On Friday (26th April), the Supreme Court dismissed all petitions demanding a 100% verification of all votes cast using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails, or VVPATs, and going back to paper ballots. The decision was delivered by a bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sanjiv Khanna. Justice Khanna delivered the verdict, stating that the court had thoroughly studied the procedures and technical factors and hence dismissed the request for 100% verification of EVM votes with VVPAT slips. “One suggestion which can be examined by the Election Commission of ..read more

Amid the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests in prominent US universities, it has come to light that the likes of George Soros and Rockefeller Brothers Fund are funding the demonstrators and creating unrest on campuses. In a commentary published in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), journalist Ira Stoll emphasised, “Two of America’s largest philanthropic foundations are behind a group that has paid some of the anti-Israel activists for the kind of antics disrupting campuses across the country.” He pointed out that two of the student activists, namely Malak Afaneh and Craig Birckhead-Morton, who were ..read more

The Delhi Police has informed the Delhi High Court that no case has been filed against the person who called Alt News co-founder and ‘fact-checker’ Mohammed Zubair a “Jihadi” in a tweet in 2020. The post in question was made by Jagdish Singh, who filed a complaint against Zubair, accusing him of cybersexual harassment of his granddaughter. The Delhi Police has stated that nothing incriminating has emerged for further action against Singh, who commented “Once a jihad is always jihadi” on Zubair’s tweet on the 18th of April 2020. The court had asked Delhi Police in May last year ..read more

The US on Thursday (local time) rebuked a Pakistani reporter’s questions on allegations of an Australian journalist’s claims not being allowed to cover Indian general elections and said that the country determines which non-citizens it allows to enter, either as short-term travelers or international journalists. Responding to a question by a Pakistani reporter on allegations of denial of visa renewal to Australian journalist, Avani Dias, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said, “The Government of India can speak to its own visa policy. That’s not something I’m goin ..read more

Voting for the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 began at 7:00 am on Friday across 88 Parliamentary Constituencies spread over 12 States and Union Territories. 89 general observers, 53 police Observers and 109 expenditure observers have been deployed in the regions. IMD has forecast normal weather for phase two Lok Sabha polls. The polling time has been extended till 6 PM in many polling stations in Banka, Madhepura, Khagaria and Munger constituencies in Bihar to facilitate voters in hot weather conditions. For convenience for voters, meticulous arrangements have been made by the E ..read more

The term “functional nutritional drinks” (FND) has replaced “health food drinks” in Hindustan Unilever Limited’s (HUL) product category. The “health drink” label of Horlicks was dropped after the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry asked that e-commerce platforms remove drinks and beverages from their lists of “health drinks.” The corporation which owns several brands like Boost and Horlicks changed its “health food drinks” category to “functional nutritional drinks” and rebranded its “health drinks” category. At a press conference on 24th April, Hindustan Unilever’s Chief Financial Offic ..read more

The prestigious Somaiya Trust has acknowledged the information provided by OpIndia against Parveen Shaikh, the principal of the reputable private school The Somaiya School located in the Vidyaviyar neighbourhood of Mumbai. She has been using social media to voice her extreme opinions, which include her consistent abuse of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and unflinching support for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. The trust said it was unaware of the views expressed by Parveen Shaikh which were brought to their notice by the OpIndia article. The trust also said that they don’t agree with th ..read more

On Wednesday (24th April), the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) criticized the Congress-led Karnataka government’s decision to classify the Muslim community as a backward caste for reservation purposes, claiming that it undermines the ‘principle of social justice’. The commission said socially and educationally backward castes or communities cannot be treated at par with an entire religion. According to the national commission, the move by the Siddaramaiah-led administration undermined the rights of other Backward Classes. Also, in an election rally in Rajasthan’s Tonk on Tuesd ..read more

On 25th April, a group of attorneys sought the Calcutta High Court to consider the statements made by All India Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee against the High Court on a suo motu basis. According to reports, she charged that the high court had been “sold out.” The statements were uttered following the judgement in the jobs for cash scandal which resulted in the appointment of about 24,000 teachers being quashed. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, a senior advocate and leader of the Communist Party o ..read more

A day after BJP denied ticket to Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal for the Lok Sabha elections, fake news is being spread claiming that he regrated his decision to join the BJP. Namgyal has said that he never said that and strongly condemned the false statements. Teena Karamveer, Congress communication coordinator of Rajasthan and a spokesperson of the party tweeted the fake quote in Hindi saying, “Joining BJP and supporting Modi was my worst decision, I was not aware of his strategy, people of Ladakh please forgive me ..read more