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.
Nashik, Apr 9 (PTI) Jailed self-proclaimed godman and astrologer Ashok Kharat was arrested in a third case of rape and produced via video link before a court in Maharashtra's Nashik district which on Thursday sent him to five-day police custody. In the third case, Kharat, who was first arrested in mid-March, is accused of sexually exploiting a seven-month pregnant woman, the wife of his office staffer. On April 8, Kharat was remanded to 14-day judicial custody till April 21 in the second rape case. As a result, he was sent to the Nashik Road Central Jail. However, during the hearing of the second case, the state government-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing multiple offences against the 'godman', filed an application seeking his custody in another (third) case of sexual assault. After the court allowed the application, an SIT team took Kharat's custody from the Nashik jail and produced him before Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) B N Ichpurani, which sent him to police remand till April 13. Due to security reasons, the court proceedings were held through video conferencing and the accused, a Nashik district resident who claims to be a former merchant navy officer, was not produced before the CJM in person. During arguments on remand plea, public prosecutor Shailendra Bagde, who represented the SIT, pleaded that there was need for more inquiry in the third case and sought Kharat's police custody for interrogation. He added that in the third case, the astrologer raped a seven-month pregnant woman under the pretext of performing a ritual for good progeny. Bagde submitted that police still have to find out from where Kharat procured toy snakes and tigers to scare his customers. Also, investigation of his financial transactions were yet to be done, the SIT lawyer contended and sought seven-day custody of the accused. However, defence lawyer Sachin Bhate pleaded that all things mentioned by police in the plea have been investigated earlier and there was no need for fresh police custody of his client. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court remanded Kharat to five-day police custody. In the beginning of the hearing, the CJM asked the 'godman' if he had anything to say, to which he replied in the negative. According to the complaint lodged by the victim's husband, who was an employee in the office of Kharat, the accused sexually assaulted the survivor on multiple occasions, including in his office in Nashik, between November 2023 and December 2025. Her ordeal continued even when the woman seven-month pregnant, alleged the complaint. Kharat also conducted a ritual with the pregnant woman at a temple in Mirgaon village of Sinnar taluka of the district, it said. Though the victim informed her husband about her plight, he did not believe her in the beginning. But when he heard about complaints of Kharat's misbehaviour with other women also, he planted a spy camera in the astrologer's office to find out the truth and recorded his acts. When Kharat came to know this, he threatened the employee with dire consequences. The same employee, working with Kharat since 2019, later handed over to police a pen drive containing objectionable videos of the 'godman'. Investigating officer Amol Bharti gave details about the case to the court during hearing on the remand plea. Kharat faces nearly a dozen cases, eight of them related to sexual assaults. PTI COR RSY
New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) "On the face of it you are a corrupt person. Crores of rupees were recovered from your premises," the Supreme Court on Wednesday told former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, held in an alleged cash-for-job scam in the state. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, which reserved its verdict on the bail plea of Chatterjee, questioned the enforcement directorate (ED) over his continued incarceration saying he cannot be kept inside for an indefinite period. "On the face of it you are a corrupt person. Crores of Rupees were recovered from your premises. Wha ...Read More >
A temple locked since 1978 communal riots in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, has been reopened by authorities during an anti-encroachment drive. The Bhasma Shankar temple, containing idols of Lord Hanuman and a Shivling, was rediscovered during an electricity theft inspection. This follows recent violence and heightened tensions in the area, including a mosque survey dispute and loudspeaker fine.The Sambhal administration here on Saturday uncovered and reopened a temple, which is said to have been closed ...Read More >
Port Blair: Namita Roy was just 26 years old when she gave birth to her son, 'Tsunami', in a snake-infested jungle where she and her family took shelter after deadly waves triggered by a massive earthquake devoured her home in Hut Bay Island in Andaman and Nicobar on this day in 2004. Twenty years later, she remembers the day with a shudder. "I don't want to recall that dark day. I was pregnant and busy with daily chores. Suddenly, I noticed an eerie silence and was shocked to witness the sea receding miles from our shore. We also noticed zugunruhe in birds," she told PTI. "Seconds later, th ...Read More >
Guwahati, Jun 5 (PTI) The Assam Congress on Thursday demanded a CBI inquiry into alleged illegal stone mining in Karbi Anglong district in violation of a Supreme Court order. Addressing a press conference here, former Rajya Sabha member Ripun Bora also alleged that Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council Chief Executive Member Tuliram Ronghang was allowing illegal activities in the district in nexus with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. "Large-scale illegal stone mining is taking place in the hills of Karbi Anglong in violation of the Supreme Court order. The SC had banned mining in and around K ...Read More >
Washington [US], November 27 (ANI): Former One Direction star Liam Payne's family is taking legal action and it has informed that they could bring private criminal action against anyone who contributed to his death, reported Page Six. Lawyers for Liam Payne's family were in court in Argentina on Tuesday. Page Six has obtained papers indicating that music industry veteran lawyer Richard Bray, operating on behalf of the family, has transferred his legal interests to a local law company in Buenos Aires. This implies that Payne's loved ones will be named plaintiffs in any future criminal cases. ...Read More >
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The museum police have arrested three caretakers of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) for allegedly injuring a two-and-a-half-year-old child. The accused -- Ajitha, Maheswari, and Sindhu were taken into custody on Tuesday under the POCSO Act and relevant sections of the BNS. The incident reportedly happened when the child was hurt in the genital area as a punishment for urinating on the bed. The injury came to light when the child was being bathed. On noticing it, CWC General ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 11 (PTI) Two men drowned in a temple pond in Uloor while taking a bath on Wednesday, police said. The deceased persons, identified as auto drivers hailing from nearby places, were found drowning in the pond by local people. Though they sprung into a rescue mission, the two men were brought out dead. Due to the depth of the pond, there was a compound wall and gate to prevent people from entering the temple pond, but the auto drivers ignored the warning, local people added. PTI LGK KH ...Read More >
Khargone (MP), Dec 11 (PTI) Spiritual leader Sant Siyaram Baba passed away on Wednesday at 94 following a brief illness at his ashram on the banks of the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh, an official said. Siyaram Baba breathed his last around 6.10 am in his ashram in Bhattyan village, said Khargone district Superintendent of Police Dharmaraj Meena. Condolences poured in from various quarters. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, former CM Digvijaya Singh, and ex-Union minister Arun Yadav among others expressed grief over the death of the Hindu seer, a revered figure in the Nimar region ...Read More >
Kottayam (Kerala,), May 27 (PTI) Sister Anupama, who was the face of protests against former Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal in a rape case, has renounced nunhood and gone back to ordinary life, leaving the Catholic convent. For several years, she had been an inmate of a Kuravilangad-based convent, which is functioning under the Latin Catholic diocese of Jalandhar. A group of nuns, led by Sister Anupama, had fought on behalf of the victim nun who had accused Mulakkal of raping her multiple times. "She renounced nunhood and left the convent some time back," a church source told PTI. Howeve ...Read More >
Hyderabad: In a significant boost for 'Make in India' and 'Atmanirbharta' in the aerospace and defence sector, and Hyderabad's growing stature as a global aerospace hub, the complete fuselage of the Rafale fighter jet will now be made in India at Hyderabad. This move marks the first time that these Rafale components will be manufactured outside France for the Indian as well as global markets.French aerospace major Dassault Aviation has signed four production transfer agreements with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) for manufacturing key sections of the Rafale fighter jet, including the lateral ...Read More >
Muzaffarnagar (UP), Dec 6 (PTI) A teacher who asked other students to slap a Muslim boy in a school here surrendered at a POCSO court and was released on bail, an official said on Friday. Tripta Tyagi was caught last year in a video asking children to slap a boy in a school where she taught. Additional District Judge (POCSO) Alka Bharti on Thursday granted her bail and ordered her to furnish two sureties of Rs 25,000 each. She posted the matter for further hearing on Friday. Kapil Ahlawat, Tyagi's lawyer, told PTI that Tyagi had surrendered in the Special POCSO court on Thursday and sought ...Read More >
Also Read | Sambhal sparks rift: INDIA bloc allies face leadership turmoil? "Multiple encroachments are being seen around the area," Sambhal DM Rajendra Pensia told ANI. Pensia said, "There was encroachment on roads, sewers, water bodies, and that too for a long time. We are undertaking an 'abhiyan' (drive) to fix it. We launched a campaign in Chandausi and we had decided we would start the campaign here in November. But we could not start." The DM stated the anti-encroachment drive will conti ...Read More >
New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) The Pakistan high commission on Wednesday said it issued 84 visas to Indian pilgrims to visit the Shree Katas Raj temples in Punjab province's Chakwal district. The group has been given visas to visit the Katas Raj temples from December 19 to 25. The temples are also known as Qila Katas. It is a complex of several Hindu temples connected to one another by walkways. Under the provision of a bilateral protocol on visits to religious shrines, Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from India visit Pakistan every year.Pakistani pilgrims also visit India every year under the protocol. ...Read More >
Haridwar: A woman politician has been arrested for allegedly letting her boyfriend and others repeatedly rape her 13-year-old daughter in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. The horrifying crime, which occurred between January and March, was exposed when the minor bravely confided in her father, prompting a police investigation that led to the arrest of the accused. The accused was arrested with her boyfriend and one more. According to police reports, the minor was gang-raped multiple times, often in the presence of her mother. The minor, who had been living with her father following her parents' separat ...Read More >
Kottayam (Kerala), Dec 12 (PTI) The historic struggle for equality that took place in Vaikom a century ago, popularly known as the Vaikom Satyagraha, was not a movement confined to Kerala but marked the starting point for various other struggles for social justice, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Thursday. In his address at Vaikom in this district after inaugurating the renovated Thanthai Periyar Memorial and Periyar Library, Stalin said that while impressive strides have been made in areas of social justice and economy in 100 years, a lot more has to be achieved. Stalin inaugur ...Read More >
Sambhal (UP), Dec 15 (PTI) Weeks after violent clashes over a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid claimed four lives, the district administration has launched a campaign against encroachments and illegal power theft in the area around the historic mosque. As part of its efforts, the administration began removing encroachments from the area on Sunday morning. According to Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Shrish Chandra, the focus is on clearing drains outside houses and shops in the area under the Nakhasa police station. The area is close to the residence of Samajwadi Part ...Read More >
Thane, Dec 26 (VOICE) A couple has been arrested in connection with the abduction, rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Thane district. Coming barely after the Badlapur sexual assault on two nursery class girls in August, this is the second case that has sparked outrage with people demanding the noose for the alleged perpetrators - Vishal Gawli, 35 and his wife Sakshi Gawli, 25. Vishal Gawli is accused of kidnapping the girl from near her home, where she was playing on Monday, taking her to his house, assaulting, raping, killing and then dumping her body near a cemetery in ...Read More >
Bengaluru, January 14: In a heart-wrenching incident, a 26-year-old woman allegedly threw her four young children into a canal in Karnataka's Vijayapura. According to the reports, the woman took this extreme step allegedly due to financial distress. A case has been registered, and the police have launched a probe. According to the Indian Express, the woman was identified as Bhagyashree Bhajantri. The bodies of her two daughters, Tanushree (5) and Suraksha (3), were recovered later that day while search operations continued for her 13-month-old twin sons. Bengaluru Shocker: Man Slits Wife's Th ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 5 (PTI) Chief Justice of India B R Gavai on Thursday said India has continuously aspired to become a hub of international arbitration by building a progressive legislative framework, a pro-enforcement judiciary and robust institutional support. In his keynote address on "Arbitrating Indo-UK Commercial Disputes" as part of the London International Disputes Week, the CJI said India and the United Kingdom shared a rich history, bound by a common legal heritage rooted in the principles of common law. He referred to the July 2018 memorandum of understanding signed between India and ...Read More >
Mumbai, Jun 5 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday inaugurated the final 76-km-long stretch of the Samruddhi Mahamarg, making the entire 701-km Mumbai-Nagpur corridor fully functional and bringing down the travel time between the two cities to 8 hours from around 18 hours. Fadnavis described the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Mahamarg as an "engineering marvel" and said this "economic corridor" would play a vital role in the state's development. Fadnavis said by connecting the expressway with the proposed Vadhvan port, they are planning to develop it as an "economic corrid ...Read More >
Following violence in Sambhal on November 24 related to a mosque survey, authorities plan to publicly display posters of over 400 identified individuals involved. 32 have been arrested so far. The posters will exclude those arrested. The government aims to hold those responsible for property damage accountable. Four people were killed, and many injured during the clash.The Sambhal administration on Thursday said it will put up posters of those involved in the November 24 violence. "We will put up ...Read More >
Kuldeep Singh Sengar is also serving a 10-year jail term in connection with the custodial death of the Unnao rape victim's father. Kuldeep Singh Sengar sought interim bail on the grounds that he was suffering from various ailments The Delhi High Court on Thursday granted a two-week interim bail on medical grounds to expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar who is serving life term for raping a minor in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao in 2017. A bench headed by Justice Prathiba M Singh suspended the sent ...Read More >
Mumbai BEST accident: Amid ongoing investigations into the Kurla accident case, the Mumbai police on Tuesday, sought custody of the driver of the electric bus - operated by the civic-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), which led to the death of seven persons, and injured 42 others on December 10. Reportedly, the Mumbai police suspect that the driver, Sanjay More, might have 'deliberately' attacked the people, using the bus as a 'weapon'. A magistrate court has now ruled that More would be under the custody of Mumbai Police until December 21. The Mumbai Police presented San ...Read More >
Mumbai, Dec 17 (PTI) Senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal on Tuesday launched a veiled attack on party president Ajit Pawar over his exclusion from the new council of ministers, claiming Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was in favour of his induction in the cabinet. He said Ajit Pawar, the NCP president, makes decisions for the party like Fadnavis for the BJP and Eknath Shinde for the Shiv Sena. Amid speculation over his "Jahan nahi chaina, wahan nahi rehna" remark a day before, Bhujbal said he would speak on Wednesday after discussing with NCP workers and people from the Yeola cons ...Read More >
Shimla, Jan 14 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh Police has filed an FIR against two men from Haryana for allegedly raping a married woman in a hotel in Kasauli, officials said on Tuesday. The accused, Mohanlal Badoli and Jai Bhagwan alias Rocky, also made videos of the act and threatened to kill the victim if she disclosed the incident to anyone, they said. The FIR was registered in Kasauli in Solan district on December 13, 2024. A copy of the FIR was doing the rounds on social media on Tuesday. According to the FIR, the woman was staying in a hotel in Kasauli with her boss and friend when she and he ...Read More >
Kolkata, May 23 (PTI) The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed protesting teachers and other staff of West Bengal government-run and -aided schools, who lost their jobs due to a Supreme Court ruling, to shift their protest venue in the interest of public convenience. The court also limited the number of participants to 200 at any given time. Hearing petitions filed by the Deserving Teachers Rights Forum, under whose banner the protest is being organised, and the state government, Justice Tirthankar Ghosh ordered the protesters to move to Central Park in Salt Lake, located opposite Bikash B ...Read More >
Mumbai, Jun 5 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who inaugurated the final stretch of the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway on Thursday, swapped the driver's seat with his deputy Eknath Shinde during the inspection of the route - much like their political role reversal last year. In order to inspect the project, Shinde drove an Audi car from Igatpuri in Nashik district for a few kilometers accompanied by Fadnavis and deputy Ajit Pawar, while on their return journey, the trio travelled together with CM taking over the steering of high-end Lexus car. In the last phase of the ...Read More >
Hyderabad: The phone tapping case in Telangana took a dramatic turn on Tuesday with the police booking former minister T. Harish Rao and others. A case against the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and others was registered at Panjagutta Police Station in Hyderabad on a complaint by G. Chakradhar Goud, a real estate businessman. The complainant, who is also the founder of Farmers First Foundation, alleged harassment, threats, and unlawful phone surveillance. Panjagutta Police registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 120(B) (Criminal conspiracy), 386 (Extortion), 409 (Crimin ...Read More >
Dhanbad/Gumla, Dec 4 (PTI) Thousands of people from various Hindu organisations on Wednesday took out rallies in Jharkhand's Dhanbad and Gumla cities in protest against the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh and the arrest of spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das. Demanding the immediate release of Das, the protesters urged the Indian government to intervene and stop the atrocities being perpetrated on minority Hindus in the neighbouring country. In Dhanbad, Hindu Rashtriya Samanvya Samiti (HRSS) organised the protest, which was attended by members of Dhanbad ISKCON, Bajrang Dal, BJP and other o ...Read More >
Dehradun, Dec 4 (PTI) A Dehradun-based property dealer was killed by a man he had hired to eliminate his business partner, police said. Four people have been arrested in connection with the incident. Manjesh Kumar (42) hired Arjun Kumar (30) to kill his business partner Sanjay Singh alias Fauji, however, the hitman later disclosed the plot to him, Dehradun SSP Ajai Singh said. Sanjay Singh then offered the hitman Rs 10 crore to kill Kumar instead, the SSP added. Lured by the money, the contract killer, Arjun Kumar (30) , invited Manjesh Kumar to a party on November 29 at his friend Sachin's ...Read More >