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The <keyword id="19905723" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bharat-Bandh" source="keywords">Bharat Bandh</keyword> was called by the Reservation Bachao Sangharsh Samiti — a collective organisation that advocates for the protection and preservation of <keyword id="21414588" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="reservation-policies" source="keywords">reservation policies</keyword> in India — on August 21 to protest a recent <keyword id="20069317" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Supreme-Court-ruling" source="keywords">Supreme Court ruling</keyword> regarding reservations for these classes. The ruling allows states to create sub-categories within marginalised groups, which has led to concerns about the potential dilution of benefits intended for the broader <keyword id="22743878" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="SC/ST-communities" source="keywords">SC/ST communities</keyword>.<br /><br /><h2>What is the Supreme Court's ruling that led to this protest?</h2>The Supreme Court ruled that states could create sub-categories within the SC/ST reservations, stating that "those who really need it should get priority in reservation." The Supreme Court ruled by a majority judgement of 6:1, that sub-classification within the SCs and STs reservation is permissible.<br /><br />This decision has sparked widespread debate and opposition, as many fear it could undermine the integrity of the reservation system as a whole. The National Confederation of <keyword id="22862654" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dalit-and-Adivasi-Organisations" source="keywords">Dalit and Adivasi Organisations</keyword> has also demanded the immediate release of caste-based data on SC/ST/OBC employees in government services to ensure their accurate representation.<br /><br />The group is also pushing for the establishment of an Indian Judicial Service to recruit judicial officers and judges from all sections of society, and called for filling up of all backlog vacancies in central and state government departments, as well as public sector undertakings.<br /><br /><h2>What services will remain open during the Bharat Bandh?</h2>Despite the expected disruptions to public transport and private offices, essential services like hospitals, pharmacies, ambulances, drinking water, public transport, rail services, and electricity will remain operational during the Bharat Bandh. Government offices, banks, schools, colleges, and petrol pumps are also expected to function normally, although some regions, particularly Rajasthan, may experience closures in educational institutions.<br /><br /><h2>What is the expected duration of the Bharat Bandh?</h2>The Bharat Bandh is expected to last throughout the day, though the exact duration and any potential extensions may vary depending on local circumstances and decisions made in response to the agitation. However, there are no reports indicating that the Bharat Bandh, planned for today, will extend into tomorrow so far.<br /><br /><h2>Which areas are particularly affected by the bandh?</h2>In addition to Delhi, areas like Rajasthan and Western Uttar Pradesh are expected to be significantly affected, with heightened security measures in place due to their sensitivity and the potential for unrest.<br /><br />While government offices and businesses seem to be working normally, rail services have been affected in Odisha. As per PTI, schools have remained closed in Ranchi, while several long-route public buses were seen parked at bus stands, inconveniencing commuters.<br /><br />In Rajasthan, schools and coaching centres in Jaipur, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, Deeg, and Bharatpur will remain closed. Meanwhile, in Hyderabad, schools have declared holidays on August 20 and 21 due to heavy rains. Parents and students should stay in touch with their respective schools for any updates, as some may opt for online classes.<br /><br /><h2>Will the bandh be extended?</h2>While the Bharat Bandh on August 21 does not seem to have made a major impact so far, speculations around extending the similar strikes have been floating around on social media. However, none of the major organizations have called for extending the Bandh to August 22 yet, though the protests will likely to continue in some parts of the country. <br /><br />In Mumbai, the Rail passengers’ associations has also planned protests on August 22 over better timely and efficient services of suburban local trains. However, as per media reports, the protests are likely to be toned down with passengers being encouraged to wear a black band as a sign. Hoever, no major disruptions in railway services have been expected.<br /><br />After Tuesday’s 10-hour ‘rail roko’ protest against the sexual assault on minors at Badlapur Railway Station, that turned voilent and disrupted railway services in the region, the suburban railway services have been restored back to normal on Wednesday.<br />

What is today’s Bharat Bandh for and will it get extended to August 22?

Washington, DC [US], June 27 (ANI): The United States Commission on International <keyword id="20114410" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="religious-freedom" source="keywords">Religious Freedom</keyword> (<keyword id="1279363" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="USCIRF" source="Orion">USCIRF</keyword>), an organisation India has strongly criticised in the past, has again raised 'concerns' over religious freedoms in India. It has cited the alleged rise in '<keyword id="20028741" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hate-speech" source="keywords">hate speech</keyword>', demolitions and <keyword id="20068422" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="anti-conversion-laws" source="keywords">anti-conversion laws</keyword>.<br /><br />The report annually surveys religious freedoms around the world and aims to provide a "fact-based, comprehensive view of the state of religious freedom" in nearly 200 countries and territories.<br /><br />The findings come a few weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his third term in office and India and the United States agreed to strengthen cooperation in high technology areas during a visit by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan to New Delhi.<br /><br />"In India, we see a concerning increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, demolitions of homes and places of worship for members of minority faith communities," US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters at an event in Washington on Monday.<br /><br />The US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, Rashad Hussain also expressed concerns about the situation in India. <br /><br />"In India, Christian communities reported that local police aided mobs that disrupted worship services over accusations of conversion activities, or stood by while mobs attacked them and then arrested the victims on conversion charges," he said.<br /><br />Earlier in May, India rejected a similar report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom that accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "reinforcing discriminatory nationalist policies" and termed the organisation "biased" with "political agenda."<br /><br />"The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is known as a biased organization with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda on India masquerading as part of an annual report," MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing.<br /><br />"We really have no expectation that USCIRF will even seek to understand India's diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos. Their efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise of the world will never succeed," he added.<br /><br />The USCIRF had then alleged that the Indian government "failed to address" communal violence disproportionately affecting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Jews, and Adivasis (indigenous peoples) in 2023.<br /><br />Among its key findings, the report calls out several countries including India, China, Russia, and Iran for violations of explicitly targeting members from certain faith communities.<br /><br />A detailed section of the report also mentioned the alleged "targeted attacks against religious <keyword id="3121137" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="minorities-in-India" source="Orion">minorities in India</keyword>." The report expresses several concerns over India's religious freedom. It claims religious conversion is "legally prohibited" in multiple states, <keyword id="1480228" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="religious-minorities" source="Orion">religious minorities</keyword> are "attacked on a regular basis", and alleges that Muslims face systemic <keyword id="19933076" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="discrimination" source="keywords">discrimination</keyword>.<br /><br />US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also noted that in the United States, hate crimes against both Muslims and Jews "have gone up dramatically."<br /><br />The US also raised concerns about Pakistan, where Blinken condemned blasphemy laws that "help foster a climate of intolerance and hatred that can lead to vigilantism and mob violence."<br /><br />Secretary Blinken also mentioned the imprisonment and exile of Muslim Uyghurs in China, as well as the repression of Tibetan Buddhists, Christians and Falun Gong practitioners.<br />

US raises 'concerns' on alleged discrimination of religious minorities in India

As expected, leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (<keyword id="19894848" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BJP" source="keywords">BJP</keyword>) cannot stop singing praises of the Union Budget 2024-2025 presented by Finiance Minister <keyword id="19916618" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nirmala-Sitharaman" source="keywords">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> earlier today. However, moments after <keyword id="20385790" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Union-Finance-Minister" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Union Finance Minister" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Union Finance Minister">Union Finance Minister</keyword> Nirmala Sitharaman presented the <keyword id="19955368" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Budget-2024" source="keywords">Budget 2024</keyword> in Parliament, the <keyword id="19895371" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Congress" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Congress" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Congress">Congress</keyword> party launched a critical attack on the ruling Centre. They claimed that portions of the fiscal document had been lifted directly from their <keyword id="19977669" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manifesto" source="keywords">manifesto</keyword> for the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year.<br /><h2><keyword id="19895780" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Gandhi" source="keywords">Rahul Gandhi</keyword>'s "Kursi Bachao" Budget comment</h2>Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi criticised the Budget, describing it as the "Kursi Bachao" (Save the Seat) Budget, aimed at appeasing the BJP's allies and cronies. He alleged that the document was copied from the Congress party's Lok Sabha polls manifesto. <br /><br />"Kursi Bachao Budget. Appease Allies: Hollow promises to them at the cost of other states. Appease Cronies: Benefits to AA with no relief for the common Indian. Copy and Paste: Congress manifesto and previous budgets," Gandhi said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).<br /><br /><div type="twitter" handle="RahulGandhi" handlename="RahulGandhi" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1815672226584166514"></div><h2><keyword id="19934649" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="P-Chidambaram" source="keywords">P Chidambaram</keyword> takes dig at the Nirmala Sitharaman</h2>Former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram expressed his satisfaction over what he perceived as the government's adoption of ideas originally proposed by the Congress. <br /><br />"I am happy the Union Finance Minister has virtually adopted the Employment-linked Incentive (ELI) outlined on page 30 of the Congress Manifesto," tweeted Chidambaram. He further noted his approval of the introduction of an apprenticeship scheme with allowances for apprentices, a concept detailed on page 11 of the Congress Manifesto. <br /><div type="twitter" handle="PChidambaram_IN" handlename="PChidambaram_IN" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1815638125168783772"></div><br /><div type="twitter" handle="PChidambaram_IN" handlename="PChidambaram_IN" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1815641688922063221"></div><h2><keyword id="19897159" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mallikarjun-Kharge" source="keywords">Mallikarjun Kharge</keyword> highlights 10 areas the Budget 2024 went wrong</h2>The President of the Indian National Congress Karge called the <keyword id="19916814" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Modi-Government" source="keywords">Modi Government</keyword> a "copycat" while going on to suggest that they could not even copy Congress' justice agenda properly.<br /><br />Here’s an English translation of his tweet:<br /><br />“The Modi Government's budget is distributing half-hearted "rewadis" to dupe its coalition partners so that the NDA survives. This is not a budget for "progress of the country", it is a "save Modi government" budget!<br /><br />1. After 10 years, limited announcements have been made for the youth who are bearing the brunt of the slogan of two crore jobs per year.<br />2. Only superficial talks have been held for farmers, one and a half times MSP and doubling of income - all turned out to be electoral fraud! This government has no intention of increasing rural wages.<br />3. There is no revolutionary scheme for Dalits, Adivasis, backward classes, minorities, middle class and rural poor people like the one implemented by Congress-UPA. The word "poor" has become just a means of self-branding, there is nothing concrete!<br />4. There is nothing in this budget for women that would enhance their economic capacity and enable them to participate more and more in the workforce.<br />5. On the contrary, the government is patting its back on the back for rising inflation; it is robbing people of their hard-earned money and distributing it among its capitalist friends!<br />6. Less money has been spent on agriculture, health, education, public welfare and tribals than the budget allocation because these are not the priorities of the BJP. Similarly, Rs 1 lakh crore less has been spent on Capital Expenditure, so how will jobs increase?<br />7. Urban Development, Rural Development, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, MSME, Investment, EV scheme - only Document, Policy, Vision, Review etc. have been discussed, but no major announcement has been made.<br />8. Railway accidents are happening every day, trains have been stopped, the number of coaches has been reduced, ordinary passengers are troubled, but nothing has been said about the railways in the budget, there is no accountability.<br />9. Nothing has been said about Census and caste census, whereas this is the fifth budget which is being presented without Census! This is a shocking and unprecedented failure - which is against democracy and the Constitution!<br />10. On 20 May 2024, i.e. during the elections, Modi ji claimed in an interview that "We already have a 100-day action plan "...<br />When the Action Plan was there two months ago, they should have at least told it in the budget!<br />There is no plan in the budget and BJP is only busy in the action of cheating the public.”<br /><div type="twitter" handle="kharge" handlename="kharge" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1815669463284416605"></div>    <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111917247" title="Budget 2024: Can Lakhpati Didi Yojana’s reality inspire better focus on women?" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div><h2>Jairam Ramesh accuses Centre of stealing ideas from the Congress</h2>In her Budget address, Sitharaman announced that the government would provide a month's wage to all first-time employees in formal sectors. This direct benefit transfer, disbursed in three installments, will cover employees registered with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and amount up to ₹15,000 per individual. The eligibility limit is set at ₹1 lakh per month, potentially benefiting 2.1 crore youth across the country.<br /><br />Congress MP and communications in charge Jairam Ramesh also accused the Finance Minister of taking ideas from the Congress's "Nyay Patra 2024." He claimed the internship program announced in the budget was a clear adaptation of the Congress's proposed Apprenticeship Program called "Pehli Naukri Pakki."<br /><br />He also insinuated that this particular scheme seemed to have been come up with in haste.<br /><div type="twitter" handle="jairam_ramesh" handlename="jairam_ramesh" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" id="1815714388340568111"></div>Ramesh critiqued the government's approach, describing it as a "festive offer" designed to capture headlines with arbitrary targets, such as the promise of one crore internships. He argued that the Congress's vision offered a programmatic guarantee for all diploma holders and graduates, rather than the broad and unfocused targets announced by the government.<br />    <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111944393" title="Here&amp;#39;s a quick overview of PM Modi 3.0 government&amp;#39;s first budget, to be presented by FM Nirmala Sitharaman today" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Ramesh also pointedly criticised the government over a special package for Andhra Pradesh, highlighting a ₹15,000 crore allocation aimed at developing Amaravati, the state's capital city and a significant project for Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. "Why has it taken 10 years to announce that what was already committed to in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 will be implemented?" questioned Ramesh in a post on X.<br />

From ‘Copycat’ to ‘Kursi Bachao Budget' — Here’s what Rahul and other Congress leaders had to say about Budget 2024

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What is today’s Bharat Bandh for and will it get extended to August 22?

Ankush Banerjee

US raises 'concerns' on alleged discrimination of religious minorities in India

ANI

From ‘Copycat’ to ‘Kursi Bachao Budget' — Here’s what Rahul and other Congress leaders had to say about Budget 2024

Ashmita Gupta

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