In its first edition, the memorial lecture also saw the virtual participation of former PM Manmohan Singh and a recorded message from Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina and Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.
Amit Shah said that industries were shy of investing in J&K all these years due to some hurdle or the other, and the scrapping of Article 70 and Article 35A had removed these hurdles. He said the new central sector scheme for J&K was a huge milestone.
In an eye-ball grabbing event held in the 900-seater auditorium with strict compliance of Covid protocol, the focus was on 58-year-old Justice Bangalore Venkataramiah Nagarathna. On taking oath, she not only followed in her father E S Vankataramiah’s footsteps to the SC, but like him will go on to become the CJI in September 2027.
Weighing in on the controversy triggered by the changes made at Jallianwala Bagh, which was inaugurated by PM Modi in a laser show on Saturday, Rahul posted a strong tweet virtually calling the renovation a defilement of martyrdom
The increased pace of vaccination is primarily driven by improved supplies, while the Centre has also been pushing states to ramp up inoculation coverage, particularly that of the second dose, mainly in the wake of the upcoming festivities.
Former Puducherry lieutenant governor (LG) Kiran Bedi has said that the world community should not have left Afghanistan without putting a humanitarian security mission in place. In a series of tweets, Kiran Bedi said, “The world community ought not to have exited Afghanistan without a humanitarian security mission in place. We have left the vulnerable on the roads or locked in their homes.”
JD(U)’s Nalanda MP Kaushlendra Kumar even offered his seat to Nitish so that he could contest the next Lok Sabha polls. He cited the example of Narendra Modi, saying he too was the chief minister of Gujarat before becoming the PM.
A Kabul-based Sikh, who runs a cosmetics shop, said, “Nearly 40 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus run shops and busine- sses in Kabul. They have started returning to work. My brother has a wholesale business of medicines with Indian pharma firms and is back at work.
Delivering the Balramji Dass Tandon Memorial Lecture, organized by Panjab University through video-conferencing, Singh said the government has been “constantly monitoring” the developments in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover of the country.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday imposed a complete ban on the sale of liquor and meat in Mathura. Yogi was speaking at the Krishnotsava 2021 programme in Mathura. He suggested that those engaged in liquor and meat trade may take up selling milk in order to revive the glory of Mathura.
Terror launchpads close to the border are active again and infiltration has picked up, with agencies warning that this could point to an attempt by Pakistan to use the developments in Afghanistan to its advantage.
Shringla chaired four meetings of the Security Council on Monday, a day before the end of India's presidency of the Council. Officials said India successfully steered discussions during its presidency on Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria, Yemen, and the Middle East Peace Process.
Dr Neerav Goyal, senior liver transplant surgeon at Apollo, said it was heartening to find that though they were on immunosuppressive therapy, the four kids infected by Covid did well. “It reinforces the observation that children do well in handling SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes Covid,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh has collected the maximum fine of Rs 545 crore, followed by Bihar with Rs 488 crore and Delhi Rs 244 crore during September 2019 and July 2021, according to government data. Haryana and Tamil Nadu come fourth and fifth in the list.
“Protection of democracy is the work of the administration. They are assigned to do this job. We have heard and seen the audio and video (of the SDM instructing cops)...Rest, the DGP is probing the incident and the local administration, too, is doing the same. We shall act as and when the report comes to us,” Khattar told reporters in Chandigarh.
“The spacesuits are being stitched in Russia and they will be coming here to Moscow to undertake tailoring measurements,” Indian ambassador to Russia D B Venkatesh Varma told the Indian media recently.
The upswing in Covid vaccinations, that touched a new daily record of 1.03 crore doses on August 27, is primarily helped by significantly higher uptake in rural areas. Rural India administered around 3.17 crore doses during the latest week (August 21-27), more than double the number of jabs given in urban areas. Overall, around 4.7 crore doses of vaccines were administered during August 21-27, up 17% from 3.9 crore doses given in the previous week.
With recent projections that the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic could hit anytime between September and October, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) projects that it could be less severe than the recent second wave. Dr Samiran Panda, head of ICMR’s Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases (ECD) division, said that nobody can predict the third wave for the whole country. “It will now make sense only if district or state-specific data are used for specific projections.
The sharp surge in Covid-19 infections in Kerala post Onam sent India’s cases in the week ending Sunday zooming to an eight-week high, with the southern state alone accounting for 66% of all cases in the country in this period. India recorded more than 2.9 lakh fresh Covid cases in the week (August 23-29), a 32% jump from the tally in the preceding seven days. This was the highest number of weekly infections since the June 28-July 4 week when 3.05 lakh cases were recorded.
JD(U) on Sunday demanded formation of a coordination committee in the 15-party National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the national level. JD(U) national secretary general KC Tyagi said a coordination committee, or convener, is needed in the NDA like the one in the era of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and JD(U) functionary George Fernandes.
NCP and Congress on Sunday claimed that a “report” circulating on social media has revealed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) gave former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh a clean chit, much before cases were filed against him for corruption and money laundering. However, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “As per the reports, Deshmukh has been given a clean chit… CBI must clarify if the document in circulation is part of the PE report,” Malik said.
Justice B V Nagarathna will take the first step towards becoming first woman chief justice of India (CJI) on Tuesday when she takes oath as a Supreme Court judge but with a scheduled tenure of 36 days as the head of judiciary, from September 24-October 29, 2027, it would be the third shortest in the 77-year history of Supreme Court. Justice Nagaratha’s 36-day tenure as CJI would be identical to that of Justice Shah.
Seventeen months after the Supreme Court completely switched to virtual mode of hearing through video-conferencing, the court has decided to resume physical hearing in a limited way from September 1 with lawyers continuing to have the option joining through the virtual mode. “As per the latest SOP, those appearing before the court in the final hearing/regular matters listed on non-miscellaneous days will have the option of being heard in the physical mode.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Rs 100 lakh crore Gati Shakti Master Plan — which will offer multi-modal connectivity to more than 1,200 industrial clusters, including two defence corridors across the country — will be unveiled next month as part of a plan to reduce logistic costs and provide better connectivity. Modi on August 15 had announced that the total size of the Gati Shakti project will be Rs 100 lakh crore for developing holistic infrastructure
Union minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday launched the Fit India Mobile Application at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium on National Sports Day.“The Fit India Mobile App brings ease of checking one's fitness levels right into the palm of every Indian. It has some unique features like ‘fitness score’, animated videos, activity trackers and ‘my plan’ catering to (an) individual's specific needs,” Thakur said.
Reaching the Hindu shrine of Kedarnath and holy Sikh shrine of Hemkund Sahib in Uttarakhand is likely to become smoother and more enjoyable in the near future as the government plans to provide ropeway links to these major pilgrimage sites. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has invited bids for preparing the feasibility and detailed project reports for eight ropeway links in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh connecting the most sought after pilgrimage and tourist sites.
The situation in Afghanistan has emerged as a challenge for India, which along with alignment and realignment of global powers had led the country to rethink its strategy while also putting its weight behind the ‘Quad’, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday. Turning to the continuing military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh, he said a unilateral attempt was made last year to change the status quo on the northern borders, which also led to the Galwan Valley clashes.
Cracking the whip against foreign armament majors for failure to fulfil their offsets obligations in defence deals, India has threatened to ban a US company and put another 11 American, French, Russian and Israeli firms on a watch-list for imposition of penalties. The defence ministry (MoD) has delivered a stern message to the arms companies, seeking repeated time extensions to discharge their offsets commitments, that it won’t be business as usual any longer, say top sources.
The sharp surge in Covid-19 infections in Kerala post Onam sent India’s cases in the week ending Sunday zooming to an eight-week high, with the southern state alone accounting for 66% of all cases in the country in this period. India recorded more than 2.9 lakh fresh Covid cases in the week (August 23-29), a 32% jump from the tally in the preceding seven days. This was the highest number of weekly infections since the June 28-July 4 week when 3.05 lakh cases were recorded.
Chief Justice of India Bhushan Gavai emphasized the importance of the creamy layer principle within SC/STs. He cautioned against judicial ov...
