LEAD

India had another run-in with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Tuesday after the latter expressed “deep concerns” over the ongoing hijab controversy and “continued attacks targeting Muslims and their places of worship”. In its response, India accused the OIC of working with a communal mindset and said the organisation continues to be hijacked by vested interests to further their nefarious propaganda against India.

India believes the OIC is allowing itself to be manipulated by Pakistan on issues related to Jammu and Kashmir and the alleged threat to Muslims in India. “We have noted yet another motivated and misleading statement from the general secretariat of the OIC on matters pertaining to India. Issues in India are considered and resolved in accordance with our constitutional framework and mechanisms, as well as democratic ethos and polity,” said external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

A month after he cut short his Punjab visit due to a security breach in Ferozepur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he was unable to pay a visit to a temple here as local authorities could not make necessary arrangements.

Such is the situation of the government in Punjab, the PM said while hitting out at Congress, and asserted that he will come to Jalandhar again and pay obeisance at the Devi Talab Mandir.

Modi was addressing a rally in Jalandhar, his first in Punjab since January 5 when he returned from the state without attending any event, including a public meeting, after his convoy got stuck on a flyover due to a blockade by protesters in Ferozepur.

For the first time in the third wave, deaths from Covid-19 declined across the country in the week ending Sunday, even as fresh cases of the virus in India continued to fall at an unprecedented rate.

India reported 3,366 fatalities during the week (February 7-13), a 23% decline from the previous week's toll of 4,355, as per media's Covid database. This was the first fall in deaths in six weeks of the Omicron-driven third wave. These figures exclude deaths from earlier months that were added to the tally during this period.

Meanwhile, the country saw 60% fewer cases in the week as compared to the last - the steepest decline in weekly cases since the pandemic began. This was the second straight week of a record fall in cases as the previous week had seen infections decrease by 45%, the highest fall till then.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his statement that if Jawaharlal Nehru wanted, Goa could have been liberated “within hours” in 1947 when India attained Independence, and accused him of distracting the people from real issues like environment and employment.

PM Modi, while addressing an election rally at Mapusa near Panaji on Thursday, had said it took 15 years for the Congress government to liberate Goa from Portuguese rule.

Addressing his first physical poll rally in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that people were finding "new ways to block the rights and development of Muslim women" in India. He went on to say that a BJP-led government was essential in Uttar Pradesh to ensure Muslim women aren't oppressed.

"BJP government freed Muslim women from triple talaq. When Muslim women started openly supporting Modi government, opponents got anxious. But we stand with every Muslim woman," PM Modi said, speaking the same day that Uttar Pradesh began voting in the first phase of the Assembly election.