Rush Hour: Stalin wants 1971 delimitation baseline, Zelenskyy agrees to talks with Trump and more

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said that the 1971 census must remain the basis for delimitation of Lok Sabha for the next 30 years. His demand, at an all-party meeting on the topic, came amid concerns that a population-based nationwide delimitation exercise to redrawn constituencies could hurt southern states’ representation in Parliament.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader proposed to set up a committee comprising MPs from the southern states to draft a joint response to the proposed exercise. The meeting was attended by ally Congress, the Left front and the Opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, among others, who agreed on opposing the exercise. The Bharatiya Janata Party boycotted the meeting.

On February 25, Stalin had claimed that the delimitation exercise could cost his state eight Lok Sabha seats. Read on.

New private universities in Assam will require a “national security” clearance from the state government, said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The institutes would also need to undergo “periodic inspections to ensure full adherence to the secular principles of our Constitution”, he said.

Sarma added that the universities would also be required to “confirm that they are not directly or indirectly involved in religious conversion”.

Sarma said the Cabinet’s decision on Tuesday to amend the 2007 Assam Private Universities Act was prompted...

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