No ‘shobha yatra’ will be allowed without due permission: Yogi Adityanath
No ‘shobha yatra’ or religious procession should be taken out without due permission, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed top officials. Mr. Adityanath directed officials to go tough on those issuing “mischievous statements” or lawless elements trying to spoil the atmosphere in the State.
Sri Lankan PM says President’s powers will be reduced
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister said Tuesday the constitution will be changed to clip presidential powers and empower Parliament as protesters continued to call on the President and his powerful family to quit over the country’s economic crisis. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa told Parliament that the power transfer will be one of the quick steps that can be taken to politically stabilize the country and help talks with the International Monetary Fund for an economic recovery plan.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has moved Wednesday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) game between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings from Pune to Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai due to multiple COVID-19 cases in the Delhi camp.
Pakistan’s new Cabinet under PM Shehbaz Sharif takes oath
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif‘s 34-member Cabinet was sworn in on Tuesday after several days of delay, with Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani administering the oath to new ministers as President Arif Alvi did not attend the ceremony. The ceremony was scheduled to be held on Monday, but President Alvi had refused to administer the oath to the lawmakers, compelling the government to postpone it.
Editors Guild tells journalists to exercise restraint while reporting communal disturbance
The Editors Guild of India (EGI) has urged editors and journalists to exercise utmost restraint and observe the highest professional standards in reporting communal disturbances that have erupted in various parts of the country. “While EGI is cognisant of the hazards faced by on-ground reporters in riot-like situations, it is dismayed to note that due diligence has been wanting in the evaluation and presentation of reports of the clashes between communities. This is especially evident in electronic, digital and social media,” it said.
Russia-Ukraine crisis live updates | April 19, 2022
Ukranian authorities on April 19 said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces were increasing assaults in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions — both of which are part of the Donbas — as well as in the area of Zaporizhzhia. Russia also bombarded the relative safe haven of Lviv and a multitude of other targets across Ukraine in what appeared to be an intensified bid to grind down the country’s defenses.
Probe ordered against Assam CM for poll code violation
The Assam State Election Commission has ordered a probe against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for allegedly violating the model code of conduct during the campaign for the Guwahati Municipal Corporation polls. The elections to the 60 wards of the corporation are scheduled on April 22.
Dalit boy forced to lick feet in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli, eight held as video goes viral
A video of a class 10 Dalit student being beaten up and made to lick the feet of a man surfaced on social media in Rae Bareli, prompting the police to lodge a case and arrest eight people, officials said on April 19. According to police, on April 10, the boy, a resident of Jagatpur town, was taken to Ramlila Maidan on a motorcycle by his friend. Police said he was later taken towards Salon Road, from where some other youths took him to a garden.
Comment | The federalist promise
The recent speech by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at the 23rd party congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kannur, Kerala will go down in political history for at least two reasons. First, Mr. Stalin, in both this speech and in prior statements and actions, has put forth a profound challenge to the model of ‘federalism’ that has become the foundational basis of public policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre.
Thunderstorms, landslips kill 20 in northeast India
Thunderstorms in Assam and rain-induced landslips in Arunachal Pradesh have killed at least 20 people over the last 72 hours. Officials in Arunachal Pradesh’s Kurung Kumey district said three members of a family were buried alive following a landslide in Sulung Taping village. The victims included an eight-year-old boy.
News Analysis | Palakkad killings take sheen off LDF Govt.’s first anniversary in Kerala
The targeted killings in Palakkad have apparently become a matter of grave concern for the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front, which is celebrating its first anniversary in Kerala The twin murders of P. Subair, an activist of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), and S.K. Srinivasan, a former functionary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), in less than 24 hours came at an inopportune time, close on the heels of the success of the five-day party congress of the CPI(M) in Kannur.
BJP using riots as tool to win polls; tension created on loudspeaker issue: Sanjay Raut
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday accused the estranged ally BJP of using communal riots as a “tool” to win polls and instigate communal strife in parts of Maharashtra and the country. He also insinuated that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has been doing BJP’s bidding by raising the issue of loudspeakers atop mosques.
Former Australia wicketkeeper Ryan Campbell in ICU after suffering heart attack
Netherlands men’s team head coach and former Australia wicketkeeper Ryan Campbell has been admitted to an ICU in London after suffering a massive heart attack. According to the ICC website, the 50-year-old felt chest pains and difficulty in breathing while he was out with his family on Saturday.
Four decades on, 63 Hindu families displaced from East Pakistan get land, houses
After a four-decade-long wait, 63 Hindu families displaced from East Pakistan were given houses, agricultural land and residential plots by the Uttar Pradesh Government on Tuesday. Each family was given two acres for agriculture purposes, a residential plot measuring 200 square metres and a house in Kanpur Dehat district.
India tops milk production in the world, turnover higher than wheat and rice output: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India produces milk worth ₹8.5 lakh crore annually, more than the turnover of wheat and rice, with small farmers being the biggest beneficiaries of the dairy sector. “Today, India is the world’s largest producer of milk. When the livelihood of crores of farmers depend on milk, India produces milk worth ₹8.5 lakh crore annually, something that many people, including big economists, do not pay attention to,” the prime minister said while addressing a gathering at Diyodar in the Banaskantha district after inaugurating a new dairy complex and a potato processing plant of the Banas Dairy.
