No plans to impose Indian constitution on Jammu & Kashmir judiciary – Govt

Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said the government of India had no plans to force judiciary in the state of Jammu & Kashmir to take their oath of office on the Indian constitution instead of the state constitution. Prasad was responding to a question on why judges of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court take […]

At 9.7 cr/year, Sidhu is highest-earning Punjab MLA, 40% AAP MLAs are crorepati

An analysis of the election filings of the newly elected members of Punjab Legislative Assembly revealed that Navjot Singh Sidhu, the ex-cricketer and television personality who joined the Indian National Congress just before the election, is the highest-earning member of the house. The analysis by the Association for Democratic Reform also revealed that 8 out of […]

No immediate plans for universal basic income: Indian Government

The Indian government has no immediate plans or proposals to institute a scheme of ‘unversal basic income’ in place of the myriad social welfare scheme run by the country at present, the finance ministry said in response to a query. The clarification that there is ‘no proposal for a universal basic income scheme’ comes in […]

Half of rural population classified as poor in Socio-Economic Caste Census

Half of India’s rural population have been classified as poor by the Socio-Economic Caste Census of India 2011, the government said today. The findings of Socio-Economic Caste Census of India, which was conducted after vociferous demands by some political parties, has never been released to the public in full. However, according to data obtained from […]

Anti-corruption activists to conduct ‘Ghotala Yatra’ in Delhi on Thursday

An umbrella group of anti-corruption groups will conduct a ‘Ghotala Yatra’ or ‘Scam Procession’ at Delhi’s Mandi House area tomorrow. The rally, with the cry ‘freedom from corruption’ will start at 11 AM and be followed by a sitting protest at Jantar Mantar — the traditional venue for protests in the capital. Among the organizations […]

Stock markets pricing in a BJP win in Uttar Pradesh – analyst

The recent strength in India’s key stock market indices indicates that market participants are pricing in a victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh, according to an stock market analyst. India’s largest state has been busy electing its next legislative assembly for almost a month. The first phase of elections in the state […]

Arvind Kejriwal protests after Twitter cracks down on AAP accounts

Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal took to his account to protest the deletion of several AAP accounts after the social media company changed its anti-abuse algorithm. Three days ago, Twitter had said that it was putting in more safeguards against abuse and manipulation on its platform — a very widespread complaint. “This week we’re […]

Modi denies demonetization was a failure

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today denied that the withdrawal of high-value currency notes was a failure. Speaking in the lower house of Parliament today, Modi said demonetization has created a money trail that can be used to ‘bring everyone into the mainstream’ of taxation. [iframe src=”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FBJP4India%2Fvideos%2F1516617298378788″] “You know how it used to be in the […]

Kerala government doctor goes behind the veil to teach Muslim women

A government doctor in Kerala has come under criticism on social media for taking a Polio vaccination awareness class for women from behind a veil. According to local media reports, nearly 100 women participated in the thinly veiled awareness drive conducted by a medical superintendent of the government hospital at Nileswaram in Kasargode district in North Kerala. The […]

Katju says SP will defeat BJP in UP Elections; Demonetization, Akhilesh to aid

Former Supreme Court judge and a keen observer of Indian politics, Markandey Katju has predicted a win for the Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. BJP, which is seen as a strong contender by many, would be negatively impacted due to the impact of demonetization and the clean […]

UP POLLS: BSP gives most number of seats to Upper Castes; Muslims second

Bahujan Samaj Party has allocated the highest block of candidacies for the upcoming elections to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly to upper caste Hindus, followed by Muslims. Announcing the details, party supremo Mayawati said a total of 113 seats — amounting to 28% of the total 403 seats — have been given to candidates belonging […]

Mayawati warns Muslims: Akhilesh vs Mulayalam will bring BJP to power

Bahujan Samaj Party leader Kumari Mayawati has warned Muslim voters in Uttar Pradesh against continuing to vote for Samajwadi Party, claiming that the current fight between SP leader Mulayam Singh and his son Akhilesh would split their votes in two. “I urge you not to let your vote get divided between Akhilesh and Mulayalam groups. […]

Activist fighting for minority rights alleges religious discrimination

Sreeja Neyyattinkara, one of the state secretaries of Welfare Party in Kerala, has set off a storm among Dalit and Minority activist circles in Kerala by heavily criticizing some orthodox practices among the Muslims of the state. The criticism has come as a surprise as the Welfare Party is largely comprised of Muslim supporters and activists, and […]

Demonetization: Modi announces bumper prizes; 15 lakh users to get 1,000 rupees

Narendra Modi announced several ‘prize schemes’ to promote cashless transactions. Under the schemes announced today, there will be two sets of prizes for consumers and another for small merchants. Under the first scheme, any customer who uses any electronic form of payment, including wallets and debit cards, will qualify for a ‘lucky draw’ of Rs […]

Demonetization: Swaraj India says political parties could become money laundering centers

Swaraj India party today said the Income Tax department’s decision to continue to provide immunity to political parties from having to reveal their sources could turn them into money laundering centers. According to Section 13(A) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, if you have registered a political party, you can deposit any amount of money […]