New Delhi, Aug 16: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘dimagi Naxal’ remark in his Independence Day speech sparked a war of words between the Opposition and the BJP, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said the PM was not referring to opposition leaders but only to those who support Maoists and separatists and reject the Indian Constitution.

Addressing the nation on the 80th Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi on Saturday warned the country about ‘dimagi Naxals’ who have allegedly entrenched themselves in the system and continue to pose a threat to society by manipulating policies. He cautioned that “armed Naxals may have gone, but dimagi (intellectual) Naxals are lurking around” and called for “identifying and isolating” them.

The remark riled the opposition leaders who decried it as an attempt to stigmatise dissent and target those who question the government.

In a post on X, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju said, “PM Narendra Modi ji didn’t say opposition leaders as Dimagi Naxals.”

“Only following are Dimagi Naxals: 1. Who support Maoists and reject the Indian Constitution. 2. Who stand with separatists & support Article 370.

“4. Who want to cut chicken neck to separate North-East from India (sic),” he said in veiled reference to student activist Sarjeel Imam, who is in judicial custody in connection with a case under the anti-terror UAPA law.

Imam was arrested on August 25, 2020, and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for being one of the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi that left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera took a jibe at Rijiju with a post on X: “Brother Kiren Rijiju, get your counting right first, then we’ll answer. After 1 and 2 comes 3, not 4.”

“Entire Political Science’s kamaal (The marvel of entire political science),” Congress’ Jairam Ramesh said, responding to Khera’s comment.

Earlier, senior Congress leader and former Home Minister P Chidambaram posted on X, “I am proud to be a dimagi Naxal”.

BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad condemned Chidambaram’s remark, terming it “utterly irresponsible”.

Addressing a press conference in Patna, Prasad said Prime Minister Modi’s reference to “dimagi Naxal” meant those people who sit in air-conditioned rooms in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna and Kolkata and nurture the ideology of Maoism.

“They leverage their networks to secure funds and logistical support for the (Naxal) movement. Whenever they find themselves in a tight spot, they appear on television to justify the group’s heinous crimes.

“And when the public seethes with anger over Maoist atrocities, these individuals pen scathing articles in prominent English newspapers in their defence,” Prasad said.

Such people are called “dimagi Naxals”, the former Union minister added.

BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra hit out at Chidambaram, saying although it’s late, it is good that the Congress leader has accepted the title of “dimagi Naxal”.

“Now we know why Naxalism prospered during your tenure as Home Minister and under the UPA government. Now we know why around 2000 policemen and CRPF jawans were killed fighting Naxalism during 2004-14,” the BJP MP said in a post on X.

“Now, we know why more than 5000 Indians lost their lives to Naxal attacks under your government. Now, we know why as HM, you allowed 92 per cent of Naxal weapons to be looted from police armouries. Now, we know 183 districts remained hostage to Naxal violence in 2013,” he added.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey posted an old video of Chidambaram where he can be purportedly heard pitching against “acquiring” nuclear weapons and inducting them into Indian armed forces until there is a “full and proper debate” in the country and in Parliament about its need.

“Looking at the state of the world today, tell me if this statement by Chidambaram, a leader of Sonia Gandhi-led Congress, is the statement of a ‘dimagi naxal’ or not?” Dubey said on X.

In a post on X, BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh also slammed Chidambaram, saying, “No surprise. He was the PMC (Project Management Consultant ) of Saffron Terrorism – Bhagwa Atankwad project of UPA.”

BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya said: “‘Dimaagi Naxals’ has hit them right where it hurts. It is such a delight to see them writhing like snakes in a sandpit”.

New Delhi, Aug 16: India will host the BRICS Senior Officers’ Meeting of the Environment Working Group (EWG) and the Contact Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development on Monday, followed by the 12th BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting the next day.

The event will be held at Bharat Mandapam here under the overarching theme of India’s BRICS Chairship 2026: ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’, said a statement issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Sunday.

The BRICS EWG was established in 2015 during the first BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting in Moscow. It was envisioned as a platform for BRICS to address fundamental environmental priorities, exchange experiences, share best practices and strengthen collective action among member countries.

The Contact Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development was established in 2024 as a mechanism for cooperation on climate change issues among BRICS member countries.

The BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting will bring together ministers, senior officers, policymakers and experts from the member countries to engage in substantive discussions, foster consensus and strengthen environmental cooperation, the statement said.

It said the Senior Officers’ Meeting will include an inaugural session and deliberations on the priorities of the BRICS EWG and the Contact Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development.

The priorities include promoting sustainable lifestyles, afforestation, forest fire management and disaster resilience.

During the BRICS Environment Ministers’ Meeting, there will be deliberations on the outcome document and thematic discussions that underscore the collective commitment of the member countries to environmental cooperation and sustainable development, the statement said.

Jodhpur, Aug 16: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Sunday urged the national law universities to move beyond merely responding to technological change and instead take the lead in determining how technology should reshape the legal system with justice, fairness and human judgment remaining at its core.

Addressing the Vice Chancellors’ Conclave 2.0 at National Law University, Jodhpur, the CJI said that the legal profession can no longer remain a late adopter of technology and rejected an outright prohibition of tools like generative AI in legal education.

“Academic integrity and the responsible use of artificial intelligence must become important components of curriculum and pedagogy. Change of this nature does not wait for institutional comfort,” the CJI said.

The conclave was on the theme “Legal Technology and its Roadmap: Positioning Law as a Leader in Legal Technology”.

The CJI said that technology was already reshaping the legal ecosystem, from drafting contracts and conducting due diligence to legal research, evidence management and dispute resolution.

He said that law schools have to become the first line of response to this transformation.

The CJI said that graduates would increasingly work with tools capable of reading thousands of precedents within seconds, identifying legal and regulatory risks and supporting courts and dispute-resolution mechanisms.

However, he said, familiarity with technology alone would not be sufficient.

“A graduate who understands only the output of a technological tool would remain dependent on it, while one trained to question assumptions, verify conclusions and exercise independent judgment could use technology without surrendering responsibility,” he said.

The CJI also addressed the growing debate over the use of generative AI in legal education.

While acknowledging legitimate concerns that students could become dependent on AI, lose the ability to construct arguments independently or mistake convincing-looking answers for accurate ones, he rejected an outright prohibition on such tools.

He advocated their transparent and supervised use in classrooms so that students learn both their capabilities and limitations.

The CJI said that institutions that resist inevitable technological change risk losing their opportunity to shape it. He said that legal education should not stop at adaptation because adaptation merely responds to change after it has occurred.

“Instead, law universities should anticipate technological developments, shape their direction and ensure that technology evolves in service of law and its underlying values,” the CJI said.

For this, he stressed collaboration among National Law Universities and called for serious research on algorithmic accountability, data protection, digital access to justice and the changing relationship between technology and dispute resolution.

“Let technology make legal institutions and services more capable, but let our values determine the direction in which that capability is used,” he said, adding that innovation should make justice faster but never make it less fair.

Jaipur, Aug 16: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday described former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as an “Ajatshatru”, who had no enemy and never compromised on his principles.

He said that Vajpayee remained committed to his ideology during his time in the Opposition as well as while in power.

Shah was addressing a public meeting in Chittorgarh’s Nimbahera after unveiling a statue of Vajpayee.

“Atal Bihari Vajpayee remained in the Opposition for 40 years, but his ideology always remained paramount. He lived his life according to his principles,” Shah said.

“Vajpayee went to jail, faced lathi charges and endured the atrocities of the Congress, but never compromised on his principles,” he added.

Shah mentioned that when Vajpayee became prime minister, he became the country’s first non-Congress prime minister and took several major decisions.

“Despite global pressure, he made India a nuclear power through the Pokhran tests,” the Home Minister said, adding that Vajpayee also worked to connect every village with roads.

He noted that the former prime minister launched the Swarn Chaturbhuj project, expanded the national highway network and introduced several initiatives during his tenure.

Shah also credited Vajpayee with establishing a separate ministry for tribal development, saying there had previously been no dedicated ministry for the welfare of tribal communities.

“The beginning made by Atal ji has been taken to its conclusion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Shah said, referring to the BJP government’s initiatives for tribal welfare.

He said the election of Droupadi Murmu, who comes from a tribal background, as the President of India was a reflection of the progress made in this regard.

“Neither did he leave his principles while in power nor while in the Opposition. That is why he is known as ‘Ajatshatru’ — a great man who had no enemies,” Shah said.

New Delhi, Aug 16: The government has for the first time fixed maximum cooking gas LPG production targets for individual public- and private-sector refineries and upstream companies, as it seeks to build a domestic supply buffer after the West Asia conflict exposed the country’s vulnerability to disruptions in imported cooking gas.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry, in an order issued on August 13, has specified maximum LPG production levels for 21 refineries and upstream companies, with combined production potential set at 63,810 tonnes a day — more than double the domestic LPG output in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026 and about 70 per cent of the country’s daily consumption.

The production limits will kick in whenever there is a supply constraint.

The lion’s share of the planned output has been set from Reliance Industries Ltd’s older refinery, which would have to produce up to 18,000 tonnes a day of LPG, according to the order.

India consumed 33.2 million tonnes of LPG in the 2025-26 fiscal year (about 91,000 tonnes per day). Of this, 13.1 million tonnes a year was produced locally (about 35,900 tonnes a day) while the remaining 21.3 million tonnes per annum (about 58,400 tonnes a day) was imported.

This high import dependence of over 64 per cent left the country exposed when the start of the Iran war effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow sealane through which India got 90 per cent of its imports from nations like Saudi Arabia.

With supplies impacted, the government in March ordered refineries to divert streams used for petrochemicals production to maximise LPG output.

It also initially stopped sales to industrial and commercial users and thereafter gradually scaled it up. For domestic households, periodicity of booking a refill was increased, and they were encouraged to shift to piped natural gas, whose supplies were not so severely impacted due to the war.

Domestic production was ramped up to about 55,000 tonnes a day at the height of the crisis, but the emergency orders asking refiners to maximise output were gradually withdrawn after supplies eased from mid-June.

The new order goes further than the emergency one issued during the West Asia crisis by creating facility-wise production benchmarks and requiring refiners and upstream companies to maintain adequate infrastructure for LPG storage, evacuation and transportation. Companies must also pursue technically and economically feasible upgrades to maximise output.

The government has empowered itself to order refiners, oil marketing companies and upstream producers to ramp up LPG production for specified quantities and periods whenever it considers such action necessary to ensure adequate domestic availability, equitable distribution and supply at fair prices.

The production schedule will be reviewed every six months, allowing the government to add output from new refineries and upstream fields and account for additional capacity created through technology and infrastructure upgrades.

The order also requires refiners to consider measures such as converting naphtha into LPG and upgrading fluid catalytic cracking units where technically and economically viable, underscoring the government’s push to extract more LPG from existing refining infrastructure.

The government had introduced several emergency measures during the West Asia crisis, including prioritising household LPG supplies and restricting supplies to some commercial and industrial users as imports were disrupted.

The new production framework is aimed at ensuring that a future disruption to overseas LPG supplies does not translate into the shortages and rationing seen during the recent crisis.

Taking lessons from the crisis, the government has now put the country’s refineries and upstream producers under a standing framework to maintain and, when necessary, increase LPG output.

Eighteen refineries owned and operated by public sector oil companies have been ordered to produce a total of 31,470 tonnes a day.

In the private sector, Reliance’s 33 million tonnes a year domestic-tariff area (DTA) refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat, products from which are sold locally, has been ordered to produce 18,000 tonnes. No target has been set for Reliance’s 35.2 million tonnes a year only-for-exports refinery at the same site.

Russia’s Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy’s 20 million tonnes a year Vadinar refinery has been asked to produce 4,480 tonnes a day, according to the order.

Upstream gas producers and processors like ONGC and GAIL, who make LPG from natural gas, have been given a target of 6,460 tonnes a day.

“It is hereby ordered that all public sector, joint venture and private sector oil refining companies, and upstream oil companies shall develop, augment and at all times maintain adequate infrastructure for storage, evacuation and transport of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) either by itself or through other entities viz railways or road tankers adequate for the specified quantities,” the order said.

They were also ordered to “implement all technically and economically feasible measures and technologies such as naphtha-to-LPG conversion, gasoline-based fluid catalytic cracking unit to petro-fluid catalytic cracking unit, or other upgrades, to maximise LPG production beyond current minimum producible quantities as specified in the Schedule, with intimation to Centre for High Technology or any other authorised agency, whenever such an upgrade is undertaken.”

The ministry further said “if Central Government is of the opinion that it is necessary in public interest to ensure adequate availability, equitable distribution and availability at fair prices of domestic LPG, it may by itself or through Centre for High Technology or any other authorised agency, by order in writing, issue direction to oil refining companies, oil marketing companies and upstream oil companies to ramp up the LPG production levels for such quantity and period specified therein, including compliance with any restrictions on alternative uses of input streams required to produce the LPG.”

Whenever directions are issued, the companies will have to ramp-up LPG production levels within the stipulated time frame.

The central government, the order said, shall update the production Schedule on 1st January and 1st July of every year, including updates to LPG production from new refineries and upstream oil companies or additional LPG quantities from existing refineries and upstream companies due to changes to associated infrastructure and production technology, evacuation, supply, transport or distribution of LPG.