KCR takes oath as Telangana’s 2nd CM Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao was sworn in as the second Chief Minister of Telangana on Thursday by Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan. Popularly known as KCR, the TRS supreme took the oath at 1.34 PM sharp, an “auspicious” time according to the chief priest of the Yadadari temple. Rao’s party won the polls with a huge majority of 88 out of the 119 seats in Telangana. Chandrashekar Rao was re-elected from Gajwel in Siddipet district by a margin of 58,290 votes. The 64-year-old TRS party president first became chief minister of Telangana after the party won a majority in the 2014 elections after the bifurcation of the state from Andhra Pradesh. TRS leaders, who did not want to be quoted, said that the new Cabinet ministers would be declared in a week’s time and that only some from the previous Cabinet will be part of the new one, as reported by Livemint. ____________________ Cyclonic storm likely over Bay of Beng...

Scientist killed, 3 injured in Explosion at IISc Bangalore A scientist, working with a startup called Super-wave Technology, was killed and three others were injured after a suspected hydrogen cylinder exploded in a laboratory inside the campus of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore on Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as 32-year-old Manoj Kumar who is a native of Hyderabad and the three injured have been identified as Karthik, Naresh Kumar and Adulya. As per earlier reports, the explosion occurred around 2.20 pm at the research laboratory of Aerospace Department’s Laboratory for Hypersonic and Shockwave. The four people present in the laboratory at the time of the explosion suffered injuries due to the shockwave that was emitted after the incident. Atulya, Karthik and Naresh Kumar were severely injured and rushed to Ramaiah hospital where they are reported to be in a critical state. _________________  RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6.5 % ...

Bulandshahr Cop Killed: NHRC issues notice to UP govt, 5 arrested  In the latest development in Bulandshahr violence case, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday sent a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and Bulandshahr DGP over the death of police inspector Subodh Singh and a 20-year-old youth following a mob violence over rumours of cow. Earlier in the day, five people were arrested and four others along with Bajrang Dal leader Yogesh Raj were detained. However ruling out the involvement of any religious outfit, Assistant Director General Anand Kumar said, “We can’t confirm the involvement of any organisation yet.” While Singh’s post mortem report stated that he died due to a gunshot injury in his forehead, his sister alleged that the incident was a conspiracy. “My brother was investigating Akhlaq lynching case and that is why he was killed,” she told reporters. The case has taken a political turn with Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati among other ...

Maharashtra govt approves 16% quota for Marathas The Maharashtra government on Thursday approved 16 percent quota in education and jobs for the Maratha community, bringing the reservation margin to a total of 68%. The Devendra Fadnavis government passed the bill in both the Upper and the Lower Houses of the State Assembly. The decision comes after a series of protests from the community this year forcing the government to deliberate over the issue. Following this, the State Backward Class Commission (SBCC) report was formulated in November which stated that, ‘Marathas have inadequate representation in services under the state. They are entitled to reservation benefits, and the advantages enshrined in the Articles 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution. Earlier on Wednesday, CM Fadnavis said, “My government is committed to providing reservation to the community under the Socially and Educationally Backward Community category over and above the existing 52 per cent reservati...

Union cabinet approves Kartarpur corridor from Punjab to Pakistan The Union Cabinet declared to build the Kartarpur corridor from Dera Bana Nanak in Gurdaspur, Punjab to the International border of Pakistan on Thursday. After the announcement, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted on his microblogging site Twitter, “The Katarpur corridor will provide smooth and easy passage to pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib throughout the year. The government of Pakistan will be urged to reciprocate and develop a corridor with suitable facilities in their territory.” The matter of Kartarpur corridor came into limelight after Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu visited Pakistan on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's oath ceremony. On his return to India Sidhu mentioned that Pakistan General Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa conveyed that Pakistan might open a corridor to Kartarpur. On Thursday Pakistan announced that it will start the construction of Katarpur corridor on the...

Supreme Court slams parties in CBI case for 'leaking' details in media The Supreme Court on Tuesday slammed the parties involved in the ongoing bribery charges against the officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and expressed reservation after it came to light that certain details pertaining to the case have been leaked to the media. According to news reports, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi presenting newspaper clippings to Justice Fali Nariman, who is appearing for CBI director Alok Verma, pointed out that certain ‘leaked’ details of the hearing that were specifically sought in a sealed envelope were out in the open. The top court also pointed at online news portal, The Wire publishing details of the case and said, “For reasons that need not be recorded, we don't want a hearing. None of you deserve a hearing.” The details in question refer to the application of CBI Deputy Inspector General Manish Kumar Sinha, who approached the SC on Monday and said Uni...

Sabarimala temple issue: Activist Trupti Desai returns to Mumbai after protests intensify In a high octane drama over the Sabarimala temple entry issue in Kerala, gender activist and President of Bahumata Brigade Trupti Desai returned to Mumbai after protesters blocked her for more than 12 hours at the Cochin airport on Friday after she arrived in the state to seek darshan. Trupti along with four women colleagues, was stuck inside the airport since 4:30 am while angry protesters led by BJP youth activist Rahul Easwar demanded they go back as no women of menstrual age would be allowed inside the temple, irrespective of the Supreme Court’s recent order allowing the same. “Taxi operators are not taking my bookings. The police have asked me to stay inside as of now. But I will not go back without darshan,” Desai had earlier said over the phone to TV channels. Justifying the protests, BJP secretary MN Gopi said “She (Desai) has no other way but to return”, news agencies reported....

2008 Malegaon Blast: Lt Col Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya charged A special court in Mumbai on Tuesday charged Lt Col Shrikant Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur along with five other people in the 2008 Malegaon blast case which killed six people and injured at least 101 in Maharashtra’s Nashik. Updating the 2017 special NIA court order, Justice Vinod Padalkar, along with Purohit and Pragya, held Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi guilty of terror conspiracy under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Law (UAPA) and of murder and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Reacting to the order, Sadhvi Pragya said, “Earlier NIA had given me a clean chit. Now charges have been framed against me. This was a conspiracy by Congress but I will come out innocent.” The framing of charges will begin from November 2. _________________ Will make Indore best city in India: Rahul Gandhi in MP  Addressing a ral...

Indonesia Plane Crash Update: No survivors expected, say rescue teams In an update to the ill-fated Lion Air JT 610 flight crash, the rescue teams stated that all 189 passengers are ‘likely’ killed in the accident as no sign of life has been reported from the crash site area. News reports, quoting Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency said that human remains have been found in the Java sea but there is no official number on survivor and causalities yet. The aircraft, directed by Indian captain Bhavye Suneja and co-pilot Harvino along with other six crew members had taken off from Jakarta to the city of Pangkal Pinang and went missing for 13 minutes from the air controller’s radar before the tragedy struck off the island of Sumatra. ____________________ India-Japan Annual Summit: Japan to invest $2.5 bn in India Holding bilateral talks as part of the 13th India-Japan Annual Summit in Tokyo, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese President Shinzo A...

CBI Controversy: SC seeks inquiry; Gandhi courts arrest as Cong stages protests Hearing the petition of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Alok Verma on Friday, the Supreme Court gave the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) a two week time period to complete the investigation against the advance leave served to Verma. The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi also said that interim CBI director M Nageswar Rao should not allowed to take any major decisions and just carry out routine tasks. Meanwhile, the Congress Party held protest outside CBI offices across the country, while party President Rahul Gandhi along with senior party leaders were detained outside the CBI headquarters in Janpath, Delhi after they courted arrest. "Changing the CBI director will not work. They can arrest me as many times as they want,” Gandhi said while speaking to media agencies from Lodhi Colony police station. The BJP slammed Gandhi for politicizing the issue...

Sec 377 verdict: Bollywood welcomes it, Subramanian Swamy disapproves The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the historic verdict of scrapping the 156-year-old Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that decriminalized homosexuality, releasing a series of reactions from different strata of society. Bollywood celebrities like filmmaker Karan Johar, actress Sonam Kapoor among others hailed the verdict. Congress Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor who had earlier tried to introduce the private member’s bill but was rejected by the majority NDA called the verdict a ‘dawn’ for India. Meanwhile, a staunch critic of homosexuality and gay rights, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy claimed the verdict could give rise to increase in HIV cases, gay bars, etc. “This judgment can be overturned by a seven-judge bench,” he added. ___________________ India-US sign key military equipment deal ahead of 2+2 meeting Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on T...