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The Union government has approved the inclusion of all senior citizens above the age of 70 under the Ayushman Bharat scheme. The Union cabinet took this major decision on Wednesday (September 11). The scheme is based on an insurance model that provides a cover of Rs 5 lakh every year on a “family basis”. An […]
Union and state government departments appear to have been given the nod to do business with foreign banks located in tax havens which who have a history that can at best be called dodgy. As part of tender conditions for government projects, Reserve Bank of India guidelines require bank guarantees that are to be issued […]
In his Independence Day speech this August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned crimes against women, calling them “demonic acts”. He added, “I can feel this outrage”. He said that steps should be taken to make “those who commit such sins fear the consequences including hanging to death”. That was no passing remark. Nine days later, he […]
Calling Shivaji a “revered deity” for his party and its members, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (August 30) apologised for the collapse of the king’s statue at the Rajkot Fort in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district. “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is not just a king but our aaradhya dev [revered deity],” he said at a public event in Palghar, […]
New Delhi: A total of 151 sitting MPs and MLAs have declared cases of crimes against women, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) having the highest number of such legislators among parties and West Bengal among states, according to a new report. The report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and New Election Watch (NEW) […]
Gulzar once said lyrics should “amaze or amuse”, or otherwise no one would care. In his six-decade career as a poet-lyricist, he certainly stuck to this principle. His best work in the first half of his career was with R.D. Burman. After a lull following Burman’s death, with composers like A.R. Rahman, Vishal Bhardwaj and […]
On May 25, 2024, Anjana Ahirwar, a 20-year-old Dalit woman, mysteriously “fell” to her death as she was returning with the body of her 26-year-old uncle Rajendra Ahirwar – murdered in a brutal attack orchestrated by the dominant “lambardars” of Baraudiya Naunagir. This was the third death in the same family of Dalit labourers within 10 […]
On Friday (August 16), chief minister Mamata Banerjee led a rally demanding justice for the doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last week. The institution is overseen by Banerjee as health minister, while law and order fall under her purview as well since she is also the state’s […]
On the day the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) ad hoc committee dismissed Vinesh Phogat’s appeal against the United World Wrestling (UWW), declaring she would not receive an Olympic medal, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh blamed the wrestlers’ protest for India securing just one medal in wrestling at the Paris Olympics […]
Maharashtra is witnessing a tussle over three Ts — Thackeray, treachery and tolerance, making it the premier state’s most exciting election this century. This election marks the first time in the past decade that the dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is at stake, following the emergence of Narendra Modi on the national scene. […]
Since the 1980s – even before Mandal – two political repertoires are in competition in the Indian public sphere: caste politics and Hindutva. This dialectic started in Gujarat when the BJP reacted to the reservation policies of Madhavsinh Solanki by promoting anti-Muslim polarisation in order to create a Hindu vote bank transcending caste-based divisions – […]
New Delhi: A statement of Maharashtra BJP MLA Ravi Rana that if “sisters” don’t vote for the BJP in the upcoming assembly elections, then the government would take back the Rs 1,500 promised under the Laadli Behna scheme has resulted in a controversy. The BJP-led NDA government had allocated 25,000 crore for the scheme, which was […]
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s first budget after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections has announced measures to boost jobs and employment, in an echo to the poll campaign in which unemployment among the youth emerged as a major issue. In its bid to boost unemployment, […]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing his toughest battle in Maharashtra soon after the BJP and its allies met their Waterloo in the Lok Sabha polls there. Talk of credibility, which catapulted the BJP to the top spot in 2014, as it was riding the Modi wave, is once again an issue here ahead of […]
Over the past decade it has been frequently stated that Narendra Modi’s years as Gujarat Chief Minister were essentially a dress (sic) rehearsal for his tenure as prime minister. The working style, legislative changes, stranglehold on the governance system, marginalising the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates where he was politically reared and replacing it […]
A remission petition filed in the Supreme Court by Dara Singh, who is serving a life sentence for the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, has sparked a controversy, with opposition leaders questioning the timing of the move that follows the installation of Odisha’s first BJP government. The gruesome […]
Last week, the Uttar Pradesh government blacklisted Ahmedabad-based exam conducting company EduTest Solutions Private Limited in the wake of the paper leak in the UP police constable recruitment exam. The Wire’s investigation has revealed that this company is has been subject to allegations of paper leaks and recruitment scams in several states across the country. Its founder-director, […]
New Delhi: Students at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay were fined and barred from using the institute’s hostel facilities for staging a play during a performing arts event, media reports have said. Some alleged the play insulted the deities Ram and Sita. A purported photo of a penalty letter signed by the institute’s registrar and posted online […]
In April 2024 in the city of Surat in Gujarat, a group of middle-aged businessmen expressed to me their deep sadness that their election had been cancelled and a winner declared before a single vote was cast. This was puzzling as they were avowed Bharatiya Janata Party supporters and their candidate had been declared the automatic winner […]
According to the Gujarat Congress, recruitment scams are not possible without government patronage. Asit Vora, a prominent Bharatiya Janata Party leader and a close aide of Narendra Modi, had to resign from the post of the Gujarat Secondary Service selection board chairman after one such notorious scam. The printing press which was in the news over the […]
