That Tony Perkins and his ilk get to dictate, influence opinion about Bharat speaks volumes of the deterioration in standards of USCIRF.

Members working for gas tragedy survivors said despite providing the authorities with data of how they were more vulnerable than the general population, the government did nothing.

A two-minute long clip on social media showed parts of the conversation between the two, while the full dialogue will be released at 9am on Thursday.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told BJP party workers that the committees would be formed at every panchayat level in the rural areas and ward level in the urban areas.

The problem for Kumar is more confounded because he will have to perform and emerge successful in a short span of time as polls are only five months away and the contagious disease is likely to create havoc till the time a proper vaccine is tested and developed.

The former RBI chief also said a prolonged lockdown would not be sustainable for the country’s economy.

Mukul Wasnik has been appointed as the general secretary, in-charge of MP, in addition to his current responsibility as the general secretary, in-charge of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the Congress said.

In his letter to the poll panel, the Governor said the elections should be held ‘at the earliest’ with a view to end the current uncertainty in the state.

The petition sought the court to direct the governor to take a decision on the proposal submitted by the cabinet expeditiously or within three days. Arora's plea is likely to be taken up for hearing on May 5.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan discussed the coronavirus lockdown in India and its economic impact.

The West Bengal BJP’s legal cell convenor said the Mamata Banerjee-led government has failed to tackle the coronavirus crisis in the state.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also demanded that in these difficult times of the pandemic, the Centre must give the state governments their dues.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that only two days ago, a "tughlaqi farmaan" was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs "which is very quaint and funny".

The Congress also highlighted the plight of the migrants who are stuck in different part of the country and wants to go home. The party urged the government to start plying trains immediately.

In a tweet, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut thanked the central government and the ECI for allowing the elections, which were earlier postponed to due to coronavirus outbreak

The BJP's response came after the Congress accused the Centre of "cruelly" and "mercilessly" abandoning the entire category of migrant labourers and termed "a cruel joke" the order on inter-state movement of workers.

TMC leader and MP Saugato Roy said he was wondering whether the Centre was serious to revive the economy and provide financial package to states to combat adversity due to the pandemic.

The rebuttal came after the governor shot off two letters to the chief minister last week amid the clash between the Raj Bhavan and Nabanna, the state secretariat, in the wake of West Bengal's response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Gandhi said when the public is anguished and there is scarcity of food, water and cash, "the authorities are taking Rs 100 from everyone for the PM CARES Fund and thus it would be appropriate to have an audit of the same".

In his letter to Thackeray, the Karnataka Chief Minister said there is severe drinking water problem in Belagavi, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Raichur districts since the onset of summer in March.

In a damage control exercise, state chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Saturday directed the KSRTC to charge only single fare for ferrying the migrant labourers.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav questioned the significance of showering flowers from aeroplanes when there are reports of mismanagement in various quarantine centres.

Earlier this week that the state government opened a website and by now 3.98 lakh Keralites in 201 countries, and 1.38 lakh Keralaites within the country have registered from various states, wanting to return.

Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee said taxpayers' money was being used to renovate "Lutyens' Delhi", adding for the same amount at Rs 30 per meal, they could have fed two meals a day to 1.85 crore Indians for the next six months..

In the SOP, the railways said the responsibility for food, security, health scanning, providing tickets to the stranded will be with the state from which the train is originating.

Sonia Gandhi said that the Congress party had asked for provision of free rail travel for migrant workers to their home-towns, but their demands had been ignored by the Centre.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said Congress are working out the modalities to ensure that every worker and migrant stranded reaches home safely.

Sources also say that senior Congress leaders like Bhupinder Hooda, Kumari Selja, Ashok Gehlot among other have been asked to mobilise funds for the mission.

The ruling party also accused the Congress of promoting indiscriminate movement of people which would lead to "faster spread" of coronavirus infection.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, slammed the Delhi government's decision to open liquor shops, claiming it can increase coronavirus positive cases by up to 10 per cent.

Abdullah was released in March after the J&K government revoked his detention orders under Public Safety Act (PSA), more than seven months after he was detained.

In many of the shops, people who gathered outside the outlets did not follow social distancing norms, forcing the police to use mild force to disperse the unruly crowd.

On May 4, the Congress party tweeted a 1.44-minute clip from their conversation and the full interview was released on Wednesday.

A controversy had erupted on Monday after several opposition parties demanded that migrant workers should not be charged for the train tickets.

The Congress on Monday had said its state units will bear the cost of rail travel of needy migrant workers stranded at their workplaces due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP's remarks come a day after the Home Ministry said plans to bring back Indians stranded abroad due the coronavirus pandemic have been chalked out by the government and the process will begin from May 7 in a phased manner. The Home Ministry also said it will be a paid service.

As per figures released by the state excise department, on the very first day of the opening of shops, people bought liquor worth about 225 crore, setting a new record.

Mufti was initially detained on August 5 last year when the Centre abrogated the special status of the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into two union territories -- Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.

New or higher taxes are justified only when the economy is booming, the former finance minister said.

The RSS may want to be incorporate the broader policy adjustments -- both domestic and international – in the working and objectives of the government in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The Congress said the decision to go back or stay in the state should be with the labourers and not the government, with the former being free to choose health or work.

In a letter to the prime minister, Tharoor expressed appreciation for the central government for 'finally deciding to address the plight' of stranded 'pravasis' by commencing the process of repatriation from May 7 onwards.

This comes in view of demands from various members of Parliament (MP) for holding such meetings through video conference amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown.

BJP-nominated Rajya Sabha member Sambhaji Raje had earlier asked Fadnavis to apologise for "hurting the sentiments" of the followers of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj through his tweet.

While Singhvi has never have been a grassroots leader, he enjoys complete trust of the Gandhis, in all critical cases has stood by the party like a rock, and in court ensured a fighting chance for the Congress.

Special Shramik train arrived at the Amethi Railway station on Thursday with 1,212 Uttar Pradesh migrant workers on board, out of which 282 belonged to Amethi.

However, Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat also alleged that along with Gujarat, states of Odisha, Karnataka and West Bengal have, too, denied migrant workers from their states to return.

Indore is among the cities worst-affected by the coronavirus outbreak and as on Friday, the city has reported 1727 cases, including 86 deaths

Gandhi also called upon the government to immediately put money into the hands of the poor and provide a financial package to the industry to help revive the economy.

Gopichand Padalkar, who joined the party on the eve of last year's Lok Sabha polls, also figures in the list.