Two visuals helped link Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Uttarakhand in the just-ended year. Both triggered opposition attacks on him. One picture showed him meditating in a cave at the Kedarnath shrine. The other was his appearance on "Man vs Wild" TV programme, hosted by Bear Grylls, showing the two at the Corbett Tiger Reserve.
"Happy New Year everyone! The dawn of New Year and the new decade is an occasion to renew our commitment towards a stronger and more prosperous India. May 2020 bring joy, peace and prosperity to our families, to our country, and to our beautiful planet!" President Kovind tweeted.
"Today marks the start of 2020 New Year. Wish you a very happy new year and all the best. The year 2019 witnessed the steady progress of China-India ties with many highlights, including the 2nd Informal Meeting in Chennai & other meetings on multilateral occasions between our leaders," tweeted Weidong.
"Some parties who are playing politics for their personal gains should not forget that India is a secular country and we should respect all religions. Peace and harmony should be maintained in the country," Mayawati said.
"We have been giving attention to our western front in the past. The northern front now also requires an equal amount of attention. The Army is capable of tackling any dangers to the country," General Naravane told reporters after receiving the first Guard of Honour as the Army chief.
Two army personnel were killed in a gunfight with heavily-armed Pakistani infiltrators along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Wednesday, officials said.
General Naravane saluted the 'Amar Jawan Jyoti', the eternal flame, and laid a wreath at the memorial. General Naravane took over as the 28th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) on Tuesday, succeeding General Bipin Rawat who has become India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
All mobile networks and landline connections were suspended across Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, in view of security concerns in the region following the Centre's decision to abrogate Article 370 that granted special status to the erstwhile State.
Google on Wednesday marked the arrival of New Year 2020 with a doodle. Today's doodle was a continuation of the doodle series introduced by Google on New Year's Eve. The doodle, like yesterday, featured Froggy who is seen while looking up the weather in Google Search on your mobile device.
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday extended new year greetings, hoping aspirations of everyone are fulfilled in 2020.
The Uttar Pradesh police has written to the state home department seeking a ban on Popular Front of India (PFI), a “radical” Islamic outfit with notable pockets of influence in western UP and which is accused of being behind incidents of violence and vandalism during recent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Around 8,000-10,000 cameras will be used to carry out the 2020 lion census in Gujarat, the last abode of the Asiatic lion. As against 15,000sqkm area surveyed in the last census, lions will be counted across 25,000sqkm area spanning seven districts.
In a rare show of unity, the Kerala assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution demanding that the Centre withdraw the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 immediately, making the state the first to oppose the controversial law legislatively. Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan said by passing the resolution, the assembly has ‘raised its status’ and Kerala has led by example, though it is moot that the resolution will have any impact beyond its symbolism.
It was a hyperactive year for Enforcement Directorate in 2019 when the agency had in its custody some of the most high profile persons like former finance minister P Chidambaram, former Karnataka minister D K Shivakumar, Fortis Healthcare promoter Malvinder Singh and Religare CMD Sunil Godhwani in various cases.
At a time when dissent gets traction among intellectuals and social media, the Supreme Court in 2019 achieved the unexpected by rendering a unanimous verdict on the 70-year-old Ayodhya land dispute and putting stamp of approval on the deal to purchase 36 fully-loaded Rafale jets from France.
Despite an internet clampdown, Jammu and Kashmir registered 83.5% attendance of candidates registered in the UGC-NET December 2019 exam, second only to 84% in Kerala, and also recorded a 10% qualification rate as against the national average of 8.2%.
To boost the commercial use of civil nuclear energy in the country, the Modi government has decided to commission a nuclear reactor every year. A 700-MW pressurised heavy water reactor at the Kakrapar nuclear plant in Gujarat is likely to be commissioned by April, an official said.
Indore was ranked India’s cleanest city for the fourth time in a row while Kolkata and Howrah came at the bottom of the heap among cities with a population of more than 10 lakh in the quarterly Swachhta survey, announced on Tuesday.
Jammu & Kashmir administration on Tuesday said SMS will be activated in Kashmir from midnight on Tuesday, after a gap of nearly five months. There is no word of restoration of internet services though.
Four medium intensity tremors with magnitudes ranging between 4.7 and 5.5 hit J&K in a span of less than two hours on Monday night, the National Centre for Seismology said. The first quake with a magnitude of 4.7 hit at 10.42pm, followed by one measuring 5.5 six minutes later. The third quake measuring 4.6 hit at 10.58pm, followed by the fourth one at 11.20pm with a magnitude of 5.4.
The comments came in the backdrop of a letter written by Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh to the ministry of home affairs seeking a ban on PFI for its involvement in the violent protests against the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC) that took place on December 19
General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Tuesday took charge as the chief of Army staff, succeeding Gen Bipin Rawat. Gen Naravane served as vice chief of the Army before taking charge of the 1.3 million strong Army.
The Congress on Tuesday raised several questions over the appointment of Gen Bipin Rawat as the CDS, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said on Twitter that the govt has started on a "wrong foot" on the issue. He also asked why the appointment of a CDS is fraught with difficulties and ambiguities.
Though the one-day special session was convened to ratify the extension of the reservation for SC and ST in the Assembly and the Parliament for another decade, the resolution against CAA was also taken up in view of the the widespread concerns among public in this regard, official sources said. While presenting the resolution, Vijayan said the CAA was against the "secular" outlook and fabric of the country and would lead to religion- based discrimination in granting citizenship.
After a farewell guard of honour, General Rawat also hoped that the Army will rise to greater heights under the new chief Lt General M M Naravane. When asked wether the Army is better prepared now to face the security challenges facing the country he said: "Yes, we are better prepared."
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday cited India's deep-rooted connection with the saffron while cornering Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath over his 'revenge' remark.
Google on Tuesday unveiled a doodle to ring in 2020. Today’s Doodle featured 'Froggy' the weather frog to help ring in 2020! Froggy is a familiar face for those who have used Google's weather search feature on their mobile phones. The doodle was designed by 'Doodler' Sophie Diao.
Aaditya Thackeray, who became the first member of his family to take the poll plunge and was on Monday sworn in as a minister in the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance government led by his father, is expected to play a more important role in the govt and party. The 29-year-old won the Assembly polls with a thumping majority from Mumbai's Worli constituency.
Details related to the names recommended by high court or Supreme Court collegiums but were still pending with the government were shared during a meeting with the highest echelons of the government and judiciary, sources said. Within the judiciary, there have been discussions at the senior levels on ways to clear the backlog of vacancies.
A final decision on redrawing the constituency boundaries is now expected only a couple of months later, and will depend on security considerations in the region, sources say. Delimitation of constituencies is necessary for elections, and the process could take several months or even a year.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged political parties and civil society groups to join hands and isolate the saffron party across the country. Banerjee said she will not allow updation of National Population Register (NPR), which has already been stayed by her government. "I would appeal to everybody to join hands against the BJP and isolate them every where," Banerjee said.
NCP leader Ajit Pawar was sworn in as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra on Monday during the expansion of the Uddhav Thackeray-led council of ministers. Pawar was sworn into the post for the second time in over a month. Earlier, Pawar took oath as deputy CM on November 23 after he rebelled and joined hands with the BJP. However, he resigned on November 26.
NCP's Ajit Pawar took oath as a minister in Maharashtra government on Monday during the expansion of the cabinet. He will be the deputy chief minister. The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray was formed on November 28. The state Cabinet currently has six ministers, besides the chief minister.
."In my opinion, CAA is too little compassion, coming too late. This bill is only focused on religious persecution. Looking at the reactions on the street, the vehemence with which people are fighting, I was wondering did I miss something. Am I not getting something here," Sadhguru told a gathering while speaking on the CAA, NRC and the protests against them.
The force, which provides her armed commandos under the 'Z+' category of security cover to her, said the Congress leader undertook "unscheduled" movement without intimation. Therefore, an advanced security liaison (ASL) could not be conducted, it said in a statement. "During travelling the protectee used non-bullet resistant civil vehicle without a personal security officer," the statement said.
After the escalation of ceasefire violations across the LOC, Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh visited J&K to review the prevailing security situation. Accompanied by Chinar Corps Commander, the Northern Army Commander visited the snowbound forward areas & lauded the troops for inspiring motivation and selfless service in the toughest terrain & climate conditions.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that a few writers attempt to mislead the youth by dividing the literature into different camps. Speaking at the 43rd Hindi Samman Samaroh here, the chief minister said, "Some writers try to divide our literature into different camps, they attempt to mislead our youth. It is the responsibility of all writers to ensure that such a situation does not arise."
On December 26, party sources said that senior cabinet ministers and BJP leaders would be deployed across the country in an effort to dispel misgivings about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, and National Register of Citizens (NRC) being allegedly spread by the opposition.
rime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the newly introduced Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is meant to give refuge to the persecuted refugees and launched a social media campaign in support of the new legislation. Earlier, BJP had also launched a social media campaign to "bust myths" surrounding the new law. The Prime Minister, in a tweet, asserted that the CAA does not take away anoyone's citizenship. "#IndiaSupportsCAA because CAA is about giving citizenship to persecuted refugees & not about taking anyone’s citizenship away. Check out this hashtag in Your Voice section of Volunteer module on NaMo App for content, graphics, videos & more. Share & show your support for CAA," he tweeted.
It has also banned smartphones at naval bases, dockyards and on-board warships.The "stringent" step has been taken by Navy soon after seven naval personnel were caught leaking sensitive information to enemy intelligence agencies over social media, Navy officials said.In an internal order issued by the Navy, it stated that bans on messaging apps, networking and blogging, content sharing, hosting, e-commerce sites are under promulgation.
Members of the Indian diaspora held events at different places to express their support for the amended Citizenship Act, terming it as a historic step taken by the Indian govt. A group of Indian-Americans gathered at Times Square on Sunday, carrying placards and raising slogans in support of the Modi govt and CAA. They raised slogans such as “We support Modi” and “We support CAA.”Top opposition figures, including Congress's Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar and Le...
