To bridge the language gap in legal consultations, legal-tech firm vakilandmore.com has introduced 8 different Indian language options to consult with a lawyer. Available in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali, vakilandmore.com also launched the ‘Just Consult’ feature on its website to consult legal problems with verified lawyers 24X7.
vakilandmore.com says it has aggregated more than 8000 lawyers in 800 cities and districts. “Just Consult” would include 20, 30, 45 and 60-minute legal consultation packages that allow you to speak to a lawyer anytime in 6 months from the date of purchase. The package starts at Rs 399 for 20 minutes of consultation.
After its launch recently, vakilandmore.com says it witnessed a promising response from all the regions in India and the users seeking legal advice used Hindi, Marathi, Telugu & Kannada as the key language choices making 80% of the total call volume. English, Tamil, Bengali, and Malayalam constituted the rest of the 20% calls.
“Ever since on-demand legal consultation was launched on vakilandmore.com, there was a consistent request from the users to speak to a lawyer in their own language & ‘Just Consult’ with 8 language features is empowering the citizens because they are comfortable discussing their legal problems in their own language” said Dr Arvind Singhatiya, CEO, vakilandmore.com
The company says it is growing at 85% month-on-month and in the last 5 months, more than one lakh minutes of consultation has already happened.
“We are innovating every day with “Just Consult” by adding more innovative features to it. Our vision is to create easy and instant access to lawyer’s advice and empower citizens with their legal options through an instant, secure and confidential call from their phone at a price which is affordable and easy to pay,” added Dr Singhatiya.
Congress General Secretary and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is scheduled to visit her constituency from Thursday, March 27, during which she is expected to take part in a series of programmes and events.
According to details shared by the Congress, Priyanka Gandhi will begin her visit to Wayanad with a temple visit. She will visit Sree Seetha Devi Lava Kusa Temple in Pulpally at 10.30 am. Later, in the evening at 5.15 pm, she will visit Valliyoorkavu Temple, Mananthavady.
She is also scheduled to inaugurate the New Grama Panchayat Office Complex in Pulpally GP of Sulthan Bathery at 10.50 am. Later, the Congress General Secretary will inaugurate the Smart Anganwadi Angadisseri Lift Irrigation Project Athirattukunnu and Irithilottukunnu Check Dam at Irulam, Sulthan Bathery.
She will also take part in another inauguration programme. As per the schedule shared by the Congress, she will also inaugurate the ‘One School, One Game’ project at WMO Muttil, Kalpetta. The Congress leader will also attend the foundation-laying ceremony at Elstone Estate, Kalpetta.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra won the Lok Sabha by-election in 2024 from the Wayanad constituency and eventually joining her brother Rahul Gandhi as well as mother Sonia Gandhi in the Parliament. Rahul Gandhi is the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Sonia Gandhi, a former Congress president, is currently an MP in the Upper House of the Parliament. Priyanka Gandhi’s last visit to Wayanad was in February. That time too, she was in Wayanad for a three-day visit to her constituency and nearby areas. Before that, she had visited her Lok Sabha constituency in January.
The Telangana government will constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to curb betting apps and online betting, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy announced on Wednesday, March 26.
Speaking in the Assembly, he asserted that the government has decided to not only be alert about betting apps, online betting, and online Rummy games but also act tough against them.
He said the SIT would decide on the required steps to be taken to curb or ban the betting apps.
Revanth Reddy was responding to a demand by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) member T Harish Rao that the government should take stringent action against online betting and betting apps, as poor people were suffering.
Harish Rao voiced concern that the menace of online betting was leading to suicides by many youngsters in the state.
Revanth Reddy recalled that the previous government in 2017 brought a law to ban online gambling and betting, but it failed to effectively implement the same.
He noted that in recent times, online betting has grown rapidly. Stating that various individuals and organisations at the national and international level were involved in the crime, he said the problem couldn’t be addressed with an investigation by a police station. Hence, the state government decided to constitute the SIT.
The Chief Minister said he would constitute the SIT after talks with the officials concerned.
As the existing legislation provides a maximum sentence of only two years for those found involved, he said, if necessary, the law will be amended in the next session to ensure stringent punishment to organisers and all others involved.
Referring to the cases registered against some actors and social media influencers for promoting betting apps, Revanth Reddy said that merely questioning those promoting online betting would not help in finding a solution.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking an independent probe into Karnataka Minister for Cooperation K.N. Rajanna’s claim that political rivals tried to “honey trap him”.
Refusing to entertain the plea, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta asked the PIL litigant’s counsel to explain as to how a non-Karnataka resident was concerned with the affairs of Karnataka.
Ultimately, the apex court dismissed the PIL seeking an investigation into the alleged honey trap scandal to be either monitored by the Supreme Court itself or by a committee headed by a retired top court judge.
Last Thursday, Senior Minister Rajanna, on the floor of the state Assembly, admitted that he had fallen victim to a honey trap, further claiming that over 48 politicians across Karnataka and the country had been trapped similarly.
On March 24, the PIL was mentioned for urgent hearing before Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, who assured listing the matter in a day or two.
After Rajanna’s claim and the state opposition BJP’s demand for an investigation into the issue, state Home Minister G. Parameshwara announced that a high-level probe would be conducted.
“This is a question of the honour of every member of this House. We must put an end to it,” Parameshwara emphasised.
“Minister Rajanna has stated that he will file a written complaint. Based on that, I will order a high-level inquiry. Let the truth come out. The facts must be known,” he added.
Subsequently, the Home Minister, when asked about the controversy, stated on Monday that he had not yet received a complaint from Minister Rajanna.
“Without a complaint, we cannot initiate action. There must be a cause for action. Without an FIR, no action can be taken,” he stated.
The issue sparked a heated debate in the Legislative Assembly, leading to dramatic developments as members became emotional while discussing the matter, and BJP member N. Munirathna even alleged that Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is behind the honey trap network in Karnataka.
It also led to the suspension of 18 BJP MLAs from the Assembly for six months with immediate effect, on charges of showing disrespect to the Speaker’s Chair on Friday. The suspension came following the disruption of the proceedings while staging a protest in the Well of the house while demanding a judicial or CBI probe into the alleged honey trap attempt involving Minister Rajanna.
The Karnataka BJP has slammed the Congress-led government’s move to suspend its MLAs, saying that they were suspended for demanding justice in the alleged honey trap scandal.
The Andhra Pradesh government plans to collaborate with renowned Japanese developers to establish a dedicated SME Park near Sri City.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu held a meeting with a Japanese delegation led by Ambassador Keiichi Ono here on Thursday to explore avenues for strengthening collaboration and growth.
During the meeting, he mentioned the history of strong ties with Japan and highlighted the state’s thriving Japanese ecosystem in Sri City, which has been instrumental in attracting Japanese firms.
The discussions focused on strengthening economic ties, expanding Japanese investments in Andhra Pradesh, and exploring collaborations across various sectors such as shipbuilding, electronics, chemicals, automobiles, and education to drive new opportunities for growth.
Meanwhile, Industries, Commerce and Food Processing Minister T.G. Bharath has invited the Japanese companies to invest in Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing programme ‘Japan’s connect with Andhra Pradesh’ at Vijayawada on Wednesday and attended by the Japanese Ambassador and a Japanese business delegation attended the programme, the minister, speaking on ‘investment, infrastructure, people to people exchange & education’, urged the representatives of various companies to come forward to invest in the state. He said that Andhra Pradesh is an ideal destination for investment.
Bharath termed Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu as the biggest ambassador of Andhra Pradesh. He recalled how Naidu’s vision led to the rapid development of Hyderabad.
The Minister said that Andhra Pradesh is marching ahead with the speed of doing business, with the government extending all the support to investors.
He claimed that in just nine months, the government headed by Chandrababu Naidu secured investment of Rs 8.5 lakh crore. The government is also planning to provide pending incentives.
Bharath stated that everyone knows what happened in the state during the last five years.”Now we have given confidence to investors with the CBN brand,” he said.
Highlighting the immense investment potential the state offers, the Minister said that investment can be made across sectors.
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy told BRS MLAs who switched loyalties to the Congress that they need not worry as by-elections will not be held, but drew a strong reaction from the BRS, which accused him of passing judgment in a case being heard by the Supreme Court.
Speaking in the Assembly, the Chief Minister stated that by-elections will not be held and told the MLAs who defected from the BRS to Congress that they need not worry.
The Chief Minister stated that during the BRS rule, turncoats took oath as ministers and no by-elections were held in the previous government. “How will by-elections be held now?” he said.
Ten MLAs of the BRS defected to Congress last year and the Supreme Court is currently hearing petitions to disqualify them.
Revanth Reddy also stated that Congress was following the tradition. “We are following the traditions that were practiced in the past. No member should worry, and no by-elections will be held in the state.Our focus is not on by-elections. Our focus is the development of the state,” he said.
The Chief Minister’s statement drew a strong reaction from the main opposition party. BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao said that they would bring this to the court’s notice. “Our CM often forgets that he is the CM. He likes to role-play, most of the time. Today he decided that he is the Supreme Court! He decided to pass a judgement about an ongoing case of MLA defections on the floor of the assembly,” KTR posted on ‘X’.
“The parliamentary conventions and rules of the house is to refrain from passing any comments on an ongoing judicial matter But again, this is Revanth Reddy – he is above all rules. Clearly, he thinks that he is also above the Hon’ble Supreme Court. BRS will definitely take it up with the honourable courts as to how the Chief Minister undermined their authority in the open House. Not the first time but a second time after apologising for his gaffe last year. Meanwhile, I request Revanth Reddy to behave like the CM. Or at least pretend to care,” the BRS leader added.
BRS leader Harish Rao said in the Assembly that the Chief Minister insulted the Supreme Court by stating that there will be no by-elections.
Five people were arrested by the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) for vandalising YouTuber Savukku Shankar’s house. The arrests were made on Wednesday, March 26.
The accused have been identified as Selva, Kalyan, Vijay, Bharathi and Devi. However, after the arrest, Savukku accused the CB-CID of “hoodwinking people” and named five others claiming that they are the real accused. “Vanishree, Jayakumar, YC Ragavan, Royapuram Mani, Nungai Sreenivasan. These are the real accused. They all were present in the scene of crime,” he wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Savukku Shankar’s house was vandalised on Monday, March 24, by a group of individuals who entered the premises under the guise of sanitation workers. The attackers poured sewage water, ransacked the house, and verbally abused both Savukku Shankar and his aged mother.
While the police said that the attack was in retaliation to Savukku’s comments on sanitary workers, the Madras Corporation Red Flag Union, representing sanitation workers, has denied these allegations.
Savukku Shankar, in a YouTube video alleged that Tamil Nadu Congress Committee State President and MLA K. Selvaperunthagai had procured sewage cleaning vehicles distributed by Chief Minister MK Stalin under his nominees’ names. “If someone told these sanitation workers that they don’t need to do any work and yet will be paid Rs 50,000, they can drink and stay at home, won’t they like it? All that they need to say is that the vehicle belongs to them,” Savukku said in the video.
Videos of the attack show that those who vandalised his house were referring to this statement of his.
Savukku Shankar also alleged that Selvaperunthagai and the police including the Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner A Arun were complicit in the attack. The case was therefore handed over to the CB-CID.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, March 26 expelled Karnataka’s Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal for six years over ‘anti-party’ remarks. The controversial legislator had repeatedly targeted his colleagues including party’s state president BY Vijayayendra.
BJP’s Central Disciplinary Committee secretary Om Pathak in a letter expelling Yatnal, said, “Central Disciplinary Committee of the party has considered your response to the show-cause notice dated 10th February 2025 and has taken serious note of your repeated violations of the party discipline, despite your assurances of good behavior and conduct in response to earlier show cause notices.”
“It has accordingly been decided to expel you for a period of 6 [six] years with immediate effect from the primary membership of the party and you stand removed from any party position that you may hold until now,” the letter further said.
Basanagouda Patil Yatnal has been at the center of several controversies. He recently made derogatory remarks against Ranya Rao and also accused state chief BY Vijayendra of “corruption” and “adjustment politics”.
Recently, he was booked for his derogatory remarks against Ranya Rao, an accused in the high-profile gold smuggling case.
Upset over the party’s leadership, Yatnal recently questioned why his name was not being considered for the post of chief minister or party state president. “I haven’t looted anyone, haven’t badmouthed anyone, and haven’t broken anyone’s house. I haven’t engaged in anti-party activities,” Yatnal remarked, indirectly criticising his party colleagues.
Earlier, he had targeted BS Yediyurappa, urging the former Chief Minister to focus on the party rather than his son, BY Vijayendra. He accused Vijayendra of having close ties with Karnataka Congress President and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar.
It may be remembered that in December 2024, 32 district presidents petitioned the BJP’s central leadership for disciplinary action against Yatnal following his public criticism of Vijayendra.