Huge Rush at Patna Junction as Devotees Head to Prayagraj For Maha Kumbh

Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioner, is the new Chief Election Commissioner of India, with effect from 19th February 2025

On Yamuna Clean-Up Project, BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal says, "The machines which are now being used for cleaning the Yamuna River, these machines were lying in Delhi for the last one and a half years and the government of that time believed in the politics of quarrels and lies, so they did not use these machines properly. Now that the situation in Delhi has changed, then definitely the cleaning of the Ganga and Yamuna will be done. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised the people of Delhi that we would start cleaning the Yamuna immediately, so his promise is being implemented completely, and the people of Delhi are very happy about this..."  

Heavy crowd witnessed at Prayagraj railway station as devotees continue to arrive for #MahaKumbh2025

EAM Dr S Jaishankar tweets “Honoured to call on Tamim Bin Hamad, Amir of Qatar on his arrival in New Delhi for a State Visit. Value his guidance on advancing our cooperation in many domains. Confident that his talks with PM Modi tomorrow will deepen our close bonds of friendship.”

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah will review the status of implementation of New Criminal Laws in Jammu & Kashmir in the presence of CM Omar Abdullah and LG Manoj Sinha, tomorrow.

Patna DM Dr Chandrashekhar Singh says, "Due to the huge crowds at railway stations due to Maha Kumbh, a request was received from the railways to depute additional force and magistrates. So we have deputed them...Secondly, there should be better coordination between these deputed officers and the railways, GRP, RPF, etc. I and the SSP are currently inspecting the same. We are inspecting Patna Junction...The situation is fine, it seems normal and we are keeping an eye on it. Our effort is that there should not be any kind of unpleasant situation and the people who are going should not face any inconvenience and they should reach their destination and return safely from there....People should not cause any kind of damage to the railway property. This is your own property, it is public property. It is the responsibility of all of us, all the passengers to protect it. And do not allow any vandalism at all. We will take very strict action against this. People doing such things are being identified through CCTV cameras and we will take strict action against those who are involved in such activities..."

On the New Education Policy, DMK leader I Paranthamen says, "Three-language policy is a failed policy...India, where those who follow the tri-language system, their grass enrollment ratio in higher education, their grass enrollment ratio in primary education, everything is far poorer than our southern states. So, it is a failure model. It is nothing, but it is not the policy of the Indian government. It is a policy of the RSS that they are not supposed to impose. Once they take an oath under the Constitution, they have to function, taking into consideration the articles of the Constitution. But this union government absolutely endeavour to implement the RSS policy, which we will never allow in Tamil Nadu..."

EAM Dr S Jaishankar meets Amir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad AL Thani, in Delhi.

Amir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad AL Thani will be on a State Visit to India on 17-18 February.

Heavy rush witnessed at Patna Junction as devotees struggle to board trains to Prayagraj.

Railway stations across the country are witnessing huge crowd amid the ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, to receive the Amir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad AL Thani.

Amir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad AL Thani will be on a State Visit to India on 17-18 February. During his visit, he will meet EAM Dr S. Jaishankar, PM Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu.

Odisha LoP and former CM Naveen Patnaik, says, " A very large sum of money from the last budget, has still not been spent. Industrial growth is down, so are the finances of our state. It seems that the double-engine govt is going in reverse gear. The prices of the essential commodities are affecting everyone, the suicide of farmers is continuing...unemployment is spiralling...this is a budget which must be spent..."
 

Heavy traffic witnessed at Naini Bridge as devotees continue to reach Prayagraj to participate in the #Mahakumbh

On Yamuna cleaning process underway, Newly elected BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa says, " LG had rolled out strategy earlier as well but they (AAP) went to Supreme Court and obtained stay order...Arvind Kejriwal's statement that, by cleaning Yamuna, can win votes, shows their mindset...PM Modi says to win the hearts of people by doing work, that is his guarantee. Govt has not been formed yet but work has already been started..."

Rahul Gandhi meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to select new Chief Election Commissioner. 

Samajwadi Party leader, Shivpal Yadav says, "This (state) government has done nothing. We will give suggestions as well as criticise for the work not done, in the session... Issue of the management of Maha Kumbh will be raised as there was a lot of mismanagement and misuse of money..."

Shiv Sena leader Rahul Shewale says, "Shiv Sena (UBT) has always tried to insult Hindutva. Sanjay Raut has always insulted Hindutva and its festivals, and so has his brother insulted Maha Kumbh, and that is an insult to the 50 crore Hindus who visited there... Sanjay Raut should have gone to wash off the sins of leaving Bala Saheb Thackeray's ideology, allying with Congress..."

He also says, "Mahayuti is a fevicol bond of Hindutva created by Bala Saheb Thackeray and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This is not only for power, but for Hindutva and Dharma..."

On Sam Pitroda's remarks on China, he says, "Rahul Gandhi's speech in Parliament was like that of a Chinese Spokesperson, as said by a lot of leaders... Congress is playing a role of China's supporters and this is anti-national..."

West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari says, "The police in the state have no spine. Everything is controlled by Mamata Banerjee...When the BJP comes to power, it will take action against the notorious goons...We will continue to raise our voices for the rights of the people even after being suspended from the State Assembly..."

Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, along with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Goa CM Pramd Sawant, participated in the ITCX-2025 Programme 

NCP-SCP leader Jitendra Awhad says, "... It has become necessary to make Hindus and Muslims fight each other to win elections, that is why all these games are being played. Unless they (Mahayuti leaders) do this, they will not win, so they are inciting the Hindu-Muslim conflict to win... Love Jihad, religious conversion and UCC are being brought in to increase the differences and conflicts between the two communities ..."

Those concerned about USAID's interference in Indian elections should be equally concerned about USAID's tentacles in India's medical system and social policies. USAID effectively ran India's National Family Health Survey (NFHS) from the 1990s till it was stopped two years ago. This is the most important medical dataset in India and drives a lot of health policy. Not only were we allowing a foreign agency to harvest our medical data but, by allowing them to design surveys and direct analysis, we were letting them influence our national health responses.  

Equally worryingly, much of the NFHS questionnaire was deliberately skewed to support certain social narratives. The questionnaire for men, for instance, is only 29 pages but that for women is 94 pages. A lot of the additional questions are deliberately worded to elicit a narrative of intra-family violence against Indian women. Must say, very slyly done.

Readers will recall that late Bibek Debroy and I strongly pushed back against this (including publicly in newspaper columns). Fortunately, GoI took up the matter and the latest NFHS is being done by Health Ministry on its own. Note that readers can verify what I am saying easily as it was all done in plain sight. See link below for an overview :

On Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's reply to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma's allegations against his wife, BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal says, "The country knows who had links to George Soros, who is funded by George Soros. Such agencies and such people want to break the unity, sovereignty and integrity of India. Gaurav Gogoi's statement makes it clear who stands with whom."

Navin Kumar Choudhary, Additional Chief Secretary (I&FC) says "As per the directions by the highest level, we will clean Yamuna in the next 3 years before 2027. The work will be done in 3-4 steps. The first is to remove the solid waste from the river bed. That work is going better and to repair all the STPs. We will also ensure that no chemical is discharged in Yamuna without getting treated..."

Yamuna cleaning process underway at Delhi's ITO.

AAP leader Gopal Rai says "The people of Delhi gave 43.6% votes to Aam Aadmi Party and 45.6% votes to BJP. BJP received 2% more votes than AAP. Despite the BJP violating the Election Commission's rules, the people of Delhi showed their trust in Arvind Kejriwal and AAP by rejecting all pressure and influence, demonstrating that they stand with AAP and Arvind Kejriwal... Today, we decided that the AAP will stand with the people of Delhi, working together to challenge any anti-people policies from BJP and ensure the fulfilment of their promises at every level."

BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar says, "This shocking revelation that organisations like USAID were funnelling Crores of Rupees to organisations in India confirm that all of these protests that we were seeing over the last several years were foreign-funded. They were  being instigated and puppet-mastered from across the border and that there are people in India, including political leaders, dynasts who have essentially become weapons in the hands of countries and people who don't want to see India rise. I have said this before and I am saying it again, India's rise, transformation over the last 10 years under PM Narendra Modi has not been to the happiness and satisfaction of many people and forces around the world. They are trying their very best to undermine India and slow India's rise. There are people in India who have become the tools of these types of forces. So, my appeal is, every Indian should come together and ask for these type of people and traitors to be exposed and them to be prosecuted because anybody who is becoming weapon in the hands of foreign forces, certainly is working against the interest of India and Indians."

The Madras High Court on Monday ordered a CBI probe into the massive alleged illegal beach sand mining to the tune of Rs 5832 crore by private mining companies in the coastal districts of Tirunelveli, Tutocorin and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and wanted among others, the agency to investigate the role of officials in the scam while saying political nexus cannot be ruled out in the matter.

Cyber cell has summoned and asked Ranveer Allahbadia to appear on Feb 24.

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said it has seized cash and jewellery worth Rs 2 crore and apprehended two accused wanted in a drugs case by the NCB during recent searches conducted in some northern states and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday asked officials to take strict measures to check the illegal transportation of sand.

He said that this illegal activity causes a loss of revenue for the government.

One man was killed while another sustained serious injuries after their bike hit a road divider in Himachal Pradesh's Bilaspur district, police said on Monday.

The accident took place on the Kiratpur-Manali four-lane road on Sunday evening, they said.

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday received credentials from envoys of five nations, including Nepal and Maldives, at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, officials said.

Those who presented their credentials included Rath Many, Ambassador of Cambodia, Aishath Azeema, High Commissioner of Maldives, and Abdullahi Mohammed Odowa, Ambassador of Somalia, an official statement said.

During the press meet congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, his meeting with Pak envoy was customary in nature.

If you want to investigate, you can, we are clean, we were and we are on the same stand, said Gaurav Gogoi in Press Conference. 

Gogi however did not specify why he met Pak envoy, when asked by Republic.

The Assam Police has lodged an FIR against Ali Tauqeer Sheikh and others for alleged comments on India's internal affairs and parliamentary matters aimed at disrupting communal harmony and the nation's interests following allegations of his close link with Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi's British wife Elizabeth Colburn, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday.

The East Central Railway (ECR) on Monday said it has been strictly enforcing the prohibition on people's entry into stations without valid tickets in view of the heavy rush of passengers across Bihar for Maha Kumbh. The announcement comes two days after 18 people died in a stampede at the packed New Delhi railway station.

A couple were killed when soil caved in on them while they were digging for coal illegally in a village in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol district, police said on Monday.

The second leg of the 5th Khelo India Winter Games, scheduled to begin here on Saturday, has been postponed due to insufficient snowfall in the region.

The new dates for the event will be announced once the weather improves and a fresh assessment is completed.

Eight students were injured when a private school bus met with an accident and fell into a canal near Noach village in this district on Monday, police said.

According to preliminary investigation, the driver lost control over the vehicle due to a steering wheel malfunction.

The driver and a woman attendant were also injured in the accident.

The president of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Harjinder Singh Dhami, resigned from his post with immediate effect on Monday.

Dhami's resignation came days after Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Raghbir Singh strongly condemned the dismissal of services of Giani Harpreet Singh as the jathedar of Damdama Sahib by the SGPC.

Four persons were killed, and as many others sustained injuries after an SUV heading for the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj overturned in Madhya Pradesh's Sidhi district in the wee hours of Monday, police said.

Delhi Chief Minister's oath likely on February 20 at Ramleela maidan. BJP to announce name on Feb. 19.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar told the advocates appearing in the case that it is a three-judge bench matter whereas the sitting bench was a two-judge combination so it would be heard some other day. 

There is no success without failure and perseverance always pays was the message from boxing great M C Mary Kom and Paralympic stars Avani Lekhara and Suhas Yathiraj when they offered stress-management tips to school students as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Pariksha pe Charcha' initiative.

Amid several incidents of cross-border firing and an IED attack along the LoC recently, Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said the Indian Army is fully capable of dealing with any type of situation on the borders and is giving a befitting response to enemy forces.

A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a 36-year-old man accused of raping and threatening a woman, citing that she had failed to support her version of events.

Additional sessions judge Amit M Shete acquitted the man, a native of Uttar Pradesh, of charges under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

A third-year B-Tech student of a private engineering college here died allegedly by suicide in her hostel, police said on Monday.The deceased was identified as Prakriti Lamsal from Nepal. She was a B-Tech third-year student of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), the Registrar said.

In a first, “Low Alcoholic Beverage Bars” will come up in Madhya Pradesh from the next fiscal starting April 1, while the sale of liquor will be restricted in 19 places, including 17 holy cities under the new Excise Policy, an official said.

 Police have seized banned gutka worth Rs 2.21 lakh from a building in Maharashtra's Thane city and arrested one person for illegally storing the substance, an official said on Monday.

Based on a tip-off, a police team raided a room in a building in Ambewadi at Wagle Estate on Saturday afternoon and discovered a stock of gutka stored on the premises, the official said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people in Delhi and nearby areas to stay calm and follow safety precautions while keeping alert for possible aftershocks following a shallow earthquake in the region early on Monday.

An earthquake of 4.0 magnitude rocked parts of Delhi-NCR early on Monday, the National Center for Seismology said.

There were no immediate reports of any damage or injuries.

Stringent protocols are being enforced at key railway stations in Uttar Pradesh such as Prayagraj, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Kanpur, Lucknow and Mirzapur following the stampede at the New Delhi railway station and the massive crowds arriving for the Maha Kumbh.

A day after a deadly stampede at the New Delhi railway station claimed 18 lives, the station remained overcrowded on Sunday with thousands of passengers struggling to board trains amid heavy rush.