Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi criticises Modi government's Hindu stance, Agniveer scheme, and misuse of agencies such as the ED in Lok Sabha
The Modi government is committed to ensuring a safe, smooth and pleasant pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath and is making all possible arrangements to ensure that devotees do not face any inconvenience, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday. The annual Amarnath Yatra began on Saturday as the first batch of pilgrims left the twin base camps in Baltal and Nunwan to start their journey to the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas. "Shri Amarnath Yatra is an eternal symbol of the traditionalism and continuity of Indian culture. This divine yatra is starting today. I wish all the devotees good luck for the darshan," Shah wrote on 'X' in Hindi. "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji, our government is committed to the safe, smooth and pleasant journey of the devotees and the government has made every possible arrangement to ensure that the devotees do not face any inconvenience. Har Har Mahadev," he added. The yatra started ear
The Union government has approved a 40 per cent hardship and risk allowance for NDRF rescuers, keeping in mind the tough operations undertaken by them, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Saturday. He said this while welcoming a 35-member expedition team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) that recently scaled the 21,625-foot-high Mt Manirang in Himachal Pradesh. "The government has approved a 40 per cent risk and hardship allowance for NDRF personnel only yesterday. This has been a long pending demand... All the 16,000 personnel of the force will benefit from this," Shah said after welcoming the expedition named 'Vijay'. Officials said this allowance would be granted over and above salaries. Special forces like the National Security Guard (NSG) and the Special Protection Group (SPG) get a 25 per cent hardship allowance owing to the special charter of their duties. This is the second mountaineering expedition undertaken by the federal contingency force. The team w
Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah is likely to address a party meeting in Pune on July 14 ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, the party's state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said here on Saturday. Speaking to reporters, he said, "Nearly 4,500 party functionaries will attend a meeting of the BJP in Pune. We have requested Amit Shah to address the meeting and he has agreed to come to Pune. The meeting will be crucial ahead of Maharashtra assembly elections." The assembly elections are likely to be held in October this year. When asked about the Maharashtra legislative council polls scheduled next month, Bawankule said, "The names will be finalised either today or tomorrow. I am sure that our central parliamentary board will finalise some good names that will be beneficial for the state." "The BJP would like to have the chairperson post of the state legislative council, but we will discuss it with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Aji
President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said the three new criminal laws, which are slated to come into force from July 1, will provide justice rather than punishment, which was the mindset during the British regime. Addressing the first joint sitting of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha, she said the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 will speed up the judicial process. These laws, enacted last year, are set to replace the British-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act respectively. "The Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita will come into force in the country from the 1st of July. During the British regime, there was the mindset to punish the subjects. Unfortunately, the same penal system of the colonial era continued for many decades after Independence," she said. The president said the idea of changing criminal laws was much talked about for many decades, but it i
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said he will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on June 29 during his three-day visit to the national capital to discuss with Union Ministers state projects pending approval from the Centre. "I will be meeting the Road Transport Minister (Nitin Gadkari), also Prime Minister and the Home Minister (Amit Shah). Will also try to meet the Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman). The Home Minister has still not given the time and he might give today. Will also try to meet Railway Minister (Ashwini Vaishnaw) and Jal Shakti Minister (C R Paatil)," he told reporters here. He said the Prime Minister has given an appointment on June 29. The Chief Minister, who is leaving for the national capital today, has convened a meeting of MPs and Union Ministers elected from the state in the national capital this evening to discuss projects related to Karnataka pending Centre's nod. "We will share the list of projects pending at the centr
Rahul Gandhi defamation case: The case was filed in 2018 for remarks made against then BJP President Amit Shah at a press conference in Bengaluru
Slamming PM Modi and Amit Shah, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said no power can touch the Constitution and the Opposition will protect it
Indian citizens and OCI cardholders will be covered in the first phase, and foreign travellers will be included in the second phase
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting in the national capital to review overall preparedness for flood management in the country.Union Minister of Jai Shakti, C R Patil, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai, Secretaries of Ministries/ Departments of Home Affairs; Water Resources, River Development & River Rejuvenation; Earth Sciences; Environment, Forests & Climate Change; Road Transport & Highways; Chairman, Railway Board; Member & Secretary (I/c) NDMA; Director Generals of NDRF and IMD; Chairman(s) of CWC, NHAI and other senior officers of Ministries concerned attended the meeting.The meeting was held at the Ministry of Home Affairs in North Block.Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and a few other states witness landslides and other rain-related issues during the monsoon. Currently, Assam is facing floods with lakhs of people affected in several districts. Last month, Cyclone Remal also caused devastation across
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched a special programme under which the immigration process of pre-verified Indian nationals and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders will be fast-tracked, an official said. The Fast Track Immigration-Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP) is a "visionary initiative" by the government, thoughtfully designed for Indian nationals and OCI cardholders, the official said. Eligible individuals will need to apply online and submit their biometrics (fingerprint and facial image) along with other required information as specified in the application form. The FTI registration will be valid for a maximum of five years or until the validity of the passport, whichever comes first, he said. Approved applications would receive a message to schedule an appointment to provide their biometrics details. Applicants may provide their biometrics at designated international airports in India or the nearest Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that India has given many things to the entire humankind, but yoga is its biggest gift to the world. He was speaking after performing yoga at a public garden in Ahmedabad this morning on the occasion of the 10th International Day of Yoga. "This Yoga Day holds special significance because it is the 10th edition. After Narendra Modi became the prime minister in 2014, he addressed the UN general assembly and proposed that June 21 should be observed as Yoga Day. His proposal was eventually accepted after over 170 nations agreed to that proposal," Shah said. Today, the entire world has not only accepted yoga, people are learning it and teaching it to others too, he said in his address. "India has given so much to humanity. But I personally feel that India's biggest gift to the world is yoga, which is a medium to connect our inner strength with our soul. Yoga is a remedy to many illnesses prevalent at present. It is the only way to live a ...
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also wished the President and said that India has deeply benefitted from her insights and contributions
The BJP on Tuesday ruled out any change in its leadership in Maharashtra after its poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections and asserted that it is working on a blueprint for the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP coalition to emerge victorious in the assembly polls, due later this year. The decision was taken at the Maharashtra BJP's core group meeting with party president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. "There will be no change in leadership in Maharashtra," Union Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters at the BJP headquarters. The leaders discussed the strategy to ensure the re-election of the MahaYuti alliance in the upcoming assembly elections, Goyal said. The meeting was attended by senior BJP leaders BL Santosh, Bhupender Yadav, Ashwini Vaishnaw, state BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Chandrakant Patil, Pankaja Munde, Raosaheb Danve and Vinod Tawde, among others. The BJP won nine seats in Maharashtra in the recent Lok Sabha elections, down from its 2019 tally
The hearing in the defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his alleged objectionable remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah was on Tuesday fixed for June 26 as the concerned judge was on leave. The case related to Gandhi allegedly making objectionable comments against Shah is going on in the MP/MLA court here. The defamation complaint against Gandhi was filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra. Santosh Kumar Pandey, the plaintiff's lawyer, said that the matter was listed to be heard on Tuesday but due to the judge of the concerned court being on leave it has been postponed to June 26. The concerned court judge Shubham Verma had on June 7 fixed June 18 as the date for hearing the above case. The Congress leader had appeared in the court on February 20 in the defamation case and he was granted bail by the court. The complaint was filed on August 4, 2018, against Gandhi for his alleged objectionable comments against Shah at a press conference in Bengaluru. The ...
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will talk to both Meitei and Kuki communities at the earliest so as to bridge the ethnic divide in Manipur. Reviewing the security situation in Manipur here, Shah directed that strict action must be taken as per law against the perpetrators of violence in the northeastern state. The home minister said the central forces deployment will be increased, if required, and that they should be deployed strategically to restore peace and tranquillity in the state, according to an official statement. Shah also directed to ensure that no further incident of violence take place in the state which has been witnessing ethnic violence for over a year. The MHA will talk to both the groups, Meiteis and Kukis, so as to bridge the ethnic divide at the earliest, Shah was quoted as saying in the statement. He also instructed the chief secretary of Manipur to ensure proper health and education facilities for the displaced .
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday reviewed the security situation in ethnic violence-hit Manipur amidst reports of fresh incidents of trouble in the northeastern state. At the high-level meeting, Shah was given a detailed briefing on the prevailing situation in the state by top security officials, sources said. The home minister took stock of the situation in Manipur a day after the state's Governor Anusuiya Uikey had called on him here. It is believed that Uikey apprised him about the law and order situation there. There were reports of fresh violence in capital Imphal and Jiribam recently. The Centre is said to be worried over the violence spreading to new areas like Jiribam, which has been by and large peaceful in the last one year, the sources said. During the meeting, Manipur government representatives said that adequate forces were deployed in the areas where fresh violence were reported, they said. Security Advisor to the Manipur government Kuldiep Singh, DGP Rajiv Si
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has assumed control of the investigation into the Reasi bus attack and filed its own FIR on Sunday
The Union Home Ministry on Monday handed over the probe into the recent terror attack on a bus in Jammu and Kashmir to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), officials said. Nine people, including three women were killed, and 41 injured as a bus carrying pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi plunged into a deep gorge after an ambush by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district on June 9. The terrorists opened fire at the 53-seater bus when it was en route from Shiv Khori temple to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine at Katra. The investigation into the June 9 terror attack on a bus in Jammu and Kashmir has been handed over to the NIA, an official said. The decision came a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and preparations for the annual Amarnath yatra in two back-to-back meetings here. The meetings were called in the wake of the terror attack on the bus in Reasi district and a few other terror incidents in the Uni