Here are the top 5 news updates of April 4, 2022:
The Maharashtra government today told the Bombay High Court that it had not taken any cabinet decision calling for a statewide bandh on October 11 last year. The bandh was held to express solidarity with the farmers' protest and the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. The Mumbai Police also informed the HC that as soon as the bandh was declared, the state government diligently ensured that the law and order situation was maintained and hence the state cannot be held liable. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and the Mumbai Police filed their affidavits in reply to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by four senior citizens including Julio Ribeiro challenging the one-day shutdown. As per the plea, the bandh had caused a loss of Rs 3,000 crore to the public exchequer.
Chhattisgarh has been ranked first among states with the lowest unemployment rate in the country. According to the latest data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), Chhattisgarh has registered an unemployment rate of 0.6 per cent this March, which is the lowest so far, an official statement said. "The state government took several steps and formulated new policies for generating employment opportunities especially for the youth, resulting in a constant decline in the unemployment rate," the release said. As per the data, Haryana has the highest unemployment rate at 26.7 per cent, followed by Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir at 25 per cent each and Jharkhand at 14.5 per cent.
Opposition members, including those from the Congress, TMC and Shiv Sena, today walked out of the Lok Sabha protesting against fuel price hike. As soon as the Zero Hour began, DMK members trooped into the Well shouting slogans. Later, members from other opposition parties too stormed the Well raising the issue of fuel price rise. As Rajendra Agrawal, who was chairing the House proceedings continued to run the Zero Hour, Congress, DMK, TMC, Left parties, Shiv Sena and NCP staged a walk out. Meanwhile, petrol prices were hiked for the 12th time in the last 14 days as global crude oil prices rose. In all, petrol prices have gone up by Rs 8.40 per litre in the past two weeks. The price of petrol is above Rs 100 a litre mark in all major cities from Srinagar to Kochi.
Imran Khan will continue to be the Prime Minister of Pakistan until the appointment of a caretaker premier, according to a notification issued by President Arif Alvi today. The incumbent Prime Minister shall continue to hold office till appointment of the caretaker premier, the notification said. President Alvi has also written a letter to Prime Minister Khan and Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, asking them to propose names of suitable persons for appointment as the caretaker premier, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 1,300 points today to reclaim the 60,000-level, boosted by intense buying in banking and financial stocks after the announcement of merger between HDFC and HDFC Bank. Strong global cues and receding crude oil prices also propped up the domestic equity markets, according to traders. Shares of HDFC and HDFC Bank rallied nearly 10 per cent as investors lapped up the merger deal. In the biggest merger in corporate history, India's largest housing finance company HDFC Ltd will merge with the country's largest private lender HDFC Bank to create a banking behemoth. The 30-share BSE index closed 1,335.05 points or 2.25 per cent higher at 60,611.74. Likewise, the NSE Nifty jumped 382.95 points or 2.17 per cent to end at 18,053.40.
