News Analysis India

Category: Nation

  • Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024: Check Key Provisions Here |

    New Delhi: The government on Monday tabled the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill 2024 in Lok Sabha, aimed at addressing paper leak cases with stringent measures. According to the proposed legislation, all offenses related to unfair means in the conduct of public examinations will be cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable.

    If the bill is passed, individuals involved in unfair practices during examinations could face imprisonment for a minimum of three years, extendable to five years, along with a fine of up to ten lakh rupees.

    Additionally, the service provider for the examination may be fined up to Rs 1 crore, and the proportional cost of the examination will be recovered from the company. The service provider will also be prohibited from taking any contracts to conduct examinations for a period of four years.

    The bill introduces further severe penalties and provision of imprisionment extending upto 10 years for the service provider, Director, Senior Management, or any person associated with the service provider firm or institution where the examination was conducted if the examination is found to be rigged with their consent. 

    In case of organized crime involving a person or a group of persons, including the examination authority, service provider, or any other institution, the bill mandates imprisonment for a minimum of five years, extendable to ten years, and a fine of not less than one crore rupees.

  • PM Narendra Modi To Reply To Motion Of Thanks On Presidential Address Today |

    New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply to the Motion of Thanks on Presidential address delivered on January 31, 2024, in the Parliament on Monday. Ahead of his motion of thanks the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) issued a three-line whip to its Lok Sabha MPs asking them to be present in the House today.

    President Droupadi Murmu had addressed the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on January 31, the first day of the Budget Session. On February 1, the Centre presented the Union Budget for 2024-25. The government said that the Budget was presented with a focus on economic policies that foster growth, facilitate inclusive development, improve productivity, and create opportunities for various sections while noting that it will pay utmost attention to the eastern region including states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and West Bengal to make them growth engines as part of goal to make India a developed country by 2047.

    Meanwhile, as per the List of Business in the House for the day, Lok Sabha MPs Ravneet Singh and Ramshiromani Verma will lay on the table the minutes of the twelfth sitting of the Committee on Absence of Members from the sittings of the House held on December 14, 2023.

    MPs PP Chaudhary and NK Premachandran will present the 28th report of the Committee on External Affairs (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on the subject ‘Countering Global Terrorism at Regional and International Levels’.

    BJP MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar will make a statement regarding the status of implementation of the recommendations contained in the 49th Report of the Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development on ‘Functioning of Directorate General of Training’ pertaining to the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

    Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present a statement (Hindi and English versions) of estimated receipts and expenditure of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the year 2024-25.

    In Rajya Sabha, while the discussion over the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address is to resume, MPs Ashok Kumar Mittal and Prakash Javadekar will lay on the table, a copy (in English and Hindi) of the Twenty Eighth Report of the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on ‘Countering Global Terrorism at Regional and International Levels’ in the House today.

    Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav will introduce the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Bill, 2024 Bill in the Rajya Sabha today to amend the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.

    The last session before Lok Sabha polls expected to be held in April-May this year will be spread over eight sittings spread over a period of 10 days and may conclude on February 9. 

  • Islamic Cleric Salman Azhari Arrested By Gujarat ATS From Mumbai In Hate Speech Case; Supporters Protest Outside Police Station

    Hundreds of suppporters of Salman Azhari gheraoed the Ghatkopar police station and raised slogans in his support.

  • Amid Chinese `Spy` Vessel`s Movement Towards Maldives, Indian Navy Sends Its Submarine To Sri Lanka

    INS ‘Karanj’ – a submarine of the Indian Navy arrived at the port of Colombo yesterday on a formal visit. The visiting submarine was welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy in the precision of naval traditions.

  • ATS Arrests Indian Embassy Employee Posted In Moscow For Spying For Pakistan’s ISI

    Satendra was providing critical and confidential information to ISI handlers in exchange for financial gains. 

  • Indian Army`s Heroic Rescue: Pregnant Woman Safely Evacuated In Kahsmir`s Kupwara Amid Heavy Snowfall

    The rescue team and medics hiked for 7-8 km through 2 to 3 feet of snow in the middle of the night.

  • With ‘GYAN’, BJP Clears Its 2024 Poll Strategy To Counter Congress’ Caste Census Plank |

    Congress and Rahul Gandhi’s pitch for caste-based census across the country in a bid to counter BJP’s Hindutva poll plank, the saffron party has played two major cards – one was ‘poor’ caste and now the ‘GYAN’. Reacting to the opposition’s demand for a caste census, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during assembly polls in November that there is only one caste for the government and that is ‘poor people’. He said that the NDA government has been working for the welfare of this caste.

    Now, two months later, ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that ‘GYAN’ encompasses the Modi government’s four main focus points. Explaining ‘GYAN’, FM Sitharaman said that G stands for ‘Garib’ (Poor), Y for ‘Yuva’ (Youth), A for ‘Annadata’ (Farmer) and N for ‘Nari’ (Women). She said that PM Modi believes in focusing on these four ‘castes’ and the government is committed to the progress of these four sections. While some may have taken it lightly, this is a broader narrative on which the Modi government is working and is wooing the voters of this section.

    The government has already been running various programs for these four sections and some of them are the SAUBHAGYA electricity scheme, Ujjwala LPG cylinder scheme, Skill India or Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), promotion of sports through TOPS and Khelo India, and Kisan Samman Nidhi. These are just some of the schemes of the Modi government that cater to these four sections and if taken a holistic view, any poor family. 

    Women and youth form a majority of the Indian voters and the NDA government has been able to keep this section happy in the 2019 polls and the continuation of such schemes is likely to help the ruling party in the upcoming polls as well. Congress, which has been talking about caste-based census each day ahead of the assembly polls in November, has not only toned down on the issue but now talks about it very rarely. Most probably, the grand old party may have realised that the narrative did not work in its favour and rather gave the BJP a chance to further highlight the schemes run by its government. Now, the question here is, can Congress find a fix to BJP’s ‘GYAN’ and ‘poor’ caste narrative? In the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress is not only facing an issue on the alliance front but it will have to find poll planks that resonate with the common people.

  • 2024 Lok Sabha Polls: Mamata Banerjee’s Googly, Mallikarjun Kharge’s Modi Remark Show Congress Party’s Acceptance Of Defeat |

    Seven months into INDIA Bloc’s formation and the grouping has started to disintegrate despite their common resolve to fight the BJP together. Be it Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or Samajwadi Party, they have given a serious reason to Congress to think for its future strategy. While Mamata Banerjee gave a fresh scare to Congress saying that the grand old party would not even win 40 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Kharge while taking a jibe at the BJP inside the Rajya Sabha, said that it was because of Modi that BJP leaders were seating inside Parliament. 

    While Kharge was taking a jibe at the BJP saying that ‘Abki Baar 400 Paar’ ho raha hai, he added that it was because of Narendra Modi that the saffron party got victory. This was one of the rare acceptances by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge indicating that the grand old party has conceded defeat much before the polls and is now only trying to hold the ground that it managed to retain in the 2019 polls.

    Mamata Banerjee in Bengal and Bhagwant Mann in Punjab have already refused to share seats with Congress. Samajwadi Party has already sent a veiled warning to the Congress by announcing names of 16 candidates including one from the Lucknow seat, that the Congress was demanding. Apart from Maharashtra, the Congress is yet to finalize its seat sharing with other allies and the party’s key leader Rahul Gandhi is busy carrying out solo Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. 

    On the other hand, the BJP has already managed its Hindi belt votes by breaking away Nitish Kumar in Bihar from the INDIA bloc, winning Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. With multiple visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the saffron party is also looking to improve its performance in South India, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The party is likely to do well in Karnataka and Telangana despite the opposition governments there. 

    With each passing day, the Congress is losing the opportunity to present a better counter to the BJP and the consequent delay in seat sharing and candidate announcement may hurt the INDIA bloc badly. 

  • L K Advani To Receive Bharat Ratna Award; Check All About Mastermind Behind BJP’s Meteoric Rise |

    New Delhi: Lal Krishna Advani, a prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former deputy prime minister, is set to be honored with the prestigious ‘Bharat Ratna’ award, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

    Lal Krishna Advani: Early Life

    Born on November 8, 1927, in Pre-Partition Sindh, Advani migrated to Delhi in 1947 after the partition.

    Lal Krishna Advani: Political Journey

    He joined the Jana Sangh, the predecessor of the BJP, in 1951 when it was founded by Syama Prasad Mookerjee. Advani became a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1970, holding his seat until 1989. In December 1972, he was elected as the president of Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

    Lal Krishna Advani: Political Milestones

    Advani served as the information and broadcasting minister in the Janata Party in 1975 during the prime ministership of Morarji Desai. A key figure alongside Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he played a pivotal role in establishing the BJP in 1980.

    Notably, Advani gained prominence for leading the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in the 1990s, advocating for the construction of a temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

    During the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule, Advani held significant positions as the deputy prime minister and home minister, contributing significantly to the government. In recent years, he has taken a step back from active political engagements due to health issues.

    Lal Krishna Advani: Bharat Ratna Honor

    The decision to confer the Bharat Ratna upon L K Advani acknowledges his long and impactful political career, marked by leadership, contributions to the BJP’s foundation, and influential roles in various government positions.

  • Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot Tests Positive For Covid, Swine Flu

    Gehlot has asked people to prioritise their well-being during the transitional weather.