Category: NATIONAL NEWS

The issue of grant of special status to Andhra Pradesh today rocked the Rajya Sabha as the opposition created an uproar over the issue, forcing Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the House till afternoon. The issue came up after Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Y S Chowdary rose to suggest that since the provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act have not been implemented, the matter should be addressed by the Finance Minister when he replies to the debate on the general budget. Chowdary blamed…

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Congress president Rahul Gandhi today said Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to answer the country on questions posed to him on the Rafale deal, farmers and jobs instead of making allegations in Parliament. He seems to have forgotten that he is the prime minister not an opposition leader, Gandhi told reporters after Modi’s reply in the Lok Sabha to the motion of thanks on the president’s address. “Questions are being asked by the country from the prime minister, but he is not answering… here (in Parliament) you have to give…

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In a memorandum addressed to Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, the Samajwadi Party (SP) today demanded a CBI probe into three alleged fake encounters by the police in the state. The workers of the party staged a demonstration at the collectorate here, protesting against the deteriorating law- and-order situation in the state. “These bogus encounters are proof that in order to hide its failure to control the law-and-order situation, the state government has chosen this mode,” district SP chief Tanveer Ahmed alleged, before submitting the memorandum to Additional District Magistrate…

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A BJP member in the Lok Sabha today accused the Congress of “insulting pakodawallas”, citing the case of an engineering graduate who is making more money by selling the snack. The remarks by Pralhad Joshi came a day after BJP chief Amit Shah said in Rajya Sabha that it was better for a youth to earn a living by selling pakodas instead of remaining unemployed. During a debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President’s address in the Lower House, his party also claimed that the Narendra Modi government…

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The Jammu and Kashmir government today batted strongly for the resumption of a ‘peace and reconciliation process’ between India and Pakistan as the issue of repeated ceasefire violations by the neighbouring country rocked the state Assembly. Opposition National Conference (NC) supported the Mehbooba Mufti government’s stance while calling for a strict implementation of the 2003 ceasefire agreed between the two countries. Ravinder Raina, a legislator of the BJP, which shares power with the PDP in the state, had earlier pressed for a resolution to condemn the continuous Pakistani shelling. The…

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A five-year-old boy, who was brazenly abducted from a school bus here on Republic Day eve, was rescued today after an encounter between police and the kidnappers in Ghaziabad, an official said. Rehan was rescued in the early hours after a Crime Branch team received a tip-off and laid a trap in a residential area on the Loni border, a Crime Branch official said. In the shoot-out one of the kidnappers Ravi was killed and his associate Pankaj suffered injuries to his leg. The third, Nitin, was arrested. No police…

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Cold conditions continued in Kashmir as the mercury dropped at most places in the Valley and the Ladakh region, with all stations recording sub-zero minimum temperature. Kargil was the coldest place in the state as the minimum there settled at a low of minus 16 degrees Celsius, down from yesterday’s minus 15.5 degrees Celsius, a MeT official said here. The night temperature in nearby Leh town rose nearly four degrees from a low of minus 12.4 degrees Celsius yesterday to settle at a low of minus 8.7 degrees Celsius last…

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Homoeopathic doctors’ bodies today came together at the Ramlila Maidan here in support of a Bill that the might allow doctors pursuing Indian systems of medicine to practice allopathy after clearing a bridge course. The National Medical Commission Bill, 2017, which seeks to replace the existing apex medical education regulator Medical Council of India (MCI) with a new body, was moved by the government recently. One of its recommendations include that specific educational modules or programmes be introduced to bridge various systems of medicine and promote medical pluralism, with the…

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The CBI has arrested a commissioner of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) department from Kanpur and eight others, including his staff and private officials, in connection with an bribery case. According to agency sources, Sansar Chand, a 1986-batch Indian Revenue Service officer, posted as the commissioner, two superintendents of the department, one personal staff and five private people were nabbed by the CBI in a late-night operation spread across Kanpur and Delhi. They said it is alleged that the commissioner was a “habitual” offender, taking bribes from businessmen on…

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The Ministry of Railways is having a rethink on flexi-fares and bringing in a dynamic pricing system that will help increase occupancy and enhance revenues, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said today. Replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha, he also said his ministry was planning a major overhaul of the obsolete signalling system currently being used and to introduce latest technology. During the Question Hour, some members raised questions about the flexi-fares, with BJP member Ram Vichar Netam saying there were times when the prices rose to a quite high…

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