INDIA

The Prayagraj police has designated slain gangster politician Atiq Ahmed’s widow, Shaista Parveen as a ‘mafia’ for the first time in an FIR lodged on May 2 in connection with the arrest of one Mohd Atin Jafar, who was arrested for sheltering her and Sabir, a listed shooter of Atiq gang. Besides the Umesh Pal murder case, Shaista has been named in seven other cases, including five of forgery and cheating, lodged at different police stations of the state. Both Shaista and Sabir, also named in the Umesh Pal murder, are supposed to be on the run together and police have announced a cash reward for anyone providing information leading to their arrest. While Sabir carries a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh, Shaista has a reward of Rs 50,000. SHO Dhoomanganj Rajesh Kumar Maruya, in his FIR lo...

The Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh has initiated action against 36 nursing students for not listening to the 100th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat programme. As a punishment, the female students have been barred from leaving  the hostel for a week, as per local journalist Sandeep Singh. https://twitter.com/Punyaabteam/status/1655830155603087365?t=OYwqIi0KMQcH3apixZ6G9w&s=19 On April 30, a program was organized to commemorate  the 100th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat program at PGI's LT One Lecture Theatre. As per the instructions of PGI director, all girl students were ordered to be present at LT 1 theater at 10.30 am on April 30 to listen to the the program, however,  36 female students ...

An explosion occurred close to where a blast was reported on May 6 on a heritage street near the Golden Temple. No one was injured or any damage reported in today’s blast. The cause of the explosion is yet to be ascertained, PTI reported quoting police. The explosion occurred near the same spot on the heritage street leading to the Golden Temple where the one on Saturday took place, the police said. The report quoting an eyewitness, said the explosion was reported around 6:30 am. Police and forensic teams reached the spot soon after and started collecting samples for investigation. Locals called for a thorough probe into the two explosions. One person was injured and glass facades of some buildings were damaged in Saturday’s blast. PTI

The Government of India has issued a fresh order that prohibits the import of apples that cost lower than 50 rupees, reported Asia News International. (ANI) The import of Iranian apples during the last two years had hit the rates of Kashmiri apples. The decreasing prices of the apples cost Kashmiri farmers immensely, many even changed their apple orchards for non agricultural purposes. In this fresh order the central government has prohibited the import of apples where the CIF (Cost, Insurance, and Freight) import price is less than or equal to Rs 50 per kilogram. The import policy remains "Free" for those apples costing above Rs 50 per kilogram. The amendment in apple import policy will not be applicable to India's neighbour Bhutan, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade under the...

In another major step to curb militant activities, the Central government has blocked 14 mobile messenger applications being used by militant groups, sources said. It is learnt that these applications were mostly being used by Over Ground Workers of different militant organisations based in Jammu and Kashmir to spread the message and to receive notifications from Pakistan. The action was taken based on intelligence inputs shared with the Central government in a secret communication recently. Soon after the information was shared with the Ministry of Home Affairs that these applications are being used by OWGs and members of different militant groups to circulate anti-India messages, the Ministry in close coordination with IT Ministry and other concerned agencies blocked them. As...

Twitter has locked the account of Asia News International (ANI) on Saturday afternoon. Editor of the platform, Smita Prakash took to Twitter from her personal handle announcing that twitter had locked the account of the news agency. "So those who follow @ANI bad news, @Twitter has locked out India’s largest news agency which has 7.6 million followers and sent this mail - under 13 years of age! Our gold tick was taken away, substituted with blue tick and now locked out. @elonmusk," she wrote in a tweet on Saturday afternoon.  

A Muslim man was forced by vigilantes in Latur, Maharashtra, to wear a skull cap and bow down before a cow. The incident also involved the mob reportedly beating up the victim, who has been hospitalized for his injuries. https://twitter.com/HindutvaWatchIn/status/1651810767942062080?t=gFPpSPbWleYvRrxqqwlWnQ&s=19 The presence of police personnel during the incident has caused outrage and condemnation. Latur’s SP, Somay Munde, has taken action against two constables and three home guards who were allegedly present during the assault, according to the Times of India. The incident has received widespread attention and sparked criticism over the rising incidents of cow vigilantism in India. Munde told TOI, “We have taken serious cognizance of the incident and attached the two...

Ranajit Guha, one of the pioneers of the history of the History of the subalterns passed away on Friday evening. Ranajit Guha (born 23 May 1923, in Siddhakati, Backergunje, was vastly influential in the Subaltern Studies group, and was the editor of several of the group's early anthologies. The main historiographical issues, addressed in Guha's work is the colonial appropriation of the Indian past and its representation as a “highly interesting portion of British history,” which together with the force of colonial conquest added up in Guha’s terminology to a colonial expropriation of Indian history. The theoretical influences on Guha’s work are not limited to Marxism and its many offshoots. Guha used the concept of “subaltern” to signify anyone in India who did not belong to the “...

The police have registered five FIRs at different police stations in Kanpur and Aligarh against more than hundreds of unidentified people for offering namaz on the roads on Friday (Alvida Namaz, April 21) and Eid-ul-Fitr (April 22), officials said. In Kanpur, the police have registered three FIRs against 1,700 people for offering prayers on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr on the road at Badi Eidgah, Benajhabar, Jajmau and Babupurwa. In Benajhabar, an FIR was lodged against 1,500 people. Similarly, FIR was lodged against 200 to 300 in Jajmau and 30 to 40 people in Babupurwa. Members of Eidgah managing committees are among the accused. Sub-Inspector Brijesh Kumar, who lodged an FIR in Kanpur’s Babupurwa, said it had been decided during a peace committee meeting that prayers would only b...