THE HEADLINES:
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls incident at Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj extremely sad; Takes stock of situation and assures all possible assistance.
- Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath urges people not to pay attention to rumours; Mouni Amavasya Amrit Snan underway smoothly at Prayagraj.
- JPC on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 adopts its draft report with amendments on 14 clauses related to the Bill.
- Congress releases election Manifesto for Delhi Assembly election.
- Beating Retreat ceremony to be held at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi this evening amid tight security.
- And, ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice to step down amid concerns over Pakistan’s readiness to host Champions Trophy 2025.
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President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the accident that happened in Prayagraj Maha Kumbh today, as extremely sad and expressed grief over the loss of lives of devotees. President Droupadi Murmu said that the stampede incident at Prayagraj Maha Kumbh is extremely sad. In a social media post, the President expressed condolences to the families of the devotees who have lost their lives. She prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured devotees.
Mr Modi also expressed condolences to the devotees who lost their loved ones in the accident and wished speedy recovery to the injured.
In a social media post, Mr Modi said, the local administration is engaged in helping the victims in every possible way. The Prime Minister said, he has spoken to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and he is constantly in touch with the state government.
Addressing reporters after the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, Mr Modi spoke to him multiple times to inquire about the situation. He said, some devotees were seriously injured while crossing the barricades on Akhara Marg between 1 AM and 2 AM in the night. The Chief Minister said, they were immediately taken to the hospital and are undergoing treatment.
The Chief Minister said, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Health Minister and BJP president J P Nadda and Governor Anandiben Patel spoke to him and took stock of the situation. Yogi Adityanath said, there is a huge crowd of devotees at Prayagraj Mahakumbh and around 8 to 10 crore devotees are present. He appealed to people to take bath at their nearest ghat and urged people not to pay attention to rumours.
Meanwhile, Mouni Amavasya Amrit Snan is smoothly underway at Mahakumbh in Prayagraj. Let’s go live to our correspondent Aman who is at Prayagraj.
Meanwhile, the Indian Railways has denied rumours circulating on social media that certain special trains catering to Mahakumbh pilgrims have been cancelled. Talking to Akashvani News, Executive Director, Information and Publicity, Railway Board, Dilip Kumar called the reports completely baseless and misleading.
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The Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 adopted its draft report today. Talking to media in New Delhi, Chairman of the 31 member panel, Jagdambika Pal, said the Committee has adopted amendments on 14 clauses related to the Bill. He added that the report of the Committee will be submitted to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla tomorrow. Mr. Pal highlighted that detailed deliberations were held on the bill in the last six months.
Meanwhile, opposition members in the panel questioned the adoption of the report. DMK MP, A Raja said, the report was adopted in a hurried manner. Naseer Hussain of the Congress said, several objections and suggestions made by them have not been included in the report. TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee and Shiv Sena UBT MP Arvind Sawant among other opposition MPs said that they have submitted their dissent note.
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The Congress party launched its manifesto for Delhi Assembly polls today. Senior party leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera along with the party’s Delhi Unit Chief, Devender Yadav released the manifesto which promises monthly grant of 2,500 rupees to women, free health insurance of up to 25 lakh rupees, LPG cylinder at 500 rupees, free ration kits and free electricity up to 300 units. Mr Ramesh said, a guarantee means it is the right of the public and five guarantees have been announced for the people of Delhi. He took on BJP and AAP for allegedly ignoring the issue of pollution in the city.
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Prime Minister and senior BJP leader Narendra Modi has said that people of Delhi now want a government, which builds houses for the poor, make Delhi modern, provides tap water to every house and provides freedom from the tanker mafia. Addressing a public meeting in Yamuna Khadar in North-East Delhi this afternoon, Mr Modi took on the AAP saying that excuses, loot and lies of the ruling dispensation cannot continue. The Prime Minister said, all promises made to people will be fulfilled in time-bound manner after BJP comes to power in Delhi and this is Modi’s guarantee.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will hold rallies in Matiala and Vikaspuri. While, Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is scheduled to hold public meetings in Moti Nagar, RK Puram and Mehrauli.
On the other hand, Aam Aadmi Party’s national convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will address the public gatherings in Badli and Timarpur legislative assemblies this evening. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will hold mega road show in Rajouri garden, Tilak Nagar and Vikaspuri.
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As part of Republic Day Celebrations, Beating Retreat ceremony will be held at the Vijay Chowk in New Delhi today. President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other Union Ministers will be present on the occasion.
This year in the Beating Retreat ceremony a total of 30 performances will captivate the spectators with foot-tapping music of the bands from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Central Armed Police Forces. Delhi Police has made elaborate traffic arrangements in view of the ceremony.
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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 on 1st of next month. The upcoming budget is anticipated to unveil the government’s economic priorities and fiscal strategies to deal with the pressing domestic and global challenges.
In a special series ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget, Akashvani News brings to you the expectations of experts and people from the Union Budget.
Talking to Akashvani News, co-founder of an tech based education Startup, Yashwanth Chityala shared his expectations from upcoming Union Budget.
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The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the Suo Motu RG Kar case today. The case addresses the safety of medical professionals, initiated after the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata that occurred in August last year. On 22nd of January, the bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K V Viswanathan said, there was paucity of time, and moreover, three fresh applications were filed in the case, so the case will be taken on 29th of January.
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US President Donald Trump has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a meeting in the White House next week. Mr Netanyahu said in a social media post, that he will be meeting the US President on 4th of next month.
The invitation was made in a letter from the US President to discuss about bringing peace to Israel and its neighbours and efforts to counter shared adversaries.
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The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed that Geoff Allardice has decided to step down as ICC Chief Executive. Allardice’s decision comes amid concerns over Pakistan’s readiness to host Champions Trophy 2025, starting next month. In his farewell message, Mr Allardice said that he was incredibly proud of the results, from enhancing the global reach of cricket to the commercial foundation put in place for ICC Members.
The ICC Board will now initiate the next steps to identify new Chief Executive.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:-
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls incident at Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj extremely sad; Takes stock of situation and assures all possible assistance.
- Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath urges people not to pay attention to rumours; Mouni Amavasya Amrit Snan underway smoothly at Prayagraj.
- JPC on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 adopts its draft report with amendments on 14 clauses related to the Bill.
- Congress releases election Manifesto for Delhi Assembly election.
- Beating Retreat ceremony to be held at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi this evening amid tight security.
- And, ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice to step down amid concerns over Pakistan’s readiness to host Champions Trophy 2025.
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