Cracks are now more prominent in the Opposition’s INDIA alliance with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav questioning why the previous Congress-led governments did not conduct caste census when they were in power.

Mr Yadav’s comment highlights the differences between the two parties that are part of the mega Opposition front seeking to put up a united fight against the BJP in next year’s national elections.

The previous governments did not act on this due to their faulty policies, he told ANI in Satna in election-bound Madhya Pradesh and taunted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his “X-ray” remark over the caste census demand.

At a rally yesterday, Mr Gandhi reiterated his call for caste census and termed the exercise an “X-ray” that would give details of various communities in the country. Asked about this, Mr Yadav said the Congress’s demand for a caste census is a “miracle”.

#WATCH | Satna, Madhya Pradesh: On Rahul Gandhi’s statement, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav says, “…Congress is the party which did not conduct caste census after independence… When all the parties in the Lok Sabha were demanding a caste census, they did not conduct a caste census.… pic.twitter.com/aYEaUU9SwT

— ANI (@ANI) November 13, 2023

“X-ray was the need of that time. Now we have MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and CT (computed tomography) scan. The disease has now spread. If this problem was solved back then, such a gap wouldn’t have existed in the society today,” he said mocking Mr Gandhi.

“The biggest miracle is the Congress is also talking about caste census. Those who are talking about X-rays are the same people who stopped the caste census after Independence,” he quipped.

Mr Yadav slammed the Congress for not conducting caste census after India attained independence. “When Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav), Sharad Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav, and parties from South India raised the demand in Lok Sabha, the Congress refused to do it,” he said.

“Why do they want to conduct caste census today? Because they know that their traditional vote bank is not with them. But the backward classes, Dalit, and adivasis know that they had betrayed them after Independence,” he added.

Mr Yadav has been training his guns at the Congress lately and has also claimed that the grand old party does not want to ally with his outfit after their relations soured over seat-sharing for the November 17 Madhya Pradesh elections.

Last week, he said the Congress did not implement the Mandal Commission recommendations and had opposed the caste census. In another instance, he told a rally in Madhya Pradesh that neither Congress nor BJP have done anything for the poor and farmers when they were in power in the state.

However, despite the signs of strain, he told NDTV last month that his party was still a part of the INDIA bloc.

Bhai Dooj, also known as Bhai Tika, Bhaubeej, Bhai Phonta, or Bhratri Dwitiya, is a festival that celebrates the special bond between siblings. The day marks the culmination of the five-day-long Diwali festivities in many states. Every year, Bhai Dooj is celebrated two days after the festival of lights. This year Bhai Dooj will be celebrated on two days, November 14 and 15.  

Bhai Dooj 2023: Puja Vidhi

On this occasion, sisters apply tilak on the forehead of their brothers and pray for their long and happy lives, while carrying a colourful thali filled with sweets, roli, and coconut. While applying tilak, the brother’s face should be towards the north or northwest and the sister’s face should be towards the northeast or east. Then brothers and sisters treat each other with traditional Indian sweets and celebrate this special day with the exchange of gifts. Both brothers and sisters have to fast till the pooja is done.

If, for some reason, the brother cannot visit the sister, then the sister can send the tilak and dry coconut to her brother. Women without brothers worship Moon Chandra, as is customary in Maharashtra and Haryana on the auspicious occasion of Bhau-beej. 

Raksha Bandhan and Bhai Dooj are quite similar up to an extent, however, on Bhai Dooj, sisters do not tie a thread or Rakhi on the wrists of their brothers like they do on Raksha Bandhan.

Bhai Dooj 2023: Auspicious Time To Apply Tilak and Shubh Muhurat 

According to Drik Panchang, Bhai Dooj will start on November 14 and continue till November 15.  The auspicious Muhurat will start in the afternoon on Tuesday and end on Wednesday. 

Bhai Dooj aparahna time: 01:21 PM to 03:33 PMDuration: 02 Hours 12 MinsShubh muhurat on November 14: Dwitiya tithi begins at 02:36 PMShubh muhurat on November 15: Dwitiya tithi ends at 01:47 PM

As per Hindu mythology, it is believed that Goddess Yamuna fed her brother Yamraj on Kartik Dwitiya at her own home. Since then this day is also known as Yama Dwitiya.

The US Supreme Court on Monday adopted its first formal code of conduct governing the ethical behavior of its nine justices, bowing to months of outside pressure over revelations of undisclosed luxury trips and hobnobbing with wealthy benefactors.

The court released its code “to set out succinctly and gather in one place the ethics rules and principles that guide the conduct of the members of the court,” according to a brief introductory statement.

Unlike other members of the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court’s nine life-tenured justices had long acted with no binding ethics code.

That absence, the statement said, “has led in recent years to the misunderstanding that the justices of this court, unlike all other jurists in this country, regard themselves as unrestricted by any ethics rules. To dispel this misunderstanding, we are issuing this code, which largely represents a codification of principles that we have long regarded as governing our conduct.”

The court has been buffeted for months by revelations regarding justices over undisclosed trips on private jets, luxury vacations, real estate and recreational vehicle deals, and more.

The issue had become an political flashpoint, with Democrats in Congress calling on the court to adopt an ethics code, while many Republicans viewed the ethics narrative involving the court as cooked up by liberals upset at its rightward leanings.

The ethics drum beat added pressure to a court already facing declining public approval following major rulings in its past two terms powered by its conservative majority. The court ended its recognition of a constitutional right to abortion, expanded gun rights and rejected affirmative action collegiate admissions policies often used to increase Black and Hispanic student enrollment.

Most of the ethics revelations in recent months involved Justice Clarence Thomas, one of the court’s most conservative members.

The news outlet ProPublica has detailed luxury trips taken for years by Thomas provided by Texas businessman Harlan Crow as well as real estate transactions involving the justice and the billionaire Republican donor. ProPublica also reported that the conservative Koch network of political donors, which has had multiple cases before the court, has brought Thomas in recent years to its summit meetings.

A report by Senate Democrats in October also found that Thomas apparently failed to repay at least a “significant portion” of a $267,230 loan he received from longtime friend Anthony Welters to buy a luxury motor coach.