Month: January 2020

On the eve of Republic Day, Congress president Sonia Gandhi accused the government of having hatched a “deep rooted conspiracy” to set a divisive discourse based on religion, regionalism and language to divert attention of the people from “economic mess”, “administrative bankruptcy” and “all round recession”.   Gandhi, in her Republic Day message, said the Constitution and its values today are being attacked by way of a concerted and vicious conspiracy and argued that an unprecedented atmosphere of disturbance, fear and insecurity has been foisted upon the country.   Her attack came…

On the occasion of the 71st Republic Day on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to the brave-hearts by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial instead of the Amar Jawan.   The 90-minute long Republic Day parade ceremony commenced with PM Modi visiting the National War Memorial near India Gate.   In a bid to commemorate soldiers who laid down their lives for the country post-independence, the National War memorial was inaugurated last year in February.    India Gate was built in the memory of soldiers who fought for the British in World…

President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected the mercy petition of one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape case. Sources say that the Rashtrapati Bhavan has communicated the decision of the President to the Union Home Ministry.   The Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier in the day forwarded the mercy petition of convict Mukesh Singh to the President, recommending its rejection, officials had said.   A local court earlier issued death warrants against Mukesh Singh (32), Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) and set January…

Resolutions that urge an end to curbs could have a deep impact on ties between India and the European Union.   Close on the heels of a number of critical international statements and parliamentary resolutions, the European Parliament is bracing for six scathing resolutions on both Jammu & Kashmir and Citizenship Amendment Act that have been filed by an overwhelming majority of members in the European parliament.   These will be taken up for discussion and voting this week.   “We are informed that some members of the EU Parliament…

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal was at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland’s Davos. On Thursday, Goyal said that he would have been an Air India bidder, if not a minister.   “It has some of the best bilaterals the world over, a well managed and efficient Air India is nothing sort of a goldmine to my mind”, Goyal said.   Bilaterals refers to an agreement between two countries that allows each other’s airlines to operate services with a specific number of seats.   As the government works on divesting debt…

India’s corporate and income tax collection for the current year is likely to fall for the first time in at least two decades, several senior tax officials told Reuters, amid a sharp fall in economic growth and cut in corporate tax rates.   Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government was targeting direct tax collection of 13.5 trillion rupees ($189 billion) for the year ending March 31 – a 17% increase over the prior fiscal year.   But a sharp decline in demand has stung businesses, forcing companies to cut investment and…

On the 71st Republic Day, Students, professors and other staff members of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay have organised a ‘Tiranga March’ on the institute’s campus. More than 1,500 students, professors, non-teaching staff and their family members participated in the march with a thousand-foot long tricolour. The theme of the march was ‘IIT Bombay for nation-building’.   Students, residents, and faculties in big numbers hailed Bharat Mata, who shouted Vande Mataram along with other slogans.  Professor Ashish Pandey from IIT Bombay expressed gratefulness over the participation of students in such large…

Union Minister Smriti Irani, on National Girl Child Day 2020, took to Twitter to share a heartfelt post about her daughters, Shanelle and Zoish. In her post, she also invited others to share the stories about their daughters.   “Shanelle & Zoish – I’m proud to be their mother,” Irani wrote. She further informed that while one of her daughters is a lawyer, the other is following her sister’s footsteps. “Ever caring and confident, my daughters are my pride,” she added. In the closing lines, she invited others to share…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has interacted with the recipients of Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2020 on Friday, who won awards at the Pradhan Mantri Bal Puraskar awards at his residence in New Delhi. At the event, the PM also shared some tips and advice for the students and revealed the secret behind his radiant skin.   During the interaction, PM Modi asked the students if any of them had “sweat” four times a day. When the children responded, he asserted that every kid should be physically active and “sweat hard” in…

Uttar Pradesh CM, Yogi Adityanath on Friday has announced that 18 Atal residential schools, on the lines of Navodaya Vidyalaya, will be started in the state in which children of registered labourers will be provided free facilities. He along with Governor Anandiben Patel inaugurated a three-day program to mark the foundation day of Uttar Pradesh’s Avadh Shilp Gram.   “We are going to start 18 residential schools in 18 divisions, on the lines of Navodaya Vidyalaya, in which children of registered labourers will be provided free facilities,” said Adityanath.  …