shared during a property attachment of some of the accused in the case in Jan this year. The agency has so far arrested four persons and attached properties worth over Rs 128 crore (till Jan). Just before LS polls last year, ED had submitted details of its money trail in the case to EC and income tax department for further action against CPM […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi discussed ways to further strengthen the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership - especially in the areas of trade, investments, defence, energy, technology, education, sports and people-to-people ties - in a meeting on Tuesday with visiting Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also deputy PM and defence minister of the Gulf country. In the defence sector, the focus was on working together in co-development and co-production of equipment.According to the Indian govt, Modi expressed his gratitude to the UAE leadership for ensuring the welfare of around 4.3 million Indians living in the UAE, acknowledging their vital role in the vibrant relations between the two nations."Dubai has played a key role in advancing the India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This special visit reaffirms our deep-rooted friendship and paves the way for […]

[ad_1] JALANDHAR/CHANDIGARH: A grenade explosion targeting the Jalandhar residence of BJP national executive member Manoranjan Kalia Tuesday - the 22nd 'terror strike' in Punjab since last Sept - triggered a trail of conspiracy theories linking ISI and the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to the attack and prompted the govt to shunt out state intelligence chief R K Jaiswal.Two suspects, identified as Jalandhar residents Harry and Satish Kumar, alias Kaka, were arrested on charges of lobbing the grenade at Kalia's house from an e-rickshaw. A third is on the run.Police said they were acting at the behest of an ISI-backed terror module involving Zeeshan Akhtar, an associate of jailed gangster Bishnoi, and Pakistan-based Shahzad Bhatti.BJP neta Manoranjan Kalia, who was at his Jalandhar home when the grenade attack occurred around 1.03am on Tuesday, initially mistook it for a transformer blast. It was […]