Rijiju reaches out to Oppn on Justice Varma impeachment
NBEMS seeks Supreme Court approval to conduct NEET-PG on August 3 in a single shift, after the court rejected its two-shift model. The exam requires over 1,000 centres, technical infrastructure, and coordination with various authorities to accommodate 242,679 candidates.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
16 minutes ago
- Time of India
Central portal for waqf properties to be launched today
NEW DELHI: Ahead of the launch of 'UMEED' Central Portal that will start the process of building a fresh database of all waqf properties, minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju has stressed that the portal in no way violates the law or the Constitution. The minister was reacting to questions regarding All India Muslim Personal Law Board 's statement that it will challenge the legal validity of the portal in Supreme Court where Waqf Amendment Act 2025 is under scrutiny owing to petitions filed against its provisions. Speaking on the sidelines of a programme to mark World Environment Day at the Central Waqf Council in Saket on Thursday, Rijiju pointed out that there was no stay on the law, with the portal being the first crucial step for improving waqf management in India. 'The country runs on the basis of the law and the Constitution, not on the basis of what they (AIMPLB) say. Those opposing the law are doing so due to political reasons or because they are unaware of its purpose. They will eventually regret their stance and come round when they see positive outcomes,' he said. 'After the launch of the portal all waqf properties across the country will be registered on this centralised platform. I am going to appeal to state govts and state waqf boards to register and upload details of properties as a first step towards proper management. We want that the over 9 lakh waqf properties are managed and used properly. Accountability, efficiency and transparency are the core principles defining the process,' he added. Significantly, only waqf properties, including those in the 'waqf by user' category, existing prior to Waqf Amendment Act 2025's coming into force on April 8 that are registered with state waqf boards as per norms laid out in the 1995 Act will be able to upload their information on the Central Portal. The officials at the ministry of minority affairs said asserting that this will help weed out the possibility of bogus entries into the database. For existing waqf properties, the status has to be uploaded within six months of the portal's launch. For new properties seeking waqf status, the process laid out under the new law will apply. For uploading details on the portal, the mutawalli (caretaker) will serve as the 'maker', entering property details, including registration document details. A Waqf Board official will function as the 'checker', reviewing and validating entries. Finally, a designated 'govt authority' will act as the 'approver', ensuring full verification before records are finalised.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Pinaki, Mahua tie the knot in Berlin
1 2 Bhubaneswar: She is a firebrand woman MP. He an ex-MP and Supreme Court lawyer. Away from the political spotlight, two of India's most articulate politicians — former BJD MP Pinaki Misra and TMC parliamentarian Mahua Moitra — tied the knot in a quiet ceremony, igniting public curiosity and social media frenzy. In a post on her 'X' profile, Mahua shared a photograph of her nuptials, solemnised in Berlin, Germany, as she thanked everyone 'for the love and good wishes'. Sources said the event was attended by close family members and a few trusted friends. They described the ceremony as elegant and traditional, with Mahua seen in richly embroidered bridal attire. A senior BJD leader said, "It was in the offing for a while. They are a couple now." This is the second marriage for both Pinaki (65), a four-time former BJD MP, and investment banker turned two-time MP Mahua (50), who was born in Assam. As per her 2024 poll affidavit, Mahua is a native of Anandapally village in Nadia district of West Bengal. From his first marriage, Pinaki has a son and a daughter. In his poll affidavit in 2019, Pinaki had declared assets of more than Rs 117 crore and was the richest Lok Sabha nominee from Odisha. Pinaki was BJD parliamentary party leader in Lok Sabha from 2019 to 2024. He was elected from Puri on a Congress ticket in 1996 and re-elected as a BJD nominee in 2009, 2014 and 2019. He defeated BJP's Sambit Patra from Puri in 2019 but did not contest the 2024 elections. Pinaki did his graduation in history from St Stephen's College, Delhi, and LLB from Delhi University.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Trump reinstates US travel ban, bars citizens of 12 countries
WASHINGTON -U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday banning the citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States, saying the move was needed to protect against "foreign terrorists" and other security threats. The directive is part of an immigration crackdown Trump launched this year at the start of his second term, which has included the deportation to El Salvador of hundreds of Venezuelans suspected of being gang members, as well as efforts to deny enrollments of some foreign students and deport others. The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The entry of people from seven other countries - Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela - will be partially restricted. "We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do us harm," Trump said in a video posted on X. He said the list could be revised and new countries could be added. The proclamation is effective on June 9, 2025 at 12:01 a.m. EDT . Visas issued before that date will not be revoked, the order said. The African Union's Commission expressed concern on Thursday about the potential negative impact of the new travel ban on educational exchanges, commercial engagement and broader diplomatic relations. In retaliation, Chad's President Idriss Deby instructed his government to stop issuing visas to U.S. citizens. Congo Republic's government spokesperson Thierry Moungalla said his country's inclusion was a "misunderstanding." "Congo is neither a terrorist state, nor does it harbor any terrorists, or known for having any terrorist tendencies," Moungalla told journalists. During his first, 2017-21 term in office, Trump announced a ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations, a policy that went through several iterations before it was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. Former President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded Trump, repealed that ban on nationals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen in 2021, calling it "a stain on our national conscience". Trump said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a "large-scale presence of terrorists," fail to cooperate on visa security, have an inability to verify travelers' identities, inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States. "We cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen those who seek to enter the United States," Trump said. He cited Sunday's incident in Boulder, Colorado in which a man tossed a gasoline bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators as an example of why the new curbs are needed. An Egyptian national, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, has been charged in the attack. Federal officials said Soliman had overstayed his tourist visa and had an expired work permit - although Egypt is not on the list of countries facing travel limits. BEING IN THE U.S. A 'BIG RISK' Somalia immediately pledged to work with the U.S. to address security issues. "Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised," Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the United States, said in a statement. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, a close ally of President Nicolas Maduro, responded on Wednesday evening by describing the U.S. government as fascist and warning Venezuelans against being in the United States. "The truth is being in the United States is a big risk for anybody, not just for Venezuelans ... They persecute our countrymen, our people for no reason." A spokesperson for the Taliban-led Afghan foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pakistan's foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment on how it would handle the thousands of Afghans waiting in Islamabad who had been in the pipeline for U.S. resettlement. Calls early on Thursday to the spokesperson for Myanmar's military government were not answered. The travel ban threatens to upend a 31-year-old Myanmar teacher's plan to join a U.S. State Department exchange program, which was slated to start in September. "It is not easy to apply nor get accepted as we needed several recommendation letters," said the teacher, who currently lives in Thailand and asked not to be named because her visa application is still outstanding. "In my case, I would get to work at universities that provide digital education," she said, adding that she had not been updated by the program after Trump's announcement. Trump's presidential campaign focused on a tough border strategy and he previewed his plan in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and "anywhere else that threatens our security."
