RIVANCH

Republic TV Chief Executive Officer Vikas Khanchandani was arrested by Mumbai Police on Sunday in connection with the alleged television ratings manipulation case, NDTV reported . He is the 13th person to be arrested in the case. Khanchandani was arrested from his residence in Mumbai by the police's Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU), a police official told PTI . Republic TV has stated that it will move the holiday court against the arrest. Arnab Goswami, the editor-in-chief of the news channel, condemned the arrest, and was quoted by Mumbai Mirror as saying, “If the matter comes under TRAI [Telecom Regulatory Authority of India], why is the Mumbai Police arresting our CEO Vikas Khanchandani?” he asked. Goswami said that the Supreme Court should take suo motu cognisance of the matter. Earlier, Goswami moved the Bombay High Court  seeking a stay to further investigation by the Mumbai Police in the alleged Television Rating Points (TRP) manipulation scam. The petition, filed by

New Delhi: The Delhi Police stepped up vigil on the national capital's border with Haryana on Sunday as farmers plan to block the Jaipur National Highway-8, which passes through Gurgaon, as part of their protest against the Centre's new agri laws. The city police had on Saturday increased security arrangements by deploying additional personnel and placing more concrete barriers. Measures have also been taken to ensure commuters do not face inconvenience, a senior police officer said. The announcement by farmers' unions to block the Jaipur-Delhi highway comes amid protests by thousands for the last 17 days at the various other border points of the national capital, including Singhu and Tikri, against the laws. Farmers are demanding the Centre withdraw the legislations. Farmer leaders on Saturday had said that they are ready to hold talks with the government, but will first discuss repealing the three new farm laws, and announced that representatives of their unions woul

The debate around the economics and administration of farm laws stands frozen by politics. It is, therefore, time for politicians, administrators, economists, policymakers and other concerned citizens to examine the evolution of these laws. The three laws that have been enacted by Parliament attempt to take farmers towards harvesting economic gains; they have thus far been held back by outdated laws, manipulated markets and vested interests-driven corruption. This is aside from macro-factors, such as India moving away from food shortages into an era of surpluses. As yesterday’s proponents of these reform ideas become today’s opponents of its laws, noise has become the currency of discourse. Confusion mars the economics of farm laws, misinformation drives its politics, bandh and siege have become its instruments of engagement. Worse, false narratives are being created across multiple platforms. Institutions that were not part of the debate — and aren’t — are being picked up, cooked and

New Delhi:  India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 98.57 lakh, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 93.57 lakh pushing the national recovery rate to 94.93 percent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The total coronavirus cases mounted to 98,57,029 with 30,254 infections being reported in a day. The death toll rose to 1,43,019 with 391 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 93,57,464 pushing the national recovery rate to 94.93 percent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 percent. The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 4 lakh for the seventh consecutive day. There are 3,56,546 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 3.62 percent of the total caseload, the data stated. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on 7 August, 30 lakh on 23 August, and 40 lakh on 5 September. It went past 50

New Delhi: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday called on Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and requested him to expedite the setting up of additional airports at six proposed sites in the state, including one in Nizamabad district. Rao, who is in the national capital on a three-day visit, had on Friday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and raised various pending issues with them. The Telangana chief minister also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi among other Union ministers. In a meeting with Puri, he made a representation informing the civil aviation minister that currently Telangana has one airport at Hyderabad and said that he had requested the prime minister to establish additional airports in 2014 when Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh. A proposal in this regard, Rao said, was sent to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in 2018 seeking its feasibility reports. The AAI had in

When it comes to the hard currency of democracy—electoral popularity and success—the BJP has been nearly unbeatable for over half a decade. The Opposition has been steadily crumbling. The only other pan-India party, the Congress, is in internal tumult. Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is eroding, cornered and in violent panic in West Bengal. K Chandrashekar Rao’s citadel Telangana has been shaken lately. In Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav fought bravely but lost. And Maharashtra is being held precariously by an ideologically incoherent coalition. If you are getting increasingly unelectable, what else can buy political clout in a democracy? Protests. Street protests have become the centrepiece of the anti-government, anti-BJP strategy in Narendra Modi’s second term in office. The anti-CAA protests raged from Murshidabad in Bengal to Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, Jamia and Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, Azad Maidan in Mumbai, Ahmedabad and several other cities. Several buses were burnt, trains and stat

New Delhi: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday called on Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and requested him to expedite the setting up of additional airports at six proposed sites in the state, including one in Nizamabad district. Rao, who is in the national capital on a three-day visit, had on Friday met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and raised various pending issues with them. The Telangana chief minister also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi among other Union ministers. In a meeting with Puri, he made a representation informing the civil aviation minister that currently Telangana has one airport at Hyderabad and he had requested the prime minister to establish additional airports in 2014 when Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh. A proposal in this regard, Rao said, was sent to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in 2018 seeking its feasibility reports. The AAI had indicated th

Jaipur: At least seven people were killed and several others injured on Saturday in a collision involving a jeep and a trailer truck in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh district, police said. The accident occurred near Sadulkhera on Udaipur-Nimbahera highway, they said. "Seven people were killed and several others injured in the accident. The injured have been rushed to different hospitals," Chittorgarh District Collector Kishore Kumar Sharma told PTI . Chittorgarh Superintendent of Police Deepak Bhargav said four people died on the spot, while three others succumbed to injuries later. He said nine others were injured in the accident and taken to different hospitals. Two of them are critical, the SP said. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has expressed grief over the incident. "Saddened to know of a road accident in Nikumbh, Chittorgarh, in which many people have lost lives. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. May they find strength. Prayers for speedy recover

New Delhi: India is not only on track to achieve its Paris Agreement targets, but to exceed them beyond expectations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said during the Climate Ambition Summit 2020 on Saturday, highlighting that the country has reduced its emission intensity by 21 percent over 2005 levels. In his message delivered virtually at the summit, Modi said India's solar capacity has grown from 2.63 gigawatts in 2014 to 36 gigawatts in 2020. The Climate Ambition Summit, held virtually, marked the five years of the adoption of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which was signed in December 2015. The summit was co-hosted by the United Nations, the United Kingdom, and France in partnership with Chile and Italy, and brought together global climate leaders, across governments, business, and civil society, to ramp up climate ambition and help deliver on the Paris Agreement. In his message at the event, which set the tone for the UN COP 26 to be held next year, Modi said, "

As the protests against the new farm laws entered 17th day, economist and India's executive director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Surjit Bhalla said on Saturday that only a small percentage of Indian farmers are against the new legislations. He also caimed that the farmers' agitation that entered 17th day on Saturday is "not about economics, but politics". A noted economist, Bhalla was appointed to the IMF by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in October 2019. Besides India, Bhalla also represets Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka at the IMF. Building on his column in The Indian Express on Saturday, Bhalla spoke to CNN-News18 in the evening and said that the farmers that are protesting against the laws are "a few politically connected, rich, and pampered" farmers from "primarily two regions" of Punjab and Haryana. Thousands of farmers have remained firm on their demand for the w

Thiruvananthapuram: COVID-19 vaccine will be made available free of cost to all people in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Saturday. "No one will be charged for the vaccine. This is the stand of the government," he told reporters at Kannur. Kerala is the latest to announce free of cost COVID-19 vaccine for its people. States, including Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, have already made a similar announcement. The Centre on Tuesday said three COVID-19 vaccines, developed by Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute of India and Pfizer, are under active consideration of India's drug regulator and there is hope that early licensure is possible for all or any of them. Five vaccine candidates are under different phases of clinical trials in the country. Vijayan said the quantity of the vaccine that would be allotted to the state by the Centre was not yet known. "The fact is that the number of COVID-19 cases are decreasing, which is a matter of relief. However, i

New Delhi:  External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said India was being tested in the seven-month-long border standoff with China in eastern Ladakh and expressed confidence that the country will meet the national security challenge. Calling the "events" along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh "very disturbing", Jaishankar also said what has happened there was not in China's interest as it is facing the prospect of losing goodwill in India that was developed carefully in the recent decades. He said these events have raised some very "basic concerns" as the "other party" has not abided by agreements on respecting the LAC. Participating in an interactive session at the annual general meeting of the industry body FICCI, he declined to be drawn into a discussion on any timeline for a resolution of the standoff. When asked whether it will be a long-haul or a breakthrough is expected soon for a resolution to the mili