On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, a key initiative of the government to connect and engage with the Indian diaspora, in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated on January 9 to mark Mahatma Gandhi’s return from South Africa to India in 1915. The three-day event, which began with the Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on Wednesday, will see participation by a large number of overseas Indians, including businesspeople, entrepreneurs and economists from over 50 countries, an official statement said. This year’s theme is “Diaspora’s Contribution to a Viksit Bharat”.
Coming just days ahead of the first anniversary of the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the PM will also inaugurate an exhibition at the venue, titled “Vishwaroop Ram — The Universal Legacy of Ramayana”.
The Indian diaspora is now over 35.4-million strong and continues to play a crucial role in India’s economy, besides diplomatic ties with the nation where they are now settled.
Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu, who is attending the second day of the Odisha event, is visiting Meghalaya on Thursday for the golden jubilee celebration of the ICAR Research Complex for the North-Eastern Hill Region at Umiam.
A reconstituted five-judge bench of the Supreme Court will on Thursday consider pleas seeking a review of its October 2023 verdict declining legal sanction to same-sex marriage.
A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, Surya Kant, B V Nagarathna, P S Narasimha and Dipankar Datta will take up about 13 petitions related to the matter. According to practice, the review pleas are considered in chambers by judges. The top court had refused to allow an open-court hearing on the review pleas.
A five-judge Constitution bench led by then Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud in October 2023 had refused to accord legal backing to same-sex marriages and held there was “no unqualified right” to marriage with the exception of those recognised by law.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) – which has alleged that Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) Working President K T Rama Rao, known as KTR, authorised payments of Rs 55 crore to Formula E without necessary approvals – has summoned the leader for questioning on Thursday. A Formula E race was held in Hyderabad in 2023 but the 2024 race was cancelled.
On Tuesday, the Telangana High Court had refused to quash the FIR against KTR in connection with the Formula E case, removing the protection against the arrest given to him. The High Court had earlier restricted the ACB from arresting KTR, son of BRS president and former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, until the orders were pronounced and the present order removed that protection.
KTR said he has approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court order which dismissed his petition. He said he is also approaching the High Court urging that his lawyer be allowed to assist him when he appears before the ACB. When the ACB had summoned him on Monday, KTR left its office without appearing before officials citing the denial of assistance from his lawyer.
– With PTI inputs
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