INDIA - The Purbottar

24 Jul

US secretary of state Antony Blinken to visit India on July 27-28, will meet PM Modi

editor0 CommentsIndia, InternationalAmerica, INDIA

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will arrive in India on Tuesday and will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, the government announced on Friday, amid growing worries about the American exit from Afghanistan. It will be Mr Blinken's first visit, after assuming charge as US Secretary of State following US President Joe Biden's election, to India, which since the late 1990s has moved increasingly close to the United States as the world's two largest democracies see shared interests on a rising China and other challenges. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin visited New Delhi as part of…

19 Jul

The Political Fix: What can Prashant Kishor bring to the Congress – or the anti-Modi Opposition?

editor0 CommentsIndia, PoliticalINDIA, politicians

Mamata Banerjee’s big win in the high-prestige and high-octane West Bengal assembly election last winter has triggered the possibility of a new federal front against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Regional parties, party factions, small and big political family firms — all seem to be involved in parleys, political intrigue and even publicity-generating photo-ops. Inciting speculation and working across regions, a ‘coalition’ to take on the behemoth that is the BJP’s election machinery seems to be afoot. Weakened states and regional parties in the Modi-Shah era have made the repeat of a 1990s-style anti-BJP coalition at…

17 Jul

Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui killed in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province; India takes up matter at UNSC

editor0 CommentsIndiaAfghanistan, INDIA, journalist

The body of Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who was killed in Afghanistan's Kandahar, has been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) by the Taliban on Friday. "We have been informed that the body has been handed over by the Taliban to the ICRC," a source in the Indian Embassy in Kabul said. Danish Siddiqui, who was on a reporting assignment embedded with the Afghan Special Forces, was killed when clashes broke out between the security forces and Taliban fighters in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar city. The Indian Embassy in Kabul has informed…

12 Jul

India reports over 37K new Covid cases, recoveries cross 3 crore-mark

editor0 CommentsCovid-19, Health, IndiaCovid-19, INDIA

India recorded 37,154 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours and 724 deaths, said the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Monday, adding that the total recovery from the virus also crossed the three crore-mark. This is the 34th consecutive day when India reported less than one lakh new coronavirus cases. The active cases have now come down below 5 lakh. The country has 4,50,899 active cases presently and has witnessed a total of 4,08,764 deaths so far. According to the Union Health Ministry, a total of 39,649 people have been discharged in the last 24 hours, taking…

09 Jul

India logs 43,393 new COVID-19 cases, recovery rate at 97.19%.

editor0 CommentsCovid-19, Health, IndiaCovid-19, INDIA

India has recorded 43,393 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry. India’s active caseload stands at 4,58,727. The active cases constitute 1.49% of total cases. The recovery rate has risen to 97.19%. 2,98,88,284 people have recovered across the country so far. 36.89 crore vaccine doses were administered so far under a nationwide vaccination drive. The weekly positivity rate remains below 5%, currently at 2.36%. The daily positivity rate is at 2.42%, less than 3% for 18 consecutive days. The testing capacity has been substantially ramped up –42.70 crore total tests have been conducted.

07 Jul

Two Army personnel arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan ISI

editor0 CommentsBreaking News, IndiaINDIA, Pakistan ISI

The Punjab Police on Tuesday arrested two Army personnel and busted a major cross-border espionage network that was allegedly involved in providing classified documents to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Agency of Pakistan. The breakthrough and recovery of secret documents came while Jalandhar Rural Police, led by SSP Naveen Singla, was investigating a Narcotic Drugs And Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) case. One of the arrested suspects was identified as Sepoy Harpreet Singh (23) — who hails from village Cheecha in Amritsar — and was posted in Anantnag. He joined the Indian Army in 2017 and belongs to the19 Rashtriya Rifles. The second…

03 Jul

Uttarakhand CM Tirath Singh Rawat resigns in less than six months after taking oath

editor0 CommentsIndia, PoliticalINDIA, POLITICS

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat submitted his resignation to Governor Baby Rani Maurya tonight, a little over three months after taking the charge from Trivendra Rawat. Tirath said he had resigned to avoid a constitutional crisis. He had taken oath as the CM on March 10 and had to be elected as MLA within six months to continue on the post. According to Section 151-A of the Representation of the People Act, a bypoll is not held in a state if less than a year is left for the Assembly term to end, which in the case of Uttarakhand…

02 Jul

Ex-Haryana Chief Minister OP Chautala Walks Out Of Tihar Jail

editor0 CommentsIndia, PoliticalINDIA, POLITICS

Former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala was on Friday released from Tihar jail where he was serving a ten-year sentence after his conviction in a corruption case. Chautala, his son Ajay, and 53 others were convicted on January 13, 2013, by a Delhi court for illegally recruiting 3,206 basic teachers in Haryana in 1999-2000 when the INLD chief was the chief minister. A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe was ordered by the Supreme Court on a petition by IAS officer Sanjeev Kumar, who accused the leader of taking bribes to recruit teachers and said he was forced to…

01 Jul

‘Mere Right To Change Ruler No Guarantee Against Tyranny’: Chief Justice

editor0 CommentsIndiachief justice, INDIA

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Wednesday said that the mere right of the public to change their ruler once every few years by itself need not be a guarantee against “tyranny”, The Indian Express reported. The chief justice pointed out that in the 17 Lok Sabha elections held so far, Indian citizens have changed the ruling party or a combination of parties eight times. “In spite of large scale inequalities, illiteracy, backwardness, poverty and the alleged ignorance, the people of independent India have proved themselves to be intelligent and up to the task,” he said, while virtually speaking…

01 Jul

India logs 48,786 new COVID-19 cases, recovery rate at 96.97%

editor0 CommentsCovid-19, Health, Indiacovin19, INDIA

India on Thursday recorded 48,786 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Active cases are now below 8 lakh mark at 5,23,257. Active cases constitute 1.72% of total cases.In the last 24 hours, 61,588 patients recovered from the infection. The total tally of people who have recovered so far from the disease is 2,94,88,918.The recovery rate has increased to 96.97%.33.57 crore vaccine doses were administered so far under a nationwide vaccination drive. The weekly positivity rate remains below 5%, currently at 2.64%.Daily recoveries continue to outnumber the daily new cases for the 49th consecutive day.The daily positivity rate is…