INDIA

Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Monday criticized former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for offering prayers at the tomb of Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore from 1782 to 1799. She visited the tomb in Srirangapatna in Karnataka’s Mandya district on Sunday. Mufti was in Bengaluru to participate in the swearing-in ceremony of Siddaramaiah on Sunday. After that event, she went to the tomb and offered prayers. “Mehbooba Mufti spreads terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and now she went to the mazar of another invader in Karnataka… I want to say that Tipu Sultan did not fight against the British rulers. He came to India to rob the country. After looting the country, he also ruled here,” Singh said. Giriraj Singh also said: “One invader went to the mazar of another invader...

A court in Delhi issued a summons to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) over a defamation suit filed by an NGO claiming that its documentary cast a slur on the reputation of India, its judiciary, and Modi. Besides BBC (UK), Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to BBC (India) seeking its response to the suit filed by Gujarat-based NGO Justice for Trial. The plea said BBC (India) is the local operation office and BBC (UK) has released the documentary — “India: The Modi Question” — which has two episodes. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the NGO, said the suit for defamation against the BBC is in relation to the documentary which has “defamed” India and the whole system including the judiciary. He contended that the documentary also makes insinuations against...

On Saturday, the Dahod Smart City administration in Gujarat demolished a century-old mosque along with seven other places of worship. The demolition was part of a road widening project under the Smart City initiative. Despite attempts by the Masjid Trust to seek relief from the Gujarat High Court and produce land records, the mosque was razed after their efforts were unsuccessful. The demolition operation commenced at 4.30 am amidst a large police presence. Around 450 police personnel were deployed as part of a two-tier security arrangement for the demolition at 4.30 am. According to officials, the mosque was demolished in a peaceful and amicable manner. “The Trust had sought time on its own until Friday to produce land records. The administration conceded to the request. But on F...

Two Muslims were lynched by vigilante units storming an abattoir and brutally beating two Muslim men over allegations of cow slaughter in Delhi. As per a Muslim Mirror report, a man is shown in a video pointing a stick at two brutally injured young men. One of them is seen shirtless. The person behind the camera claims, “Both of them used to slaughter cows” (yeh dono guy kaatte the). Furthermore, the person alleges that they owned this godown for slaughtering. Meanwhile, the camera person takes responsibility for giving the tour of the godowns and asks other people to look after them. The person further claims his bravery by showing that they broke several doors with their car. A video shows that there are no signs of animal slaughter there and no corpses of alive or dead anima...

The CBI on Saturday filed a charge sheet against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the Pul Bangash case connected to the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom , officials said. Three people were killed and a gurdwara was torched in the Pul Bangash area here on November 1, 1984, a day after the then-prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated. In its charge sheet filed before a special court here, the CBI said Tytler “incited, instigated and provoked the mob assembled at Pul Bangash Gurdwara Azad Market” on November 1, 1984, that resulted in the burning down of the gurdwara and killing of three Sikhs — Thakur Singh, Badal Singh, and Guru Charan Singh. The agency has invoked charges under sections 147 (rioting), 109 (abetment) read with 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), among others, aga...

Reserve Bank of India today said that has withdrawn Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes, however, the notes will continue as legal tender. The Rs 2000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016 under Section 24(1) of RBI Act, 1934, primarily to meet the currency requirement of the economy in an expeditious manner after the withdrawal of the legal tender status of all Rs 500 and Rs 1000 banknotes in circulation at that time. Yogesh Dayal, the Chief General Manager, RBI in a statement said that the objective of introducing Rs 2000 banknotes was met once banknotes in other denominations became available in adequate quantities. Therefore, the printing of Rs 2000 banknotes was stopped in 2018-2019. “About 89% of the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes were issued prior to March 2017...

Assam’s Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, restated his commitment to intensify the crackdown on madrasas in the state and announced that an additional 300 madrasas will be shut down, Muslim Mirror reported. “There was a meeting between the BJP and the people who run these madrasas. There is a consensus that 300 more madrasas will be closed down. This is a result of the discussion between the Assam police and the Qaumi organizations,” the Assam chief minister said. In March, Biswa declared the closure of 600 madrasas in the state. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1636423362141356033?t=PYb04vjnZWZcJ5ULZDk8RQ&s=19 “I have closed 600 madrasas and I intend to close all madrasas because we do not want madrasas. We want schools, colleges and universities,” Himanta Biswa said whil...

As a political brawl erupted over the alleged trespass of the famed Trimbakeshwar Temple by some Muslims on May 13, a group of Hindu Mahasabha men ‘purified’ the entrance to the place of worship, here on Wednesday. The Hindu Mahasabha President, Anand Dave also demanded police action against the alleged trespassers, failing which he threatened that all temples in the state would be shut in protest. Soon after the temple opened for regular ‘darshan’, a group of Hindu Mahasabha men, chanting hymns and raising slogans, sprinkled ‘holy water’ around the gate and entrance to the temple and then showered flowers as a symbolic purification of the area. A huge row was kicked up after some Muslims in an ‘Urs’ procession on Saturday night tried to offer incense at the temple as in the past,...

Northern Railway is set to commence work on the 50-kilometre Baramulla-Uri stretch in Kashmir, for which tenders have been issued. Once completed, this project will connect the border area of Uri to the railways. Northern Railways is considering starting the Final Location Survey for the new Baramulla-Uri line, and proposals are being invited by the Ministry. Tenders have been floated for Engineering survey work of a Railway line /roadway using modern survey techniques such as Aerial Survey and DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) levelling and creation of DEM. The overall track from Baramulla to Uri will be 50 km. Saqib Yousuf, Chief Area Manager (CAM), Kashmir Railways, has also confirmed this development, describing it as good news for the entire Kashmir. It is pertine...