Bihar: Protests break out in Gaya after girl is found beheaded

Protestors staged demonstrations in Bihar’s Gaya on Thursday continued their protests against the murder of a 16-year-old girl, who was found beheaded on January 6, reports said.

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Sheila Dikshit appointed Delhi Congress chief

Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has been appointed president of the state unit of the Congress. Party leader Ajay Maken had resignedfrom the post last week, citing health reasons.

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CBI row: Alok Verma orders more transfers, retains team handling Rakesh Asthana investigation

Central Bureau of Investigation Director Alok Verma on Thursday issued an order to transfer six more officials on the second day of his reinstatement, reported IANS.

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Mamata Banerjee says West Bengal won’t pay for Ayushman Bharat, asks Centre to fund health scheme

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the state would not contribute to the Centre’s ambitious Ayushman Bharat health scheme, ANI reported.

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Upper-caste quota bill: Cartoonists mock Narendra Modi’s late move, Opposition’s reluctant support

Several political cartoonists have used the reservation bill recently passed in Parliament as fodder for their sketches.

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Kashmiri IAS officer Shah Faesal’s resignation is an indictment of the BJP government: P Chidambaram

Congress leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said the resignation of Kashmiri bureaucrat Shah Faesal from the Indian Administrative Services is an “indictment” of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre.

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GST Council has raised composition scheme limit to Rs 1.5 crore, says Arun Jaitley

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the Goods and Services Tax Council has doubled the exemption limit and raised the threshold for availing the composition scheme.

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Citizenship Bill protests: Curfew imposed in parts of Guwahati’s East Police district

Authorities have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Code of Procedure in parts of Guwahati’s East Police District. The move came amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Assam.

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CBI row: Rahul Gandhi asks why Narendra Modi is in a hurry to sack agency director

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday continued his criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his administration’s alleged interference in the Central Bureau of Investigation and purported irregularities in the Rafale jet deal.

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Upper-caste quota: Youth for Equality has challenged amendment bill in Supreme Court

An anti-reservation organisation on Thursday moved the Supreme Court against the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2019, passed by Parliament.

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Citizenship Bill protests: Sedition case filed against activist Akhil Gogoi, academic Hiren Gohain

The Assam Police have registered a sedition case against anti-corruption activist Akhil Gogoi, academic Hiren Gohain and former journalist Manjit Mahanta for allegedly speaking “against the law” at a recent public meeting.

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Jayanti Bhanushali murder: Police investigating if accused BJP leader Chhabil Patel fled to US

The Criminal Investigation Department of Gujarat Police on Thursday said officials were trying to trace the location of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Chhabil Patel in connection with the murder of former BJP legislator Jayanti Bhanushali.

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Army chief advocates talks with the Taliban to protect Indian interests in Afghanistan

Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said talks with the Taliban were necessary to protect Indian interests in Afghanistan. “If a number of countries are talking to the Taliban, and if India has an interest in Afghanistan, then we should also join the bandwagon,” he added.

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Jind bye-poll: Congress fields Randeep Singh Surjewala, BJP names Hari Chand Midha’s son

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday announced their candidates for the January 28 bye-election in Haryana’s Jind Assembly constituency.

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Vinod Rai recommends two-ODI bans for Hardik and Rahul for ‘crass’ comments on Koffee With Karan

The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s Committee of Administrators chief Vinod Rai on Thursday recommended a two-ODI ban for India players Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul, after their controversial comments on television talk show Koffee With Karan.

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Citizenship Bill row: Assam speaker says ‘hasty passage’ of legislation has hurt people of the state

Assam Assembly Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami on Wednesday said the “hasty passage” of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha has hurt the sentiments of the people of the state.

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Tamil man claims Mumbai official denied him immigration as he didn’t speak Hindi, probe ordered

The Mumbai Police have ordered an investigation after a 27-year-old PhD student alleged that an immigration officer at the Mumbai International Airport refused to clear him because he could not speak Hindi.

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NCW sends notice to Rahul Gandhi for ‘misogynistic, offensive’ remarks against Nirmala Sitharaman

The National Commission for Women on Thursday issued a notice to Congress President Rahul Gandhi seeking an explanation for his remarks against Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Gandhi on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi “got a woman to defend him” on the Rafale deal debate in Parliament.

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JNU sedition case: Delhi Police say chargesheet to be soon filed against Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid

The Delhi Police on Wednesday said a chargesheet will soon be filed in the sedition case against former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union President Kanhaiya Kumar and other activists, including Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya.

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Indian Science Congress: Talks at event should be vetted by serious committees, says Nobel laureate

Structural biologist and Nobel laureate Venkatraman Ramakrishnan has said that talks at the Indian Science Congress should be vetted by serious committees. In an interview with The Hindu on Thursday, Ramakrishnan said the event should have lesser attendees and be depoliticised.

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Sabarimala: 36-year-old woman claims she offered prayers at the hill shrine

A 36-year-old woman from Kerala has claimed that she entered the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala on Tuesday. The police and the state government have not yet confirmed her entry into the temple. SP Manju, who is the president of the Kerala Dalit Mahila Federation, said on Wednesday that she arrived at Pamba at 4 am on Tuesday, and entered the temple by climbing the 18 sacred steps around 6 am.

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Marathi literature body chief resigns amid row over cancellation of Nayantara Sahgal’s invitation

Shripad Joshi, the president of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Mahamandal, on Wednesday resigned following the controversy over the withdrawal of author Nayantara Sahgal’s invitation to a literary meeting in Maharashtra.

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Prakash Javadekar denies New Education Policy draft proposes to make Hindi compulsory till Class 8

Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar denied on Thursday that a draft of the New Education Policy seeks to make the teaching of Hindi compulsory. His clarification came after The Indian Express reported that Hindi would be made a compulsory subject till Class 8 as per the recommendation of the K Kasturirangan committee set up to draft the policy.

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Mumbai: BEST employees’ strike enters third day, lakhs of commuters affected

The indefinite strike called by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Workers’ Union entered its third day on Thursday. Not even one bus left the 27 depots in Mumbai. While several bus drivers and conductors turned up outside several of the depots, none of them reportedly worked. As many as 25 lakh commuters were being affected every day as more than 32,000 employees were striking.

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Bulandshahr violence: Key accused arrested from Hapur, say police

The Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday arrested a Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha leader, a key accused in the mob violence that erupted in Bulandshahr in December in which a police officer and a civilian were killed. Shikhar Aggarwal was arrested from Hapur early on Thursday.

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Ayodhya case: Hearing adjourned after judge recuses himself, new bench to be constituted

The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute after one of the judges on the Constitution Bench recused himself. The next date of the hearing is January 29. Justice UU Lalit recused himself from the matter after senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan pointed out that Lalit had appeared as counsel in another Ram temple case.

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Gauri Lankesh murder: Sanatan Sanstha also tracked rationalist Narendra Nayak, say police

The Hindutva outfit which is accused of murdering journalist Gauri Lankesh in 2017 reportedly also watched the activities of rationalist Narendra Nayak in Mangaluru in 2016, and identified him as a target, the Karnataka Police have told the court.

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Question Hour during Winter Session was the least productive of 16th Lok Sabha, says think tank

The Question Hour during the Winter Session of the Parliament was “one of the least productive” of the 16th Lok Sabha, think-tank PRS Legislative Research has said. According to PRS Legislative, Lok Sabha lost a sixth of its time to disruptions, while Rajya Sabha lost a third of its scheduled time.

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Delhi: Crime rose 6% in 2018, police blame unemployment, consumerism

Crime in Delhi rose 6% in 2018, with the police blaming the “size and heterogeneous nature of its population” for the increase. The annual crime data released by the Delhi Police on Wednesday showed a marginal drop in heinous crimes like rape, but an increase in motor vehicle thefts.

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi meets NCP’s Sharad Pawar to discuss strategy for Lok Sabha elections

Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar met in Delhi on Wednesday to discuss the seat sharing arrangement between the two parties in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha elections.

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Maharashtra: Three people die while cleaning a manhole in Panvel

Two workers and a contractor who were cleaning a manhole in a village near Panvel in Navi Mumbai died on Wednesday. The City and Industrial Development Corporation, through the contractor, had assigned the workers to the task.

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CBI Director Alok Verma cancels several transfer orders issued by interim chief

Central Bureau of Investigation chief Alok Verma on Wednesday revoked most of the transfer orders issued between October 24 and January 8 by interim director Nageshwar Rao. The decision came a day after the top court quashed the Centre’s decision to divest Verma of his responsibilities. Verma – who is set to retire on January 31 – was back in office on Monday for the first time since October 23, when he was sent on leave by the government.

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Upper caste quota: Rajya Sabha passes bill to provide 10% reservation to the economically backward

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2019. The bill was passed with the support of 165 legislators. Seven MPs voted against the draft law.

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