Delhi

12 Feb 2021; MEMO: Vital evidence used against a group of Indian activists accused of plotting to overthrow the government was planted on a laptop before being seized by police, according to a new forensics report.

One of the 16 people accused was Rona Wilson who is said to have called on a Maoist insurgent group to assassinate Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, based on investigations by the US digital forensics firm Arsenal Consulting.

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the Centre and Twitter India on a plea seeking a mechanism for regulating content and advertisements spreading hatred through fake news and instigative messages via bogus accounts.

A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian issued notice to the Centre and Twitter Communication India Pvt Ltd on the plea filed by one Vinit Goenka, which said there are hundreds of fake Twitter handles and bogus Facebook accounts in the name of eminent people and high dignitaries.

New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday questioned the government over its agreement with China on disengagement in eastern Ladakh, and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "ceded" Indian territory to the Chinese.

His attack on the government came a day after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh assured Parliament that India has not conceded anything in the sustained talks with China and it will not allow even an inch of its territory to be taken away by anyone.

Jaipur, Feb 11 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will hold farmers meetings during his two-day visit to Rajasthan from Friday.

Gandhi will address the first meeting at a wholesale market in Hanumangarh's Pilibanga at 11.30 am, followed by the second meeting in Padampur in Sri Ganganagar at 3 pm.

Next day, he will reach Kishangarh airport and in Ajmer district and visit Tejaji temple in Sursura and hold dialogues with farmers.

Later, he will interact with farmers in Rupangarh and address a farmers rally at Makrana in Nagaur district.

New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) A total of 2,072 Indians died due to the coronavirus in various countries with the highest death toll of 906 being reported in Saudi Arabia followed by 375 in the United Arab Emirates, the government said on Thursday.

Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said 369 Indians died of coronavirus infection in Kuwait while 166 deaths were reported from Oman.

New Delhi, Feb 12 PTI) Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to replace Ghulam Nabi Azad as the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha and the party has written to the chairman of the Upper House of Parliament in this regard, sources said.

The Congress has written to Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu for appointing Kharge to the post of leader of opposition after Azad's retirement, they added.

New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) DMK member Dayanidhi Maran on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take a COVID vaccine shot in public as such a move will give confidence to people since many are not trusting the vaccine.

Participating in the discussion on Union Budget 2021-22 in Lok Sabha, he also said that apart from the prime minister, President, home minister and defence minister should take the vaccine shots in public.

New Delhi, Feb 11 (PTI) Congress leader P Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the government has failed to stimulate demand for growth in the country and the GDP will go back to the figures of three years ago because of "incompetent economic mismanagement".

He claimed that the budget for 2021-22 has failed as even a small amount of cash transfer has not been given to the poor and the rations are not being continued with.

Bengaluru, Feb 10 (PTI) The last quarter of 2020 saw e-commerce order volume growing by 36 per cent in India with Personal care, Beauty and Wellness (PCB&W) segment being the biggest beneficiary, according to a report.

In October to December 2020 period, PCB&W and FMCG & Healthcare (F&H) categories' volumes grew by 95 per cent and 46 per cent year-on-year (YOY) respectively, said the Q4- 2020 -E-commerce Trends Report', released by Unicommerce and Kearney.

New Delhi, Feb 9 (PTI) The government will soon bring a bill on crypto currencies as existing laws are inadequate to deal with issues concerning them, Minister of State For Finance Anurag Thakur told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Replying to a question in the Upper House, Thakur said regulatory bodies like RBI and Sebi do not have any legal framework to directly regulate crypto currencies as they are not currencies, assets, securities or commodities issued by identifiable users.