Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said EVMs in India are a "black box" which nobody is allowed to scrutinise, and asserted that "serious concerns" are being raised about transparency in India's electoral process. "Democracy ends up becoming a sham and prone to fraud when institutions lack accountability," Gandhi said and tagged a media report which claimed that a relative of Shiv Sena's candidate, who won the polls from Mumbai's north west by 48 votes, had a phone that unlocks an EVM.
Rejecting accusations of saffronisation of school curriculum, NCERT's director has said that references to Gujarat riots and Babri masjid demolition were modified in school textbooks because teaching about riots "can create violent and depressed citizens." "Should we teach our students in a manner that they become offensive, create hatred in society or become victim of hatred? Is that education's purpose? Should we teach about riots to such young children ... when they grow up, they can learn about it but why school textbooks. Let them understand what happened and why it happened when they grow up. The hue and cry about the changes is irrelevant," he said.
Amid protests over the severe water crisis in the national capital, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj accused BJP leaders and workers of vandalising an office of the Delhi Jal Board.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take stock of the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the recent terror attacks there and is expected to give broad guidelines to intensify counter-terror operations, sources said.
Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal government to ensure one per cent reservation for transgender persons in all public employment in the state. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha directed the chief secretary of the West Bengal government to ensure one per cent reservation for transgenders in all public employment.
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File ImageHouses built on government land by 11 persons were demolished in tribal-dominated Mandla in Madhya Pradesh as part of action against the illegal beef trade in the state, a police official said.
The police team probing the Renukaswamy murder case, in which leading Kannada film actor Darshan Thoogudeepa and his actress friend Pavithra Gowda are the key accused, seized a car that was allegedly used in kidnapping the victim. Forensic experts were present when the vehicle was seized.
Mumbai Police have registered a new case in connection with firing outside actor Salman Khan's residence in Mumbai in April and arrested one person from Rajasthan on charges of criminal intimidation, an official said
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File ImageNine people were injured, including two young children and their mother, after a shooter opened fire at a splash pad in a Detroit suburb where families gathered to escape the summer heat. An 8-year-old boy was shot in the head and in critical condition.
Australia did their arch-rivals England a massive favour with a five-wicket win over a gritty Scotland as the Richie Berrington-led side crashed out of the T20 World Cup Super Eight stage race.