NEWS

On day two of the counting of votes for 307 Zilla Parishad zones in the panchayat elections in Odisha, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is heading towards a clean sweep.

The BJD is leading in 540 ZP (Zilla Parishad) zones, followed by BJP in 39, Congress in 29 and others in 9 seats.

The counting of votes will continue till February 28. Results for a total of 851 ZP zones will be declared after the conclusion of the entire counting process.

In the first phase of counting of votes, CM Naveen Patnaik's party dominated with the candidates winning in 230 Zilla Parishad (ZP) zones of 256.

Is trading in Bitcoins illegal? The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to clarify its stand on the issue. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant asked additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, "We would like you to tell us how you are dealing with persons trading in Bitcoin and crypto currency. Is handling crypto currency still illegal in India?"

The court was dealing with a case against three brothers and their father who are being prosecuted by the Enforcement Directorate under the PMLA.

The court's question possibly arose on the proposal in the 2022-23 Union Budget on levying tax on crypto currency transactions without giving it a legal status. Bhati said the government would have no difficulty in explaining its stand on the court's query but that would be redundant as this is a case of cheating and money laundering, which is an offence under the PMLA.

Reports of violence and malpractices marred the West Bengal civic elections on Sunday as the state went to polls to elect 2,171 councillors across 108 municipalities. Sporadic incidents of rigging and booth jam were reported across the state, which allegedly led to interruption of polling procedures in many places.

Incidents of poll-related violence were reported from North 24 Pargana, South 24 Pargana, Hoogly, and many other places in Bengal. Clashes were reported in North Bengal as well.

In Berhampore, Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury allegedly faced obstruction from TMC workers when he was going to cast his vote. Congress supporters reportedly blocked a highway at Dalkhola in North Dinajpur district and pelted stones at policemen, alleging that Trinamool Congress was rigging the elections.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday slammed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan over his visit to Russia amid Moscow launching attack on Ukraine, and cited the example of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who in 1979 as the then foreign minister had cut short his visit to China when Beijing attacked Vietnam.

“If @imrankhanPTI has any self-respect, he will do what Vajpayee Sahib did when China attacked Vietnam during his 1979 visit: he should cancel his trip immediately & go home. Otherwise he is complicit in the invasion,” Tharoor said.

Tharoor was referring to Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to China when he was minister for external affairs in the Morarji Desai government. Vajpayee ended his visit to China a day early in protest against China’s invasion of Vietnam. The Vajpayee visit to China was a breakthrough in bilateral ties as it was the first by a senior political leader from New Delhi since the 1962 war.