Category: India

The Karnataka Lokayukta—a special ombudsman—submitted a huge report with 11,000 pages to a court in Bengaluru regarding the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land case. This happened just a day after police cleared Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his wife Parvathi of any wrongdoing. Police said there was not enough proof to charge them.

The police, led by Superintendent Udesh, shared 27 volumes of documents with a court that handles cases involving lawmakers. They assured the public that the investigation is ongoing and the documents are important for the inquiry.

Recently, it was reported that the Lokayukta was likely to absolve Siddaramaiah and Parvathi from all accusations. On Wednesday, Lokayukta Police closed the case, stating no evidence was found to support the allegations made against the chief minister, his wife, and two others.

The case began when an activist named Snehamayi Krishna raised concerns about land allocated by MUDA. The report noted that the accusations were either misunderstandings of the law or simply not proven enough to take further legal action. Krishna was informed that if he disagrees with the findings, he can challenge them in court.

The land in question was a three-acre plot that Siddaramaiah claimed was given to his wife in 1998. In 2014, MUDA acquired this land for development without proper permissions, and Parvathi later applied for compensation. She ended up getting 14 residential plots worth over ₹8 crore, making people suspicious that this somewhat unfairly benefited their family.

In September 2024, the Karnataka High Court allowed Lokayukta to investigate the land allotment. On November 5, the court directed the Lokayukta Police to present a status report on Krishna’s claims for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. However, on February 7, the court decided that the Lokayukta Police would continue the investigation.

Some skepticism arose from the opposition party, BJP, who questioned the fairness of the inquiry, suggesting it should be handed over to the CBI. Senior BJP leader Pralhad Joshi stated they could not trust the investigation since the same police officers were appointed by Siddaramaiah.

On the other hand, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar supported the Lokayukta’s report, saying that the allegations were politically motivated and Siddaramaiah was innocent. He emphasized that the Lokayukta is an independent body that operates without influence from the Chief Minister.

Delhi has a new chief minister, Rekha Gupta! She was officially sworn in on Thursday and her first task was very special. Along with her team, she performed a religious ceremony called ‘Yamuna aarti’ at Vasudev Ghat. This event is important because the BJP party, which she represents, promised to clean the Yamuna River during their election campaign.

Rekha Gupta, along with other leaders from the BJP, did a prayer for the river called ‘Maa Yamuna puja’ before performing the aarti. They played devotional songs and shouted slogans like “Jai Shree Ram” to celebrate the moment. Gupta mentioned that their goal is to clean the Yamuna, saying they will use resources to make it a priority.

Virendra Sachdeva, the president of Delhi BJP, also spoke about the importance of cleaning the Yamuna, promising the citizens that they would work hard to keep it clean.

Earlier in the day, Rekha Gupta took her oath as chief minister in a grand ceremony at Ramlila Maidan. She is a first-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh and defeated the former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the elections.

Many important people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top BJP leaders, attended the swearing-in ceremony. Afterward, Gupta visited the Delhi Secretariat to start her new job as chief minister, joined by some party leaders.

Next week, a big event called ‘Advantage Assam 2.0’ will be held in Guwahati. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many important people from businesses and governments will attend this two-day summit. PM Modi will open the event, which will feature talks from famous business leaders like Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani.

Assam’s Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, said that more than 18,000 people have already signed up to join. They expect to finalize over 1,500 important agreements (called memorandums of understanding, or MoUs) and look for investments over ₹1 lakh crore (which is a huge amount!).

Many important ministers will also attend, including External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who will bring a group of 35 ambassadors from countries like Germany and Australia. Before the summit, they will visit Kaziranga National Park.

The event will have high-level business guests from Japan, South Korea, and other countries. On February 25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be the special speaker for the closing session.

There will be different talks on topics like tourism and health, and the state cabinet will carefully review the MoUs to make sure they lead to actual projects. This summit is a follow-up to the first ‘Advantage Assam’ event in 2018, where many companies promised to invest large sums in the state, totaling over ₹65,000 crores.

Pankaj Kumar Singh, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and MLA for Vikaspuri in Delhi, has become a cabinet minister in the new government led by Rekha Gupta. He took his oath on Thursday at Ramlila Maidan, where six other cabinet ministers were also sworn in. This important event was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, many senior BJP leaders, and chief ministers from states where the BJP and its allies rule.

Singh shared his vision for a clean and beautiful Yamuna river, saying, “We will inspect the river, and I promise you will see big improvements by the next Chhath festival. Our first cabinet meeting will focus on these changes.” He also emphasized that the people of Delhi will see a cleaner environment under his leadership.

Here are four key points about Pankaj Singh:

1. Background: Pankaj Singh is a dentist with a degree from Magadh University in Bihar.
2. Political Involvement: He has been active in Delhi politics, holding various roles in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), where his father was a commissioner.
3. Experience: Before becoming an MLA, he served as a ward councillor.
4. Election Victory: In the 2025 Delhi assembly election, he won against AAP’s Mahinder Yadav by around 13,000 votes.

Tripura’s Chief Minister, Manik Saha, has asked Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to start a new Vande Bharat train service between Agartala, the state’s capital, and Guwahati in Assam. Saha met with Vaishnaw in New Delhi to talk about various improvements to the railways in Tripura.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Saha wrote, “I met with the Union Minister of Railways and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, at Rail Bhawan in New Delhi. We talked about important topics, including starting the Vande Bharat Train, a train between Agartala and Guwahati, local trains between Dharmanagar and Sabroom, and laying new tracks for the Jirania-Bodhjungnagar and Dharmanagar-Kailashar routes. We also discussed a special train for farmers between Agartala and Guwahati.”

Earlier, Saha also met Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to talk about improving schools in Tripura, upgrading Women’s College to a Women’s University, and turning Tripura Institute of Technology into a Technical University.

The Uttar Pradesh Police is looking into an Instagram account that shared videos of women taking a holy dip at the Maha Kumbh festival. They have asked Meta, which owns Instagram, to help find out who runs the account. The police promised to take action, including possible arrests, once they have this information.

On February 17, a case was filed against the Instagram account for posting these videos, which are disrespectful to the women involved. Another case was registered on February 19 against a Telegram channel that was selling similar videos. The police are currently investigating both cases at the Kotwali Kumbh Mela police station in Prayagraj, where the festival is happening.

The police’s actions come after their social media team discovered people sharing videos of women bathing and changing clothes, which goes against their privacy and dignity. Prashant Kumar, the top police officer in the state, has ordered action against any misleading or offensive posts related to the religious gathering. The Maha Kumbh began on January 13 and will end on February 26. So far, over 56 crore devotees, including about 1.10 crore people just this past Wednesday, have participated by taking the holy dip.

On Thursday, important leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—Parvesh Verma, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, and Kapil Mishra—will swear in as cabinet ministers alongside the new Chief Minister of Delhi, Rekha Gupta, at a big event at Ramlila Maidan.

Also joining them are Ashish Sood, Pankaj Kumar Singh, and Raviraj Indraj, who will also be taking their oaths as cabinet ministers in the new BJP government. The ceremony will be special, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and many other important guests.

Meet the New Delhi Ministers:

– Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma: He is a well-known political figure in Delhi and famously defeated Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi with 4,089 votes. The BJP won the Delhi election by securing 48 out of 70 seats, making Verma a top candidate for a big role. He was also a Lok Sabha MP for West Delhi from 2014 to 2024.

NEW DELHI: India and the United States are set to start important talks next month to create a new trade deal. This comes after a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump last week. The leaders of both countries want to change how they do business and aim for $500 billion in trade by 2030.

The talks will kick off once the new US Secretary of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative begin their roles. Officials say the goal is to finish a multi-sector trade agreement in about eight to nine months. They want a deal that is fair for both sides, and there’s no plan for a small or partial agreement.

Some areas they will discuss include increasing manufacturing jobs and trading more agricultural products. The US already sells over $4 billion worth of agricultural goods to India each year, and both countries could gain more if they trade even more in this area.

India has a trade deficit of $45.7 billion with the US, meaning it buys more from America than it sells. However, with India’s economy growing fast, demand for US products will increase, helping to balance this trade deficit. The US is currently the fourth-largest supplier of goods to India, following China, Russia, and the UAE, and has the potential to supply more energy.

From April 2024 to January 2025, US imports to India grew by over 6%, rising from $35.46 billion to $37.62 billion. Meanwhile, India’s exports to the US increased by 8.6%, going from $63 billion to $68.47 billion during the same period.

Officials state that the relationship between the US and India is not only about trade. Multiple government departments are working together to improve cooperation, and representatives from both countries are actively collaborating on the details outlined in their recent agreement.