Category: India

Shutdown in Assam against Citizenship Bill, protesters disrupt road, rail traffic

Editor

Protesters burnt tyres on roads, disrupted of vehicular movement and rail traffic at several places in the state as a 12-hour shutdown called by 46 indigenous groups in Assam against the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 began Tuesday morning. The shutdown, backed by the opposition Congress and the BJP’s ally the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), has been called from 5 in the morning till 5 pm. Essential services have been kept outside its purview. The bill proposes to grant citizenship to religious minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Assam’s indigenous…

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Even the dead and injured weren’t spared were robbed of belongings after Amritsar train accident

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Call it heartless or sadistic, but what left many hopeless in humanity was when they realised that some rogues in the crowd had made away with the valuables of the helpless survivors and victims of the horrific Amritsar train tragedy that killed 61 and injured 143 on Friday evening. According to relatives and survivors, while they got their kin’s bodies back, they did not find the ornaments, mobile phones or wallets belonging to them. Jyoti Kumari, mother of Vasu (17), who died in the accident, said, “I lost my son…

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61 Dead, scores injured as train mows into crowd watching Ravan burn in Amritsar

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A passenger train that mowed down scores of people watching the Dussehra celebrations near Jaura Phatak (level crossing) was inaudible to the crowd as the firecrackers in the Ravana effigy were at a crescendo on Friday evening. “We didn’t hear the train coming. It had become dark and everyone was watching the effigy in flames when the train suddenly appeared,” said Mintoo, a migrant labourer staying in the vicinity. Most of the victims are migrant labourers. “Families have been wiped out,” he said. Wails and cries filled the air as…

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Build Ram temple at the earliest: RSS Chief to Govt

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The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sang (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to consider introducing legislation for the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, cautioning that it was “in nobody’s interest to test the patience of the society without any reason.” Bhagwat’s comments drew flak from critics of the RSS who linked the timing to key state elections at the year-end leading up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The demand for the legislation, earlier made by RSS affiliate Vishwa Hindu…

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How the inflation equation could impact politics

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Inflation is back on the economic agenda. The annual growth in wholesale price index (WPI) in the quarter ending September 2018 was 4.98%. This is the highest since September 2014, which was the first full quarter after the current government assumed office. To be sure, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew at 3.88% in this period, after having grown at more than 4% in the last three quarters. Both CPI and WPI have been rising The political context is important here. Inflation was rising at a fast pace — CPI…

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A journey called Make in India to Assembled in India

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India imported $6.3 billion worth of mobile phones from China in 2014, the year Narendra Modi became the country’s prime minister. This number has declined continuously and reached $ 3.3 billion in 2017 according to a study conducted by the ministry of commerce and industry. This would suggest that the ambitious Make in India programme of this government is working. But another set of statistics indicates otherwise. India’s import of parts of mobile phones as well as telecom equipment from China increased from $1.3 billion in 2014 to $9.4 billion…

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Hindu organsations forcfully shut down 400 meat shops across Gurgaon

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The Shiv Sena and another Hindu organisation claimed to have forcibly shut around 400 meat and chicken shops at different locations here on Wednesday, demanding that they remain closed during Navaratri. Chief of Shiv Sena’s Gurgaon unit Gautam Saini told PTI that around 300 members of different Hindu organisations assembled at the Lord Shiva temple located at the Old Railway road on Wednesday morning and headed to different places to close meat shops. Locals claimed a group of Sena workers assembled at Palam Vihar on Wednesday and forcibly shut down…

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Gujarat remains on edge as migrants face backlash

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Migrant workers in Gujarat remained on the edge on Sunday amid alleged threats and violence they have been facing after a 14-month-old was “raped” in the state’s Himmatnagar district last month. Raghuvir Sahu, a ceramic factory worker from Bihar, has been arrested for allegedly raping the baby. The rape has triggered attacks on workers in Mehsana, Sabarkantha and Aravali districts since September 28. Police said two men from Uttar Pradesh were assaulted in Ahmedabad’s Ghatlodia and Sardarnagar areas on Sunday. Migrant workers have been leaving for Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh…

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CIA names VHP, Bajrang Dal as ‘Religious Militant Organisations’ in World Factbook

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The CIA, in its recent edition of the World Factbook, categorised VHP and Bajrang Dal under “political pressure groups”, defined as organisations that are involved in politics or that exert political pressure but whose leaders do not stand for elections. The Central Intelligence Agency, in its recent edition of the ‘World Factbook’, has named the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal as “religious militant organisations”. The agency, the intelligence wing of the US government, has categorised them under “political pressure groups”, defined as organisations that are involved in politics or…

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Rupee sinks further, hits record low of 73.77 against US dollar

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Rupee fell 43 paise against the dollar to hit a new all-time low of 73.77. The rupee on Wednesday plunged to breach the historic low of 73 level as soaring crude oil prices fuelled worries over capital outflows and widening current account deficit. The domestic currency closed at a record low of 73.34, down by 43 paise or 0.59 per cent at the interbank foreign exchange. In the day trade, the rupee crashed to its all-time low of 73.42 per dollar as crude oil prices breached the USD 85 per…

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