January 2020

Pariksha Pe Charcha 2020 HIGHLIGHTS: Don’t pressure, let students pursue, PM Modi’s mantra for parents Pariksha Pe Charcha 2020 HIGHLIGHTS: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is having a ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ with 2,000 students and teachers from across the country. Ahead of the event, being held at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi, PM Modi said he enjoyed ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ the most among all his programmes. Encouraging students to have a frank conversation, PM Modi said, “I thought I should share the burden your parents have to bear. Today’s fashion is ‘#withoutfilter’. Just like you speak to your friends, we will talk today.”...

JP Nadda, Old Party Warhorse & Trusted Modi-Shah Lieutenant, is New BJP President New Delhi: BJP working president Jagat Prakash Nadda, who has long been seen as the choice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah for the job, on Monday officially took over the reins of the BJP from Amit Shah. Top party leaders, including Union ministers and those from states, were present at the BJP headquarters to file nominations in support of Nadda. Senior BJP leader Radha Mohan Singh, who is in charge of the organisational election process, had announced the schedule after the party’s internal poll exercise was...

No doubt MS Dhoni will be retained by Chennai Super Kings for IPL 2021: N Srinivasan Whether he is playing or not former India captain MS Dhoni continues to make headlines with each passing day. After rumours of his retirement started circulating following his removal from the BCCI list of contracted players, Dhoni was seen back to training in Ranchi. The Chennai Super Kings captain is expected to play the IPL 2020 edition which starts in March. Amongst all this, former BCCI president and the current vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements (owners of CSK), N Srinivasan has confirmed...

Pratap Chandra Sarangi on Saturday said the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was a way to “atone for the sin of Partition” committed by the Congress Union Minister of State for MSME Pratap Chandra Sarangi on Saturday said the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was a way to “atone for the sin of Partition” committed by the Congress. He said the Act, which seeks to give citizenship to non-Muslim minorities when entered India before December 31, 2014 from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, should have been passed 70 years ago. “CAA should have happened 70 years ago. CAA is a way to atone...

All Afghans have been persecuted, says Hamid Karzai India should treat all Afghans equally, former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said, taking exception to the stipulation in the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, that only Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis from that country would be eligible for fast-tracked naturalisation in India. “We don’t have persecuted minorities in Afghanistan… the whole country is persecuted. We have been in war and conflict for a long time. All religions in Afghanistan — Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs — which are our three main religions, have suffered,” Mr. Karzai said. He was speaking exclusively to The...

Ramachandra Guha’s ‘dynast’ remark sparks Twitter war with Shashi Tharoor Historian Ramachandra Guha’s recent remarks about Rahul Gandhi being a “fifth-generation dynast” have appeared to cause a furore on Twitter, and triggered a debate with senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. Guha remarks at the Kerala Literature festival have divided Twitter. In the same segment, Guha also called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a self-made man but said Kerala’s election of Rahul Gandhi meant that it was “handing over an advantage to Narendra Modi”, The remarks have drawn criticism from supporters of Congress, forcing Guha to issue a long thread of clarification...

RSS believes in Constitution, not any other ‘power center’, says Mohan Bhagwat Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday reiterated that the Sangh considered 130 crore people of the country as “Hindus” while saying that the outfit believed in the Constitution and not any other “power center”. “When workers of RSS say that this country belongs to Hindus and 130 crore people are Hindu, it doesn’t mean that we want to change anyone’s religion, language or caste… We don’t want any power center other than the Constitution because we believe in it,” ANI quoted Bhagwat as saying. His remarks...

Russian president Vladimir Putin names head of tax service Mishustin as new prime minister President Vladimir Putin has named Tax Service chief Mikhail Mishustin as Russia’s new prime minister, the Kremlin said Wednesday. The 53-year-old Mishustin has worked in the government since 1998 and kept a low profile while serving as the head of the Federal Tax Service since 2010. The Russian leader made the appointment after he engineered a surprise shakeup of Russia’s leadership and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev submitted his resignation earlier in the day. Putin proposed changes to the constitution that could keep him in power well...

Sania Mirza completes dream comeback with Hobart International doubles title In a dream start to her second innings after a two-year break, Sania Mirza lifted the WTA Hobart International trophy with partner Nadiia Kichenok after edging out Shaui Peng and Shuai Zhang in the final, here on Saturday. The unseeded Indo-Ukrainian pair pipped the second seed Chinese team 6-4 6-4 in one hour 21 minutes. Playing her first tournament after giving birth to son Izhaan, the 33-year-old Sania has begun well in the Olympic year as she warmed up for the Australian Open in style. It is Sania’s 42nd WTA...

No State can deny implementation of CAA, says Kapil Sibal There is no way a State can deny the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) when it is already passed by the Parliament, said Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Saturday. He also said that doing so would be “unconstitutional“. “If the CAA is passed no State can say ‘I will not implement it’. It is not possible and is unconstitutional. You can oppose it, you can pass a resolution in the Assembly and ask the central government to withdraw it. But constitutionally saying that I won’t implement it is...