Opposition MPs protest over mass suspension
Opposition MPS suspended from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over the last two weeks went on a one-kilometre protest march on Thursday from the old Parliament building to Vijay Chowk in central Delhi carrying a large banner that read “Save Democracy”.
A total of 143 opposition MPs across the two Houses have been suspended after they demanded a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the Dec 13 security breach in Parliament.
Opposition leaders have dubbed the government move a “mockery of democracy”, as important legislation will be passed without any debate undermining parliamentary democracy.
“A complete purge is being executed so that draconian Bills are passed without debate, and so that the (ruling) BJP MP who facilitated the entry of the two intruders on Dec 13 goes scot-free,” Congress MP Jairam Ramesh posted on X.
Complaint filed against TMC MP for mimicking Vice-President
A Supreme Court lawyer has filed a complaint against Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee who has stirred a row by mimicking Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar during the opposition’s protest at the Parliament complex.
The video of Mr Banerjee derisively mimicking Mr Dhankhar has since gone viral.
Lawyer Vineet Jindal has filed a complaint with the ethics committees of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and sought the expulsion of all the members involved in the incident.
Three-year jail for Tamil Nadu minister in corruption case
Tamil Nadu minister K. Ponmudy was on Thursday sentenced to three years’ jail in a corruption case.
The Madras High Court had set aside a court order two days ago to convict the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and his wife in a corruption case involving Rs1.75 crore.
His jail term has been suspended for 30 days to allow him to appeal his conviction. Mr Ponmudy ceases to be a minister after his conviction and his higher education portfolio is likely to be handed over to another cabinet colleague.
Kerala records 300 new Covid cases, India’s active tally at 2,669
Kerala reported 300 new active cases of Covid-19 and three deaths on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
India’s total number of active cases of Covid-19 stood at 2,669.
There have been 21 cases of the new coronavirus variant JN.1 across India, government think-tank NITI Aayog member (Health) V.K. Paul said.
20,000 still stranded in Tamil Nadu floods
In the wake of unprecedented floods ravaging the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, the Army and National Disaster Response Force have joined hands to undertake rescue operations.
With at least 20,000 people still marooned in various regions, the situation has been further compounded by the discharge of water from the overflowing Thamirabarani River.
“Srivaikuntam and the surrounding areas are the worst affected, but there is no danger to anyone’s life. Air dropping of food and relief will continue,” an official told NDTV.
Five million barrels of Russian Sokol oil stuck en route to India
Almost five million barrels of Russia’s Sokol grade crude has failed to reach Indian refineries over the past four weeks, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
United States’ sanctions on tankers carrying Russian crude in breach of a price cap imposed by the Group of Seven nations might be part of the cause, the report said.
Reuters reported last month that three oil tankers, at that time newly sanctioned by Washington, regularly shipped Russian Sokol crude to India, citing ship tracking data from LSEG and Kpler.
India, the world’s third-biggest importer and consumer of oil, has boosted purchases of Russian oil sold at a discount after imports from Russia were shunned by some Western countries following its invasion of Ukraine last year.
Industrialist Jindal calls rape charge against him ‘false, baseless’
JSW Group chairman Sajjan Jindal has denied the allegations of rape levelled against him by a Mumbai woman, calling it “false and baseless”.
A 30-year-old doctor made the allegations last week, and a police report was made in Mumbai following a court order.
The woman claimed that she met Mr Jindal in Dubai during a cricket match in 2021. He later promised to marry her and raped her on Jan 24, 2022.
Pune man arrested for harassing Korean vlogger
The man who harassed a South Korean vlogger in Pune last month has been arrested, the police said on Tuesday.
The incident happened during Deepavali when the vlogger, Ms Kelly, was harassed while recording a video in the city’s Ravet area.
The man’s actions were captured on camera and later went viral on social media, sparking public outrage.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Satish Mane said that, in the video, the man can be seen putting his hand around Ms Kelly’s neck and behaving inappropriately while she talked to locals at a market.
Ex-cop arrested with heroin
In 2019, Jagdeep Singh, a former Punjab police constable, entered the limelight with his entry into reality TV show America’s Got Talent.
Last Friday, he was again in the local news, but for a wrong reason – the 2.28m-tall man was among three arrested with 500gm of heroin in Tarn Taran district, a senior police official told news agency PTI.
Jagdeep, hailed as the tallest Sikh in the world, was part of the Bir Khalsa group that performed daredevil acts.
Real-time AI translation tool used during Modi’s Varanasi speech
A real-time Artificial Intelligence-based translation tool was used during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at the Tamil Sangamam in Varanasi on Sunday.
“Today, the use of new technology has taken place through Artificial Intelligence. This is a new beginning and hopefully, it makes it easier for me to reach you,” Mr Modi said.
The translation was done through “Bhashini”, an app that translates content to and from different Indian languages.
Delhi University degrees to have ‘currency-like’ security features
Delhi University (DU) degree certificates will now come with more than a dozen “currency-like” security features, such as a hidden image, invisible ink logo and micro text, to make them “nearly impossible” to forge, an official said on Monday.
The special degree, which will be awarded to some 225,000 students during DU’s centenary convocation in February, will include a coloured image of the students and their mother’s names.
“These special degrees will be nearly impossible to forge as they will have over a dozen security features like the ones present in currency notes,” said officer on special duty (examination) Ajay Arora.
