Athira returns home as Ayisha after High Court upholds her right to follow Islam

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress on Sunday, accusing the party of indulging in minority appeasement and vote-bank politics over its opposition to the amended Waqf Act. Speaking at the inauguration of Hisar Airport in Haryana, the Prime Minister also questioned the Congress’s commitment to the Muslim community, asking why the party had never appointed a Muslim president or reserved a significant portion of election tickets for Muslim candidates.

“Congress has appeased only a few fundamentalists while keeping the majority of Muslims poor and uneducated,” Modi said. “If the Congress truly cares for Muslims, let them make a Muslim the party president and reserve 50 per cent of their Lok Sabha tickets for Muslim candidates. But they won’t. Their only aim is to snatch away others’ rights for political gains.”

He alleged that the Congress misused the Waqf law to benefit select groups and land mafias. “Lakhs of hectares of land under Waqf have been misused. If it had been used honestly, Muslim youth wouldn’t be forced to fix bicycle punctures for a living,” Modi remarked. “With the new amendments, Waqf Boards can no longer claim land belonging to tribals or marginalized communities. This is true social justice.”

Modi linked the Waqf law controversy to what he called the Congress’s legacy of undermining Dr B.R. Ambedkar. Remembering Ambedkar on his birth anniversary, the Prime Minister accused the Congress of sidelining him during his lifetime and attempting to erase his legacy after his death.

“Babasaheb Ambedkar stood for equality, but Congress infected the nation with the virus of vote-bank politics. They made him lose elections twice and tried to keep him out of the system,” Modi said, adding that every policy of his government is inspired by Ambedkar’s ideals.

He also took aim at the Congress’s stance on the Uniform Civil Code, noting that while the Constitution recommends a common civil code, the Congress never implemented it. “Today, Uttarakhand has implemented a Uniform Civil Code, and Congress is opposing it. This shows their double standards,” he said.

In response, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit back, accusing the BJP of using Ambedkar’s name for political mileage while failing to implement his principles. “Dr Ambedkar emphasised education above all. What has this government done to realise his vision?” Kharge questioned. “They only speak against Congress, against Nehru, and all we have done. But what have they achieved themselves?”

Kharge also reiterated the Congress’s demand for immediate implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act, which mandates 33 per cent representation for women in Parliament and state assemblies. “When the bill was passed two years ago, we demanded SC, ST, and OBC women be included in the reservation. This remains our goal,” he said.

The exchange marks a sharp escalation in the war of words between the two national parties ahead of the upcoming general elections, with both sides invoking Ambedkar’s legacy to bolster their political narratives.

Israel has prevented tens of thousands of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank from entering the holy land of Jerusalem to celebrate a Christian festivity at the city’s churches.

The Palestinian WAFA news agency reported that only a limited number of Palestinian Christians were able to attend celebrations in al-Quds for the Palm Sunday feast day. 

Israeli forces issued only 6,000 permits for West Bank Christians, although the population exceeds 50,000, the report added.

The occupation’s soldiers imposed strict measures at checkpoints surrounding al-Quds and its Old City, home to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

“This is the second consecutive year that only a small number of pilgrims are able to participate in Holy Week and Easter celebrations in al-Quds, due to the ongoing conflict,” said Father Ibrahim Faltas, deputy head of the Custody of the Holy Land.

Christians in the Gaza Strip commemorated Palm Sunday at Saint Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church, just hours after an Israeli aerial assault on the nearby al-Ahli Arab hospital.

In a statement, the Gaza-based Hamas resistance group censured Israel for restricting West Bank Palestinians’ access to al-Quds.

The Israeli move is a part of a broader racist and fascist policy aimed at isolating Palestinians from their homeland and holy sites, it added.

Hamas also called on all churches across the world to condemn the occupation and its ongoing attacks on freedom of worship and access to holy sites.

It further urged the international community to take serious steps towards ending Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, which is aimed at annihilating Palestinians and liquidating their cause.

Israel launched its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after Hamas carried out a historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

After one and a half years of war, the Tel Aviv regime has failed to achieve its declared objectives in the besieged territory, despite killing at least 50,944 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 116,156 others.

Bengaluru: The results of the PUC 2 examination one were announced today with an over all pass percentage of 69.16 as against the 81.15% in the 2024 exam 1.

Due to several examination reforms, including installation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled CCTV cameras in the examination hall to check malpractices and webcasting of the entire process, the results seem to have dipped by 11.99% compared to the previous year.

The results will be available online after 1:30pm. Candidates can visit http://karresults.nic.in to check their results.

Amoolya M Kamath from Expert PU college Dakshina Kannada, Deeksha R from Vagdevi PU College Shivamogga have topped the state in science stream by scoring 599 for 600.

In Commerce Deepashree S from Canara PU College Dakshina Kannada emerged as topper with 599 out of 600 and in Arts LR Sanjana Bai of Indu Independent PU college Kottur in Ballari bagged the first place by scoring 597.

Minister for School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa released the results and said, "students those who have failed or those who wish to improve their marls can take exam 2 and 3. We will not be charging any fee for exam 2 and 3."

"I will not say students are failed. As the exam process will complete only after 3rd exam, we have hopes to improve the results by 3-4%," he mentioned.

"We have opportunity to improve the results. We have conducted the exams with complete vigil by preventing all the malpractices by monitoring through webcasting," said the minister.

For exams 1 total of 6,37,805 were appeared of which 468439 managed to clear the exams.

This time department has not given any grace marks, except the one which awards to push those who were in border line. "There were over 8297 students in the borderline and pushed with the grace as per scheme of evaluation," the minister added.

Udupi Leads Again

The coastal district of Udupi has emerged as the top performer once again, recording a remarkable 93.90% pass rate, as per a report on One India. Dakshina Kannada followed closely with 93.57%, while Bangalore South stood third at 85.36%. At the bottom of the list, Yadgir reported the lowest pass percentage with 48.45%.

Here are the top 10 performing districts:

Udupi – 93.90%
Dakshina Kannada – 93.57%
Bangalore South – 85.36%
Kodagu – 83.84%
Bangalore North – 83.31%
Uttara Kannada – 82.93%
Shimoga – 79.91%
Bangalore Rural – 79.70%
Chikmagalur – 79.56%
Haveri – 76.56%