Assembly polls LIVE: Congress will not implement CAA in Assam, says Rahul

Rahul Gandhi interacted with college students in Lahoal in Dibrugarh and attended the tea estate workers rally in Dinjoy. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Friday assured that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will not be implemented in Assam if the party is voted to power in the state in the coming Assembly poll. It will be ensured in the state assembly that the CAA is not implemented in Assam, Gandhi told students of Lahowal College in Dibrugarh district.

"In the other states, we will stop it (CAA implementation) after we (Congress) come to power at the national level," he said.

Meanwhile, the Centre today urged the Delhi High Court to restrain Facebook-owned WhatsApp from implementing its new privacy policy and terms of service which are to take effect from May 15.

In another news, Lok Sabha on Friday passed a bill to amend the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, with Union minister Pralhad Joshi saying the changes will help create employment opportunities and allow private sector with enhanced technology in mining activities.
 

US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin arrived in India today on a three-day visit, aimed at further boosting bilateral defence and security ties in the wake of China's growing military assertiveness in the region including the Indo-Pacific.

India's foreign exchange reserves rose by $1.739 billion during the week ended March 12. According to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) weekly statistical supplement, the reserves increased to $582.037 billion from $580.299 billion reported for the week ended March 5.
 

Stay tuned for the latest news of the day.

8:45 PM

Time to consider allowing Sensex, Nifty trading on all bourses: RBI article amid NSE outage incident

Against the backdrop of a nearly four-hour outage at the National Stock Exchange last month, an RBI article on Friday suggested allowing trading of benchmarks Nifty and Sensex on all stock exchanges, according to a PTI report.

 

Trading was halted at the NSE for nearly four hours on February 24, reportedly due to telecom links failure leading to unavailability of the online risk management system of the NSE Clearing Ltd (NCL). NCL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NSE, is responsible for clearing and settlement of all trades executed on the exchange, according to the article.

 

NSE is one of the world's largest derivatives exchanges. The article, published in the latest bulletin of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), noted that the major issue in this incident was the ineffectiveness of interoperability because of shutting down of the NCL.

8:06 PM

India's forex reserve rises by over $1.7 billion

India's foreign exchange reserves rose by $1.739 billion during the week ended March 12. According to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) weekly statistical supplement, the reserves increased to $582.037 billion from $580.299 billion reported for the week ended March 5.

 

India's forex reserves comprise foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs), and the country's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). On a weekly basis, FCAs, the largest component of the forex reserves, edged higher by $1.409 billion to $541.022 billion. Similarly, the value of the country's gold reserves rose by $336 million to $34.551 billion.

7:42 PM

ISRO to set up Space Technology Incubation Centre' at NIT Rourkela

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will establish a 'Space Technology Incubation Centre' (S-TIC) at the National Institute of Technology in Rourkela to carry out research and product development in space technology and applications, officials said on Friday.

 

The ISRO and NIT signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday for setting up the centre which will enable start-ups to build applications and products that could be used in future space missions.

 

"Space technology-related research and the products from the S-TIC will be utilised in future space missions and will help nation building through Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' in space technology and applications domain," said ISRO Chairman K Sivan.

7:02 PM

25% candidates contesting Bengal polls phase-1 declared criminal cases against themselves: ADR

Forty-eight of the 191 candidates contesting the first phase of assembly elections in West Bengal on March 27 or a little over 25 per cent have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to a report by poll rights group Association for Democratic Reforms.

 

On the education details of candidates, ADR said96 (50 per cent) candidates have declared their educational qualifications to be between class 5 and 12 while 92 (48 per cent) candidates have declared to be graduates or above. Three candidates are diploma holders.

 

The West Bengal Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 191 candidates, who are contesting in the first phase. According to their report, about 48 (25 per cent) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves while 42 (22 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

6:32 PM

Rahul Gandhi interacted with tea workers in Dibrugarh district of Assam today

5:53 PM

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin arrives in India on three-day visit; focus on expansion of strategic ties

US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin arrived in India on Friday on a three-day visit, aimed at further boosting bilateral defence and security ties in the wake of China's growing military assertiveness in the region including the Indo-Pacific.

 

India is the third stop of Austin's three-nation first overseas tour, and the visit is seen as a strong commitment of the Joe Biden administration to its close allies and partners in the region.

 

Ways to further accelerate India-US strategic ties, boosting cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, China's aggressive behaviour in eastern Ladakh, challenges posed by terrorism and the Afghan peace process are expected to be focus of the talks between the two sides, people familiar with the visit preparation and agenda said. They said India's plan to procure around 30 multi-mission armed Predator drones from the US for the three services at an estimated cost of over USD 3 billion is also expected to figure in the talks.

5:35 PM

Congress will not implement CAA in Assam: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Friday assured that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will not be implemented in Assam if the party is voted to power in the state in the coming Assembly poll. It will be ensured in the state assembly that the CAA is not implemented in Assam, Gandhi told students of Lahowal College in Dibrugarh district.

 

"In the other states, we will stop it (CAA implementation) after we (Congress) come to power at the national level," he said.

 

Asked to comment on whether BJP is mixing religion and politics, he said that the saffron party does not use religion but hatred to create divisions among different sections of the society.

 

"No religion has asked to use hatred. Where is it written in Hinduism that there should be 'nafrat' (hatred)? It is BJP that spreads hatred to divide society and wherever they do it Congress goes there to promote love, brotherhood and harmony," he said.

5:29 PM

US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin III arrives in India on a three-day visit

5:28 PM

Tamil Nadu Assembly polls: DMK president M K Stalin holds a public rally in Tiruppur

5:28 PM

Our CM will work after listening to the people of Assam: Rahul Gandhi at Tinsukia rally

4:59 PM

Centre has stops doorstep delivery of ration scheme: Delhi govt sources

Days after the GNCTD (Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, Delhi government sources on Friday claimed that the Centre has "stopped" its doorstep delivery of ration scheme scheduled to roll out later this month. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was scheduled to launch the scheme with doorstep delivery of ration to 100 households in Seemapuri area on March 25, according to a PTI report.

 

"The Centre has stopped Delhi government's doorstep delivery of ration scheme," a source claimed without divulging further details.

 

The Centre on Monday introduced the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in Lok Sabha that seeks to give overarching powers to the Lieutenant Governor. The ruling AAP has vociferously opposed the Bill, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying that struggle against the legislation will continue.

4:41 PM

CBI files case against Indian Technometal Company for alleged fraud of Rs 555 crore

The CBI has filed a case against Indian Technometal Company Ltd and its directors for alleged fraud of Rs 555.65 crore to a consortium of banks led by erstwhile Corporation Bank, officials said Friday.

 

The action followed a complaint from Union Bank of India (erstwhile Corporation Bank) alleging that the private company through its directors in conspiracy with others has defrauded the consortium by misrepresentations, concealment of facts and submitting false documents and information to avail credit facilities.

 

The default on payments caused a loss to the tune of Rs 555.65 crore to the consortium which also included State Bank of Hyderabad (now State Bank of India), Punjab National Bank, Punjab & Sindh Bank, UCO Bank, Syndicate Bank, Central Bank of India, Karur Vysya Bank and JM Financial ARC, they said.

 

4:30 PM

Lok Sabha passes bill to amend MMDR Act

Lok Sabha on Friday passed a bill to amend the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, with Union minister Pralhad Joshi saying the changes will help create employment opportunities and allow private sector with enhanced technology in mining activities.

 

"The reform in the mining sector would generate 55 lakh direct and indirect employment. To enhance mining activity, we will allow private sector with enhanced technology in mineral exploration," Joshi said.

 

The Lower House passed the Mines and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill, 2021. According to the minister, India produces 95 minerals and has same potential like South Africa and Australia but still import minerals like gold and coal.

 

"The reform in the mining sector would generate 55 lakh direct and indirect employment. To enhance mining activity, we will allow private sector with enhanced technology in mineral exploration," the minister said.

4:17 PM

More than 130 BJP workers died here: Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan at Patashpur rally

4:12 PM

Govt plans to monetise its Railways' assets to generate resources to boost growth

Govt tells Rajya Sabha that railways infrastructure will never be privatised but it plans to monetise its assets to generate resources to boost growth