India’s economy expanded 8.4 per cent in the December quarter from a year earlier, compared with 7.6 per cent growth in the previous quarter, government data showed on Thursday.
Economists had expected Asia’s third-largest economy to grow 6.6 per cent during the final three-month period last year, according to a Reuters poll.
The BJP-led NDA is just three short seats of majority in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament. With the election to 56 Rajya Sabha seats this month, the BJP alone has inched closer to 100. Altogether, the party managed to win 30 of the 56 seats in this round of elections, taking its score in the Upper House to 97 and the NDA to 118.
Candidates on 41 of the 56 seats had got elected unopposed earlier this month. Election was held on 15 seats across three states on Tuesday. There, the party scooped up two extra seats — one in Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh and one in Uttar Pradesh — thanks to cross-voting by MLAs of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party.
The majority mark in the 245-member Upper House is 123. However, currently five seats are vacant, four of them in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been under President’s Rule, and one in the nominated member category. This brings down the strength of the House too 240 and the majority mark to 121.
With the BJP dominating the Lok Sabha, the numbers in the Rajya Sabha have become crucial in terms of passing of bills.
Till 2019, several bills — including the land reform and Triple Talaq Bills of 2017 and 2018 — got blocked by the Opposition in the Upper House. While the land reform bill was not re-introduced, the government went ahead to pass the bill against Triple Talaq in its second term.
After 2019, despite not having majority, the NDA government managed to get crucial bills — including the repealing of Article 370, abolition of triple talaq, Delhi Service bill and others — passed in the upper house with the support of neutral parties such as Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal and Andhra Pradesh’s YSR Congress.
For the Congress-led Opposition, a minority position in the Rajya Sabha would push them in a corner.
The INDIA bloc is yet to get the seat sharing process completed. The Congress is expected to finalise the seats for Maharashtra this evening at a meeting with allies Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar’s faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.
Deepika Padukone has revealed that she and her husband, Ranveer Singh, are expecting their first child. The actress made the announcement on her Instagram account, stating that she is pregnant and will give birth in September of this year. She posted a sweet image with the date “September 2024” written on it, along with graphics of children’s clothing, toys, and balloons in blue and pink as the border.
In no time, the actors’ industry friends, colleagues and well-wishers dropped congratulatory wishes in the comment section. Vikrant Massey wrote, “OMGGGGGGG!!!! Bahut bahut shubhkamnaen aap dono ko!!!” Kriti Sanon also commented, “Omg!!!! Congratulations
you two!!!” Kareena Kapoor Khan wrote, “Welcome to the best phase of your life.” Priyanka Chopra Jonas commented, “Mubarak.” Shreya Ghoshal wrote, “Omg!!!! So excited, so happy for you both. Many many congratulations..”
Meanwhile, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Medha Shankr, and Ayushmann Khurrana dropped heart emojis in the comments.
Deepika and Ranveer have been married for over five years, and speculation about their pregnancy has been circulating for a while. Deepika’s appearance at the BAFTA 2024 event reignited rumours about her pregnancy due to speculation surrounding a possible baby bump.
See Also: Just in: Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh Announce Their First Pregnancy