A meeting of Chief Ministers of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-ruled states got underway in the national Capital on Thursday, hours after the grand swearing-in of new Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and her Cabinet ministers at the city’s iconic Ramlila Ground.

The meeting was attended by the CMs of BJP-ruled states and those ruled by key constituents of the NDA alliance -- TDP and JD(U).

TDP President and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu attended the meeting, however Bihar CM Nitish Kumar was conspicuous by his absence.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab President and Cabinet Minister Aman Arora, along with his family, took a holy dip at the ongoing Mahakumbh in Prayagraj on Wednesday and performed prayers to Ganga.

Aman Arora was accompanied by Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Sangrur MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, who also took a dip at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati rivers.

Speaking to the media after the holy bath, Aman Arora said, “I felt immense joy after taking a dip at Mahakumbh. It is a matter of great fortune for us as such a Mahakumbh will not come again in our lifetime.”

This time’s Mahakumbh is a rare occurrence, happening after 144 years, as Mahakumbh takes place after 12 Kumbhs, and a Kumbh occurs once every 12 years. Arora said, “I am elated to receive the blessings of Mother Ganga. I prayed to Mother Ganga for the peace, progress, and happiness of the people of the nation and Punjab.”

Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP from Rae Bareli, will be on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency from Thursday, party leaders said. During his stay, he will participate in various programmes and hold meetings with party office-bearers and workers.

Gandhi will enter the district by road from Lucknow airport, as per the itinerary released by district Congress president Pankaj Tiwari. At 10:30 a.m., he will interact with workers of the Bachhrawan Assembly constituency at Balaji Marriage Lawn. At 12 noon, he will meet students at Mool Bharatiya Hostel in Civil Lines.

Thereafter, the Congress MP will participate in a women’s dialogue programme at Sahkari Sangh Limited in Uttarpara at 1 p.m. He will also unveil a statue and address a gathering at Ranabeni Madhav Singh Memorial Inter College in Shankarpur, Jagatpur. Subsequently, he will proceed to Bhueamau Guest House where he will be staying.

A delegation of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday met Harjinder Singh Dhami and appealed to him to continue as the President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

Party leader Daljit Singh Cheema told the media that the delegation met Dhami to understand the circumstances under which he had tendered his resignation as the SGPC President.

"It is clear that Dhami chose to resign due to mental agony. He has taken a few things to heart due to which he resigned all of a sudden. We have, on our part, assured Dhami that the party is with him and that the Panth needs his leadership at this crucial juncture," he said.

Domestic annual sales of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles are forecast to reach 1.1 million units by the end of the current financial year, driven by the government’s ongoing push for cleaner fuels, according to a Crisil report released on Wednesday.

This will take the CNG vehicle count in India to 7.5 million, a 3 times increase from 2.6 million in fiscal 2016, and translate into a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 12 per cent, the report states.

The rapid uptake has been undergirded by the expansion of the CNG infrastructure, with the number of filling stations set to rise to over 7,400 from 1,081 in fiscal 2016, etching a CAGR of 24 per cent.

The report also states that rising sales of CNG passenger vehicles has driven up their penetration in the overall passenger vehicle population to 15-16 per cent this fiscal-end vs 5.6 per cent in fiscal 2016.

The availability of over 30 CNG car variants, compared with single digit not long ago, thus catering to diverse consumer preferences, has accelerated adoption.

Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil said on Tuesday that the Union government is committed to making India a 'water-secure nation' by 2047.

He also cited Prime Minister Modi’s focus on sanitation, which led to the construction of 12 crore toilets, benefiting 60 crore people and significantly reducing waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea.

“Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, 15 crore households now have access to clean drinking water, and 25 lakh women have been trained in water purity testing. The Union government is committed to making India a water-secure nation by 2047,” said the minister while addressing the second All India Conference of State Water Ministers in Udaipur.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has strongly criticised the Centre for appointing Gyanesh Kumar as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in a late-night decision.

Kumar, a retired IAS officer from the Kerala cadre, replaces Rajiv Kumar following his retirement.

LoP Gandhi questioned the urgency of the appointment, pointing out that the composition of the selection committee is under judicial review.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Raghav Chadha has replied back to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement, of using technical jargon to mislead the middle class and divert attention from real tax concerns. Responding to Sitharaman’s remarks, the AAP Rajya Sabha MP urged the Finance Minister to refrain from personal attacks.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, Raghav Chadha, has strongly responded to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remarks during the Rajya Sabha discussion on the Union Budget 2025-26. Addressing the issue through a video message, Chadha stated that the Finance Minister made sarcastic comments about his statement and accused him of misleading the House. However, he was not given an opportunity to clarify his position in the Rajya Sabha, prompting him to address the matter directly.

Clarifying his stance, Raghav Chadha said that his speech on the Union Budget raised several critical concerns, including issues faced by railway passengers, financial challenges for the middle class, duties and tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration, and the depreciation of the rupee. However, the Finance Minister chose to ignore these substantive points and instead focused on a single example he had given to explain the concept of an income tax rebate.

Dishing out data on the AAP government’s good financial performance, outgoing Delhi Chief Minister Atishi on Friday sought to plug any chance for the next BJP government offering an excuse of lack of funds for not implementing schemes like Rs 2,500 monthly financial assistance to women.

Addressing the media here, Acting Chief Minister Atishi took pains to justify the AAP government’s freebies or free social welfare schemes, dispelling doubts that the Arvind Kejriwal brand of welfare politics did not mean ‘bad economics’.

The Acting Chief Minister said she was sharing the data about the AAP government’s good economic performance so that BJP leaders do not blame the outgoing government for the alleged poor state of finances and delay the implementation of the BJP’s poll promises.

“I hope the new BJP government will not make financial excuses and fulfil all its promises made to women and others,” she said.

FM tried to confuse us with technicalities in order to hood-wink the middle-class
. Hope that FM will do away with personal charges and cheap-shots
. If Income exceeds Rs.12Lacs, then tax is to be paid on whole income, and not just on the incremental income.
. Rs 12 lakh is a Tax rebate, not a Tax exemption; entire income is taxed if exceeds Rs.12 Lac.⁠
. If someone earns Rs.12.76 Lacs as annual income, then tax will be paid on entire Rs.12.76 Lacs and not on Rs.76 k alone.