India's political landscape is ablaze with activity! From the ongoing debates surrounding the new farm bills and their impact on rural India, to the upcoming state elections shaping the national narrative, the stakes couldn't be higher. Key political figures are maneuvering strategically, with alliances shifting and power dynamics constantly in flux. The opposition's challenge to the ruling party is intensifying, sparking vigorous debates on crucial policy matters including economic reforms and social justice initiatives. Parliamentary proceedings are filled with heated exchanges, reflecting the deep divisions within the nation. This evolving political climate directly impacts the lives of every Indian citizen, influencing everything from economic opportunities to social welfare programs. Stay informed about the latest developments in Indian politics, from crucial legislative decisions to grassroots movements, by exploring Abtak.com for in-depth analysis and breaking news updates. Understanding the intricacies of our political system is crucial; stay engaged, stay informed, and stay ahead.
Mumbai, Apr 7 (PTI) The Maharashtra government has approved the rollout of four-year undergraduate programmes, introducing honours and honours with research degrees from the 2026-27 academic year in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The decision aims to bring uniformity and ensure effective implementation of the revised four-year undergraduate structure across all public universities, and affiliated as well as autonomous colleges in the state. According to a government resolution (GR) issued on Monday, the four-year undergraduate programme will be structured into eight semesters, offering two options after completion of the third year: a standard honours degree and an honours degree with research. Students opting for the honours degree will be required to complete 160-176 credits over four years, including an internship component in the final year, while those choosing the honours with research track will have to undertake a research project or dissertation, carrying 12 credits in their major subject. The Higher and Technical Education Department, in the GR, stated that eligibility for admission to the fourth year of the honours programme will require successful completion of 120-132 credits in the first three years. For the honours with research programme, students must also secure a minimum cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 7.5. The intake capacity for the research track will be determined based on the availability of recognised PhD guides, with each guide allowed to supervise up to five students. The GR mandates that all students register on the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) platform to facilitate credit transfer and enable multiple entry and exit options under the NEP framework. It also allows lateral entry into the fourth year at other colleges or university departments, subject to eligibility, seat availability and the state's reservation policy. Colleges offering only three-year undergraduate programmes will be required to obtain permission to start the fourth year. However, institutions already offering postgraduate courses in the same subject will be allowed to introduce the fourth-year honours programme automatically, while those with recognised PhD centres can also start the honours with research programme without additional approvals. The evaluation system will be semester-based, combining continuous assessment and semester-end examinations, with universities given flexibility to decide the exact assessment pattern. The GR further permits up to 40 per cent of courses in a semester to be offered through online platforms such as SWAYAM, in line with UGC regulations. Linking undergraduate and postgraduate education, the government stated that the fourth year of the Honours programme would be aligned with the first year of a two-year postgraduate course. For engineering programmes governed by AICTE, the fourth year will follow a separate framework allowing options such as a single major with a minor, a double minor, and honours degrees. The government said that the implementation of these guidelines will be reviewed periodically through a steering committee to ensure smooth rollout across the state. PTI MR ARU
Jalna, December 17: Activist Manoj Jarange on Tuesday announced that he would launch an indefinite fast on January 25, 2025, to press for the Maratha community's demands, including reservation in jobs and education under the OBC category. Addressing the media at Antarwali Sarthi village in Jalna, Jarange urged members of the Maratha community to gather in large numbers at the protest site. "No one should stay at home. Come to Antarwali Sarthi, and let us show our collective strength," he said. The 42-year-old activist has been demanding the implementation of a draft notification that recognis ...Read More >
CHITTOOR (Andhra Pradesh): The Apollo University, Apollo Hospitals and University of Leicester, United Kingdom, have partnered to establish the Centre for Digital Health and Precision Medicine (CDHPM) at The Apollo University campus in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. The advanced research center will bring together the expertise and resources of both institutions to create a global hub for digital health and precision medicine. The CDHPM will be the hub in Chittoor, India. The hub at the University of Leicester will be based at the BHF Cardiovascular Research Centre at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester ...Read More >
Hyderabad: The National Medical Commission (NMC), the regulatory authority for medical education in India, cautioned MBBS aspirants and their parents not to fall for fake offers promising easy admissions and offshore courses that are not legally sanctioned. The commission pointed out several unauthorised medical colleges operating in India without requisite approvals that mislead students and parents by offering bogus courses. In an advisory, NMC listed out important points during admission process in medical colleges across India and mandatory rules while pursuing education in foreign count ...Read More >
Berhampur (Odisha), Jun 6 (PTI) Environmental activist Medha Patkar on Saturday appealed to the people of Odisha for protection of Rushikulya river. The government planned to construct a dam in the river Pipalapnaka under Sorada block in the district. While participating in the Save Rushikulya river movement in Ganjam district, she said, "Rivers may be small or big, but they are our mother. We have to protect the rivers from attacks." She attended a meeting were organised by the Rushikulya Banchao Kriyaanusthan Committee (RBKC) and the Centre for Climate Justice, spearheading the agitation a ...Read More >
Chennai: Hours before Union home minister Amit Shah was to arrive in Madurai, Thuglak editor and an associate of Shah, S Gurumurthy on Saturday met PMK founder S Ramadoss. The PMK leader, however, ruled out the possibility of meeting Amit Shah during his two-day visit to Tamil Nadu.Gurumurthy met Ramadoss for the second time amid reported tension within PMK regarding alliance strategies and insistence by Anbumani Ramadoss to remain party president. The hour-long meeting took place at the T Nagar residence of A K Vijay Mahesh, son of former Union minister and PMK leader A K Moorthy, sources sai ...Read More >
Lakhimpur Kheri, December 3: Talent knows no boundaries. A testament to this is 28-year-old Muneer Khan from Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, whose innovations and technical skills have gained him global recognition. From a 'smart water bottle' to 'smart soil testing device,' and more recently, 'AI-enabled eye-glasses,' what makes his innovations stand out is their ability to improve everyday convenience for ordinary people. Born in a humble and poor family in Kheri's Gauriya village, Muneer lost his father when he was just one year old. His four older brothers and mother worked tirelessly t ...Read More >
Bengaluru, Dec 11 (PTI) The National Law School of India University, which has pioneered and developed an integrated five-year BA LLB (honours) degree that transformed Indian legal education, has now come up with a three-year (honours) BA course with an option of an additional fourth year. The first cohort of the programme will be admitted in July 2025, the NLSIU said. "We are looking to develop something that is responsive to 2025, but is completely different," the NLSIU Vice Chancellor Sudhir Krishnaswamy said at the launch of the programme. He said the university will teach the social sc ...Read More >
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has raised concern over terminally ill prisoners languishing in Maharashtra's jails and asked the state govt to consider proper implementation of an advisory on grant of medical bail or to place them in house arrest. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan on Monday said they visited the Yerwada central prison in Pune on Sunday and met with prisoners, particularly women inmates, and inspected the condition there. The bench referred to a ...Read More >
New Delhi: University Grant Commission (UGC) Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar has announced changes in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), undergraduate and postgraduate 2025, saying the total number of subjects has been reduced to 37 from 63 and there will be uniform exam duration of 60 minutes. He said 20 language subjects have been discontinued and admissions to the dropped subjects can be done based on General Aptitude Test (GAT) scores. The domain-specific subjects were 29 earlier, but the UGC has decided to discontinue six subjects, bringing the number down to 23, Kumar added. The cha ...Read More >
Belagavi (Karnataka), Dec 12 (PTI) Tensions flared in the Karnataka Assembly on Thursday as BJP MLAs barged into Speaker U T Khader's chamber, expressing strong objections to his handling of the proceedings. The confrontation came amidst heated debates over the recent police lathi charge on Panchamasali Lingayat protesters, with the ruling Congress and opposition BJP trading accusations. The issue arose when Congress MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar, himself a leader of the Panchamasali Lingayat community, criticized the decision of previous BJP government to scrap the 4 per cent Muslim reservati ...Read More >
Bengaluru, Jun 6 (PTI) Karnataka BJP general secretary P Rajeev on Friday said he has filed a police complaint seeking legal action against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar and Home Minister G Parameshwara for the June 4 stampede that killed 11 people. The stampede occurred on Wednesday evening in front of the Chinnaswamy stadium here, where a large number of people thronged to participate in the RCB team's IPL victory celebrations. Eleven people died and 56 were injured in the incident. Also Read | Bengaluru Stampede: Police Complaint Lodged Against Virat Kohli Over St ...Read More >
Mumbai, Jun 6 (PTI) The first 'Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Circuit Train Tour' has received overwhelming response as all the seats have been booked ahead of the scheduled departure on June 9, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited said on Friday. In a release, IRCTC, a 'Navratna' PSU under the railway ministry, said all 710 seats have been booked in 11 coaches. These comprise 480 in the Economy (Sleeper) category, 190 in Comfort (3AC) and 40 in Superior (2AC), indicating strong interest across travel classes, it added. IRCTC in collaboration with Maharashtra government ...Read More >
Srinagar: Before towering cranes and cutting-edge engineering transformed the Himalayan landscape, the monumental dream of connecting "Kashmir to Kanyakumari" by rail began with the plodding footsteps of humble mules. This extraordinary backstory underpins the official realization of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6, 2025, a project crowned by the awe-inspiring Chenab Bridge. According to Afcons Infrastructure Limited, the company behind the Chenab Bridge, the earliest and most formidable hurdle wasn't just the design of ...Read More >
New Delhi: From 2025, the CUET-UG will be conducted exclusively as a computer-based test (CBT), and students will have the flexibility to appear for any subject, regardless of what they studied in class 12. This decision follows a review conducted by an expert panel set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC), as explained by UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar. What are the major changes? In an interview with PTI, Kumar elaborated on the changes saying, "The exam will be conducted only in CBT mode from 2025, unlike the hybrid mode used last year. We have also reduced the number of subjects fr ...Read More >
Mumbai: The University of Mumbai (MU) on Wednesday announced a revised schedule for pre-admission online registration for undergraduate admissions for the academic year 2025-2026. This decision comes after three merit lists were already published under the original schedule and is aimed at giving an opportunity to students who failed to complete their registration in time. Students will now be able to register online for admission between 6 and 10 June 2025 through the university's official website at https://mu.ac.in/admission. The university has clarified that applications submitted during ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Former head of Air India and chairman of the Railway Board Ashwani Lohani is the new Prime Ministers Museum and Library (PMML) director. The official order for his appointment was issued on Wednesday. A 1980-batch officer of the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering (IRSME), Lohani is known for turning around various organisations during his illustrious career. Following his retirement from IRSME service, he joined the GMR Group as the CEO. According to the order dated June 4, his appointment to the post of director, Prime Ministers Museum and Library in the rank and pa ...Read More >
Katra, Jun 6 (PTI) As the valley delves into jubilation over freshly launched rail connectivity, traders in adjacent Jammu were a bit subdued, apprehending a loss of business because of the travellers bypassing them wholesale straight to Kashmir. As a result, traders' outfits in the district have urged the government to think about the economic impact and address it. "We congratulate the prime minister on this historic step. It will provide Kashmir with all-weather connectivity. But it will inevitably affect business in Jammu. The government must look into this aspect," Jammu Traders' Associ ...Read More >
Rajgir/Gayaji (Bihar), Jun 6 (PTI) Rejecting outright the 50 per cent cap on caste-based reservations, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday vowed that "the barrier will be broken" in whichever part of the country his party came to power. The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha made the promise in Bihar, the state which was a hotbed of the Mandal agitation in the 1990s, and where polls to the assembly are likely in a few months. "I wonder where did this idea of a 50 per cent cap come from? The population of the deprived sections is close to 90 per cent," said the former Congress president ...Read More >
Katra: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jammu and Kashmir on Friday to inaugurate multiple rail projects, including the world's highest Chenab Rail Bridge, the Anji Khad Bridge, and the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat Express, as part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link. These railway projects directly connect Jammu and Kashmir to the rest of the country. The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link is an all-weather railway corridor designed to provide seamless connectivity to the region through the rail network. During his visit, PM Modi reviewed the Chenab bridge, world's highest ra ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) An Apache helicopter of the Indian Air Force (IAF) made a "precautionary landing" in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur on Friday due to a technical issue while on a routine sortie, officials said. Both the pilot and the co-pilot are safe, they said. Also Read | Bengaluru Stampede: Police Complaint Lodged Against Virat Kohli Over Stampede Tragedy Near Chinnaswamy Stadium. An IAF Apache helicopter made a "precautionary landing" in Saharanpur around 11 am due to a technical issue, a senior IAF official said. All necessary checks were conducted after the landing and the helicop ...Read More >
Srinagar, Jun 7 (PTI) Authorities on Saturday barred Eid prayers from taking place at the Eidgah ground and the Jama Masjid in the old city here, while Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq claimed that he was put under house arrest. "Anjuman Auqaf Jama Masjid Srinagar deeply regrets to inform that the authorities have once again disallowed Eid-ul-Adha prayers at the Eidgah as well as at the historic Jama Masjid in Srinagar by closing the gates of the mosque and deploying police personnel outside," the management of the historic mosque said in a statement. ...Read More >
New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Wednesday announced a significant update in its approach to conducting the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for both undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) students for the year 2025. The UGC has invited public feedback on the revised methodology aiming to refine the examination process for a better and more efficient testing environment for candidates. Since its inception in 1956 under the UGC Act, UGC has been pivotal in setting and maintaining the standards for higher education, coordinating with universities, and providing fina ...Read More >
New Delhi, May 23 (PTI) The GST Council is likely to meet soon to discuss rate simplification and rationalisation and the future of compensation cess, according to a source. "There are three or four different aspects relating to making GST simpler. We will take up the issue of compensation cess, rate rationalisation and simplification," the source said. The GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister and comprising state counterparts, in its meeting in December last year, did not take up the GoM reports on rate rationalisation and rate reduction in health and life insurance. The two GoMs ...Read More >
There were no external injuries on the body. New Delhi: A student has been found dead in his hostel room at IIT Delhi. The room was locked from the inside and there were no external injuries on his body.. Officials said they received a call at the Kishangarh police station on Wednesday about a student not opening the door of his hostel room despite repeated knocking. When they reached the premier institute, police officials found that the door was locked from the inside, and it was forced open ...Read More >
Silchar: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday visited the flood-ravaged districts of Hailakandi and Sribhumi in the Barak Valley. He assured affected residents of providing timely disbursement of rehabilitation grants and swift repair of damaged infrastructure.This marks Sarma's second visit to the flood-hit region within four days, underscoring the gravity of the situation. Speaking to the media in Sribhumi after inspecting multiple relief camps, the CM said, "Flood-related problems may persist till July. I will return before Durga Puja to ensure that roads and infrastructure ar ...Read More >
Mumbai, Dec 3 (PTI) Maharashtra's caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday visited a private hospital in Thane for a "check-up," two days before a new CM is sworn in at an open ground ceremony in south Mumbai. Even as it is not known yet who would take oath as chief minister at Azad Maidan on the evening of December 5, preparations are in full swing for the ceremony, to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, about 2,000 VVIPs and some 40,000 supporters. Shinde, who had been staying at his private residence in Thane for the last few days, visited the hospital in the morning. "I ...Read More >
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Thursday took strong action against the police officers allegedly responsible for the Bengaluru stampede, suspending several high-ranking officials, including the city's police commissioner. Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also announced a one-man commission to probe the lapses that triggered the deadly stampede. "Cubbon Park Police Station police inspector, station house master, station house officer, ACP, Central Division DCP, cricket stadium in-charge, additional commissioner of police, commissioner of police have been susp ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) Almost every manufacturer in India, across various segments covered in a survey, has either invested in artificial intelligence and machine learning technology or is planning to do so, a senior officer from Rockwell Automation said on Friday. While sharing details of the survey, Rockwell Automation India Managing Director Dilip Sawhney told PTI that in a survey on smart manufacturing conducted two years ago, about two-thirds of organisations said they would either have already invested in AI or planned to do so in the next 12 months or thereafter. This figure crossed th ...Read More >
BENGALURU: Coming from Yedugundlapadu, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, where she was the first engineer ever, Professor Madhavi Latha is now among the technical minds behind the Chenab Rail Bridge -- the world's tallest railway bridge -- inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. Madhavi, who hails from a family of farmers, completed her entire schooling in government school. The youngest of four siblings, she had initially dreamt of becoming a doctor. But with limited resources, her parents suggested engineering, which was more affordable through government colleges. Madhavi ...Read More >
Imphal, June 7 (UNI) Three militants were nabbed in separate incidents during the last 24 hours in Manipur, police said on Saturday. Manipur Police arrested a militant from Moidangpok Awang Leikai from Khumbong Bazar under Imphal West District, they said. Security forces arrested a militant from the Elangkhanpokpi Mayai Leikai area under Kakching district. Security forces apprehended a militant from Wangoo Samushang in Bishnupur district and elected members from Kumbi area. In an operation, one M16 rifle, one bolt-action rifle, three pull-mechanism rifles, three improvised mortars, and fiv ...Read More >