LIVE updates: Security beefed up near new Parliament building in Delhi

Catch live updates from across the globe here

9:20 AM

Mamata Banerjee to visit blast-affected Bengal village today

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will visit Khadikul village in Purba Medinipur district on Saturday to speak to the family members of those killed in a blast at an illegal firecracker manufacturing unit, besides taking stock of the situation, a senior official said.

After her visit, the Trinamool Congress supremo will attend the party's mass outreach programme 'Trinamool-e naba-jowar' (new wave in Trinamool) at Salboni in Paschim Medinipur district, where party MP Abhishek Banerjee will also be present, he added.

"The CM will be travelling to Egra to meet the relatives of the 12 people killed in the blast as well as those injured," the official said.

9:06 AM

Adheenams leave from Chennai airport to participate in inauguration of the new parliament building

9:00 AM

PM Modi pays tribute to former PM Jawaharlal Nehru on death anniversary

8:57 AM

K'taka cabinet expansion: 24 legislators to be sworn in as ministers today

A week after assuming power in Karnataka, the Congress on Friday released the list of 24 legislators who will be sworn-in as ministers to fill up all the vacant ministerial positions.

The cabinet expansion will take place on Saturday noon with their swearing-in ceremony, according to Congress leaders.

The Karnataka government can have 34 ministers. While 10 of them including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar were sworn-in on March 20, the rest will be inducted on Saturday.

8:55 AM

Satyendar Jain suffers head injury, medical board constituted for treatment

Jailed AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain, who is undergoing treatment at a city government-run hospital here, had suffered a blood clot due to a head injury, though his condition is stable, sources said on Friday.

A four-member medical board has been constituted for the treatment of Jain, who was admitted to an ICU of the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital on Thursday, they said.

The board members include senior physicians from LNJP Hospital, neurologists from GB Pant Hospital, besides specialists in critical care, they said.

8:54 AM

All MPs should welcome construction of new Parliament building: Azad

Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday said all parliamentarians should welcome the construction of a new Parliament building.

The former Congress leader, however, added that the idea of the construction of a new Parliament building was first mooted during the time of the P V Narasimha Rao government, but was later sent to the cold storage.

"It (the construction of a new Parliament building) is a good thing. It is a good Parliament (house). It was proposed during the Narasimha Rao government but it could not be done. Now that it has been constructed, all parliamentarians should welcome it," Azad told reporters here.

"I have no opposition to it," he added.

8:52 AM

56% will still elect Modi as PM given choice between him and Rahul: Survey

About 56 per cent of the respondents of a survey will elect Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister if they are given a choice to elect directly between him and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

However, Rahul Gandhi has also made improvement in his image, as almost 35 per cent of the respondents want to elect him directly for the post.

8:52 AM

PM Modi to chair NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair NITI Aayog's eighth Governing Council meeting on May 27, which will deliberate on several issues including, health, skill development, women empowerment and infrastructure development, with an aim to make India a developed nation by 2047.

 

The council, the apex body of NITI Aayog, includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers.

 

Modi is the Chairman of NITI Aayog.