IOB News Network

MPPSC exam date 2024 revised for SSE/ SFS; check details here

IOBNN Bureau March 21, 2024

The Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) has revised the exam dates for the State Services Exam and State Forest Service Exam 2024. As per the notification, the exam will now be conducted June 23. The applicants can download their hall tickets from the official website mppsc.mp.gov.in from June 12.

The dates have been revised due to a clash with the Lok Sabha election schedule 2024, reads the notification. Earlier, the exam was scheduled to be conducted on April 28, 2024.

Here’s the official notice.

The recruitment drive aims to fill up a total of 74 vacancies, of which 60 vacancies are for the SSE 2024 and 14 for the SFS Exam 2024.

Steps to download SSE/ SFS admit card 2024

Visit the official website mppsc.mp.gov.in
On the homepage, click on the SSE/ SFS 2024 admit card link
Key in your login details and submit
Check and download the admit card
Take a printout for future reference

For more details, candidates are advised to visit the official website here.

…

‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’ review: An overly sincere tribute to a rebellion via radi

Priya Chafe March 21, 2024

In 1942, as the colonial British regime turns up the violence on its increasingly restless Indian subjects, a group of young people with their lives ahead of them pledge to “Do or Die”. Ae Watan Mere Watan tells the story of one of these youngsters, the 22-year-old Usha Mehta, and her radio rebellion.

Kannan Iyer’s Hindi-language movie for Prime Video is set during the decisive Quit India movement. When the Congress party gets banned and its top leadership is thrown into prison, Usha (Sara Ali Khan) sets up an underground radio station that will keep Indians informed about events.

The short-wave brainwave is executed like a bank heist. Scheming in the shadows while looking over their shoulders, Usha and her friends Fahad (Sparsh Srivastav) and Kaushik (Abhay Verma) run Congress Radio, as it comes to be known, with uncommon daring.

They have the backing of Congress leader Ram Manohar Lohia (Emraan Hashmi), who has managed to evade arrest. The British unleash the odious John Lyre (Alex O’Nell) on the plotters. Usha has other battles to fight, including the disapproval of her judge father Hariprasad (Sachin Khedekar).

The involvement of Usha Mehta, the iconic Gandhian, with Congress Radio have been documented in several books, including Usha Thakkar’s Congress Radio: Usha Mehta and the Underground Radio Station…

Why Zomato’s ‘pure veg’ service is being criticised as casteist

Editor in Chief March 21, 2024

Food delivery app Zomato on Tuesday launched a “pure veg mode” service that will allow users to choose from restaurants that serve only vegetarian food. The company’s Chief Executive Officer Deepinder Goyal said that a separate fleet of delivery persons dressed in green uniform would cater to customers “who have a 100% vegetarian dietary preference”.

On Wednesday, the company rolled back the decision to colour-code its fleet after several social media users pointed out that it could prompt residential societies to restrict the entry of delivery persons carrying meat-based dishes.

But Zomato’s revised decision does not address another strand of criticism: that the segregation of its fleet is a move rooted in casteist notions. Vegetarianism in India, unlike in other countries, is largely driven by the casteist idea of so-called purity, analysts noted. Zomato’s decision only promotes this discrimination, they said.

The notion of ‘pure veg’

Dalit rights activist and writer Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd told Scroll that the expression “pure vegetarian” in itself is discriminatory as it suggests that anyone with other dietary preferences eats impure food.

“These are dehumanising terms coined by Indian Brahmins,” Shepherd said. “What is the difference between a pure vegetarian and just vegetarian? There is no such term as pure vegetarian in other countries. These terms come from the Brahmanical idea of…

NIFT 2024 result declared at nift.ac.in; here’s download link

IOBNN Bureau March 21, 2024

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has declared the result of the Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) 2024. Eligible candidates can download their results from the official website www.nift.ac.in or exams.nta.ac.in/NIFT/.

“Results of the exam are now hosted on https://exams.nta.ac.in/NIFT/. Candidates can login to the website and view/download/print their respective result (Shortlisted / Not Shortlisted for 2nd Stage). The results of B.F.Tech. Programmes will be declared in last week of April, 2024 along-with the Final Results of all other UG & PG Programmes,” reads the notification.

The NIFT entrance exam was conducted on February 5, 2024.

Here’s the official notification.

The interviews for the Masters Programmes are scheduled to be conducted from April 1 to 6 in Delhi.

Steps to download NIFT result 2024

Visit the official website exams.nta.ac.in/NIFT/
On the homepage, click on the NIFT score card 2024 link
Key in your login details and submit
Check and download the result
Take a printout for future reference

Direct link to download NIFT result 2024.

For more details, candidates are advised to visit the official website here.

…

‘Where will the poor go?’: Madhya Pradesh is trying to privatise government hospitals – again

Editor in Chief March 21, 2024

During the monsoon months, when vector and water-borne diseases sweep through Barwani, the 400-bed district hospital overflows with patients, with many huddling on the floor.

Throughout the year, beds are scarce in the government-run hospital – the only major health facility that most people in this Adivasi belt in south-west Madhya Pradesh can afford to access.

The scarcity could soon grow worse.

The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to allocate a quarter of the beds in all district hospitals that it runs to private organisations, who will then set up medical colleges. Urban development minister Kailash Vijaywargiya said this has been done to incentivise the private sector to invest in healthcare and improve hospital infrastructure – a recommendation first made by the central government think tank Niti Aayog.

But health activists fear that this would adversely impact healthcare access for the poor. While public hospitals are bound to provide free treatment, the private organisations have been allowed to charge fees on 25% of hospital beds.

At the Barwani district hospital, the new rule means that 100 of the total 400 beds will no longer be available for free treatment. “If the available [free] beds are reduced, where will poor patients go?” asked Amulya Nidhi, health activist with Jan Swasthya Abhiyan….

Assam: Islamic State’s India chief, aide arrested in Dhubri

Editor in Chief March 21, 2024

The Assam Police on Wednesday arrested the head of the Islamic State in India, Haris Farooqi, and one of his associates in the Dhubri district after they crossed over from Bangladesh.

A Special Task Force had apprehended Farooqi and Anurag Singh, alias Rehan, from the Dharmasala area after the police had received information from sister agencies, Assam Police Chief Public Relations Officer Pranabjyoti Goswami said.

“A manhunt was launched in the international border area to nab the culprits,” the police said. “At around 4.15 a.m. of March 20, the accused persons were detected at Dharmasala area of Dhubri after they had crossed the international border,” he added.

Farooqi and Singh were taken to the Special Task Force office in Guwahati. Their identities were ascertained and it was found that Farooqi, alias Harish Ajmal Farukhi, who was from Dehradun’s Chakrata, was the head of the Islamic State in India, the public relations officer said.

“His associate Anurag Singh, alias Rehan, of Panipat, got converted to Islam, while his wife is a Bangladeshi national,” Goswami added.

Farooqi and Singh were “highly indoctrinated and motivated” members of the Islamic State in the country, the police said.

“They had furthered the cause of [the Islamic State] in India through conspiracies to carry out recruitment, terror funding…

How Maharashtra’s amendment to the Right to Education Act will foster ghettoisation

Editor in Chief March 21, 2024

In his 1936 speech titled “Annihilation of Caste”, BR Ambedkar advocated inter-dining, inter-caste marriage and destroying religious scriptures as steps to ending the degrading caste system. Eighty-eight years later, India grapples with the business of annihilating not just caste but also class – a challenge that has become even more urgent in the face of the Maharashtra government’s amendment to the August 2009 Right to Education Act in February.

The Act made education a fundamental right of children between the ages of six and 14 in all government, government-aided and private schools. Crucially, private schools were required to reserve 25% of their seats for children belonging to the economically weaker sections of society and those from the backward castes.

But according to the amendment, private schools located within a kilometre of government or government-aided schools will no longer be required to reserve 25% of their seats for children from the backward classes and castes. Kerala and Karnataka already have similar rules.

One of the most harmful effects of the amendment is that it will lead to segregation of children on the basis of caste and class. It will essentially mean cocooning students from the so-called forward castes and upper classes in affluent private schools, while ghettoising…

A decade under Modi: Rising unemployment, declining wages, poor quality jobs

Editor in Chief March 21, 2024

Unemployment

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s 2014 election manifesto listed job creation as a “high priority” task and earmarked manufacturing, infrastructure and housing as sectors with potential to achieve the target.

However, India’s unemployment rate climbed to 6.1% in 2017-’18 – the highest in 45 years. Periodic Labour Force Surveys done by the government show it further rose to 20.8% in April-June 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic before dropping to 3.2% in 2022-’23 – nearly half of the 2017-’18 levels.

However, monthly surveys conducted by private think tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy have consistently found unemployment rates to be much higher than the government numbers.

Economists and policy researchers rely on CMIE data because of the lack of adequate and timely government data. The Modi government scrapped the annual Employment-Unemployment Survey in 2017 and discontinued the Labour Bureau’s quarterly enterprise surveys in March 2018.

Economists have also expressed concerns over the rise of the share of the workforce engaged in self-employment, which, contrary to criteria set by the International Labour Organisation, includes “unpaid helpers in household enterprises”.

The share of self-employed people in India’s workforce rose from 49.5% in 2013-’14, when the Congress was in power, to 57.3% in 2022-’23. During the same period, the share of salaried workers declined from 23.1% to 20.9%.

The State of Working India 2023 report found that economic…

Rajasthan: लोकसभा चुनावों से पहले भाजपा के लिए ट्रबल शूटर बने सीएम भजनलाल, इन नेताओं को मनाकर पार्टी की राह की आसान

IOBNN Bureau March 20, 2024

इंटरनेट डेस्क। लोकसभा चुनावों के पहले भाजपा नेताओं के लिए कई दूसरी पार्टियाें के नेता तो कुछ निर्दलीय परेशानी का कारण बनते जा रहे हैं। ऐसे में इन सबको सेट करने का काम किया हैं प्रदेश के सीएम भजनलाल ने। इतना ही नहीं भजनलाल ने कई बड़े नेताओं को कांग्रेस से निकालकर भाजपा में शामिल करने काम भी किया है।

वहीं अपनी ही पार्टी में फूट की खबरों को भी उन्होंने सामने नहीं आने दिया है। सबसे पहले भजनलाल शर्मा ने केंद्रीय मंत्री गजेंद्र सिंह शेखावत और जोधपुर के शेरगढ़ से बीजेपी विधायक बाबू सिंह राठौड़ में समझौता करा कर वहां शेखावत की राह आसान कर दी है। इसी कड़ी में पार्टी ने चित्तौड़गढ़ से सीपी जोशी को भी एक बड़े संकट से राहत दिलाई है। उन्होंने जोशी और उनके धुर विरोधी एवं चितौड़गढ से निर्दलीय विधायक चंद्रभान सिंह आक्या में सुलह करा दी है।

इसके बाद आगे कड़ी हैं बाढ़मेर के शिव से निर्दलीय विधायक रवींद्र सिंह भाटी की। जो सांसद और केंद्रीय मंत्री कैलाश चौधरी के सामने परेशानी बन रहे हैं। ऐसे में मंगलवार को सीएम उनके साथ भी एक बड़ी बैठक की है और माना जा रहा हैं की भाटी भी अब भाजपा में जा सकते हैं और कैलाश चौधरी को समर्थन दे सकते है।

pc- news18

अपडेट खबरों के लिए हमारावॉट्सएप चैनलफोलो करें

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: कांग्रेस आज जारी कर सकती हैं उम्मीदवारों की तीसरी लिस्ट, इन नेताओं को मिल सकता हैं टिकट

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: कांग्रेस आज जारी कर सकती हैं उम्मीदवारों की तीसरी लिस्ट, इन नेताओं को मिल सकता हैं टिकट

IOBNN Bureau March 20, 2024

इंटरनेट डेस्क। लोकसभा चुनावों के लिए भाजपा और कांग्रेस ने अपने अपने स्तर पर तैयारी कर रखी हैं और इसके साथ ही लगातार पार्टियां उम्मीदवारों के नामों की घोषणा भी कर रही है। इसी कड़ी में कांग्रेस अब तीसरी सूची की तैयारी में हैं जो आज देर रात या फिर कल तक सामने आ सकती है। बता दें की कांग्रेस की केंद्रीय चुनाव समिति की आज एक बार फिर बैठक होने जा रही है।

इस बैठक में मध्य प्रदेश, राजस्थान और गुजरात की 45 सीटों के लिए उम्मीदवारों के नाम पर मंथन होगा। इससे पहले पार्टी मंगलवार को 11 राज्यों की करीब 85 लोकसभा सीटों पर बात कर चुकी हैं और नाम भी तय कर चुकी है। यह कांग्रेस उम्मीदवारों की तीसरी सूची होगी जो अब सामने आएगी।

अब तक कांग्रेस पार्टी दो चरणों में 82 सीटों पर उम्मीदवारों के नामों का एलान कर चुकी है। पहली सूची में पार्टी ने 39 और दूसरी सूची में 43 उम्मीदवारों के नामों की घोषणा की है। वहीं राजस्थान की 10 सीटों पर उम्मीदवारों को उतार चुकी है। ऐसे में अब बाकी बची 15 सीटों पर उम्मीदवारों के नाम का ऐलान हो सकता है।

pc-tribuneindia.com

अपडेट खबरों के लिए हमारावॉट्सएप चैनलफोलो करें

Utility News: वोटर आईडी कार्ड बनवाने के लिए इन दस्तावेजों की पड़ेगी जरूरत, जान ले बनवाने की प्रोसेस

Utility News: वोटर आईडी कार्ड बनवाने के लिए इन दस्तावेजों की पड़ेगी जरूरत, जान ले बनवाने की प्रोसेस

IOBNN Bureau March 20, 2024

इंटरेनट डेस्क। लोकसभा चुनावों की घोषणा हो चुकी हैं और उसके साथ ही पहले चरण के चुनाव के लिए अधिसूचना भी। ऐसे में आप भी पूरे 18 साल के हो गए हैं और वोट देने की उम्र हो गई हैं तो आपका भी वोटर आईडी कार्ड बन गया होगा। अगर नहीं बना तो आपको बता देते हैं की आप कैसे वोटर आईडी कार्ड बनवा सकते है।

कई लोगों को इस बात को लेकर कंफ्यूजन रहती है कि आखिर वोटर आईडी कार्ड के लिए कौन से दस्तावेज देने पड़ेंगे और कैसे बनेगी। वोटर कार्ड बनाने के लिए आपके पास ऐज प्रूफ और एड्रेस प्रूफ होना जरूरी है। इसके लिए आपको बर्थ सर्टिफिकेट या फिर 10वीं की मार्कशीट देनी होगी। एड्रेस प्रूफ के तौर पर ड्राइविंग लाइसेंस, बिजली बिल, पासपोर्ट या आधार कार्ड दिया जा सकता है।

वोटर कार्ड को बूथ लेवल ऑफिसर क्लियर करता है। ऐसे में ध्यान रहे कि आप वही दस्तावेज दें जिनकी आपके पास ऑरिजनल कॉपी हो। आवेदन करने के 15 से 20 दिन में आपको वोटर कार्ड मिल जाएगा। आप चाहे तो आनलाइन आवेदन भी कर सकते है।

pc-www.lokmat.com

अपडेट खबरों के लिए हमारावॉट्सएप चैनलफोलो करें

UPSSSC Instructor Mains answer key released; submit suggestions by March 21

IOBNN Bureau March 18, 2024

Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UPSSSC) has released the provisional answer key of the Anudeshak Main Exam 2022. Eligible candidates can download their answer keys from the official website upsssc.gov.in. The applicants will be able to send suggestions, if any, till March 21, 2024.

The Main exam was conducted on February 25. The recruitment drive is being conducted to fill up a total of 2504 vacancies.

Here’s the official notification.

Steps to download the answer key

Visit the official website upsssc.gov.in
On the homepage, click on the Instructor Mains 2022 answer key link
The answer key will appear on the screen
Check and download the answer key
Take a printout for future reference
Send suggestion, if any

Direct link to UPSSSC Instructor answer key.

Direct link to UPSSSC Instructor objection window.

For more details, candidates are advise to visit the official website here.

…

7 lakh Muslims, 5 lakh Bengali Hindus left out of Assam NRC, says CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Editor in Chief March 18, 2024

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said that 7 lakh Muslims and 5 lakh Bengali Hindus have been left out of the National Register of Citizens for the state, News Live reported.

Sarma, during an interview with the television channel, added that 2 lakh Assamese caste Hindus and 1.5 lakh Gorkhas had also been excluded from the list.

Assam published a National Register of Citizens on August 31, 2019, with the aim to separate Indian citizens from undocumented immigrants living in the state. Residents had to prove that they or their ancestors had entered Assam before midnight on March 24, 1971 in order for them to be included in the list.

Over 19 lakh persons, or 5.77% of the applicants, were left out of the final list.

Sarma had told The Indian Express at the time that nearly five lakh to six lakh of those excluded had migrated from Bangladesh due to religious persecution before 1971.

On Sunday, the chief minister said that 3 to 6 lakh of those excluded from the register could apply for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act, the rules for which were notified on March 11.

The Citizenship Amendment Act aims to fast-track Indian citizenship for refugees from six minority religious communities, except Muslims, from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and…

BSF Recruitment 2024: Apply for 82 Group B, C posts till April 15

IOBNN Bureau March 18, 2024

Border Security Force (BSF) has commenced the online application process for recruitment to the various Group B, and C posts. Eligible candidates can apply for the posts on the official website bsf.gov.in till April 15.

The recruitment drive aims to fill up a total of 82 vacancies. Candidates can check the vacancy details, educational qualification, pay scale, age limit and other details available in the notifications below:

Advertisement Number combatised_b/2024.

Advertisement Number combatised_c/2024.

Advertisement Number air_wing/2024.

Application Fee

The candidates applying for Group B posts in BSF Engineering setup will have to pay the examination fee of Rs 200+Rs.47.20 service charges, whereas examination fee of Rs 100+Rs.47.20 service charges are applicable to the Group C posts in BSF Engineering setup and Group C posts in BSF Air Wing.

Steps to apply for BSF Group B, C posts 2024

Visit the official website rectt.bsf.gov.in
Click on “Apply Here” against Group-C and Group B posts
Fill up the details, upload the required documents, and pay the fee
Submit the form
Download and take a printout for future reference

For more details, candidates are advised to visit the official website here.

…

In his new book, Sam Pitroda examines whether capitalism can allow a true democracy to prosper

Jignesh Chafe March 18, 2024

I have personally benefited a great deal from a capitalist system all my life. I was born into a poor lower-caste family in India. My father had studied up to the fourth grade and earned a living by running a small business selling lumber to feed his family and educate all his eight children. I came to America on a boat with $40 in my pocket in 1964 to get a PhD in physics. Later, I turned to electrical engineering because of its financial potential and started on a long journey building several tech businesses in the US. I love the capitalist system, with its freedom, flexibility, opportunities and innovations that meet the market’s changing needs and lead to design and development of new products to serve people at the bottom of the economic pyramid.

The relationship between capitalism and democracy, however, can be highly complex and nuanced. On the positive side, capitalism supports democracy by creating a financially secure middle class that can engage in political participation. It can also encourage innovation, leading to a higher standard of living for citizens and lifting people at the bottom of the economic pyramid out of poverty. However, since wealth and resources tend to…

WBJEE JELET 2024 application window closes today; register now at wbjeeb.nic.in

IOBNN Bureau March 18, 2024

The West Bengal Joint Entrance Examinations Board (WBJEEB) will close the online application window for the Common Entrance Test for Lateral Entry In Bachelor’s Degree Courses in Engineering/ Tech./ Pharmacy (JELET 2024) today, March 18. Eligible candidates can apply for the exam on the official website wbjeeb.nic.in.

The exam will be conducted on June 29 (11.00 AM to 1.00 PM) and the admit card will be made available to download on June 21, 2024.

The exam will be conducted for admission in the academic session 2024-25 into 2nd year (3rd semester) of 4-year Undergraduate Courses in Engineering/ Technology and Pharmacy of different Universities, Government Colleges as well as Self Financing Engineering & Technological Institutes in the State of West Bengal. More details in the notification below:

Here’s the official notification.

Application Fee

The application fee for JELET-2024 is Rs 500 for General Male candidates, Rs 400 for General Female candidates, Rs 400 for SC/ST/OBC-A/OBC-B/EWS Male candidates, Rs 300 for SC/ST/OBC-A/OBC-B/EWS Female candidates and Rs 300 for Third Gender candidates.

Steps to apply for WB JELET 2024

Visit the official website wbjeeb.nic.in
On the homepage, click on WBJEE JELET 2024 application link
Register and proceed with the application process
Fill up the form, pay the fee and submit the form
Take a printout for future reference

Why the exodus from Bhutan of young people and qualified workers is a worry for India

Editor in Chief March 18, 2024

Three years ago, Bhutan announced a mandatory programme to train all youth who had turned 18 in sectors such as agriculture, entrepreneurship, construction and technology. But it was only this year, as unemployed youth started to leave the country in large numbers, that the Gyalsung (“service to the nation”) initiative was fully launched.

Since 2022, the tiny Himalayan country of Bhutan has witnessed a surge of citizens leaving for other countries. That year, the country’s only international airport at Paro recorded 16,973 outward migrants – a cause of worry for a country with a population of 7.7 lakh.

Nearly 30% of those leaving the country were below 35 years, reported the government-owned daily Kuensel.

The exodus of Bhutan’s younger people and skilled workers is a concern for India as well. People-to-people relations have been a central aspect of the Indo-Bhutanese relationship. Over the decades, thousands of Bhutanese have come to India to be educated and receive technical training.

The goodwill this has generated has fostered support and sympathy in Bhutan for better relations with Delhi and deterred the influence of China in the Himalayan region. This explains Bhutan’s support for trilateral negotiations on Dokalam. Though this region in Bhutan is claimed by China, Thimphu agrees that New Delhi should have…

Telangana: Chevella BRS MP Ranjith Reddy joins Congress

Editor in Chief March 17, 2024

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s MP representing Telangana’s Chevella constituency, Ranjith Reddy, switched sides to join the Congress on Sunday.

In his resignation letter to Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrashekar Rao, Ranjith Reddy said that he had decided to “pursue an alternative path” because of the “current political circumstances in the state”.

Ranjith Reddy joined the Congress in the presence of Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.

#WATCH | Hyderabad: Chevella BRS MP Ranjith Reddy, and Khairatabad BRS MLA Danam Nagender joined Congress in the presence of Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. pic.twitter.com/xvGKbRWHCR

— ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2024

This came a day after another Bharat Rashtra Samithi MP, Pasunuri Dayakar, who represents the Warangal Lok Sabha constituency, switched to the Congress.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi had won nine of Telangana’s 17 parliamentary seats. While the Congress had won three seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party had won in four constituencies. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen had won one seat.

However, in December, the Congress defeated the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the Assembly elections.

Voting for the Lok Sabha polls in all 17 seats of Telangana will happen on May 13. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.

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Assembly polls: Vote counting in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim to happen on June 2 instead of June 4

IOBNN Bureau March 17, 2024

The counting of votes in the Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will happen on June 2 instead of June 4, the Election Commission announced on Sunday.

The date of polling in the two states, April 19, will remain unchanged.

The poll panel said on Sunday that the date of counting of votes in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim needed to be done earlier because the term of their legislative Assemblies will expire on June 2. The election process needs to be completed before the term of the Assembly expires.

However, there will be no change in the date of counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls in the two states.

On Saturday, the Election Commission announced that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. The results will be announced on June 4.

Besides Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections. While voting for Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh will take place on May 13, the election in Odisha will be held in two phases on May 13 and May 20.

The results of the Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha will also be announced on June 4 along with…

Capturing the moments of a movement: Raghu Rai’s chronicle of JP and the Bihar students agitation

Editor in Chief March 17, 2024

Visual stories carry the weight of history and are our safety net against the fallibility of memory. Raghu Rai’s camera has been at the frontline of the most exceptional and the most quotidian of moments. Street life dominates the black and white images of his stunning ongoing show A Thousand Lives at the Kiran Nadar Museum in Delhi and offers a visual journey through his analog work from 1965-2005.

In their introductory essay, the curators of the show Roobina Karode and Devika Daulet-Singh write, “This exhibition focuses on the pre-digital phase of Rai’s career, when he used analog/ film photography, exploring it with unprecedented fervour, freedom and imagination. From his inexhaustible archives of photographs that defy being contained easily within any of his exhibitions, a fresh slice has been pulled out which brings many extraordinary photographs into the public domain for the first time.”

A section of the exhibition has a selection of Rai’s photo-essay on Jayaprakash Narayan and the volatile 1974 Bihar student movement. It documents some of the most defining moments of its tumultuous history. Rai’s reportage involved keeping his camera trained on Narayan and his followers and getting as close to the action as possible.

He visited Patna, a riverside city spread across twelve…

Chhattisgarh Police names Bhupesh Baghel in FIR in Mahadev app case

Editor in Chief March 17, 2024

The Chhattisgarh Police has filed a first information report naming former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel as an accused in the Mahadev betting app scam, reported Hindustan Times on Sunday.

Along with Baghel, “unnamed” bureaucrats, police officers and officers on special duty during his tenure as the chief minister are also included in the FIR.

Additionally, Sourabh Chandrakar and Ravi Uppal, the two main promoters of the Mahadev app, and 16 other named accused have been listed.

Mahadev Online Book, a betting app, reportedly enabled illegal betting in live games such as poker, cricket, tennis and football as well as on elections in India. In November, the Central government issued blocking orders against the app.

Baghel has been booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to cheating, criminal conspiracy, breach of trust and forgery. He was also charged with Sections 7 and 11 of the Prevention of Corruption Act by the Economic Offences Wing in Raipur on March 4.

Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act states that obtaining, accepting or attempting to obtain an undue advantage by a public servant constitutes an offence. Section 11 deals with the punishment for such offences.

According to the FIR, the Mahadev app and its associate companies illegally collected Rs 450 crore worth of proceeds of crime every month, reported Hindustan Times.

In January,…

Democratic space being denied: Kashmiri politicians as poll panel skips Assembly elections in J&K

IOBNN Bureau March 17, 2024

Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have expressed disappointment at the Election Commission not announcing the dates for Assembly elections in the Union territory.

On Saturday, the poll panel announced the dates of the Lok Sabha elections and said that voting will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. It also said that Assembly polls for Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim will be held simultaneously with the general elections.

The results of the Assembly polls will also be announced on June 4 along with those of the Lok Sabha elections.

While announcing the schedule, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar cited security reasons for not holding the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir simultaneously with the parliamentary polls.

Following this, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said there was “something fishy” in the decision, reported PTI.

“If there are conducive conditions for the parliamentary election, how is it not alright for the state election?” the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister told the news agency.

His son and party leader Omar Abdullah took to social media to say that the Election Commission was “unable to” conduct Assembly polls in the Union territory despite acknowledging that they are due.

So much for “One Nation One Election”. The EC is unable to conduct assembly polls…

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Is shouting ‘Pakistan zindabad’ illegal? An SC order clarifies

Jignesh Chafe March 17, 2024

Is speaking favourably about Pakistan a criminal offence in India?

Four men arrested in Karnataka last week for allegedly shouting “Pakistan zindabad”, long live Pakistan, were the latest in a rapidly lengthening list of persons prosecuted across the country in the last few years for allegedly chanting pro-Pakistan slogans.

However, on March 7, the Supreme Court, in a judgment, outlined that extending good wishes to Pakistan, or to any other country, for that matter, is not a criminal offence.

The court stated in the judgment in no uncertain terms that the country’s police machinery is disregarding the fundamental right of citizens to freedom of speech.

Scroll explains what the judgment said and why there is no legal basis for criminalising pro-Pakistan statements.

Supreme Court judgment

The Supreme Court’s judgment, delivered by a two-judge bench comprising Justices AS Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, stems from a first information report filed in 2022 by the Maharashtra police against Javed Ahmad Hajam, a Kashmiri professor who was at that time teaching at the Sanjay Ghodawat College in Kolhapur.

He had been booked under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code that prohibits acts that promote disharmony or enmity between different groups based on religion, race, language, caste or community. In other words, it makes it illegal to engage in activities, make statements or…

WPL 2024 Final: All-round Delhi Capitals take on in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore for the title

IOBNN Bureau March 17, 2024

There will be an old finalist competing, but a new champion will be crowned when the Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore meet at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday, for the 2024 Women’s Premier League final.

The Capitals, runners-up last season, have a chance to make amends for the defeat to the Mumbai Indians last season.

The Bangalore team meanwhile, have been clutch in the important moments in their last two games and will hope to do it once again on Sunday.

Delhi Capitals

For the second season in a row, the Meg Lanning-led Delhi Capitals booked their slot in the Women’s Premier League final directly as the table toppers.

The Capitals started on a wrong foot, losing the season opener to Mumbai Indians in a repeat of the last year’s final, but have grown from strength to strength since. They won four matches in a row after the opening game before falling to a narrow one-run loss to UP Warriorz, courtesy a Deepti Sharma special.

They then bounced back well ever since, stopping a Richa Ghosh onslaught against Royal Challengers Bangalore, and rounding off their campaign with a clinical seven wicket-win over Gujarat Giants.

There have been hardly any problems for the Capitals in the competition. Almost all batters have chipped in with runs as and when…

‘Bear With Me, Amma’: For writer MT Vasudevan, fiction is a blend of reality and imagination

IOBNN Bureau March 17, 2024

There is a fascinating short story in MT Vasudevan Nair’s latest book of autobiographical pieces and short stories – Bear With Me, Amma – where the narrator, a little boy, crawls out of his room in the night and raptly watches as his three grandmothers sing and dance in the courtyard. When he is ordered to go back to his room, he complies, only to quickly sneak out again. As the grandmothers clap their hands and swerve their feet in a swift rhythm, he looks on. In an instant, three other grandmothers appear out of a clump of trees, join the ongoing dance, and begin to sing a different song than the one being sung. Some commotion ensues. When the boy takes another look at the courtyard, extra carefully this time, he no longer sees the three grandmothers that had abruptly materialised. He discovers, later, that he was taken inside and put to bed as he sat burning with fever – it was all a dream, a vision. The three bonus grandmothers were performers never in the courtyard but only inside his head.

Like the narrator in the story who takes his three grandmothers and makes up three more, MT effects something similar with this book: to take…