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The third meeting of the Opposition INDIA alliance will continue for a second day in Mumbai today. The first day of the mega meet of 28 parties witnessed an informal conversation between allies to figure out a concrete game plan to take on the BJP-led NDA in next year's polls. On the agenda today is the unveiling of the logo for the alliance as well as the announcement of a 11-member coordination committee and the possible appointment of a convenor. The parties had on Thursday announced that a decision on seat sharing would be taken on September 30. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi; Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary were part of the meet yesterday. Uddhav Thackeray, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chie...

Eight terrorists who evaded the law for three decades have been arrested in Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Thursday. One among them had even landed a government job. The State Investigation Agency (SIA) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) made the arrests in Doda district. Evading action, they were enjoying a normal life, police said. "Some of the terrorist absconders had managed to get government jobs and contracts. Others were found engaged in private businesses and even working in the court," said a spokesperson. They were facing charges of terrorism and disruptive activities, police said. The eight terrorists were identified as Adil Farooq Faridi, Mohd Iqbal alias Javed, Mujahid Hussain alias Nisar Ahmed, Tariq Hussain, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Ajaz Ahmed, Jameel Ahmed and Ishfaq Ahmed. While Faridi was working with the state education board in Jammu, Ishfaq was a writer in the Doda court complex. They will be produced before the anti-terrorism court in Jammu, polic...

The government has called for a "special session of Parliament " to be held from September 18 to 22. There will be five sittings, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi posted on X (formerly Twitter). "Amid Amrit Kaal, looking forward to having a fruitful discussion and debate in Parliament," Mr Joshi said. Government sources have, so far, been tight-lipped on possible agendas. It is unclear if this special session will be held in the new Parliament building, although sources suggest this will not be the case. Also, it may not be a joint session of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha . Special Session of Parliament (13th Session of 17th Lok Sabha and 261st Session of Rajya Sabha) is being called from 18th to 22nd September having 5 sittings. Amid Amrit Kaal looking forward to have fruitful discussions and debate in Parliament. pic.twitter.com/b3PIRngpOs — Pralhad Joshi (@JoshiPralhad) August 31, 2023 Government sources have, though, also said the agenda is likely to include...

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior advocate Kapil Sibal were involved in a high-intensity argument n the Supreme Court today on the 13th day of hearings of petitions challenging the scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the restoration of statehood and the holding of an Assembly election. Mr Mehta, arguing for the government, had informed the court an election could be conducted - a key demand of critics of the centre's J&K policy - at any time and that the decision was in the hands of central and state poll bodies. On a timeline for statehood, Mr Mehta, however, said the government is "unable to give an exact time period for conversion". The Solicitor General, in his opening remarks for the day, also read out government data to highlight the improved law-and-order situation in J&K and noted there were "52 organised bands in 2018 and now it is nil". This view was strongly opposed by Mr Sibal. READ |  Ready For Jammu And Kashmir Polls ...

The Centre today told the Supreme Court that elections could be conducted in Jammu and Kashmir anytime now, but the decision lies with the Election Commission and the state poll panel. The statements came during the hearing of a bunch of petitions challenging the scrapping of Article 370. The Centre had earlier argued that Jammu and Kashmir was one of a kind and the bifurcation was needed. In its last hearing on Tuesday, the Supreme Court had laid emphasis on the need to restore democracy in J&K, which has been without an elected government since June 2018. During today's hearing, the Centre though refused to provide a timeframe on restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood. So far, at the heart of the arguments, is if due process was followed while abrogating Article 370 and dividing state into two union territories- J&K and Ladakh. Leaders and petitioners from Ladakh have expressed their disappointment over The Solicitor General's statement that Ladakh will...

The Centre is likely to provide a timeframe on restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood to the Supreme Court today, more than four years after the state was converted into a Union Territory. Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta will make a statement before a constitution bench of the Supreme Court which is currently hearing a batch of pleas challenging the revocation of Article 370 under which Jammu and Kashmir had a special constitutional status. On Tuesday, Mr Mehta had told the top court that he will make a "positive statement" on Thursday after he was asked to take instructions from the government and return with a timeframe for restoring the statehood. "I have taken instructions. The instructions are that Union Territory (of Jammu and Kashmir) is not a permanent feature. I will make a positive statement the day after tomorrow. Ladakh will remain a UT," he had told the court. A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Of India, DY Chandrachud, is ...

Celebrating sibling bond on Raksha Bandhan, schoolgirls tied rakhis to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a school in New Delhi. The schoolchildren greeted PM Modi with smiles as he entered the classroom and tied the sacred thread to him. As the girls stepped up to tie the rakhi, Prime Minister Modi greeted them with an affectionate smile, asking their names and classes. #WATCH | School girls tie Rakhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, as they celebrate the festival of #RakshaBandhan with him. pic.twitter.com/Hhyjx63xgi — ANI (@ANI) August 30, 2023 In an adorable moment, one of the girls gave PM Modi a peck on his cheek as he proceeded to bend down and bless her. PM Modi was seen sitting on a chair with the schoolgirls taking turns to tie rakhis. Prime Minister also posed for a group photo with schoolgirls and teachers on the occasion. The customised rakhis, which the girls tied on PM Modi's wrist, had his image on them. The festival marking the eternal bond between ...

Jammu and Kashmir is not one-of-a-kind and Punjab and the Northeast have faced similar situations, the Supreme Court pointed out today, questioning the need for bifurcation of the border state in August 2019.  Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud also questioned how to ensure that the power to bifurcate a state will not be "misused" once it is conceded to the Central government -- a point that led to a discussion on why the question of bifurcation could not have been settled by parliament. During Day 12 of the hearing of a bunch of petitions challenging the scrapping of Article 370, the Centre had argued that Jammu and Kashmir was one of a kind. "If Gujarat or Madhya Pradesh were to be bifurcated, then parameters would be different," said Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. Justice SK Kaul, who was part of the five-judge constitutional bench led by Justice Chandrachud, pointed out that the country has many states with borders. When Mr Mehta responded that all the ...

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday took a swipe at Pakistan over the Kashmir issue - a subject the country frequently tries to flag in global forums with no success - declaring "no one talks about a losing stock". In an exclusive interview with NDTV , it was put to Mr Jaishankar that one of his biggest achievements as India's external affairs minister is that he is no longer grilled about the Pakistan-Kashmir issue - a quagmire of a subject that hounded several of his predecessors and their governments. "If today no one talks about Pakistan or it is not mentioned as much... what can I say? One way of looking at it is 'verdict of the market'. Which losing stock talks? No one talks about a losing stock," he responded with a smile in an interview ahead of the G20 summit to be held in Delhi next weekend. The minister's comment comes after India in April dismissed Pakistan's objection to the hosting of a G20 meet in the union terr...

The ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on petitions challenging the centre's 2019 decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status has brought Article 35A of the Constitution back into the spotlight. What was Article 35A? Article 35A empowered Jammu and Kashmir's legislature to decide who the erstwhile state's permanent residents were and to extend special rights and privileges to them. This was added to the Constitution in 1954 by a presidential order issued under Article 370. Who were J&K's Permanent Residents? Permanent residents were defined as those who lived in Jammu and Kashmir when the law was approved in 1954 or those who lived there for 10 consecutive years after that and own property there. Permanent Residents received a certificate s proof. What Article 35A Changed? This Article barred outsiders from owning property in Jammu and Kashmir. It also made them ineligible for government jobs or scholarships in state-run educational institution...

The Supreme Court today asked the Centre for a "timeframe" to make Jammu and Kashmir a state again. The bench, headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, while hearing a batch of petitions against the repeal of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, said that the "restoration of democracy" is important. The top court made the observation after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta - appearing for the Centre, told the bench that the move to bifurcate the state into union territories of J&K and Ladakh was a "temporary measure" and that its statehood will be restored in the future. The Supreme Court also asked if Article 370 can be used to amend Article 370 itself. "Article 370 can be used to amend other provisions but can it be used to amend Article 370 itself ? That's the heart of the matter," the court observed. The bench sought to know that how the provision could be revoked in the absence of a constituent assembly. "If Article 367 was amended...

The government will on Thursday make a "positive statement" on restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, the Supreme Court was told today after it asked for a "timeframe" for such a move. The court - hearing petitions challenging the scrapping of Article 370, which gave J&K its special status - had stressed the importance of the restoration of democracy as it asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, "Can you convert a State into a UT? Can a UT be carved out of a State?" To this Mr Mehta replied in the affirmative and pointed to Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh as examples. "I have taken instructions. The instructions are that (J&K being a) union territory is not a permanent feature... I will make a positive statement day after tomorrow (but) Ladakh will remain a UT." In 2019 the government - amid a furious pushback from political activists and opposition leaders - scrapped Article 370 and split Jammu and Kashmir into two union te...

Geetika Srivastava, currently serving as joint secretary at the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), will be India's new charge d'affaires at its high commission in Islamabad, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. She will succeed Suresh Kumar who is likely to return to New Delhi. Ms Srivastava, a 2005 batch Indian Foreign Service officer, is currently serving as a joint secretary in the MEA's Indo-Pacific division. The Indian and Pakistani high commissions in Islamabad and Delhi are being headed by their respective charge d'affaires after Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties following India's decision to withdraw the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019. Ms Srivastava is expected to take up her assignment in Islamabad shortly, said one of the people familiar with the matter. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) Read full article

Article 35A of the Constitution has deprived people not residing in Jammu and Kashmir of some key constitutional rights, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said today. Equality of opportunity, employment in the state government and right to buy land -- "all this this article snatches away from citizens... Because the residents (of Jammu and Kashmir) had special rights, the non-residents were excluded," he said. He also agreed with the Centre that the Indian constitution is a document that is "on a higher platform than the J&K Constitution". His observations came during the 11th day of hearing of the petitions challenging the scrapping of Article 370, which granted Jammu and Kashmir its special status. Article 35A, which was also scrapped in August 2019 along with Article 370, allowed the legislature of the erstwhile state to define "permanent residents" and provide them with special rights and privileges in terms of public employment, immovable pr...

Miss World Karolina Bielawska on Monday arrived in Kashmir on a day-long tour for an event. Poland's Bielawska, along with other pageant winners, including Miss World India Sini Shetty, enjoyed breakfast with other dignitaries at a five-star hotel here. For the day-long tour, Ms Bielawska and Ms Shetty will be joined by Miss World America Shree Saini and Julia Morley, chairperson and CEO of the Miss World Organisation. #WATCH | Srinagar, J&K: Miss World Karolina Bielawska visits Kashmir. Miss World India Sini Shetty and Miss World Caribbean Emmy Pena are also accompanying her on the visit. pic.twitter.com/LImKjrKdnu — ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2023 Rouble Nagi of Rouble Nagi Art Foundation and Chairman PME entertainment in India Jamil Saidi were also present at the breakfast meeting. Ms Bielawska's visit to Jammu and Kashmir, a first for an international beauty pageant winner, comes ahead of the 71st edition of the Miss World 2023 pageant, to be held in India later th...

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the centre's top law officer to speak to J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and find out why a lecturer in the union territory's Education Department was suspended days after he appeared in court to argue against the scrapping of Article 370. The court wanted to know if the suspension was linked to the lecturer's appearance before the court and indicated it would take a dim view if this was the case, suggesting it might be seen as "retribution". On Wednesday last week, Zahoor Ahmad Bhat - a senior political science lecturer with a law degree - appeared before a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud. Two days later, on Friday, the J&K Education Department issued an order suspending Mr Bhat, with immediate effect, for violating provisions of the Jammu & Kashmir Civil Service Regulations, the Jammu & Kashmir Government Employees Conduct Rules and the Jammu and Kas...

In a first for an international beauty pageant winner, reigning Miss World Karolina Bielawska will visit Kashmir on Monday on a day-long tour for an event. According to Rouble Nagi, the chairperson of a Mumbai-based organisation engaged in women empowerment, Ms Bielawska will arrive in Kashmir with other pageant winners, including Miss World India Sini Shetty and Miss World Caribbean Emmy Pena. "Gar firdaus bar-rue zamin ast, hami asto, hamin asto, hamin asto (If there is a heaven on earth, it's here, it's here, it's here). And how is it possible that Miss World would miss heaven?" Ms Nagi told news agency PTI. The entrepreneur said her foundation has championed artistic expression, community development, and cultural exchange. "This collaboration is yet another manifestation of the foundation's commitment to creating memorable experiences that transcend boundaries," she added. The event is being held in collaboration with Jamil Saidi, Chairman...

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Saturday reached Srinagar on a personal visit even as her son Rahul Gandhi arrived here from his week-long Ladakh tour the previous day. Upon her arrival at the airport on Saturday afternoon, Sonia Gandhi was welcomed by senior leaders of her party, including Congress Central Working Committee members and Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Vikar Rasool Wani. Immediately after her arrival, Sonia Gandhi visited the Nigeen Lake here and enjoyed a boat ride, a senior Congress leader said. #WATCH | J&K: Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrives in Srinagar and takes a boat ride in Nigeen Lake She will be meeting Congress MP Rahul Gandhi shortly pic.twitter.com/9jBEKG2ZB8 — ANI (@ANI) August 26, 2023 Rahul Gandhi, who was in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh for the past week, arrived in Srinagar on Friday after addressing a public rally in Kargil earlier in the day. The Wayanad MP stayed at a houseboat i...

Internet shutdown is always the last resort and it is also not unique to India, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said at the NDTV G20 Conclave today. Mr Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology, said the spread of misinformation is the biggest risk for any country. India had snapped internet in Jammu and Kashmir after special status was scrapped. There is also partial internet blackout in ethnic violence-hit Manipur. "The coming of artificial intelligence can take misinformation to the next level with deep fakes and other methods," Mr Chandrasekhar said at the G20 Conclave. He said internet shutdowns are meant to stop the spread of misinformation. Citing the example of the hugely successful United Payments Interface (UPI), the Union Minister also explained how the government has been able to bust the myth that tech is expensive. Millions of Indians are using UPI now from transactions as low as Re 1 to shopping goods worth thousands. ...

Internet shutdown is always the last resort and it is also not unique to India, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said at the NDTV G20 Conclave today. Mr Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology, said the spread of misinformation is the biggest risk for any country. India had snapped internet in Jammu and Kashmir after special status was scrapped. There is also partial internet blackout in ethnic violence-hit Manipur. "The coming of artificial intelligence can take misinformation to the next level with deep fakes and other methods," Mr Chandrasekhar said at the G20 Conclave. He said internet shutdowns are meant to stop the spread of misinformation. Citing the example of the hugely successful United Payments Interface (UPI), the Union Minister also explained how the government has been able to bust the myth that tech is expensive. Millions of Indians are using UPI now from transactions as low as Re 1 to shopping goods worth thousands. ...

Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti's daughter Iltija Mufti was granted a regular passport with 10-year validity in Srinagar on Friday, officials said. The issuance of a regular passport to Iltija Mufti came more than a month after she moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court with a fresh petition seeking its intervention for extending the duration of her passport along with no bar to travel to any country. "The regional passport officer called Iltija to his office and handed over a regular passport with 10-year validity to her," an official said. The 35-year-old Iltija Mufti, who wishes to pursue higher studies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had earlier been issued a country-specific passport valid from April 5, 2023 to April 4, 2025. Iltija Mufti had moved the high court in February for issuance of the passport after her application for the travel document was not cleared initially. Her passport had expired on January 2 and she had...

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday visited the Kargil War Memorial in Drass and paid rich tributes to the Indian Army personnel who sacrificed their lives during the 1999 war with Pakistan. The memorial is located on the 434-km Srinagar-Leh national highway and about five km from the city centre across the Tiger Hill, Kargil. आज @RahulGandhi जी ने कारगिल स्थित वॉर मेमोरियल पहुंचकर कारगिल युद्ध में शहीद हुए वीर जवानों को श्रद्धांजलि अर्पित की। कारगिल हमारे जवानों के साहस और शौर्य का प्रतीक है। हमारा गौरव है, स्वाभिमान है। यह हमें एहसास दिलाता है कि मातृभूमि की रक्षा हर एक भारतीय की जिम्मेदारी है,… pic.twitter.com/jsK8PnDBVC — Congress (@INCIndia) August 25, 2023 "Kargil is not just a place, it is a saga of valour. It is the land many of our soldiers served in and resonates with their courage and sacrifice. This is the pride of India and all Indians realise their sense of responsibility towards the country. I bow to all the brave soldiers and martyrs of Kargil War,...

The BJP on Friday rejected Rahul Gandhi's charge that China has encroached on Indian territory as baseless and absurd, and asserted that it is the opposition party that has committed "historic, unpardonable crimes" in dealings with Beijing. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi quoted from selected works of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to say that his government had sent over 3,500 tonnes of rice in 1952 for the  Chinese Army, which was "starving". He also asked the Congress to release its reported agreement with the Chinese Communist Party when the UPA was in power. Raking up the border issue, Mr Gandhi had said earlier on Friday at a public meeting in Kargil that every individual in Ladakh knows that China has "taken away our land" and claimed that PM Narendra Modi's assertion that not an inch of land was taken away was "absolutely false". Addressing a press conference, Mr Trivedi alleged that the decision to send r...

Ahead of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc's Mumbai meeting later this month, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday said he would want Rahul Gandhi to be its prime ministerial face. The BJP got rattled by the popularity of Rahul Gandhi after his Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra, Mr Baghel said, said, adding that the got him disqualified from the Lok Sabha and took away his official residence because of this. "As a Congress man, I feel Rahul Gandhi should be the prime ministerial face," Mr Baghel told news agency PTI in an interview when asked whether he would want Rahul Gandhi to be the face of the INDIA alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. "The BJP is very scared of Rahul Gandhi. That is why he was disqualified from the Lok Sabha, made to vacate his bungalow," he said, referring to the Wayanad MP's disqualification from parliament following his conviction in a defamation case. His Lok Sabha members...

Jammu and Kashmir administration has accorded sanction to the allotment of land on a lease basis to landless people, with only domiciles of the Union Territory eligible for the scheme. Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha launched the land-to-landless scheme in July even as political parties in the valley questioned the administration's move and sought clarity regarding the beneficiaries. In a set of guidelines issued by the Revenue Department, the UT administration accorded sanction to the allotment of five Marla of state land on a lease basis in favour of landless PMAY (G)/Awas plus beneficiaries. The category of people, out of the Rural Development Department's permanent waiting list 2018-19, eligible for the scheme include those residing on state land, forest land, 'rakhs' and farms. It also includes people in possession of custodian land, and those residing on land already allotted by the government near Dachigam Park for agricultural purposes, where const...

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be reaching Srinagar on a two-day "personal visit" and will be joined by his mother Sonia Gandhi next day, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Vikar Rasool Wani said on Friday. However, Mr Wani said, the two senior leaders will have no political engagement or meeting with any party leaders in Srinagar during the "family tour." Rahul has been in the Union Territory of Ladakh the past one week and will be leaving for Srinagar after addressing a public rally in Kargil Friday morning, the JKPCC president told PTI. He said he will be joined by his mother Sonia Gandhi on Saturday. Rahul reached Ladakh on August 2, his first visit to the region which was granted UT status after being carved out from Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019. The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was also turned into a Union Territory with its special status under Article 370 revoked. Over the past one week, Rahul has gone round alm...

Commencing their arguments in support of abrogation of Article 370 in the Supreme Court, the Centre's top law officers Thursday asserted there was no "constitutional fraud" in annulling the provision that accorded special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, which heard their contentions at length, told them they will have to justify the procedure adopted for abrogation as the court cannot postulate a situation "where the ends justify the means". The petitioners opposing the repeal of Article 370 have been insisting that the provision could not have been abrogated, as the term of the Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly, whose concurrence was required before taking such a step, ended in 1957, after it had drafted the erstwhile state's Constitution. With the constituent assembly having become extinct, Article 370 acquired a permanent status, they have said. "We...

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held an interaction with a group of youngsters after he reached Kargil town on Thursday evening on the last leg of his over one-week-long tour of the Union Territory of Ladakh. The former Congress president is scheduled to address a public meeting on Friday in poll-bound Kargil before returning to Delhi, senior Congress leader and former legislator Asgar Ali Karbalai said. The election to 26 seats of the 30-member Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Kargil, is slated for September 10 and the counting of votes will be held four days later. After an overnight stay at Padam in Zanskar Tehsil of Kargil, Mr Gandhi, 53, reached Kargil town late this afternoon, riding on his motorcycle. He was accorded a warm welcome by a massive crowd who chanted slogans in praise of "Bharat Jodo" and the Congress leader. Later, he interacted with the youngsters for an hour from 5 pm at a special programme organised by the local Congress unit, ...

Article 370 of the Constitution was meant to integrate princely states into India and Jammu and Kashmir was one of the 62 states that had their constitution at the time, the Centre argued in Supreme Court today. This was the 10th day of hearing in connection with a bunch of petitions that have challenged the scrapping of the Article 370, which gave Jammu and Kashmir its special status. The constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and the nature of the Article 370 have been two of the key contentious issues which the petitioners have highlighted. The Centre argued that independence of J&K's constitution and permanence of the Article 370, were both misconceptions. During the merger of British provinces and princely states with British India in 1939, there were 62 states that had their own constitution, the Centre said. Meanwhile, 286 states were in the process of framing their constitution. Many princely states including Rewa had also appointed many experts for this work, said Solicit...

Oil and climate-related issues are theoretically the biggest risk factors India must face and overcome to maintain an growth curve that makes the country the fastest growing large economy in the world, HDFC Bank Director Keki Mistry said in Kolkata on Wednesday. Mr Mistry also spoke on creating jobs for Indian youth, describing the government's efforts in this regard as 'very successful' but also emphasised the need to continue the good work. "We have to continue creating jobs because we have so many Indians who are passing out from business schools and colleges... so it is important. It is happening today because industry is there... the economy is growing... India's growth rate today is the fastest among large economies in the world. So, as long as that trend continues, we are fine." "Within India we have to ensure we are continuing creating enough jobs. I am not saying that is a risk. It's a need that we have to keep creating enough jobs," ...

The centre today told Supreme Court that it has no plan to touch the special provisions for Northeastern states and argued why they are different from the now-removed special status of Jammu and Kashmir. The clarification came in response to advocate Manish Tiwari's argument during the hearing on petitions that challenge the centre's 2019 move to dilute Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the erstwhile state into two Union Territories. Advocate Tiwari had argued that after Independence, India had decided to manage its periphery through Constitutional guarantees "because we were building a republic". "That is how Article 370, which applies to Jammu and Kashmir, Article 371, the six sub parts of which apply to North East and the sixth schedule of Constitution which applies to Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, becomes relevant in this matter," he said. Advocate Tiwari said "even a slight apprehension in the periphery of India can have serious impli...

The Supreme Court Tuesday termed as "unacceptable" the submission that Article 370 of the Constitution ceased to operate once the term of the constituent assembly of Jammu and Kashmir ended in 1957 after drafting the state's Constitution. The remark by a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud came when senior advocate Dinesh Dwivedi, appearing for intervenor Prem Shankar Jha, argued that nothing of Article 370, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state, survived once the Constitution of J-K was enacted on January 26, 1957 and the term of the state's constituent assembly ended. Jha, who has challenged the August 5, 2019 decision of the Centre to abrogate Article 370, raised the legal question about whether Article 370 ceased to operate or exist after the enactment of the Constitution of J&K and the dissolution of the constituent assembly. This led the bench to raise queries on the legality of the submissions. The bench, also comprisi...

Batting for resumption of dialogue with Pakistan, diplomat-turned-politician Mani Shankar Aiyar says India won't be able to take its due place in the world as long as its western neighbour is an "albatross around our necks''. The Congress leader, who served as India's consul general in Karachi from December 1978-January 1982, has dedicated a full chapter to his Pakistan stint in his autobiography "Memoirs of a Maverick -- The First Fifty Years (1941-1991)" that hit the stands on Monday. In an interview with Press Trust of India on his new book, published by Juggernaut Books, Mr Aiyar said the high point of his bureaucratic career was undoubtedly his stint as consul general in Pakistan and he has dwelt at very great length on his three years in Karachi in the first volume out now. India's "biggest asset" in Pakistan were the people there who did not consider it an enemy country, he said. "We were coming back from a dinner one day, wi...

With focus on state elections, and then 2024, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's new team announced on Sunday is a careful management of the old and the new. It plays safe, infuses some expected faces, but most importantly makes it clear that the party's primary focus will be on fighting polls, and organisational politics must not come in the way of that goal.  The announcement of this new team comes ten months after Mr Kharge took charge as Congress president, and is seen as an attempt to balance aspirations, loyalties, and push preparedness for the future. Members of the Gandhi family and veteran Congress leaders such as Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath, Meira Kumar, P Chidambaram, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, and Salman Khurshid are part of the main body, some young people such Gaurav Gogoi, and Sachin Pilot, have been accommodated too. While the expansion was due to an internal quota for youth, SCs, STs, OBCs, and women in the top executive body, the main CWC has only three mem...