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Taking a swipe at the government, the Congress on Friday said the romance between the US and Pakistan continues unabated while the "self-declared Vishwaguru" is busy giving the world "gyaan" which is nothing but "MODI governance - Maximum Optics Damaging India". The opposition party's attack came a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended the Board of Peace in Washington along with leaders of other nations who have signed up to join the Trump-led organisation. Trump repeated the assertion that Sharif had claimed he saved 25 million lives when he stopped the war between India and Pakistan. In his remarks, Sharif described Trump as a man of peace and a "saviour of South Asia". Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the romance between the US and Pakistan continues unabated. "It was on display yet again in Washington DC yesterday.That Pakistan has paid no price whatsoever on the world stage for orchestrating the Pahalgam terror attack
Institutions need not be gung-ho about the use of AI-based solutions until they are tested and trustworthy, a government official said on Friday. Rohit Bhardwaj, Deputy Director General, Data Informatics & Innovation Division, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), also suggested that government departments should make the relevant data AI-ready by creating files that are readable by a computer. "There should be context files, there should be semantics, and there should be metadata," he said, emphasising the storage of information in a structured format so that they become AI-ready. Flagging the importance of testing an AI solution before putting it into use, Bhardwaj cited a report by a group of researchers from a Canadian university, which shows that AI can analyse a particular data set in multiple ways even if given similar prompts. "I just want to flag that we should not be just gung-ho about things which is still untested," he said at the AI Impact ...
The Congress on Wednesday cited an Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project report to allege the use of benami funds to amass large stakes in the Adani Group by two of its close associates, and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "stonewalled" the party's demand for a JPC to investigate all aspects of the "scam" involving the conglomerate. The Adani Group has repeatedly denied all allegations that have been made by the Congress in the past. While there was no immediate reaction from the Adani Group on the latest allegations by the OCCRP, reportedly funded by the likes of George Soros and Rockefeller Brothers Fund, it has previously rejected charges made in OCCRP reports. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said there is a difference between genuine entrepreneurship which the Congress welcomes, supports and celebrates, and business expansion through cozy and mutually lucrative political relationships. "New revelations have just emerged
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people to take part in democratic processes, saying being a voter is not just a constitutional privilege, but an important duty that gives every citizen a voice in shaping India's future. "Greetings on #NationalVotersDay. This day is about further deepening our faith in the democratic values of our nation," Modi said in a post on X. He complimented all those associated with the Election Commission of India for their efforts to strengthen democratic processes. "Being a voter is not just a constitutional privilege, but an important duty that gives every citizen a voice in shaping India's future," Modi said. "Let us honour the spirit of our democracy by always taking part in democratic processes, thereby strengthening the foundations of a Viksit Bharat," the prime minister said. National Voters' Day is celebrated annually in India on January 25 to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in the Kerala state capital on Friday to launch various developmental projects and flag off new train services in the poll-bound state, with the BJP planning a grand welcome, including a massive road show, for him. Modi will flag off four new train services, including three Amrit Bharat Express trains, to enhance regional rail connectivity between Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In addition to that, he will lay the foundation stone for a CSIR-NIIST Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Hub in Thiruvananthapuram and launch the PM SVANidhi Credit Card -- UPI-linked, interest-free revolving credit facility. Besides these, he will also lay the foundation stone for a state-of-the-art Radiosurgery Centre at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology here and inaugurate the new Poojappura Head Post Office. As this is Modi's first visit after the BJP won the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation
The Election Commission on Saturday appointed four more Special Roll Observers (SROs) for West Bengal to strengthen supervision of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Those named as SROs were Ratan Biswas, Vikas Singh, Sandeep Rewaji Rathod and Dr Shailesh, according to a notification. "The SROs will closely monitor the revision and verification exercises and ensure strict adherence to statutory instructions," an official said. "The SROs were appointed to ensure transparency, accuracy and uniform implementation of instructions related to electoral rolls. They will independently review the process on the ground and flag any deviations for immediate corrective action," he added. Besides SROs, the EC has appointed observers at multiple levels to oversee the SIR exercise. "The focus is on strengthening public confidence in the integrity of the electoral rolls," the official said. The appointments will take effect immediately and remain in force until furt
The Congress on Friday cited a media report to claim that the Modi government is now proposing to lift five-?year-old curbs on Chinese companies bidding for Indian government contracts and claimed that this is "nothing short of a calibrated capitulation" to Chinese aggression. The opposition party also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must explain his government's sudden "U-?turns" on China policy during the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report which claimed that India's finance ministry plans to scrap five-year-old restrictions on Chinese firms bidding for government contracts. There was no immediate response from the government on the claims. "Eight months after China gave full military backing (and fronting) to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor and was described by Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Rahul R Singh as one of India's 'adversaries', the Modi government is now .
The year 2025 saw significant strides by the Personnel Ministry in further strengthening governance through citizen-centric reforms, nationwide employment generation and a special cleanliness campaign that resulted in a revenue earning of over Rs 800 crore by the Centre. The ministry -- entrusted with responsibilities of managing the central government's workforce and formulating policies on personnel matters -- also relocated to the new 'Kartavya Bhavan-3' office from the 'North Block' this year -- a step aimed at further improving inter-division coordination, reducing turnaround time for inter-departmental consultation and enhancing the overall quality of office work through improved infrastructure. Speaking to PTI on the ministry's achievements during the year and roadmap for 2026, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said that citizen-centricity would remain a key thrust area of its work to ensure ease of governance for one and all. "The Personnel Ministry has be
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the government's reform trajectory will continue with even more vigour in the coming times as it is committed to boosting 'Ease of Living'. The prime minister made this observation on a series of posts by the central government on its various reform initiatives. "Ours is a Government committed to boosting 'Ease of Living' and this thread below gives examples of how we have worked in that direction. Our reform trajectory will continue with even more vigour in the coming times," Modi said. With the hashtags #ReformInAction & #GoodGovernance, the central government said in the posts that the real test of reform is whether it reduces stress for people and 2025 marked a clear shift in governance, with reforms focused on outcomes, not complexity. Simpler tax laws, faster dispute resolution, modern labour codes, and decriminalised compliance reduced friction for citizens and businesses alike. The emphasis was on trust, predictability, and ...
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday accused the Modi government of bulldozing the MGNREGA, and asserted that the "black law" that seeks to repeal it will be defied the lakhs of party workers. In a video message, she said that by weakening MGNREGA, the Modi government had attacked the interests of crores of farmers, labourers, and landless across the country. She alleged that over the past 11 years, the Centre had ignored the interests of the rural poor. Gandhi said she vividly remembers the day 20 years ago, when Manmohan Singh was prime minister, and the MGNREGA Act was passed in Parliament by consensus. The former party president said it was "such a revolutionary step," and became a means of livelihood for the deprived, the exploited, and the poorest of the poor. She said, due to MGNREGA, migration in search of work came to a halt, a legal right to employment was provided, and gram panchayats were empowered. "Through MGNREGA, a concrete step was ta
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the Modi government of demolishing 20 years of MGNREGA in a single day, and dubbed the new VB-G RAM G legislation as anti village. Noting that the VB-G RAM G Bill is not a revamp of MGNREGA, Gandhi said in a post on X, Last night, the Modi government demolished twenty years of MGNREGA in one day. It demolishes the rights-based, demand-driven guarantee and turns it into a rationed scheme which is controlled from Delhi. It is anti-state and anti-village by design. The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha also said that MGNREGA gave the rural worker bargaining power. With real options, exploitation and distress migration fell, wages increased, working conditions improved, all while building and reviving rural infrastructure. That leverage is precisely what this government wants to break, Gandhi alleged. He said by capping work and creating more ways to deny it, the VB-G RAM G Bill weakens the one instrument the rural poor had. We saw what
Bihar minister Nitin Nabin, who was appointed as the BJP national working president, on Monday said that the new opportunity is the party's blessing and expressed gratitude to its current leadership. He pledged to take forward the work done by his late father and former BJP MLA Nabin Kishor Prasad Sinha. Nabin was talking to reporters this morning after paying floral tributes to a statue of his father at a park in Patna. I have always worked on the ideas of my father, who considered the party as his mother and prioritised the nation over everything. I think that is the reason the party has blessed me with this opportunity to continue working with BJP workers," he said. The BJP leader earlier went to Patna's Mahavir Mandir to offer prayers. Nabin, who is a cabinet minister in Bihar, expressed gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi and praised his leadership. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, development has reached every town and village of the country. At the sa
Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary was on Sunday named the new president of the BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit, with his election being formally announced by Union Minister Piyush Goyal here. The announcement was made in the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak. Chaudhary filed his nomination for the post on Saturday and was the sole candidate in the fray. He submitted the papers to former Union minister and BJP state election officer Mahendra Nath Pandey and central election observer Vinod Tawde. Adityanath, his two deputies, and Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh were present during the filing of the nomination. A seven-time Lok Sabha MP from the Maharajganj constituency, Chaudhary belongs to the Kurmi community, categorised under Other Backwards Classes (OBC). He is considered a close confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.