Page 4 - Centre

'Crackdown' on CJP, access to all accounts lost: Founder Abhijeet Dipke

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke on Saturday alleged a crackdown on the satirical digital outfit, saying it does not have access to any of its social media accounts following a series of takedowns and hacking incidents. In a post on X, he claimed his personal Instagram account has also been hacked. This comes a day two days after the CJP's account on X was withheld in India and Dipke created a new one. The outfit on Friday launched a campaign seeking Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation over alleged systemic failures in the education sector and the NEET-UG 2026 paper "leak". Later in the day, Dipke claimed that he was receiving death threats and shared screenshots of the threat messages. In a post on X on Saturday, Dipke listed what he described as coordinated action against the movement. "Crackdown on Cockroach Janta Party. Instagram page hacked. My personal Instagram hacked. Twitter account withheld. Back up account also taken down," he ...

Govt asks Delhi Gymkhana Club to vacate premises by Jun 5 for defence needs

The Centre has asked Gymkhana Club in Lutyens' Delhi to hand over its premises by June 5, citing that the land was required for strengthening defence infrastructure. The order, which was issued by the Land and Development Office under the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, stated that the land is essential to fulfil urgent institutional needs, governance infrastructure and public interest project. "The premises shall be taken over by the Land & Development Office on June 5," the order stated.

SC seeks Centre, states reply on PIL seeking 30% quota for women lawyers

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre, all states and union territories on a PIL seeking 30 percent quota for women lawyers in government panels and law officer positions. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi took note of the submissions of senior advocate and Supreme Court Bar Association president Vikas Singh and issued notices to the Centre and others on the PIL filed by the Ladli Foundation Trust. The PIL sought a direction to the Centre, state governments, and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to implement a minimum 30 percent quota for women across all legal tiers, from the Supreme Court panels to local legal aid authorities. The plea refers to startling empirical evidence to say that while women are entering law schools in record numbers, they are systematically blocked from professional advancement. "The petitioner, Ladli Foundation Trust ('the Trust') is filing the present PIL under Article

KG-basin dispute: RIL, others seek mediation, SC refuses to halt hearing

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and two other foreign firms on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that they would write to the Centre for mediation in the Krishna-Godavari basin gas migration dispute. The matter was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi. "All the petitioners will be writing to the Government of India today seeking mediation... We are submitting that let us attempt mediation," the counsel appearing for the firms told the apex court. The counsel urged the bench that hearing in the case may be stopped till the mediation outcome. However, Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre, requested the court to continue with the hearing in the case listed today. "If, in the meantime, anything will happen, we will inform the court," the top law officer said. The bench declined to stop the hearing and said the parties may inform it about the outcome of mediation. "If you come with a successful .

A look at India's measures to cushion oil shock amid soaring prices

From curbing gold imports and raising fuel prices to tightening currency-market rules, authorities have stepped up efforts to conserve dollars, with the rupee hitting a new low Tuesday

Govt weighs $1 bn aid for private electric buses, trucks amid energy crisis

Centre is accelerating efforts to cut fossil-fuel dependence after supply disruptions linked to the West Asia crisis

Centre appoints 4 officials in NTA amid NEET-UG paper leak controversy

The Centre on Saturday appointed two each joint secretaries and joint directors in the National Testing Agency (NTA), which is under the heat over the NEET-UG paper leak. Anuja Bapat, a 1998-batch officer of Indian Statistical Service, and Ruchita Vij, a 2004-batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Indirect Taxes), will be new joint secretaries in the NTA for five years, an order issued by the Personnel Ministry said. Akash Jain, an Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) officer, and Aditya Rajendra Bhojgadhiya, and Indian Audit and Accounts Service officer, have been named joint directors in the NTA, the ministry said in a separate order. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case and formed teams to probe the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test- Undergraduate (NEET-UG) paper leak that resulted in the cancellation of the exam held on May 3. Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the test, which was administered by the NTA across the country.

Prez Murmu, PM Modi extend greetings to people of Sikkim on Statehood Day

Sikkim became the 22nd state of India in 1975

Govt considers reducing taxes on bond investments by foreign investors

Deliberations to ease the tax burden have gathered pace as authorities try to curb the rupee's depreciation

No parity between Agniveers, regular soldiers on pensionary benefits: Govt

The Union government has informed the Bombay High Court that Agniveers are not "similarly situated" as regular soldiers and hence, cannot claim parity in pensionary benefits for their next of kin in the event of death in action. In an affidavit filed last week against a petition by the mother of a deceased Agniveer, the Centre argued that the differentiation is constitutionally valid, as the Agnipath scheme is a short-term engagement designed for present-day national security needs. The government filed its affidavit in response to a petition by Jyotibai Naik, mother of Agniveer Murali Naik, who was killed in cross-border shelling in Jammu & Kashmir during Operation Sindoor in May last year, seeking benefits similar to those of regular soldiers. The petition, filed last year through advocates Sandesh More, Hemant Ghadigaonkar and Hitendra Gandh, stated that the Centre's Agnipath scheme creates an "arbitrary" distinction between Agniveers and regular soldiers, and questioned the ...

Centre appoints Shashi Shekhar Vempati as new chairperson of CBFC

Shashi Shekhar Vempati, former CEO of the Prasar Bharati, was on Wednesday appointed as the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) by the government. Official sources said that Vempati will succeed Prasoon Joshi, who has been appointed as the chairman of the Prasar Bharati recently. An alumnus of the IIT Bombay, Vempati is an author and also the co-founder of the AI4India Org, which works towards democratising access to Artificial Intelligence technology. "Shashi Shekhar Vempati, former CEO of the Prasar Bharati, has been appointed by the government as the chairman of the CBFC," the sources said. Joshi, a well-known lyricist-poet, served as the CBFC chairperson for over eight years. The CBFC is a statutory body under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, regulating the public exhibition of films under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act 1952. Films can be publicly exhibited in India only after they have been certified by CBFC. The Board consists of

Centre notifies changes to Citizenship Rules; focus on OCI registration

The Union Home Ministry on Thursday notified changes to the Citizenship Rules, 2009, introducing a digital shift across various processes for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders and citizenship applications. In a gazette notification published on Thursday, the government has added a specific proviso for citizenship applicants involving children that "the minor child cannot at any time hold the passport of any other country while also holding the Indian passport". The Citizenship Rules, 2009, allowed a person to submit an application for the registration of the birth of his minor child born outside India to the Indian consulate in the country where the child was born, together with a declaration that the child does not hold a passport of any other country. The changes, known as the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2026, introduce a slew of online initiatives for OCI cardholders, including a digital application and renunciation process. All applications for card registration an

PM Modi guides Indian envoys on trade, tech, tourism to boost diplomacy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday provided "valuable" guidance to heads of India's diplomatic missions abroad on promoting the country's national interests. The prime minister was addressing the 11th Heads of Missions Conference on the theme 'Reforming Indian Diplomacy for 2047'. The three-day conference, held in New Delhi, primarily focused on charting a roadmap for a "future-ready" Indian diplomacy. External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said presentations were made to the prime minister on promotion of the 3Ts -- trade, technology and tourism and on amplifying the "Bharat story". PM Modi also heard insights from heads of missions, and perspectives from senior and young diplomats on strengthening India's global engagement, he said on social media. The prime minister also shared his thoughts and ideas and provided guidance on India's diplomatic engagement in order to achieve Vikshit Bharat by 2047, he said. In a post on X, Modi said, "Attended the Heads o

Centre should amend law on terminating pregnancy of rape survivors: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday took strong exception to a plea by AIIMS seeking to set aside its order allowing a 15-year-old girl to medically terminate her 30-week pregnancy, and asked the Centre to consider amending the law to permit rape survivors to terminate unwanted pregnancies even beyond 20 weeks. The top court said when there is pregnancy due to rape, there should not be a time limit. Law needs to be organic and in sync with evolving time, it stressed. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said this is a case of child rape and the survivor will have a lifelong scar and trauma if termination is not allowed. The top court said if the mother does not have permanent disability then it should be carried out. It asked AIIMS to counsel parents of the survivor over the issue and said the decision has to be of the person concerned. "There are children for adoption. In this country we have lot of sympathies...There are deserted, abandoned children on the

Centre proposes rules to allow higher ethanol-blended fuels in vehicles

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said the draft includes provisions for E85 fuel, a blend of ‌85% ethanol with petrol, and E100, which would allow vehicles to run on nearly pure ethanol

Govt tables bills to tweak women quota law, set up delimitation panel

The government has introduced bills on women's quota and delimitation in Lok Sabha, proposes increasing seats to 850; Opposition protests, calling the move 'anti-constitutional'

Govt should cap product testing charges under quality control order: GTRI

The government should cap testing charges for routine industrial products as high costs to comply with the quality control orders (QCOs) may impact the country's manufacturing and small importers, think tank GTRI said on Tuesday. While the QCO policy aims to improve product quality and consumer safety, the pace of expansion is putting pressure on testing infrastructure and has created significant compliance bottlenecks for MSMEs, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. "India's expanding quality control regime is imposing such high testing and certification costs that many MSME importers may be pushed out of business, leaving the market increasingly dominated by large importers," GTRI Founder Ajay Srivastava said. The charges arise under the Foreign Manufacturers Certification Scheme (FMCS) of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), under which foreign manufacturers of products covered by India's Quality Control Orders have to obtain BIS certification before exporting to ...

Centre appoints 48 officers as joint secretaries in major reshuffle

The Centre on Monday effected a major bureaucratic reshuffle, appointing 48 civil servants as joint secretaries or to equivalent posts. Hardik Satishchandra Shah, a 2010-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Gujarat cadre, has been appointed as private secretary (joint secretary level) to the prime minister, an order issued by the personnel ministry said. Shah, who is already working as the prime minister's private secretary, will now hold the post at the joint secretary level "from the date of assumption of charge, on a co-terminus basis", it said. Senior IAS officer Kapil Meena has been appointed as managing director of the National Horticulture Board under the Department of Agriculture, while Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer Priyanka Das has been named joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Jawahar Packirisamy will serve as chairman (JS level) of the Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA) under the Department of Commerce, the order ...

SC notice to Centre, EC on plea to implement biometrics at polling stations

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea seeking direction to the Election Commission to implement finger and iris biometric identification system at polling stations to prevent duplicate voting. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made clear that the prayer sought in the plea can't be considered for the current state Assembly elections in some states. "However, whether such a recourse deserves to be followed before the next parliamentary election and/or state assembly elections needs to be examined. Issue notice," the bench said. The top court sought responses from the Centre, the poll panel and several other states on the plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. "The injury to citizens is extremely large as bribery, undue influence, personation, duplicate voting and ghost voting still affects the purity and integrity of the electoral process," the plea submitted.

Census 2027: More than 572,000 households avail self-enumeration facility

More than 5.72 lakh households have availed the self-enumeration facility so far during the first phase of the Census 2027, the Registrar General of India (RGI) said on Friday. This reflects the growing participation in the digital initiative of the Census, it said. "By choosing to provide their details online, these families have embraced a faster, smarter and a more convenient way to contribute to nation-building," the RGI said in a post on X. The self-enumeration facility is available to citizens in states and Union territories which will start physical Houselisting and Housing Census (HLO) from April 16. The Census 2027 kick-started on April 1 in eight states and Union territories, including New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi Cantt areas of the national capital, with a 15-day self-enumeration window -- a first in the history of the massive exercise. A specially developed portal for self-enumeration has been opened for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Goa, Karnataka,