Srinagar, May 7,2024: Sporadic gunfire continued in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Tuesday as the operation to flush out militants entered the second day. There is so far no report of any casualties.
The gun battle erupted on Monday night at Redwani Payeen village of Kulgam after security forces launched an operation in the area following an input about militant presence.
“As the joint team of security forces approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired indiscriminately upon them, which was retaliated effectively leading to an encounter,” a security official said, adding that additional forces were rushed to the area to ensure a tight cordon.
After the initial exchange of fire, there was a lull for most part of the night.
“The operation resumed this morning and there was a fresh exchange of fire in the area,” the official said.
The gun battle in Kulgam broke at a time when Kashmir is in the middle of its general elections. The first Lok Sabha seat in Kashmir going to polls is Srinagar.
Srinagar parliamentary constituency will go to polls on May 13, while Baramulla north Kashmir and Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency will go to polls on May 20 and 25 respectively.
New Delhi, May 2,2024: The Government on Wednesday began the online nominations / recommendations for Padma Awards 2025 to be announced on occasion of Republic Day, 2025.
The last date for nominations for Padma Awards is September 15 and will be received online on the Rashtriya Puraskar Portal (https://awards.gov.in), an official statement said.
The Padma Awards, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, are amongst the highest civilian awards of the country.
Instituted in 1954, these Awards are announced on the Republic Day every year.
The award seeks to recognise ‘work of distinction’ and is given for distinguished and exceptional achievements in all fields such as Art, Literature and Education, Sports, Medicine, Social Work, Science and Engineering, Public Affairs, Civil Service, Trade and Industry, etc.
All persons without distinction of race, occupation, position or sex are eligible for these Awards. Government servants, including those working with PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are not eligible for Padma Awards.
The Government is committed to transform Padma Awards into “People’s Padma”. All citizens are, therefore, requested to make nominations / recommendations, including self-nomination.
Concerted efforts may be made to identify talented persons whose excellence and achievements really deserve to be recognised from amongst women, weaker sections of the society, SCs and STs, divyang persons and who are doing selfless service to the society.
The nominations / recommendations should contain all relevant details specified in the format available on the above said portal, including a citation in narrative form (maximum 800 words), clearly bringing out the distinguished and exceptional achievements / service of the person recommended in her / his respective field / discipline.
Details in this regard are also available under the heading ‘Awards and Medals’ on the website of Ministry of Home Affairs (https://mha.gov.in) and on the Padma Awards portal (https://padmaawards.gov.in).
New Delhi, April 19,2024: The first of the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls on Friday remained largely peaceful with voter turnout exceeding 60% at 7 in the evening.
With this, the fate of as many as 1,625 candidates across 21 states and union territories (UTs) have been locked in EVMs (electronic voting machines).
After the polling began today, sporadic incidents of violence were reported from West Bengal and strife-torn Manipur.
In Tripura, where voting took place for one seat, the vote percentage was the highest at 79.90%. This was followed by West Bengal (three seats), where voter turnout was recorded at 77.57%.
At 47.49%, voter turnout was the lowest in Bihar where four seats were up for grabs.
“The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 PM in many constituencies. Also, voters reaching the polling stations till the end of polling hour are allowed to cast their vote,” Election Commission of India (ECI) said in a press note.
The poll body noted that final figures of voter turnout will be known by Saturday after scrutiny of form 17A.
In phase-I of the general election, polling has been completed for 10 states/UTs to elect 18th Lok Sabha along with polling for state legislative assemblies of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in the northeastern part of the country.
As many as 102 parliamentary constituencies went to polls today. States including Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territories of Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep completed their voting process.
States which saw voting on a few parliamentary constituencies included West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. Voting on the remaining seats would be held in subsequent phases.
Remaining six phases of polls will continue till 1st of June with around 97 crore voters lined up to vote. Counting of votes is scheduled on June 4, 2024.
The counting of votes for the Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will be on June 2.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP is seeking a third straight term and forming the government at the Centre, opposition parties under the banner of Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) are seeking to upstage the ruling party.
New Delhi, Mar 20,2024: The Indian National Congress said on Tuesday that it is fully prepared for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and will soon come with the manifesto, which will not just be a manifesto but the party’s ‘Nyay Patra’ that will fulfill the five guarantees promised to the country.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here on Tuesday, party general secretary KC Venugopal, accompanied by party general secretary Jairam Ramesh, said, “The Congress Working Committee had a detailed discussion on the manifesto for the upcoming 2024 general elections. The CWC has authorized Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to grant final approval for the manifesto. A date for its final release would be made soon.”
Meanwhile, Jairam Ramesh said, “The CWC meeting held today is not just for the manifesto but for our Nyay Patra.”
Earlier in the day, the CWC extensively discussed the party manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections that was chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The meeting was attended by Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former party president Rahul Gandhi, and members of the CWC.
In his inaugural speech, Kharge said, “The country has been fervently demanding a change. The guarantees currently being touted by the present government would have the same fate as that of the ‘India Shining’ slogan of 2004”.
He urged the party leaders to ensure that the manifesto gets the widest publicity in different states and that the party’s commitment is taken to every household across the country and to the to the people at large.
New Delhi, Mar 12,224: A Day after the government notified the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday launched a new portal for those who have been persecuted on religious grounds in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
Moreover, the government will soon be launching a mobile app called ‘CAA-2019’ to facilitate applications.
On social media handle X, the Home Ministry said that, through this portal, eligible persons under CAA-2019 can apply for citizenship.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to six minority refugees—Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians—who had sought shelter in India before December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
It may be mentioned that ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the government on Monday notified the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).