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International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva on Tuesday urged India to reconsider its ban on wheat exports as soon as possible.

Speaking to media at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the IMF chief said, "I do have an appreciation for the fact that India needs to feed nearly 1.35 billion people and I do have appreciation for the heatwave that has reduced agricultural productivity, but I would beg India to reconsider as soon as possible because the more countries step into export restrictions, the more others would be tempted to do so and we would end up as a global community less equipped to deal with the crisis."

Barely 16 months after he laid the foundation stone for construction of 1,152 houses in Chennai under the government’s flagship housing scheme, PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate the first Light House Project (LHP) on Thursday. The houses have been built using precast concrete construction technology in a greenfield complex which has 16 towers and each tower has seven floors.

This will be the first LHP under the PM Awas Yojna (PMAY) scheme to be completed out of the six for which Modi had laid the foundation stone in January 2021. In Chennai, the technologies from the United States and Finland have been used for faster construction of houses and also at a cheaper cost. The pilot project has been completed with an expenditure of Rs 116 crore.

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea filed by Al Islam Tour Corporations seeking consideration as private tour operators for the Haj in the year 2022.

A bench of Justices Abdul Nazeer and Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha refused to entertain a plea of the Al Islam Tour Corporations. Thereafter the petitioner sought to withdraw his plea and sought liberty to move the concerned High Court.

The top court granted the petitioner liberty to pursue any other remedy as available in law.

With the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque and Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Masjid disputes back in the spotlight, the BJP’s Palampur Resolution has also made a return to the political discourse. The ruling party appears to have made a shift away from its stand on temple-mosque disputes as mentioned in the political resolution adopted at its National Executive meeting held from June 9-11, 1989, in the hill station in Himachal Pradesh.

The BJP national executive also hit out at the “callous unconcern” of the “Congress Party, in particular, and the other political parties in general” for “the sentiments of the overwhelming majority in this country — the Hindus”. It added. “A court of law can settle issues of title, trespass, possession etc. But it cannot adjudicate as to whether Babar did actually invade Ayodhya, destroy a temple, and build a mosque in its place. Even where a court does pronounce on such facts, it cannot suggest remedies to undo the vandalism of history.”

Expressing concern over lawyers targeting judges and seeking recusal by making baseless allegations, the SC on Monday said advocates should not consider themselves above the law and must face consequences for causing obstruction of justice.

A vacation bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Bela M Trivedi said it has become a new “fashion” for lawyers to target judges particularly in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh and the more bold a judge, the more the allegations.