
Home Minister challenges opposition to debate, fatal hotel accident in Bengaluru, and successful satellite launch
AI-generated summary
The INDIA bloc is protesting against the Election Commission regarding electoral roll revisions. India is also expanding its indigenous NavIC navigation system to reduce reliance on US GPS.
Home Minister Amit Shah has challenged Rahul Gandhi to debate electoral irregularity allegations in parliament, ahead of a major opposition rally against the election chief in Delhi.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday challenged opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav to discuss allegations of electoral irregularities in parliament, even as the opposition geared for a major rally against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, according to media reports.
"I am ready to call a special session of Parliament to discuss vote theft allegations," Shah said, accusing the opposition of making baseless allegations against the Election Commission and staging protests while skirting parliamentary debate.
His remarks came as the opposition INDIA bloc prepared to hold a symbolic "public impeachment" of Kumar on Saturday, followed by a major rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on November 1. Around 30 speakers from 21 opposition parties are expected to participate.
The opposition is demanding Kumar's resignation over his role in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the scrapping of the SIR, alleging that the exercise could disenfranchise voters and benefit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A German citizen was among two people killed in a suspected electrocution at a five-star hotel swimming pool in Bengaluru on Friday evening, media reports said. The 57-year-old German national and another 45-year-old man from Slovakia had gone swimming at the Conrad Hotel when the incident occurred. A US tourist and an Indian hotel employee were also injured while attempting to rescue the victims.
India will conduct its next population census from January 25 to February 28, 2027, followed by a revision exercise from March 1 to 5. The census will cover all states and Union territories except Manipur, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Ladakh and snow-bound areas of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Students of Jamia Millia Islamia university in New Delhi held a victory march on campus on Friday, after the university administration agreed to reinstate the student union and set a timeline for elections. The university agreed to restore its students' union and hold elections after nearly two decades, following an 18-day hunger strike.
Delhi recorded its lowest October daytime temperature in 75 years on Friday, with a maximum temperature of 20.7 degrees Celsius. The rainfall also helped clean up air pollution levels, with the Indian capital's notoriously bad Air Quality Index (AQI) improving to a "satisfactory" reading of 60.
India's space agency successfully launched a navigation satellite on Friday night to strengthen the country's indigenous alternative to GPS. The NVS-03 satellite, the third in Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) next-generation navigation series, was carried into orbit by the "GSLV-F18" rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
An oil tanker carrying 27 Indian seafarers was targeted with limpet mines in the Strait of Hormuz. Indian Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said all Indian seafarers aboard the vessel were safe and had sustained no injuries. Sonowal also added that two Indians aboard another tanker that faced a separate attack on October 29 were also safe.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Opposition rally at Ramlila Maidan on November 1
Very likely · Within days

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Thousands protested in New Delhi led by Rahul Gandhi to demand Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over voter list revisions that removed over 130 million names.