Category: India

In Patna, the group of ministers (GoM) working on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) recently met in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. They need to have another meeting soon to talk about lowering taxes on insurance premiums for people, especially seniors and groups. Samrat Chaudhary, Bihar’s deputy chief minister and finance minister, said that many ministers suggested more talks on this issue. They plan to meet again next month and will give their findings to the GST council led by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

During the Jaisalmer meeting, they also talked about changing tax rates on things like Kashmiri shawls, used cars, clothes costing more than ₹1,500, and bicycles. However, they postponed the discussion on insurance taxes.

On Friday, Chaudhary attended a meeting where he asked for financial help of over ₹1.50 lakh crore for Bihar’s overall development. Many chief ministers and finance ministers from different states joined him in this meeting. He wants the central government to upgrade the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and requested ₹25,000 crore without interest for that.

Chaudhary is also seeking ₹48,320 crore for building a new expressway from Deoghar in Jharkhand to Pashupatinath in Nepal, alongside money for high-speed corridors, flyovers, and bridges. He’s asking for another ₹1,000 crore for improving agricultural infrastructure, which includes modernizing local markets and setting up research centers for horticulture.

He is looking for ₹6,739 crore to help modernize the state power companies, plus enough funds to improve the transport system, including railways, roads, air travel, and waterways.

Some of Chaudhary’s major requests include doubling the Forbesganj-Darbhanga railway track and creating new railway lines connecting Bihar with Aurangabad. He also wants Darbhanga airport to become an international airport, an investment of ₹2,500 crore for Bhagalpur airport, and ₹10,000 crore for urban and industrial development in ten cities, including Patna.

Chaudhary proposed a ₹48,320 crore plan for a new expressway of 250 km from Deoghar to Pashupatinath, a 270 km fast corridor from Ladania to Nawada, and improving roads and bridges in the area.

Additionally, he requested ₹1,000 crore for developing agriculture and cooperative sector facilities, which includes modernizing 32 local markets and setting up agriculture and horticulture research centers in Bihar.

The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department has said no to a man who wanted his iPhone back after it accidentally fell into a donation box at the Sri Kandaswamy temple. The phone is now considered the temple’s property.

Dinesh, the man who lost his phone, was trying to make a donation when the phone slipped from his hand. After finding out the phone was in the donation box, he asked temple officials to give it back. However, they told him he could only retrieve the data from it, not the phone. Dinesh was not happy with this answer and wanted his phone back.

HR and CE Minister P K Sekar Babu responded to this situation by saying that anything that goes into the donation box belongs to God. He explained that all donations are considered offerings to the deity of the temple. Therefore, the rules say they cannot return any items dropped in the donation box.

He mentioned he would talk with department officials to see if they could help Dinesh in some other way.

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. In May 2023, a woman named S Sangeetha dropped her gold chain into a donation box at the Sri Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple in Palani. After checking the security footage and seeing the chain fell by accident, the temple chairman bought her a new gold chain to help her out.

According to the temple rules set in 1975, anything put into the donation boxes belongs to the temple and cannot be returned to the owner.

Many years ago, when I was younger, I loved reading and watching science fiction. It showed me a world of amazing technology. I imagined computers that could solve problems in an instant, chatbots in our cars or on our wrists, sunglasses that could take pictures, and touchscreen gestures that seemed magical. Fast forward to now, and a lot of that imagination has become real. But technology is coming at us so fast these days, it feels almost too strange to believe, even though it’s true!

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that a cold wave will affect parts of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan until December 24. From December 20 to 24, cold conditions can be especially strong in Himachal Pradesh. After that, on December 25 and 26, some colder areas will still feel a chill.

The IMD also reported that cold wave conditions are expected in Punjab and Rajasthan on December 21 and 22. People in these areas should be ready for very cold weather!

Fog has been a big problem too, with thick fog likely in some parts of Himachal Pradesh and East Rajasthan until December 22. Recent days have seen biting cold in Punjab and Haryana. Faridkot, for example, reached a chilly 2 degrees Celsius on December 19.

In Pathankot, Punjab, the minimum temperature dropped to 4 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, the towns of Bathinda and Gurdaspur both felt the cold with temperatures around 4.6 and 4 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Haryana is not warming up either. The coldest place there was Sirsa, which saw a low of 4.2 degrees Celsius. Hisar was chilly at 5.6 degrees, and Karnal felt it too at 6.8 degrees. Bhiwani reported a low of 6.9 degrees Celsius.

In Kashmir, the weather was even colder. Srinagar recorded its coldest night this season, dropping to -6.2 degrees Celsius, just a bit lower than -6 degrees the night before. The weather team has said that dry weather will continue until December 26 but light snowfall is possible in higher areas overnight on December 21-22.

On Friday, the Delhi Police moved the case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to the Crime Branch. This is after he was accused of hurting BJP MPs during a fight at the Parliament. The clash happened when members from the NDA and INDIA blocs were trying to enter the house for a protest about disrespecting BR Ambedkar.

Two BJP MPs, Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput, got hurt in the incident and even had to go to the hospital. The BJP claims Rahul pushed them while trying to enter, but Rahul says it was the BJP MPs who threatened and blocked him. He believes they are making these accusations to divert attention from the Adani Group being criticized in the U.S.

An FIR (First Information Report) against Rahul was filed for various charges, including causing injury and using criminal force. It was registered at the Parliament Street Police Station. Congress also filed a complaint because they say BJP MPs treated Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge badly.

A senior police officer mentioned that they will look at video footage of what happened and have also received the Congress complaint. Doctors said the BJP MPs were recovering well after their treatment.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rahul’s sister, spoke out, saying that these police efforts show the BJP is feeling desperate. She mentioned that the BJP keeps filing new cases against Rahul as a way to distract everyone.