Today’s Top 10 News: DNP News brings to you top 10 breaking stories of the day to keep you abreast of all the latest developments from India and around the world
1. BJP and Congress get ready for a fight in the Hindi heartland
On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district to attend the 1111th birthday festivities of the Gurjar folk deity Devnarayan and deliver a speech to the general public. Neither Congressman Sachin Pilot, a member of the Gurjar caste, nor Rajasthan’s chief minister Ashok Gehlot have been invited by the temple trust. In the midst of a growing Gehlot against Pilot verbal battle in the Congress, this will be the PM’s second trip to Rajasthan in as many months and an attempt to reach out to the Gurjar population. Modi visited Mangarh Dham in Rajasthan in November, which is where the British massacred the Bhil tribal people a century ago. The PM will travel to Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh more frequently in addition to Rajasthan. Elections are slated for November in the three states that make up the Hindi heartland, two of which are now ruled by Congress. The BJP’s state units in the three states wrapped up their state executive meetings this week as a follow-up to its national executive meeting that was held in mid-January in the national capital. Sessions at the district and block levels will now be covered.
Congress Game plan: The Congress intends to highlight the BJP government’s inability to control food inflation and the high cost of cooking gas during its “haath se haath jodo” padayatra in Madhya Pradesh during the first week of February. On Thursday, it began the Chhattisgarh leg, where 307 Congress committees will walk 10 miles each day. Gehlot set a lofty “mission 156” in Rajasthan, where the party intended to take 156 of the state assembly’s 200 seats. Since 1993, no party has regained control of the state. BJP leader P Muralidhar Rao also gave his party the lofty goal of winning 200 out of 230 seats in Bhopal.
2. Following his son’s encounter with a “BBC documentary,” Congress veteran leader Antony becomes mute
One of the senior leaders in the Congress, A.K. Antony, is said to have become reclusive after his son, Anil Antony, resigned from the party after criticising a BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and calling it a “dangerous precedent” due to “intolerant requests to recant a tweet.” Those in the know claim that 82-year-old Antony, who is currently the country’s longest-serving Defense Minister, is quite furious about a comment made by his younger colleague Jairam Ramesh.
3. Prez Murmu: India has gained new respect on the international stage
On the eve of Republic Day, President Droupadi Murmu said India is now viewed with “new respect” on the international stage in her first address to the nation. She praised the country’s multilingualism, the Constitution’s framers for providing a moral foundation, and the contributions of farmers, labourers, scientists, and engineers whose united strength enables India to uphold the motto “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan.” She claimed that due to India’s chairmanship of the G20, the world now had a “new respect” for the nation and that it was a perfect forum for discussing and finding answers to the “most serious” issues impacting the globe today, such as global warming and climate change.
4. Maharashtra Governor made a commitment to end the border dispute in his R-D speech
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari talked during the 74th Republic Day celebration in Maharashtra about the state’s commitment to resolving the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute. In his annual speech at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Maidan in Dadar, Mumbai, the governor stated: “The viewpoint of Maharashtra on the Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary issue is being strongly contested in the Supreme Court.” The governor announced that the proposal to support the Marathi-speaking population in the border region had been approved by the Maharashtra assembly on a unanimous vote. It should be noted that the verbal conflict between Maharashtra and Karnataka grew worse in November and December of last year.
5. Leopard tanks are expected to arrive in Ukraine at the end of March
German Leopard tanks promised to help Ukraine fend off a Russian invasion are expected to arrive in “late March or early April,” according to Boris Pistorius, the defence minister, on Thursday. He continued, “And for the Ukrainian forces who will be trained on the Leopard it will be a bit later.” Training for Ukrainian troops on German Marder infantry fighting vehicles will begin in the coming days.
6. Bill Ackman calls the assessment by Hindenburg on the Adani Group “very credible”
The analysis by short-seller Hindenburg Research on the Adani Group, according to billionaire investor William Ackman, is “very reputable and exceptionally well researched.” Following the publication of the Hindenburg report, which accused the conglomerate of improper use of offshore tax havens and claimed it held short positions in the company through its U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments, shares in seven listed group companies of Adani saw a $10.73 billion decline in market capitalization in India on Wednesday.
7. As unions call for a 2-day strike ahead of the Budget, services are likely to be hampered by the SBI Bank strike
Customers are urged to prepare any banking-related activities much in advance because the State Bank of India (SBI) will be affected by a two-day banking workers’ strike before the Budget. The SBI stated in an exchange report that the strike from January 30 to January 31 is likely to have an impact on its regular services across branches. It added that all essential preparations had been done to guarantee that business as usual would continue at all of its branches and offices throughout the strike.
8. Sri Lankan envoy Moragoda says India’s prompt assistance secured Sri Lanka’s economic survival during the crisis
According to Milinda Moragoda, the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, India’s assistance to Sri Lanka during its economic crisis, which the External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar emphasised during his visit to Colombo last week, has created a new chapter in relations between the neighbours.
9. India unleash “several firsts” to thrash Japan 8-0 in the World Cup placement game
As fans in Rourkela put the disappointment of their team’s inability to advance to the Men’s Hockey World Cup quarterfinals behind them and once again filled the seats at the enormous Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, India’s silent guns finally found some ammunition to fire. And the Indian team came back with a bang, defeating the defending Asian Games winners Japan 8-0. The home team, which was eliminated from the title contention by New Zealand in the crossovers, had a game full of firsts.
10. Pathaan, starring SRK, has the highest opening day Box Office Collections for any Hindi film ever
The makers of Shah Rukh Khan’s new Hindi movie “Pathaan” revealed on Thursday that the actor had made a triumphant return to the big screen. The film’s opening day box office total was a staggering 55 crore nett, and its dubbed versions brought in an additional 2 crores. The film’s net day one take, which was 55 crore according to production company Yash Raj Films (YRF), was the “biggest grossing opening day for a Hindi film.” On Wednesday, “Pathaan” was also made available in Tamil and Telugu.
