The Supreme Court has directed that the deadline for scrutinising documents and objections as part of the special intensive revision process in West Bengal be extended for at least a week after February 14. A two-judge bench also ordered the state director general of police to respond to the Election Commission’s allegations that the exercise was marred by violence and intimidation.

“We will not allow any impediment in conduct of SIR,” Chief Justice Surya Kant said. “This must be clear to all states.”

The court also told the state’s Trinamool Congress government to ensure that all 8,550 Group B officers, whose list was submitted to the court on Monday, report to the electoral registration officer on Tuesday. It also said that micro-observers who were appointed by the Election Commission from other states, will only assist the electoral registration officers and “are not the decision-making authority”. Read more.

Opposition parties staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha after an uproar over the proceedings of the Lok Sabha, where they alleged that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to finish his speech. Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge raised the matter when the Question Hour started at noon.

CP Radhakrishnan, the chairperson of the Upper House, told Kharge that he should not comment on the proceedings of the Lower House and that his remarks would not go on record. But Opposition MPs continued to protest and walked out of the Rajya Sabha as Radhakrishnan refused to relent.

The Lok Sabha has been witnessing disruptions since February 3, with the Opposition protesting against Gandhi not being allowed to quote an excerpt from an unpublished memoir of former Indian Army chief MM Naravane about the political decision-making during the 2020 border tensions between India and China. Read on.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi filed a complaint with the Telangana Police against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for a video depicting the Bharatiya Janata Party leader symbolically firing at images of two Muslim men. The Hyderabad MP remarked on social media that “genocidal hate speech” had become the norm.

The video, posted by the Assam unit of the BJP on Saturday, was deleted after criticism. The clip combined what appeared to be original footage of Sarma handling rifles with artificial intelligence-generated images portraying Muslims as targets.

The BJP leader told reporters that he had not seen the video. However, he maintained on Monday that he is “against Bangladeshi infiltrators and will continue to be against them”. Read on.

Himanta Sarma’s remarks about ‘Miyas’ make a mockery of the Constitution

The Meghalaya government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the blast at an illegal coal mine in East Jaintia Hills district on February 5 that killed 27 workers. The inquiry will look into the sequence of events leading to the explosion, fix responsibility and recommend measures to prevent similar tragedies.

The blast occurred at a mine in the Thangsko area of Mynsngat village, located about 40 km from the district headquarters.

Two persons have been arrested in the matter so far. They were identified as 36-year-old Forme Chyrmang and 42-year-old Shamehi War.

The explosion has once again drawn attention to the persistence of rat-hole coal mining in Meghalaya, despite a ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal in 2014. Read more.

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