With polls looming, Modi’s Cabinet takes 96 decisions in 15 days 

With the Election Commission expected to announce the schedule of Lok Sabha elections soon, the Narendra Modi government has been taking a flurry of decisions at the meetings of Union Cabinet and the CCEA. Over the past fortnight, both have taken 96 decisions.

The decisions pertain to all sections of society including farmers, central government employees, youth, weaker sections, poor and ex-servicemen.

The cabinet meeting held on February 20 took 23 decisions while the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) took five decisions, and in the meet on February 28, the Cabinet took 29 decisions and the CCEA nine.

The meeting of union cabinet held on Thursday took 18 decisions while CCEA approved 12 proposals. The decisions taken also pertain to promulgation of ordinances including that on triple talaq.

In the first list released by the Congress on Thursday for the Lok Sabha elections, names of 15 candidates were put out. Congress president Rahul Gandhi will contest from his current seat, Amethi, his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will fight from her constituency, Rae Bareli. Priyanka Gandhi’s name isn’t on the list yet.

Salman Khurshid will contest from Farrukhabad, where he had contested and lost in 2014, RPN Singh will contest from Kushi Nagar. The other leaders from Uttar Pradesh are Imran Masood from Saharanpur, Jitin Prasad from Dhaurahra, Annu Tandon from Unnao, Rajaram Pal from Akbarpur, Brij Lal Khabri from Jalaun and Nirmal Khatri from Faizabad.

In Gujarat, senior Congress leader Bharatsinh Solanki will contest from Anand. Raju Parmar will contest the elections from Ahmedabad West seat, Prashant Patel will contest from Vadodara, and Ranjit Mohansinh Rathwa will contest from Chhota Udaipur seat.

A 17-year-old youth was killed and some 30 others were injured on Thursday when a grenade flung by a militant exploded under a parked passenger bus at Jammu's main bus stand. The attacker was arrested within hours.

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh told reporters that the police had arrested Yasir Javaid Bhat alias Arhaan of Kulgam district in the Kashmir Valley on charges of throwing the grenade.

Yasir Bhat was said to be aligned with the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit.

Five people accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual assault case on Thursday denied allegations levelled against them by CBI before a Delhi court and said there was not enough evidence to prosecute them.

According to a lawyer associated with the case, the accused made the submission before Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Kulshreshtha who was hearing arguments for framing of charges against them.

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday rejected a review petition by the West Bengal government on its order which held that dearness allowance (DA) was a legal right of the state's employees.

A division bench comprising Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Sekhar Bobby Saraf rejected the review petition and held that the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) will continue to rehear the employees' claim for DA as per the Centre's dearness allowance rate.

The state government had sought review of an August 31, 2018, order by a division bench comprising Justice Debasish Kar Gupta and Justice Sekhar Bobby Saraf which set aside a SAT order that said DA cannot be claimed as a right by the state employees.

Saudi's top diplomat met Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday and delivered a "special message" from powerful Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, amid global efforts to de-escalate Indo-Pak tensions, according to media reports.

Saudi State Minister for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir called on Prime Minister Khan at the his office where the two discussed the ongoing Indo-Pak tensions and matters of regional and bilateral interest, Geo TV reported.

Jubeir conveyed him a special message of the crown prince, it added.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit Koraput district on Friday and address a public meeting at Jeypore, party sources said on Thursday.

Before addressing the rally, Gandhi will interact with women at Sibasai Kalyan Mandap on the occasion of International Womens Day, Jeypore Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati said.

Bahinipati said, Gandhi will be accompanied by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

At least five people were killed and three injured in a car bomb attack claimed by Al-Shabaab militant group in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday, the police said.

The explosion struck the city centre near a security checkpoint that protects the country's Presidential Palace and the National Theatre, said police officer Abdelrahman Bidar who was present at the site of the attack.

The British government has confirmed details of measures that would ensure flights continuity in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the Department for Transport and Civil Aviation Authority said in an announcement on Thursday.

The announcement came as the EU is also about to finalize its no-deal aviation regulation that would protect British airlines flying into Europe, Xinhua news agency reported.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday that the party's alliances across the country were "on track" but its Delhi unit was unanimously against any tie-up with the Aam Aadmi Party.

"If you see, our alliances have been finalised in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand. In Delhi, our party unit was unanimously against the alliance. But overall alliances are on track," he said, when asked about the party not tying up with AAP in Delhi.

The Indian Air Force on Thursday said it was in a high state of preparedness to pro-actively engage any perceived threat from Pakistan, in clear indication that underlying tension between the two countries remained.

Citing a document of Pakistan's civil aviation authority, the IAF said the neighbouring country has opened its airspace with Oman, Iran, Afghanistan and China only and the 11 entry and exit points located along Indo-Pak airspace were still closed.

IGP Jammu, Manish K Sinha has informed the media that Yasir Bhatt has been identified as the culprit behind the attack at Jammu bus-stand who was given the task by District Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen in Kulgam, Farooq Ahmed Bhatt alias Omar

The incident claimed one life and left over 32 injured

Ram temple issue: The Supreme Court to pronounce on Friday whether to send the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case for a court appointed and monitored mediation for “permanent solution”.

Committee of Administrators (COA) chairman Vinod Rai Thursday said the BCCI is still seeking an ICC ban on countries that harbour terrorism despite a recent rejection but was non-committal on whether India will boycott Pakistan at the World Cup.

At its board meeting in Dubai last week, the International Cricket Council (ICC) dismissed the BCCI's request to sever ties with countries from where terrorism emanates though the Indian Board did not make a specific reference to Pakistan.

Several explosions struck Thursday outside a ceremony in Kabul attended by Afghanistan's chief executive and the former president, both of whom were unharmed, officials said.

There was conflicting information as to the casualty figures in the immediate aftermath of the blasts.

A short while later, Health Ministry official Mohaibullah Zaeer said an initial check of Kabul's hospitals revealed three people have been killed and 32 wounded in the attack but he said the figures were not final.

Disgruntled BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha on Thursday supported demand that the Centre come out with the details of the air strikes in Balakot, including the number of terrorists killed, and described as "tamasha" (theatric) claims about casualties by different leaders of the party.

The Patna Sahib MP also said that he had great respect for veteran Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who has drawn flak for calling the Pulwama terror attack a durghatna (accident), and said the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister wanted to say something but could not choose his words wisely.

Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien on Thursday hurled a series of 'fact bombs' at Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticising various central schemes and pointing at his failure.

Addressing Modi as "Mitron56inch", he said, "face these! FactBomb 1 Response to an RTI filed by a news website shows insurance companies owe farmers ₹2,800 crore since the launch of PM Fasal Bima Yojana".

"The two-month claim settlement deadline has long passed, but dues still remain unpaid," O'Brien tweeted.

The Election Commission will soon announce its schedule for the high-voltage Lok Sabha elections, which is likely to be spread over 7-8 phases in April-May, sources said on Thursday.

Sources said the poll panel is in final stages of completing its logistical preparations to hold elections for the 17th Lok Sabha and a detailed polling schedule could be announced as early this weekend or by early next week.

All four accused of thrashing three Kashmiri dry fruit sellers here after calling them "stone-pelters" on Wednesday have been arrested, police said on Thursday.

Briefing the media about "the unfortunate incident", Director General of Police (Law & Order) Anand Kumar and Additional Director General of Police (Lucknow) Rajeev Krishna, said they had arrested the accused, who were identified as Bajrang Sonkar, Amar, Himanshu and Anirrudh.

DGP Dilbagh Singh informs that the person who threw the grenade at the Jammu bus stand earlier today, has been arrested, reports ANI

The attack claimed 1 life and left 32 injured.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh is upset with his party, the BJP, as the national leadership has reportedly agreed to give the Nawada parliamentary seat in Bihar that he represents to the LJP, an NDA constituent.

The Nawada seat is said to have gone to the LJP under the seat-sharing formula finalised by the NDA.

Though formal seat allocations and the names of NDA candidates are yet to be made public, a senior LJP leader said the party will contest from Nawada and give up the Munger seat it holds.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday asked the BJP whether it was pursuing a "jhoot and boot" campaign, a day after the party was embarrassed by its two legislators who attacked each other with one of them using his shoe.

By "jhoot" (lies), Yadav appeared to be referring to the multi-crore Rafale aircraft deal, which the Opposition has alleged involved corruption.

BSP chief Mayawati, too had a dig at the Centre's disclosure about "stolen" Rafale jet deal documents.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday addressed a letter to the people of the national capital describing the issues the city has faced in the last four years due to the lack of a full statehood.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will launch a full statehood movement on Sunday, with 1,000 teams campaigning across the city.

"The full statehood demand will be the party's prime focus for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Our teams will go to every area in the city to tell the people about the injustice being done to the city," AAP leader Gopal Rai told the media while unveiling Kejriwal's letter.

"Our people will take this letter and the pamphlet and will approach the citizens."

The Sabarimala temple is all set to get a new gold-plated door when the hill shrine opens for the 11-day monthly poojas next week.

The existing door of the sanctum sanctorum, which developed tiny cracks, would be replaced with the new one on the night of March 11, temple authorities said.

The holy door, made of quality teak wood, is plated with at least four kilogram of gold after engraving and embossing it with copper. The shrine, opening for monthly poojas on March 11, will be closed on March 21.

A group of Sabarimala devotees, led by one Unni Namboothiri, met the expenses

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday termed as "shocking" the Centre's statement that documents related to the Rafale fighter jet deal have been stolen from the defence ministry, and wondered what will then be the country's situation on the security front.

He said it was now obvious the deal was done for the "benefit of some people" and sought to know why the government hid the theft from Parliament.

He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of politicising the Indian Air Force's (IAF) airstrikes on Jaish-e-Mohammed's camp in Pakistan in retaliation to the terror outfit's attack at Pulwama in Kashmir where 40 CRPF personnel were killed last month.

The Rajasthan government has granted Indian citizenship to 44 Pakistani migrants living in the state since January this year under a special campaign, a senior official said on Thursday.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajeeva Swarup said in a statement that Indian citizenship was awarded to 44 Pakistani migrants.

He said the migrants had been living in the country from long time.  Out of the total, 15 migrants of Udaipur, 11 of Pali, six of Jalore and 12 living in Barmer were awarded Indian citizenship. The cases had been pending for long due to deficiency in documents, he added.

Akhilesh Yadav on brawl between BJP MP and BJP MLA in Sant Kabir Nagar said, “When the country's PM says 'ghar main ghus ke maroonga', and the CM goes one step ahead and says 'thoko.' When the PM and the CM use such language that shouldn't be used in a democracy; that's what will happen.”

Advocate Prashant Bhushan on Thursday admitted before the Supreme Court that he made a "genuine mistake" by tweeting that the government had perhaps submitted fabricated minutes of a meeting of the high-powered selection committee on appointment of M Nageswara Rao as an interim CBI director.

Attorney General K K Venugopal told a bench comprising justices Arun Mishra and Navin Sinha that in view of Bhushan's statement, he would like to withdraw his contempt plea filed against the noted lawyer.

However, Bhushan filed an application in the court seeking recusal of Justice Arun Mishra from hearing the contempt petition filed by Venugopal.

Bhushan also refused to tender an unconditional apology before the bench for seeking Justice Mishra's recusal.

MoS Defence Subhash Bhamre on grenade explosion at Jammu bus stand said, “Local investigation has been initiated into the incident. The government has already given complete liberty to the forces to take all necessary steps.”

Visuals from the hospital where the injured are being treated from the Jammu bus stand grenade blast.

Income Tax department conducts raid at Tourism Department office in Garhi Cantt, Dehradun.

The National Green Tribunal on Thursday slapped a fine of ₹500 crore on German auto major Volkswagen for damaging the environment through the use of "cheat device" in its diesel cars in India.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the carmaker to deposit the amount within two months.

The tribunal enhanced the compensation amount of ₹171.34 crore, which was recommended by a NGT- appointed committee, as a means of "creating deterrence".

The automaker, however, said that it did not violate the BS-IV norms and that the test results were based on "on road testings" for which there were no prescribed standards.

Rahul Gandhi said, “We will change GST once we are in power in 2019.”

He adds, what has PM Modi done in the last five years? “He gave five airports to Adani a few days ago while there was atmosphere of war in the country."

Rahul Gandhi said, “He should hold debate with me in front of TV cameras for 15 minutes....everything will become clear.”

Cabinet approves proposal for promulgation of “The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Ordinance, 2019

Cabinet clears ordinance to restore 200 point roster system of reservation for SC/STs in university hiring cancelled by top court.

Rahul Gandhi says Narendra Modi changed the Rafale contract, PMO increased the price and put ₹30,000 cr in Anil Ambani’s pocket. “He should tell the country why he changed the Rafale contract.....India did not get Rafale jets on time because PMO made parallel negotiations.”

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, “I had promised the same in my speeches and we did it. We have written off loans of farmers in MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Narendra Modi has written off loans of the country’s biggest industrialists but he didn’t do the same for even one farmer. ”

The scene of the blast along the BC Road was sealed off by police and a massive hunt has been launched to nab the grenade thrower, Inspector General of Police, Jammu, M K Sinha said.

Sinha, who immediately rushed to the scene to take stock of the situation, said preliminary investigation suggests that someone lobbed the grenade, causing injuries to 18 people who were evacuated to the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital.

Windscreens of a parked state road transport corporation (SRTC) bus were damaged in the blast, a police official said, adding condition of one of the injured was stated to be "critical"

I have no doubt in saying that Rahul Gandhi will be our next prime minister, says Punjab CM Amarinder Singh at a Congress rally in Moga.

It was a grenade explosion, it has caused injuries to approximately 18 people, all shifted to hospital says MK Sinha, IGP Jammu on blast at bus stand.

Editors Guild of India condemns AG KK Venugopal's comment before SC related to documents used by the media to report including The Hindu, on the Rafale deal.

An grenade explosion has taken place inside a bus at the bus station in Jammu. At least 10 people have been injured reports NDTV.

It is unclear if there were people inside the bus. People have cordoned off the area.

Visuals showed security personnel guarding the area as a large number of locals gathered around the site of the blast.

Delhi's Patiala House Court reserves order in lawyer Gautam Khaitan's bail application in his arrest under the black money act. ED counsel DP Singh opposed the bail plea of Gautam Khaitan and argued 'Khaitan is an expert in laundering of money.'

The bench of the Supreme Court, led by CJI Gogoi, rejected a plea of Prashant Bhushan seeking direction to selection committee to make public the proposed names of Chairperson and members of the Lokpal.

SC dismisses an application filed by Prashant Bhushan seeking recusal of Justice Arun Mishra from hearing contempt case filed by AG KK Venugopal and Centre against Bhushan for his tweets allegedly criticising Court on appointment of M Nageswara Rao as interim CBI Director.

While admitting that poverty has fallen in India, UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michele Bachelet cautioned that divisive policies will undermine the country's economic growth.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday, she said that there had been "significant poverty reduction in overall terms", but added that "inequality remains a serious issue".

She alleged that "it appears that narrow political agendas are driving the further marginalisation of vulnerable people".

"I fear that these divisive policies will not only harm many individuals, but also undermine the success of India's economic growth story.

An uneasy calm prevailed along the Line of Control (LoC) in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir with no report of ceasefire violation by Pakistan over the past 20 hours, officials said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman called off her scheduled visit to Jammu province on Thursday to review the situation along the borders in the wake of intense shelling over the past nine days besides inaugurating two vital bridges in Samba and Akhnoor sectors, they said.

A defence spokesman said there was no report of ceasefire violation by Pakistan anywhere along the LoC in Jammu province, especially in the worst-hit Rajouri and Poonch districts since Wednesday afternoon.

The row between Telugu states over data theft case took a new turn on Wednesday with the Telangana constituting a Special Investigation Team (SIT) while Andhra Pradesh's ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) lodged a police complaint that its data was stolen by Telangana government.

TDP leaders on Wednesday night lodged a police complaint in Guntur against Telangana government. The leaders including TDP's Andhra Pradesh unit president Kala Venkat Rao, cabinet minister P Pulla Rao submitted their complaint to Guntur Rural Superintendent of Police Rajasekhar Babu.

The TDP leaders alleged that the data stored by their party for last two decades was stolen by Telangana police in a conspiracy with YSR Congress party. They sought action against those involved.

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik has been booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) that can keep him in detention for up to two years, JKLF sources said on Thursday.

"Malik Sahab was informed today that he has been booked under the harsh PSA and would be shifted to Kot Balwal Jail in Jammu district," an informed source said.

The JKLF chief was taken into preventive custody on February 22 and was lodged in the Kothibagh police city in Srinagar.

A Maoist has been killed in an encounter with the Kerala Police's Thunderbolt unit, a senior officer said.

The deceased is suspected to be CP Jaleel. An inquest is underway.

The slain member was part of a four member group of the banned outfit, who had come to a resort near here late on Wednesday and demanded food and money, Senior Officer Balram Kumar Upadhyaya told the media.

The resort authorities instantly alerted the police. The Thunderbolt team (especially formed to tackle the Maoists) was immediately despatched for the resort.

Rajiv Kumar, VC NITI Aayog on US decision to withdraw India’s name from GSP program list said, “It will affect our garment exports a little bit, there won't be a huge impact, but if that happens, I think we must take it in our stride and work to improve exporting infrastructure.”

US Senator Marco Rubio has accused Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of going "full gangster" and urged President Donald Trump's nominee for Ambassador to Riyadh to hold the country accountable for human rights abuses.

"He's gone full gangster," Politico news quoted Rubio as saying on Wednesday.

The Florida Senator added that the Saudi royal was "reckless, ruthless" and "increasingly willing to test the limits of what he can get away with".

“Who went to Pakistan? Modi got ISI to probe Pathankot attack, invited then Pak PM Nawaz Sharif for his swearing-in. He not us is poster boy of Pakistan,” says Rahul Gandhi

PM Modi was returning to India from Afghanistan when he stopped off at Pakistan on December 25,2015. The visit coincided with the Pakistani prime minister's birthday.

“On one hand you are saying the documents are missing, so this means the documents are genuine and its clearly written in them that PMO was carrying out parallel negotiations,” says Rahul Gandhi

“We fully support the publication of documents pertaining to the Rafale deal. The argument that they are 'stolen papers' flies in the face of Article 19 of the Constitution,” said Chidambaram in a tweet.

The Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which had closed at 36,636.10 points on Wednesday, opened higher at 36,744.02 points. Minutes into trading, it was quoting at 36,685.11 points, up by 49.01 points, or 0.13 per cent. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader Nifty 50, which had closed at 11,053 points on Wednesday, was quoting at 10, 062 points, up by 9.60 points or 0.09 per cent

Brief exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists in Kralgund. One terrorist has been gunned down by security forces in Handwara. Operation continues