Author: Akshara Dangayach

 Quad Foreign Minister’s Meeting: S. Jaishankar The external affairs minister is visiting Australia for the first time since taking office for the fourth meeting of the four Quad nations’ foreign ministers. The meeting began on Friday in Melbourne. Australia, Japan, India, and the United States are involved in the forum hoping to strengthen cooperation in the economy, security, the coronavirus pandemic, and a free and open Indo-Pacific.  “In Sept, you (Australian PM), our PM, Pres Biden, PM of Japan, collectively gave us guidance, laid out a vision for Quad. I want to assure you that we’ve all been at work.…

A Manchester United footballer Paul Pogba, who published an Instagram story on Thursday, highlighted protests in Karnataka over college students being denied the opportunity to wear a hijab. He wrote, “Hindutva mobs continue to harass Muslim girls wearing Hijab to college in India”  Pogba, whose mother is Muslim and who began practicing Islam in 2019, published a 58-second Instagram reel. The clip begins with a swarm of guys and adults wearing saffron scarves and surrounding young girls in hijabs. Several dozen males shout and chant as dust rises from the brawl. A few males are holding hands to protect the…

If voters “make a mistake,” Uttar Pradesh might become Kashmir, Kerala, or Bengal; Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath warned only hours before the state’s first round of elections, pushing people to vote for the BJP. Yogi Adityanath also declared in a video published on Twitter by the Uttar Pradesh BJP that voting for the BJP will be “a guarantee of free life.”  Today, 58 seats in the state’s western region, the epicenter of an 11-month farmers’ strike, will vote. CM Adityanath said in the video. “I have to tell you something that is there in my heart. A lot of wonderful…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to news agency ANI a day before the first phase of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Speaking on political dynamics in elections going in Uttar Pradesh, PM said that people from UP taught a powerful lesson about the arrogance of ‘two boys. He added, ‘We had seen the game of ‘two boys’ prior too. They had such a level of arrogance that they used’ Gujarat ke do gadhe.’ UP did teach them a lesson. Another time there were ‘two boys’ and a ‘bua ji’ with them. Still, it didn’t work out for them.’  Modi addressed…

The Kerala High Court has issued a notice to the State Government to respond to a petition contesting the Lokayukta Act’s Section 14 revision. On February 7, the Kerala Governor accepted the modification ordinance initially tabled in the cabinet.  Based on a petition filed by a social worker, the court issued a notice to the State Government, declaring that the amendment placing the power of appeal on the executive is unlawful and in violation of Article 254 of the Constitution. Chief Justice S Manikumar and Justice Shaji P Chaly issued notice to the state over Lokayukta ordinance. Kerala Governor accepted…

On Thursday, professional wrestler Dilip Singh Rana, called ‘The Great Khali,’ joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi. “I’m glad to have joined BJP. I feel that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s work for the nation makes him the right Prime Minister. So, I thought, why not be a part of his governance for the nation’s development,” remarked Rana. In 2020, Khali backed farmers against the Centre’s farm rules near the Delhi border. The wrestler had urged Indians to join the protesting farmers. Khali debuted in professional wrestling in the year 2000. Before joining the WWE, he worked as a…

The Aam Aadmi Party government has given a big new year gift to hundreds of employees of the Delhi Jal Board. Hundreds of contractual employees of the Delhi Jal Board have now been permanently confirmed. With this decision of the Arvind Kejriwal government, government jobs of 700 employees will become stable, and they will get all the benefits provided by the government. Arvind Kejriwal himself gave the appointment letter to the employees on Wednesday.  “I’ve been told that for the very first time in Delhi Govt, such a large number of contractual workers are being made permanent, together.”  says Chief…

At the invitation of his Australian colleague Marise Payne, Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister (EAM), India, will conduct an official visit to Australia from 10 to 13 February 2022.  AEM S. Jaishankar and Australia Foreign Minister Marise Payne, on 12 February, will co-chair the inaugural Foreign Ministers’ Cyber Framework Dialogue (FMCFD). Meetings with Australian political leaders, academics, businesses, and Indian diaspora and students are scheduled for the AEM. From the 13th to the 15th of February 2022, EAM will travel to the Philippines for a bilateral visit. This will be his first trip to the Philippines as External Affairs…

Protesters flung stones at one other in and around Udupi campuses while students raised saffron scarves at a college, intensifying hijab versus saffron scarves protests at Karnataka institutions. The protest has spread to further cities, including Shivamogga, and has now surfaced in the BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh and Puducherry. Harihara and Davengere banned large gatherings after hijab-wearing demonstrators and others wearing saffron scarves pelted stones at one other. The BJP government in Karnataka has remained mainly silent as it awaits the outcome of a case filed by five women from a government college in Udupi challenging hijab rules on…