In Maharashtra’s Jalna, 65-year-old man arrested for rape of minor girl

A elderly man allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl at a village in Maharashtra’s Jalna district, police said on Wednesday. The incident took place on Tuesday following which the 65-year-old accused, who has five children and grandchildren, was arrested late at night, an official from Badnapur police station said. The…

Lt Gen Gurmit Singh sworn in as Governor of Uttarakhand

Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmit Singh was sworn in on Wednesday as the new governor of Uttarakhand. The oath of office was administered to Singh by the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court Justice RS Chauhan at a simple function held at the Raj Bhawan here. Singh, who retired as the Deputy Chief of the Indian Army, is a…

Supreme Court pulls up Centre for ‘cherry-picking’ names for tribunal appointments

The Supreme Court Wednesday gave the centre a “final” time of two weeks to make appointments to the various Tribunals across the country even as it expressed displeasure on “cherry-picking” names from the list of those recommended for the various posts. A special bench, comprising ustice of India NV Ramana,…

Won’t reopen 2018 decision on grant of reservation in promotion to SC, ST: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has orally observed that it will not reopen the issues settled by it in its 2018 judgment on the reservation in promotions in government jobs for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, Sanjiv Khanna, and BR Gavai said Tuesday that it is for the states…

Rs 775-crore Defence Ministry offices ready, to accommodate 7,000 personnel working from hutments

Around 7,000 officers and subordinates of different units of the Defence Ministry, and the armed forces will soon be moved into the two new Defence Ministry office complexes that have been prepared at the combined cost of Rs 775 crore. The two complexes in Delhi, one on Africa Avenue and another on Kasturba Gandhi…

Cong panel on agitations meets, Priyanka lays stress on follow-up

A panel set up by Congress president Sonia Gandhi under the chairmanship of senior leader Digvijaya Singh to plan “sustained agitations” on national issues met for the first time on Tuesday. At the meeting, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra suggested that the party should try and…

HP CM’s 2nd Delhi visit in a week sparks talk of change of guard, BJP leaders deny

With several BJP states witnessing a leadership change in the past few months, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur’s second visit to the national capital in a week has triggered speculation of a similar reshuffle for the poll-bound hill state. Last week, Vijay Rupani of the BJP had resigned as CM…

Agriculture Ministry inks MoU with 5 firms

The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare on Tuesday signed 5 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) for pilot projects with five private companies­ CISCO, Ninjacart, Jio Platforms Limited, ITC Limited and NCDEX e-Markets Limited (NeML). According to the Agriculture Ministry, Jio Platforms Limited will…

DMK fields two Rajya Sabha candidates, keeps Congress waiting

The DMK on Tuesday announced the party’s two candidates for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha bye-elections to fill the two vacant seats from Tamil Nadu contrary to expectation in some Congress quarters that the regional party may give one seat to ally Congress. Sources in the Congress said the DMK had agreed to consider…

‘BJP claimed double-engine govt, now has made a volte-face’: CPI(M) leader Manik Sarkar

Days after clashes between workers of BJP and CPI(M) in Tripura, and amid a push by the TMC to emerge as a power in the state, former chief minister and senior CPI(M) leader Manik Sarkar tells that attacks are taking place on CPI(M) workers since the party is regaining ground, and that Trinamool may still be at a…