Category: India

Met issues heat wave alert after Delhi sizzles at 44 degrees, Palam at 46

Editor

Brace for the first heat wave of the season on Wednesday. With the day temperature in the city shooting up to 44 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and 46 degrees Celsius at the outskirts in Palam, the India Meteorological Department has issued a warning of a heat wave on Wednesday in Delhi. Scientists of the regional weather forecasting centre (RMC) have warned that the day temperature in Delhi could touch 45 degrees Celsius by the weekend with a possibility of a dust storm on Thursday. “Heat wave conditions are very likely…

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Nine killed as police fire on anti-Sterlite protesters in Tamil Nadu

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Nine people were killed on Tuesday during a protest seeking the closure of Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper unit in Tamil Nadu’s Tuticorin, ANI news agency reported. The protest turned violent with agitators pelting stones and toppling police vehicles after they were prevented from marching towards the plant. As the violence spiralled, police opened fire, killing a man. Police said section 144 of CrPc has been invoked in and around the Sterlite unit as per the orders of the Madras High Court. However, angered over not being allowed to take out a…

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Govt hints at fuel duty cut, as oppn mounts pressure over petrol-diesel prices

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Record fuel prices have triggered a political row, with the Opposition attacking the NDA government for not taking steps to cut taxes on fuel so as to provide some relief to consumers, even as petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the government would work out a solution. Petrol prices touched fresh highs in Delhi and Mumbai on Monday, at Rs 76.57/litre and RS 84.40/litre respectively. Diesel prices in the two cities reached Rs 67.82 and RS 72.21 per litre. The Congress tweeted saying the Modi government was “fleecing” consumers. “The Modi…

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BJP’s Yeddyurappa resigns as Karnataka CM, skips trust vote

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BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa resigned as Karnataka’s chief minister on Saturday, minutes before a Supreme Court-ordered trust vote and two days after he was sworn in. “I’m resigning as chief minister. I’m grateful to the speaker for giving me this opportunity,” Yeddyurappa said in the Karnataka assembly after it became clear that the BJP won’t get the support of enough MLAs to support his government. “People blessed us with 104 seats. The mandate wasn’t for the Congress or the JD(S). The governor invited us to form the government because we…

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To avoid poaching, Cong, JD(S) MLAs in Hyd ahead of floor test

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A large group of MLAs belonging to the Congress and JD(s) reached Hyderabad in three buses on Friday morning amid fears of poaching by the BJP in an attempt to cobble up its numbers, especially in light of the Supreme Court ordering the floor test to be held at 4pm on Saturday where the Yeddurappa government will have to prove it majority on the floor of the House. The MLAs were put up at a five-star hotel at Banjara Hills. Local police arranged elaborate security arrangements at the hotel. Rooms…

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To prove majority SC orders BJP to take floor test at 4pm on Saturday

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Three judges of the Supreme Court on Friday resumed hearing Opposition Congress party’s petition challenging Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala’s decision to invite BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa to form a government in Karnataka after elections in the state threw up a hung house. The Congress plans to protest against Governor Vala’s decision by observing Friday as ‘Save Democracy Day.’ It will hold demonstrations across the country and stake a claim to forming the government in Goa, where it emerged as the single largest party in the 2017 elections, but a BJP-led…

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Congress, RJD cite Karnataka decision, to stake claim to govts in Goa, Bihar

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The Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Thursday said they will ask governors in Goa and Bihar to invite their parties to form governments in the state, speaking afer the BJP came to power in Karnataka despite not having majority in the assembly. The Congress said it had the “strength” to form a government in Goa and pointed at Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala who invited BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa to take over as chief minister after his party got the most seats in elections but fell short…

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While BJP celebrates hollow victory, India will mourn defeat of democracy: Rahul Gandhi

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Soon after Bharatiya Janata Party’s B.S. Yeddyurappa Thursday was sworn-in as Chief Minister of Karnataka for third time, Indian National Congress (I) President Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the ruling party saying while the BJP celebrates its hollow victory, India will mourn the defeat of democracy. Rahul wrote on twitter: “The BJP’s irrational insistence that it will form a Govt. in Karnataka, even though it clearly doesn’t have the numbers, is to make a mockery of our Constitution. This morning, while the BJP celebrates its hollow victory, India will mourn…

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Yeddyurappa sworn in as Karnataka CM, Cong-JD(S) stage dharna outside Karnataka assembly

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BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa took oath as the chief minister of Karnataka at the Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru on Thursday morning, hours after the Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking a stay on the ceremony. Karnataka governor Vajubhai Vala administered the oath in the presence of senior state BJP leaders and Union ministers, even as Janata Dal (Secular) and Congress leaders protested outside. Heavy police security was put in place to ensure that no untoward incident occurs on the occasion. Yeddyurappa (75) takes over as the chief minister after two…

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Guv not inviting Kumaraswamy to form govt due to BJP pressure, Congress may move SC if denied chance to form govt

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The Congress may move Supreme Court if the Karnataka governor does not invite HD Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) to form the new government in the state with the help of the grand old party, sources said on Wednesday. “In case, the governor doesn’t call us, we believe that it is a strong case to go to the Supreme Court,” one of the party’s senior legal brains said. Sources in the Congress added that its top legal brains such as Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha may…

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