Even as Pakistan President Imran Khan wants to talk peace with India, diplomatic experts on this side of the border see the offer as a ruse meant to allow Pakistan’s ISI to continue to use terror groups against India. Khan has been at pains over the last two days to explain that problems between the […]
One of the biggest and first pre-election surveys held in Kerala has pointed to strong gains made by the United Democratic Alliance led by the Congress, and the National Democratic Alliance led by BJP due to the Sabarimala controversy. Even as the Left Front was riding high on a wave of popularity before the Sabarimala […]
Akhilesh Yadav has laid into Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath after he was stopped from attending a function at Allahabad University. “Today, I was stopped from boarding a flight to attend a student union program at Allahabad University. I haven’t been given a reason why – but it seems the general impression was that […]
With India’s general elections only weeks away, a large section of ‘secular’ voters in India are learning to live with Rahul Gandhi as their most viable bet for a non-Modi prime minister. However, a deeper look, along with recent experience, suggests that it is Mayawati, not Rahul Gandhi, who has everything going for her to […]
The Income Tax Department has ‘provisionally attached’ Mindtree shares worth Rs 660 cr belonging to VG Siddhartha, the founder of Cafe Coffee Day and the son in law of former Congress leader and Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna. Mindtree said it received intimation from the Income Tax Department that it had provisionally attached about 75 […]
A court in Kerala has agreed to hear a case filed by Praveen Togadia-led Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and others for facilitating the entry of what the organization called non-believers into the Sabarimala temple two weeks ago. The case, filed by AHP National Secretary Pratheesh Vishvanath — the man behind the […]
Retired Supreme Court judge Markandeya Katju, known for his frank and often outrageous political statements, has forecast chaos and instability after the upcoming 2019 general elections. The elections, he said, would create conditions similar to the mid 1990s and 1977, when no single party had the critical mass to form a stable government at the […]
The Supreme Court today directed the Kerala government to provide full security to Kanakadurga and Bindu Ammini, the two women who entered Sabarimala temple last month. The two women had sought 24-hour police protection, claiming that there was a threat to their lives. They also pointed to extensive attacks coming from Internet users and social […]
The curious case of TRAI’s implementation of the its 2017 Tariff Order, which threatens to add yet another negative factor for NDA in upcoming polls, can be an excellent case study of what ails India’s legal and regulatory system. The saga started almost two years ago with four companies — Star India, Discovery Communications, Tata […]
Justice UU Lalit, who was part of a constitutional bench that was set up to hear the controversial Ram Temple Babri Masjid matter today, today recused himself from the bench hearing the matter. The judge withdrew himself after one of the advocates RK Dhawan pointed out that Justice Lalit had represented one of the implicated […]
Finance minister and legal expert Arun Jaitley today allayed fears that the latest move to give reservations to forward communities will also be struck down by the courts like previous attempts. Replying to such concerns raised by Congress MP KV Thomas that drew parallels with a similar, but abortive attempt by PV Narasimha Rao, Jaitley […]
A five-judge bench headed by the chief justice Ranjan Gogoi will start hearing the Ayodhya Ram Temple dispute from day after tomorrow. The constitutional bench will also comprise judges NV Ramana and DY Chandrachud. It is not clear yet whether the hearing will done on a day-to-day basis. The Ayodhya debate centres around the land […]
Narendra Modi government’s new 10% economic reservation quota will not be open to economically weaker members of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes. The 124th constitutional amendment bill introduced by Thawar Chand Gehlot in Parliament today makes a specific exclusion for the above categories from being admitted under ‘economic reservation’. The poor within […]
The government will present a new bill to amend the constitution and introduce a new 10% quota for ‘forward communities’ at 2 PM today. The bill will be presented by minister of social justice and empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot. The bill will add a new criteria for providing reservation — economic backwardness — to the […]
Shiv Sena MP Anil Desai today asked the government if it had taken steps against TV channels who were “creating hatred among various sections of Hindu community” by identifying victims of certain attacks as dalits. The government responded that it had already sent directives to channels and newspapers against using the world dalit. In a […]
The cabinet is reported to have approved a move to seek 10% reservation in jobs and educational institutions for all those castes and communities that currently do not get such reservations. The government will create a law to raise the upper ceiling of reserved seats from 50% of the total to 60% of the total. […]
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarai Vijayan today said no devotee of Ayyappa feels offended by the way two women were ‘facilitated’ to enter the Sabarimala temple and that the protests being seen on the streets are politically motivated. “When news came out about entry of women into the shrine (yesterday), there was no spontaneous protests,” Vijayan […]
After waiting patiently for a breakthrough, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prayers in Kerala seem to have been finally answered in the form of a crucial development in the Sabarimala temple standoff with two women entering the temple at night under police protection. The BJP has already kicked off a massive campaign to exploit the emotional […]
With the Sabarimala issue on the boil again with a group of Tamil activists trying to enter the temple again, Malayalam actor Salim Kumar raised a note of dissent against the Supreme Court order. Participating in reality show Sell Me The Answer on Asianet, Salim Kumar seemed to object to the way the court overruled […]
Veteran Congress leader Kamal Nath is learnt to have more or less been decided as the new chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. According to sources, both the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party — which are supporting Congress’ government formation efforts in Madhya Pradesh — have clearly made their preference for a government headed […]
