Piya Sharma

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that those who turned down the invitation for the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be rejected by the people in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. He was apparently referring to the Congress party for not attending the event. Modi said a decision on building the Ram temple should have been taken the very next day of the country's independence. Targeting the Congress on the issue, he alleged that the "same forces" tried till the last minute to ensure that the Ram temple was not built and had approached the court on the last day as well. "The Congress and its coterie have tried for 70 years that the Ram temple should not be built," the prime minister said addressing a public gathering at this taluka headquarters town in Uttara Kannada district. The trustees of Ram temple ignored all the hurdles put by the Congress and its allies, went to their houses and invited them to attend the consecration ceremony, which was a kind gesture on their part, he said. "They (Congress leaders) rejected the Ram temple inauguration invitation. The country will reject those who turned down the Ram temple invitation," Modi said. Source Link : Those who turned down Ram temple invitation will be rejected by voters: PM Modi

A bridge on the National Highway 2 in ethnic violence-hit Manipur's Kangpokpi district was partially damaged in an IED explosion early on Wednesday, disrupting traffic movement in the area, police said. The blast occurred on the bridge between Sapermeina and Koubru Leikha areas around 12.45 am, an officer said. No casualties were reported so far in the improvised explosive device (IED) blast, he said. Three craters and cracks on both ends of the bridge were noticed, the officer said. Movement of heavy vehicles has been stopped on the bridge connecting Manipur's capital Imphal with Nagaland's Dimapur. Minutes after the explosion, police personnel rushed to the spot and cordoned off the bridge, he said, adding that an investigation into the IED blast has been initiated. Some two-wheelers, however, were seen plying on the bridge this morning. The IED explosion occurred hours after gunfights broke out between village volunteers of the two warring communities in Imphal West district. Over 200 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence in Manipur between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjacent hills-based Kukis since May last year. Source Link : IED explosion damages bridge on NH 2 in Manipur

Shares of HDFC Bank on Monday declined over 1 per cent, reversing early gains, after reporting its March quarter earnings over the weekend. The stock dipped 1.14 per cent to Rs 1,513.80 even after a positive beginning on the BSE. On the NSE, shares of the company went lower by 1.15 per cent to Rs 1,513.65, paring early gains. HDFC Bank on Saturday reported a Rs 17,257.87 crore net profit for January-March on a consolidated basis, over 2 per cent higher than that in the preceding quarter. Its consolidated net profit for FY24 came at 64,060 crore. On a standalone basis, the country's largest private sector lender reported a net profit of Rs 16,511.85 crore in the January-March quarter as against Rs 16,372.54 crore in the October-December quarter. In July 2023, the bank merged its home loan-focused parent HDFC into itself. HDFC Bank has reported good Q4 results with improving margins, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services. The bank, which is among the first lenders to announce the numbers for the quarter, reported that the core net interest income grew to Rs 29,080 crore for the reporting quarter, while the other income grew to Rs 18,170 crore. On the net interest margin (NIM), wherein it had to face investors' concerns earlier, it reported a 0.04 per cent improvement to 3.44 per cent for the reporting quarter. The gross non-performing assets ratio improved marginally to 1.24 per cent from 1.26 per cent in the quarter-ago period. Source Link: HDFC Bank shares decline over 1 pc; pare early gains

Noida resident Wardah Khan who quit her corporate job to prepare for the civil services secured the 18th rank in the UPSC exam 2023, opting for the IFS as her first preference to further the image of India at global platforms. The exam results were announced on Tuesday by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The 24-year-old UPSC exam qualifier says she opted for the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) as her first preference as she wishes to make the country proud at global platforms. "Like every other aspirant, when we start our journey, we dream of finding our name on the result list. But getting into the top 20 was unimaginable, I had not imagined to be able to be in the top 20. It's a dreamy feeling right now. Everyone in my family is very happy and beaming with pride," Khan told PTI. "I have opted for the Indian Foreign Service as my first preference, so I would like to further the image of India across global platforms and multilateral institutions and help our Indian diaspora abroad," she added. A resident of Vivek Vihar in Noida's Sector 82, Khan pursued her Bachelors in Commerce (Honours) from the Khalsa College of Delhi University. The only child of her parents, she lives with her mother. Her father passed away nine years ago. On how she got inclined towards UPSC, Khan said that during her college days, she always had an interest in geopolitics, in subjects such as history and polity. She used to participate in debates and MUNs (mock United Nations) during her college days but even then the idea of taking up civil services as a career path had not come to her. It was during her job tenure that Khan realised she wanted to become a civil servant. "I worked for a corporate firm for eight months. That didn't sort of satisfy me. I wanted to give back to the society and wanted to work for my country and transform the lives of the people," she said. "I realised the kind of syllabus and opportunities that this career (civil services) offers aligns with my interest and I decided to pursue it and quit my job," she added. Khan said she prepared at home but also took online coaching from a private institution for a year. Sharing her tips for UPSC exam aspirants, Khan said there are a few postulates that every candidate should keep in mind. "First and foremost, you have to be very thorough with the basics like NCERT and Polity by Laxmikant. These are the basic books that you have to be thorough with," she said. "You also must have made proper syllabus heads of your mains and your optional should also be prepared with notes before the cycle communities. These are some of the things that must be kept in mind," Khan added. A total of 1,016 candidates -- 664 men and 352 women -- have qualified in the examination and have been recommended by the UPSC for appointment to various services. Aditya Srivastava, a trainee Indian Police Service officer, has topped the civil services examination. Animesh Pradhan, Donuru Ananya Reddy, PK Sidharth Ramkumar and Ruhani have secured the second, third, fourth and the fifth ranks, respectively. Source Link : Noida's Wardah Khan who quit corporate job makes it into UPSC top 20

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Monday climbed over 1.50 per cent after the IT services major reported a 9 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 12,434 crore in the January-March quarter of FY24 due to strong domestic business even as the company struggled in its key markets overseas. The stock gained 1.56 per cent to Rs 4,063 on the BSE. On the NSE, shares of the company climbed 1.56 per cent to Rs 4,064.20. Its market valuation zoomed by Rs 7,489.44 crore to Rs 14,54,832.99 crore amid rally in the stock. The company's earnings were announced post-market hours on Friday. In the entire fiscal year, the Tata Group company's net profit surged 9 per cent to Rs 45,908 crore, while the revenue went up to Rs 2,40,893 crore from Rs 2,25,458 crore a year ago. North America, the biggest market by geography, reported a 2.3 per cent dip in revenues, while continental Europe, the third biggest, witnessed a 2 per cent decline in revenues during the latest January-March period. However, its domestic business, which saw nearly 38 per cent growth in revenues, helped the company post a 3.5 per cent growth in revenues to Rs 61,237 crore during the quarter. TCS chief executive and managing director K Krithivasan told reporters that uncertainties are hampering growth in North America and the largest sector of banking, financial services, and insurance, but exuded confidence that things are bottoming out and growth should return. "It is difficult to say when growth will return... But FY25 will be better than FY24," Krithivasan said, adding that though he is not disappointed with the performance, an additional growth of up to 1 percentage point would have made him happier. Source Blog Link :- TCS shares climb over 1.50 pc after March quarter earnings

In a massive setback to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed his petition challenging his arrest in a money laundering case stemming from the alleged excise scam, saying there was no contravention of legal provisions. Besides his arrest, Kejriwal, who is currently in judicial custody in Tihar jail, had also challenged his subsequent remand in Enforcement Directorate's custody, which the court said was not illegal. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said the Enforcement Directorate was in possession of "enough material" which led to Kejriwal's arrest, and the trial court remanded him in the custody of the agency by a well-reasoned order. "The court is of the view that the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal was not in contravention of legal provisions. The remand can't be held to be illegal," said Justice Sharma while delivering the verdict. She read out the judgement for 25 minutes and also explained certain portions of her decision in Hindi. The court clarified that it was not dealing with Kejriwal's bail plea but his writ petition challenging the arrest on certain grounds. It emphasised that law applied equally to all and courts were concerned with constitutional morality and not political morality, apparently referring to Kejriwal and his AAP claiming that he was arrested to put his party's Lok Sabha poll campain in jeopardy. "This court observed that political considerations and equations cannot be brought before a court of law as they are not relevant for legal proceedings. In the case at hand, it is important to clarify that the matter before this court is not a conflict between the central government and petitioner Kejriwal. Instead it is a case between Kejriwal and Directorate of Enforcement," Justice Sharma said. The court said the statements of approvers against the AAP national convenor would be judged during trial as it cannot hold a mini trial at this stage. It added that Kejriwal would be free to cross-examine the approvers at the stage of trial. The matter pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 that was later scrapped. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21, hours after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the federal anti-money laundering agency. He was sent to judicial custody in the case on April 1 after he was produced in the trial court on expiry of ED custody. The AAP national convener had questioned before the high court the "timing" of his arrest and said it was in contravention of the basic structure of the Constitution, including democracy, free and fair elections and level-playing field. The ED opposed the plea and contended that Kejriwal cannot claim "immunity" from arrest on the ground of upcoming elections as law is applied equally to him and an "aam aadmi". Source Blog :- HC dismisses Kejriwal's plea challenging arrest in money laundering case, says no violation of legal provisions    

A 25-year-old Indian student who had been missing since last month was found dead in the US city of Cleveland, the second death within a week in the country as the community grapples with a string of such tragedies. Mohammad Abdul Arfath, hailing from Nacharam, Hyderabad, arrived in the US last year in May to pursue a Masters in IT from Cleveland University. “Anguished to learn that Mr Mohammed Abdul Arfath, for whom search operation was underway, was found dead in Cleveland, Ohio,” the Consulate General of India in New York said in a post on X. Offering “deepest condolences” to Arfath's family, the Consulate said it is in touch with local agencies to ensure a thorough investigation into his death. “We are extending all possible assistance to the bereaved family to transport his mortal remains to India,” the Consulate added. Last month, the Consulate said that it was working with local law enforcement authorities to locate the Indian student. According to a report in WKYC 3News last week, Arfath left his home at Reserve Square on March 5 and had not returned. Cleveland police told the news outlet that “they have concerns for his safety.” Police had also issued a “missing person” alert for Arfath that had described him as being 5'8" tall, weighing 150 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a white t-shirt, red jacket and blue jeans. The WKYC 3News report cited a statement from Cleveland State University which said that university records showed that Arfath “was no longer a registered Cleveland State student as of January 2024, nor did he live on campus while attending Cleveland State.” Cleveland State University Police Department was providing information as needed to assist the Cleveland Division of Police with their active investigation of Arfath's disappearance. "The University's thoughts are with his loved ones, and CSU PD will continue to serve as a resource to Cleveland police as needed,” the statement said. Arfath's father Mohammed Saleem had said that Arfath last spoke to him on March 7, and since then he has not been in touch with his family. His mobile phone is switched off as well. “We are working with local law enforcement agencies to find him at the earliest,” the Consulate had said. Arfath's roommates in the US had informed his father that they lodged a missing persons complaint with Cleveland Police. However, on March 19, Arfath's family received a call from an unidentified person, who claimed that Arfath had been kidnapped allegedly by a gang selling drugs and demanded USD 1,200 to "release" him. The caller also threatened to sell Arfath's kidneys if the ransom wasn't paid, his father said. "I got a call from an unknown number, and the caller informed me that my son had been kidnapped and demanded money. The caller did not mention the mode of payment but just asked to pay the amount. When I asked the caller to allow us to talk to my son, he refused," Saleem told PTI in Hyderabad last month. Arfath's parents have requested the Central government to take necessary measures to locate and bring back their son safely. Saleem has also written to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The incident is the latest in a string of troubling cases on the safety and security of Indian students in the US. Last week, an Indian student in Ohio, Uma Satya Sai Gadde, died and police are investigating the case. Last month, a 34-year-old trained classical dancer from India, Amarnath Ghosh, was shot dead in St Louis, Missouri. Last month, the Consulate posted on X about the death of Abhijeeth Paruchuru, a 20-year-old Indian student in Boston. Paruchuru's parents, based in Connecticut, had been in direct touch with detectives and initial investigations into his death had ruled out foul play. Sameer Kamath, a 23-year-old Indian-American student at Purdue University, was found dead in a nature preserve in Indiana on February 5. On February 2, Vivek Taneja, a 41-year-old Indian-origin IT executive, suffered life-threatening injuries during an assault outside a restaurant in Washington. In January, 18-year-old Akul Dhawan, a University of Illinois student was found unresponsive outside a campus building. Investigations revealed that he died due to hypothermia, with authorities ruling that acute alcohol intoxication and prolonged exposure to extremely cold temperatures significantly contributed to his death. In another tragedy that month, 25-year-old Indian student Vivek Saini was hammered to death by a homeless drug addict in Georgia. Amid the string of tragic and concerning incidents involving Indian students in the US, former CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi had advised them to be “watchful”, respect local laws and urged them to not engage in drugs or excessive drinking to ensure their safety and security. Nooyi, considered among the most powerful and influential business executives globally, issued an over 10-minute long video advising Indian students coming to the US to stay safe and alert and to avoid activities that can land them in trouble. “It's up to you to make sure you do what it takes to remain safe.…stay within the law, do not venture out into dark places alone at night, and do not engage in drugs or excessive drinking please. All of these are just formulae for disaster,” she said. Volunteer-based nonprofit organisation TEAM Aid has been assisting in repatriating the mortal remains of several individuals in these and other cases to India. TEAM Aid founder Mohan Nannapaneni has said that the organisation is in the process of initiating “educational and preventative" programmes soon to offer guidance and support to Indian immigrants here, including students and workers, aimed at ensuring their safety and security. In February, Nannapaneni had told PTI that his organisation was dealing with at least one such tragic case a day. He had said that there have been instances of Indian students tragically passing away due to car accidents and drowning. He had also raised concern that drug abuse is becoming rampant across the US and unfortunately, there have been cases of Indian students succumbing to drug abuse and overdose. Source Blog:- Missing Indian student found dead in US

Former President Donald Trump met Friday with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as the likely Republican presidential nominee continued his embrace of autocratic leaders who are part of a global pushback against democratic traditions. Orban has become an icon to some conservative populists for championing what he calls “illiberal democracy”, replete with restrictions on immigration and LGBTQ+ rights. But he's also cracked down on the press and judiciary in his country and rejiggered the country's political system to keep his party in power while maintaining the closest relationship with Russia among all European Union countries. In the US, Trump's allies have embraced Orban's approach. On Thursday, as foreign dignitaries milled through Washington, D.C., ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address, Orban skipped the White House and instead spoke at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank overseeing the 2025 Project, the effort to create a governing blueprint for Trump's next term. “Supporting families, fighting illegal migration and standing up for the sovereignty of our nations. This is the common ground for cooperation between the conservative forces of Europe and the US," Orban wrote on X, formerly Twitter, after his Heritage appearance. He then flew to Florida, where met Trump late Friday afternoon at the former president's beachfront compound, Mar-a-Lago. Orbán posted on his Instagram account footage of him and his staff meeting with Trump and the former president's staff, then of the prime minister walking through the compound and handing Melania Trump a giant bouquet of flowers. In the video, Trump praised Orban to a laughing crowd. “He's a non-controversial figure because he says, This is the way it's going to be,' and that's the end of it. Right?” Trump said of the Hungarian prime minister. "He's the boss.” The Trump campaign said late Friday that the two men discussed “a wide range of issues affecting Hungary and the United States, including the paramount importance of strong and secure borders to protect the sovereignty of each nation". Campaigning on Friday in Pennsylvania, Biden said of Trump: "You know who he's meeting with today down in Mar-a-Lago? Orban of Hungary, who's stated flatly that he doesn't thinks democracy works, he's looking for dictatorship." “I see a future where we defend democracy, not diminish it,” Biden added. Orban's approach appeals to Trump's brand of conservatives, who have abandoned their embrace of limited government and free markets for a system that sides with their own ideology, said Dalibor Rohac, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “They want to use the tools of government to reward their friends and punish their opponents, which is what Orban has done,” Rohac said. The meeting also comes as Trump has continued to embrace authoritarians of all ideological stripes. He's praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong Un. Orban's government has reciprocated, repeatedly praising the former president. On Friday, Hungary's Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, posted from Palm Beach, hailing Trump's “strength” and implying that the world would be more peaceful were he still president. “If Donald Trump had been elected President of the United States in 2020, the war in Ukraine, now in its third year, would not have broken out and the conflict in the Middle East would have been resolved much faster,” he wrote. Orban has served as Hungary's prime minister since 2010. The next year, his party, Fidesz, used its two-thirds majority in the legislature to rewrite the nation's constitution. It changed the retirement age for judges, forcing hundreds into early retirement, and vested responsibility for appointing new judges with a single political appointee who was widely accused of acting on behalf of Fidesz. Fidesz later authored a new media law and set up a nine-member council to serve as the country's media regulator. All nine members are Fidesz appointees, which media watchdogs say has facilitated a major decline in press freedom and plurality. The country's legislative lines have been redrawn to protect Fidesz members and no major news outlets remain that are critical of Orban's government, making it almost impossible for his party to lose elections, analysts say. Source : Trump meets with Hungary's leader, Viktor Orban, continuing his embrace of autocrats

Nikki Haley will suspend her presidential campaign Wednesday after being soundly defeated across the country on Super Tuesday, according to people familiar with her decision, leaving Donald Trump as the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination. Three people with direct knowledge who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to speak publicly confirmed Haley's decision ahead of an announcement by her scheduled for Wednesday morning. Haley, a former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador, was Trump's first significant rival when she jumped into the race in February 2023. She spent the final phase of her campaign aggressively warning the GOP against embracing Trump, whom she argued was too consumed by chaos and personal grievance to defeat President Joe Biden in the general election. Her departure clears Trump to focus solely on his likely rematch in November with Biden. The former president is on track to reach the necessary 1,215 delegates to clinch the Republican nomination later this month. Haley's defeat marks a painful, if predictable, blow to those voters, donors and Republican Party officials who opposed Trump and his fiery brand of “Make America Great Again” politics. She was especially popular among moderates and college-educated voters, constituencies that will likely play a pivotal role in the general election. It's unclear whether Trump, who recently declared that Haley donors would be permanently banned from his movement, can ultimately unify a deeply divided party. Haley is not planning to endorse Trump in her Wednesday announcement, according to the people with knowledge of her plans. Instead, she is expected to encourage him to earn the support of the coalition of moderate Republicans and independent voters who supported her. Trump on Tuesday night declared that the GOP was united behind him, but in a statement shortly afterward, Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas said, "Unity is not achieved by simply claiming, We're united.'" “Today, in state after state, there remains a large block of Republican primary voters who are expressing deep concerns about Donald Trump,” Perez-Cubas said. "That is not the unity our party needs for success. Addressing those voters' concerns will make the Republican Party and America better.” Haley leaves the 2024 presidential contest having made history as the first woman to win a Republican primary. She beat Trump in the District of Columbia on Sunday and Vermont on Tuesday. She had insisted she would stay in the race through Super Tuesday and crossed the country campaigning in states holding Republican contests. Ultimately, she was unable to knock Trump off his glide path to a third straight nomination. Haley's allies note that she exceeded most of the political world's expectations by making it as far as she did. She had initially ruled out running against Trump in 2024. But she changed her mind and ended up launching her bid three months after he did, citing among other things the country's economic troubles and the need for “generational change”. Haley, 52, later called for competency tests for politicians over the age of 75 — a knock on both Trump, who is 77, and President Joe Biden, who is 81. Her candidacy was slow to attract donors and support, but she ultimately outlasted all of her other GOP rivals, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Tim Scott, her fellow South Carolinian whom she appointed to the Senate in 2012. And the money flowed in until the very end. Her campaign said it raised more than $12 million in February alone. She gained popularity with many Republican donors, independent voters and the so-called “Never Trump” crowd, even though she criticised the criminal cases against him as politically motivated and pledged that, if president, she would pardon him if he were convicted in federal court. As the field consolidated, she and DeSantis battled it out through the early-voting states for a distant second to Trump. The two went after each other in debates, ads and interviews, often more directly than they went after Trump. The campaign's focus on foreign policy following Hamas' surprise attack on Israel in October tilted the campaign into Haley's wheelhouse, giving her an opportunity to showcase her experience from the UN, tying the war to her conservative domestic priorities and arguing that both Israel and the US could be made vulnerable by what she called “distractions”. Haley was slow to criticise her former boss directly. As she campaigned across early states, Haley often complimented some of Trump's foreign policy achievements but gradually inserted more critiques into her campaign speeches. She argued Trump's hyperfocus on trade with China led him to ignore security threats posed by a major US rival. She warned that weak support for Ukraine would “only encourage” China to invade Taiwan, a viewpoint shared by several of her GOP rivals, even as many Republican voters questioned whether the US should send aid to Ukraine. In November, Haley — an accountant who had consistently touted her lean campaign — won the backing of the political arm of the powerful Koch network. AFP Action blasted early-state voters with mailers and door-knockers, committing its nationwide coalition of activists and virtually unlimited funds to helping Haley defeat Trump. With Trump refusing to participate in primary debates, Haley went head-to-head with DeSantis in a single debate, displaying a combative style that seemed to sit poorly with even those committed to support her in the Iowa caucuses. She would finish third. Haley's name emerged as a possible running mate for Trump, with the former president reportedly asking allies what they thought of adding her to his possible ticket. As Haley appeared to gain ground, some of Trump's backers worked to tamp down the notion. While Haley initially notably declined to rule out the possibility, she said while campaigning in New Hampshire in January that serving as “anybody's vice president” is “off the table”. After DeSantis exited the campaign following Trump's record-setting win in the Iowa caucuses, Haley hoped that New Hampshire voters would feel so strongly about keeping the former president away from the White House that they would turn out to support her in large numbers. “America does not do coronations,” Haley said at a VFW hall in Franklin on the eve of the New Hampshire primary. “Let's show all of the media class and the political class that we've got a different plan in mind, and let's show the country what we can do.” But she would lose New Hampshire and then refused to participate in Nevada's caucuses, arguing the state's rules strongly favoured Trump. She instead ran in the state's primary, which didn't count for any delegates for the nomination. She still finished a distant second to “none of these candidates”, an option Nevada offers to voters dissatisfied with their choices and used by many Trump supporters to oppose her. She had long vowed to win South Carolina but backed off of that pledge as the primary drew nearer. She crisscrossed the state that twice elected her governor on a bus tour, holding smaller events than Trump's less frequent rallies and suggesting she was better equipped to beat Biden than him. She lost South Carolina by 20 points and Michigan three days later by 40. The Koch brothers' AFP Action announced after her South Carolina loss that it would stop organising for her. But by staying in the campaign, Haley drew enough support from suburbanites and college-educated voters to highlight Trump's apparent weaknesses with those groups. Haley has made clear she doesn't want to serve as Trump's vice president or run on a third-party ticket arranged by the group No Labels. She leaves the race with an elevated national profile that could help her in a future presidential run. In recent days, she backed off a pledge to endorse the eventual Republican nominee that was required of anyone participating in party debates. “I think I'll make what decision I want to make,” she told NBC's “Meet the Press. Source : Nikki Haley to exit US Republican presidential race after Super Tuesday trouncing