Politics

India's 72nd Republic Day affair to be a quieter one amid covid-19

• There will be no chief guest at the event for the first time in decades after British prime minister Boris Johnson called off his India trip.
• The motorcycle stunts by troops of the army and the Central Armed Police Force personnel will be missing too.

MHA asks states, UTs to protect, rehabilitate transgenders

• The Ministry of Home Affairs has also said that all states are required to protect and rehabilitate transgenders

'CWC has decided that there will be new elected Congress president in June 2021'

• The committee, after a three-and-a-half hour meeting, authorised incumbent party chief Sonia Gandhi to schedule the internal election after the conclusion of assembly polls in five states
• CWC demands JPC probe on alleged breach of national security, violation of Official Secrets Act over leaked WhatsApp chat of Arnab Goswami

West Bengal forest minister resigns from Mamata Banerjee cabinet

'I was troubled and mentally hurt for a while and I had to take this step. It pains me and breaks my heart but I had to do it,' says Rajib Banerjee

Yediyurappa allocates portfolios to 7 new ministers, effects changes for some

Among the new ministers, Umesh Katti gets the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs while S. Angara has been given Fisheries, Ports and Inland Transport

BJP will not project a CM face for West Bengal Assembly elections: Vijayvargiya

• BJP General Secretary and West Bengal In-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya said this is in line with the party's approach where it is not in power

TN CM K Palaniswami says no 'political' talk with PM Modi, Amit Shah

While the BJP initially maintained that the CM nominee would be announced by the NDA leadership, the party later made a climb down and said the AIADMK as the major partner would decide on it

Govt to exit its holding in VSNL this fiscal, sell 26.12% stake

The transaction is to be completed by March 20, 2021, the DIPAM said

India plans foreign investment rule changes that could hit Amazon

• India only allows foreign e-commerce players to operate as a marketplace to connect buyers and sellers. It prohibits them from holding inventories of goods and directly selling them on their platforms

Delhi govt reduces ICU beds reservation to 25%for covid patients in pvthospitals

• The reservation percentage has been gradually reduced by the government after reviewing the pandemic situation

Centre writes to WhatsApp CEO to withdraw proposed changes to privacy policy

• Government has sent a list of 14 questions to WhatsApp seeking response on various privacy and data security concerns

West Bengal Polls: Adhikari accepts Mamata's challenge to fight her in Nandigram

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Monday accepted the challenge thrown by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to contest from his Nandigram assembly seat, asserting he will defeat her in the election or quit politics.

Delhi seeks more funds from Centre for civic amenities

• Manish Sisodia told Nirmala Sitharaman that other state governments received financial assistance from the Disaster Response Fund, but Delhi did not

MCA panel proposes decriminalising LLP Act

• The panel also proposed that LLPs should be allowed to issue Non-convertible Debentures (NCDs) to entities regulated by Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) or the RBI

Mamata to challenge Suvendu Adhikari on his home turf Nandigram in state polls

• Mamata Banerjee is at present the MLA from Bhawanipore in south Kolkata

Miffed TMC MP Satabdi Roy named West Bengal state unit vice-president

• Satabdi Roy had snatched the Birbhum seat from CPI(M) heavyweight Ram Chandra Dome in 2009 on debut and managed to win it by an overwhelming margin in 2019

Doubling farmers income biggest priority of Modi govt: Amit Shah

• Since coming to power, the Modi government had increased the budget for the farm sector and also the minimum support price on various crops, Amit Shah said

Will incorporate 'Karnataka-occupied areas' into Maharashtra: Uddhav Thackeray

• Maharashtra claims Belgaum and some other areas, part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency but currently in Karnataka, on linguistic grounds

Govt plans to end iron ore leases of mines that didn't start output afterauction

• The mines ministry proposed to do so through the amendment of certain mining rules and has invited comments from the stakeholders on the same

UK invites India for G-7 summit in June, to discuss Covid, climate change

The British government has chosen an English village on the coast of Cornwall as the site for the next annual summit. Last year's G7 meeting, due to be hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump, was cancelled due to the pandemic.