RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh Police Headquarters (PHQ) has ordered an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against senior IPS officer Ratanlal Dangi, following a complaint filed by the wife of a police sub-inspector who accused him of harassment spanning seven years. A two-member committee comprising IPS officer Anand Chhabra (2001 batch) and DIG Milna Kurre has been constituted to probe the charges. According to the complaint, the woman has submitted digital evidence claiming that Dangi

CHANDIGARH: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today carried out a second round of searches at the residence of suspended Deputy Inspector General of Police (Ropar Range), Punjab, Harcharan Singh Bhullar, who was arrested last week on bribery charges. During the raid, the CBI sleuths searched for CCTV camera footage, besides assessing the value of his house in Sector 40, Chandigarh. The fresh search came amid reports that he was not cooperating with the agency, sources said. Around 11 off

BHOPAL: Four police personnel came under violent attack in two separate districts of Madhya Pradesh within a few hours on Wednesday. Two cops, identified as constable Avdhesh Mishra and head constable Krishna Kumar Shukla, were injured one of them critically when a group of villagers attacked them at Bakal police station in Katni district around 10 pm. The group of local residents had turned violent while protesting outside the police station, alleging weak investigation in an assault case. Ou

NEW DELHI: The first shipment of genuineNational Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)textbooks was dispatched on Thursday from the Central Warehousing Corporation facility in Noida (Sector 68) to the distribution center in Lucknow, ensuring the timely availability of sufficient academic materials to students and schools nationwide. An official release said the event marked the beginning of the implementation of the MoU signed between the NCERT and the CWC. The first shipment is h

JAIPUR: A shocking case of a baby swap by nursing staff has come to light in Udaipur's government maternity hospital, raising serious questions about hospital procedures and societal attitudes toward gender. Anita Rawat, a resident of Miranagar, Udaipur, and Rameshwari Soni, a resident of Chittorgarh, gave birth to two babies, a boy and a girl, on Wednesday in the same hospital. However, only an hour and a half later, the staff informed both mothers that the babies had been exchanged, leaving th

NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday highlighted changes in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), which he said is o longer passive. Addressing the top hierarchy of the Indian Navy, the Defence Minister said, IOR has become the center of contemporary geopolitics. It is no longer passive; it has become an area of competition and cooperation. He added that the Indian Navy, through its multidimensional capabilities, has played a leadership role in the region. In the last six months, our

CHANDIGARH: Around 12 people were injured following a blast at Indra Colony in Ludhiana on Thursday evening. The explosion occurred at the residence of a man engaged in making effigies for Dussehra celebrations and is believed to have been triggered by gunpowder stored in the house. Sources said that a blast was reported in a house at Indra Colony in Ludhiana, in which around 12 persons sustained burn injuries. Of these four people who received serious burn injuries, were referred to Rajendra Me

NEW DELHI: India needs $136.49 billion per year to support its smallholder farmers in mitigating the impacts of climate change, a new report by Climate Focus for the Family Farmers for Climate Action, an international agency, revealed. The analysis showed that smaller Indian farmers have been facing climate change impacts, such as reduced crop yields, increased pests and diseases, water shortages, and more frequent droughts or floods. The estimated funds can be invested in establishing early war

CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Government is likely to recommend the probe in the death case of former Punjab DGP Mohammad Mustafas son, Aqil Akhtar, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Sources in the police said that one of the reasons for recommending the case to CBI is interstate jurisdiction. Earlier, on October 20, the Haryana Police had booked former Punjab DGP Mohammad Mustafa and his wife, ex-minister Razia Sultana, for allegedly killing their son Aqil Akhtar. Akhtars wife and sister

CHANDIGARH: The Guru Charan Yatra (Nagar Kirtan) commenced today from Gurdwara Moti Bagh in Delhi, marking the beginning of a historic spiritual journey as the holy footwear, Jore Sahib, of Guru Gobind Singh and Mata Sahib Kaur is taken to Takht Patna Sahib in Bihar. Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh joined the congregation as devotees gathered in large numbers to witness this auspicious event. The sacred relics have remained in the custodianship of the family of Union Mi

GUWAHATI: After a gruelling Wednesday of travel and public events, NSCN-IM leader Thuingaleng Muivah (91) spends time with his family, clan and tribe to make up for a 61-year absence from his birthplace Somdal in Ukhrul district of Manipur. However, six days are all that he will get this time around to soak in the beauty of Somdal and the warmth of his people before he leaves for Senapati in the state on October 29 to attend an event and then fly to Dimapur in Nagaland the same day. Muivah stays

BHOPAL: A blaze possibly triggered by the Akhand Jyoti (eternal flame) of the temple housed in one of the rooms of a penthouse, choked a businessman-turned-Congress leader Pravesh Agrawal to death in Madhya Pradeshs commercial capital Indore early on Thursday. While the 40-year-old Congress leader died due to asphyxia, his 14-year-old elder daughter Saumya has been admitted at the Bombay Hospital, where her condition remains stable. Praveshs wife Shweta, saved her daughters life, by driving her

NEW DELHI: A shootout has taken place at Rohini between four wanted criminals in multiple murder cases in Bihar and a joint team of Delhi Police Crime Branch and Bihar Police. The injured criminals were immediately shifted to Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital in Rohini, where doctors declared them dead early in the morning, police stated. The gangsters have been identified as Ranjan Pathak, Bimlesh Mahto, Manish Pathak, and Aman Thakurall residents of Bihar and wanted in several heinous crimes, inclu

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday took a veiled swipe at his former deputy Tejashwi Yadav, accusing him of trying to mislead women by making hollow promises about the Jeevika self-help groups. Without naming the RJD leader, Kumar said in a lengthy social media post, The people of Bihar had given them a chance, but they used power to serve their own interests instead of serving the people. His remarks came a day after Yadav, now the opposition INDIA bloc's chief ministerial can

RANCHI: The Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha (JLKM) has been served a legal notice for violating election rules after party chief Jairam Mahato and candidate Ramdas Murmu were seen sitting on top of a Scorpio vehicle while interacting with voters during their campaign for the Ghatshila bypoll. The notice was served after the video of Mahato, the JLKM MLA from Dumri, and Murmu went viral on social media. Mahato and Murmu allegedly violated election rules by sitting on top of the vehicle whi

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed all Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of states and Union Territories to complete preparations for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls at the earliest and submit their progress reports. The directive was issued during a two-day conference of CEOs in New Delhi, which concluded on Thursday. Officials said detailed presentations were made by senior ECI officers on the SIR process, while CEOs raised several queries that

SIWAN: Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Thursday claimed that the projection of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial candidate will not sway public mood in favour of the INDIA bloc in poll-bound Bihar. Talking to reporters in Siwan, where he was campaigning for his party, Kishor also said Yadav's promises, like government employee status to contractual workers and a hike in renumeration ring hollow. It was always known that if (RJD president) Lalu ji's jungle raj were to

CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday claimed that a Mohali court has issued notices to Facebook and Google to remove an objectionable video, alleged to be fake, related to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Further, the AAP accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of orchestrating a smear campaign. AAP Punjab leader Baltej Pannu called the circulation of the fake video as a desperate attempt at character assassination by rivals unable to find any corruption in nearly four years of

NEW DELHI: Exposing increasingly sophisticated smuggling operations that span continents, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has intercepted and seized around 321 kilograms of smuggled gold worth Rs 406.35 crore between January and October this year. The seizures and interception data -- 65 cases -- show a disturbing picture of an organised syndicate gang that operates with military precision. The wellfunded internationally coordinated syndicates have adapted rapidly to the countrys e

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the jungle raj in Bihar will be discussed for another 100 years and no matter how hard the opposition tries to hide its misdeeds, people will not forgive it. Training his guns at the RJD-Congress tie-up on a day Tejashwi Yadav was declared the Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar polls, Modi said the opposition alliance is not a gathbandhan but a lathbandhan (a coalition of criminals) as all its leaders from

NEW DELHI: The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on Thursday gave the go-ahead to a number of proposals for the Army, Navy and Air Force, amounting to a total of about Rs 79,000 crore. The DAC met under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in South Block here. For the Indian Army, the DAC granted the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for the procurement of the Nag Missile System (Tracked) Mk-II (NAMIS), Ground Based Mobile ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) System (GBMES) and High Mobilit

LUCKNOW: Cracking down on corruption within the ranks, Uttar Pradesh DGP Rajeev Krishna on Wednesday suspended 11 police personnel after a video surfaced on social media showing policemen allegedly taking bribes from truck drivers in different districts. A statement from the DGP headquarters said the viral video showed instances of illegal monetary collection at vehicle checkpoints by police personnel posted in Chitrakoot, Banda, and Kaushambi districts. Taking serious note of the misconduct, th

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has dismissed a plea challenging a civil judge's order that had rejected a suit seeking that the Supreme Court's judgment in the Ayodhya case be declared ull and void. The district court was hearing the revision plea filed by Advocate Mehmood Pracha against the April 2025 order of a civil court, which had dismissed his suit with costs of Rs 1 lakh. Underlining that seeking guidance from the Almighty cannot be berated as a fraudulent act to gain an unfair advantage, eith

KEDARNATH: The sacred portals of Shri Kedarnath Dham, the eleventh Jyotirlinga, were ceremoniously closed for the winter season on Thursday at 8:30 AM, amid devotional tunes from an Army band and chants of Jai Baba Kedar. Over 10,000 devotees gathered in the chilling weather to witness the closing ceremony, which marked the end of a successful pilgrimage season. The ancient temple had been decorated with fresh flowers for the occasion. The Panchmukhi Utsav Doli of Baba Kedar began its journey to

SRINAGAR: A day before the Rajya Sabha polls for four vacant seats in Jammu and Kashmir, the PDP chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday announced that the party would vote for the National Conference. Talking to reporters, Mehboboa said NC president Farooq Abdullah had spoken to her on the phone a few days back and sought our votes for RS polls. The polling for four vacant Rajya Sabha seats in J&K would be held on Friday. 88 MLAs of J&K Assembly would cast their votes to elec

With RJD's Tejashwi Yadav named the Mahagathbandhan's (grand alliance) chief ministerial face in the Bihar Assembly polls, the Congress on Thursday asserted that the INDIA bloc is ot a one-man show but a peoples alliance - built on mutual respect, inclusive representation, and the principle of shared power. At a joint press conference in Patna on Thursday, the opposition Mahagathbandhan named RJD leader andformer Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadavas its chief ministerial candidate for t

DEHRADUN: The residents of Kandhar village in the tribal region of Jaunsar-Bawar, Uttarakhand, have enacted a strict social bylaw limiting the number of gold ornaments worn by married women during weddings and family functions. This was done to curb spiraling expenditure and the culture of ostentation gripping social ceremonies. The decision, taken unanimously in a community meeting, aims to alleviate the crushing financial burden placed on poorer families by the relentless pursuit of lavish wed

NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday initiated the process to appoint the next chief justice of India as incumbent B R Gavai demits office on November 23, sources said. The letter asking Justice Gavai to name his successor is set to be delivered either this evening or on Friday, people aware of the procedure to appoint Supreme Court and high court judges told PTI . According to the memorandum of procedure, a set of documents which guide the appointment, transfer and elevation of SC and HC judge

Several leaders of the Bihar Congress on Thursday staged a protest at the BPCC headquarters in Patna, demanding the removal of AICC in-charge Krishna Allavaru, accusing him of being a corporate agent and sleeper cell of the RSS. The protesters, who carried placards with the slogan 'ticket chor, Bihar chhod' (ticket thief, flee from Bihar), said they were staging the dharna as there was no other way for their voice to reach the Congress's senior leadership due to the absence of any grievance redr

AHMEDABAD: A Diwali outing turned tragic in Junagadhs Vanthali taluka when Army jawan Bharatbhai Bhetaria lost his life while saving his friends from drowning in the Ozat river near Tikar village. On October 22, four friends went to bathe in the river around 4 PM when three were caught in a sudden, powerful current. Bharatbhai, serving in the Indian Army, immediately jumped into the swirling waters and rescued his friends one by one. In the process, he was swept away by the fierce current. Local

The Ministry of Information Technology (MeitY) has proposed sweeping new regulations to govern artificial intelligence, aiming to curb a surge in misinformation and deepfake videos in the world's most populous nation. MeitY announced the proposed amendments, citing he growing misuse of technologies used for the creation or generation of synthetic media. Recent incidents of deepfake audio, videos and synthetic media going viral on social platforms have demonstrated the potential of generative AI

NEW DELHI: Four wanted criminals from Bihar, who were allegedly involved in multiple cases of extortion-cum-murder, were killed in a shootout with a joint team of Delhi Police and Bihar Police in Rohini in the early hours of Thursday, officials said. The deceased, identified as Ranjan Pathak (25), Bimlesh Mahto alias Bimlesh Sahni (25), Manish Pathak (33) and Aman Thakur (21), all residents of Bihar's Sitamarhi district, were part of the 'Sigma Gang', Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Surend

PANNA: Two policemen were injured in Madhya Pradesh's Panna district when villagers attacked cops who went to nab a man wanted in a culpable homicide case, an official said on Thursday. The villagers pelted stones and attacked cops with sharp weapons, the official said. On Wednesday evening, the villagers, including relatives of the accused, snatched two guns from the policemen during the attack, he said. The guns were later recovered, he added. Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Bandana

DEHRADUN: In the wake of tragic child deaths linked to contaminated cough syrups across the country, the Uttarakhand government is preparing to impose a ban on the online sale of medicines, expected to be enforced by the end of this month. The states Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has formally recommended the measure to the Central Government, citing concerns over regulatory oversight and the challenges of monitoring online pharmaceutical transactions. The move follows the Centres decision t

DEHRADUN: A wedding trip turned tragic late Wednesday night when a Scorpio carrying five young men plunged nearly 300 metres down a deep gorge on the treacherous Gular-Motor road in Tehri district. The accident claimed the lives of Vimal Kandiyal (31), Rahul Kaluda (23), and Ashish Kaluda (26), while Nikhil Ramola (21) and Tanuj Pundir (26) were critically injured, with Nikhil in serious condition. The group was travelling from Shyampur, Rishikesh, to attend a wedding in the remote Naigaon villa

CHANDIGARH: An Indian-origin truck driver, 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh, has been arrested after a deadly collision in Ontario, California, leaving three people dead and four injured. According to the California Highway Patrol, Singh was driving a speeding semi-truck and failed to apply the brakes before crashing into slow-moving traffic stuck in congestion on Interstate 10 in San Bernardino County. The dashcam footage showed the same. The toxicology tests confirmed that Singh was under the inf

The first day of the autumn session of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly witnessed a heated debate during obituary references as a legislator of the ruling National Conference (NC) described the role of former governor late Satya Pal Malik in the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 as controversial. Speaking on Malik -- the 10th and last governor of the erstwhile state of J&K who passed away in August this year -- NC MLA Bashir Veeri said his role in the abrogation of Article 370 was controversial. Irked

NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA has decided to empanel private aeromedical evaluation centres for conducting civil aviation medical tests, with the pilots' grouping ALPA India saying the move will streamline pilot medicals, ensure higher efficiency and greater compliance with international norms. Welcoming the decision, the Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA India) said it marks the end of routine civil aviation medicals being conducted at Indian Air Force (IAF) centres. The move, lon

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has directed the police to ensure protection to a 31-year-old pregnant woman from a minority community, who fled her home to marry her partner, after she cited threats from her family. A bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Shyam Chandak said that since the woman was an adult, she was free to make her own decisions even though her family had not accepted her relationship. In its order passed last week, the court disposed of the habeas corpus (produce the person) peti

CHANDIGARH: Air quality in Punjab has further declined due to extended Diwali celebrations. Air Quality Index (AQI) in parts of the state was recorded in 'poor' and 'very poor' category. Similarly, air quality in parts of Haryana was recorded in the same categories, with Dharuhera in Rewari district the worst-hit in the state. The industrial town of Mandi Gobindgarh was the most polluted place in Punjab. As per the data with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the AQI of Mandi Gobindgarh

SRINAGAR: Dynastic influence and womens political leadership are at the forefront of the high-stakes Jammu and Kashmir Assembly bypolls, with three members of prominent Aga Shia dynasties contesting in Budgam and a direct face-off between women candidates of the National Conference (NC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Nagrota constituency. In the Budgam Assembly seat, which has a mixed Shia-Sunni demographic and was vacated after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah retained the Ganderbal se

The opposition Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) on Thursday named RJD leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate for the November's assembly elections in Bihar. Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot made the announcement at a joint press conference in Patna, where he also named Vikassheel Insaan Party chief Mukesh Sahani as the coalitions deputy chief ministerial nominee. The announcement came amid controversy after photographs of top INDIA bloc

More than 60 people, most of them children aged between 8 and 14, were hospitalised in Bhopal after suffering injuries caused by the use of calcium carbide guns during Diwali celebrations, PTI reported on Thursday. According to Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr. Manish Sharma, the makeshift carbide pipe guns are extremely dangerous. About 60 people injured by these guns are currently being treated in various hospitals across the city. Though there is no threat to their lives, some of th

SRINAGAR: The nine-day autumn session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly began on Thursday with legislators from the ruling National Conference (NC) and Congress staging a protest demanding the release of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Mehraj Malik, who has been booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) and lodged in Kathua jail. The NC and Congress MLAs held a demonstration in the Assembly complex before the proceedings commenced, carrying placards reading, Dont silence democracy

CHANDIGARH: The newly appointed Haryana Director General of Police O P Singh conducted a night patrol on Wednesday night along the Panchkula-Yamunanagar Road to assess police presence and operational efficiency. Singh took to social media platform X to notify Haryana Police that he will be conducting the night patrol and invited inputs regarding the presence, work status, and issues faced by the police personnel in charge of emergency response vehicles, police posts, police stations, and inter-s

LUDHIANA: A blast occurred at the Verka milk plant on the Ludhiana-Ferozepur road here, leaving one person dead and five injured, police said on Thursday. The blast took place on Wednesday night when the repair work of a boiler was underway. The deceased has been identified as 42-year-old Kunal Jain. The injured were rushed to a hospital. They have been identified as Kulwant Singh, Puneet Kumar, Ajit Singh, Davinder Singh, and Gurtej. Assistant Commissioner of Police, Rajesh Kumar, said a probe

KOKRAJHAR: Railway services across Lower Assam and parts of north Bengal were disrupted early on Thursday after unidentified miscreants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) on a railway track in Kokrajhar district, officials said. The explosion took place around five kilometres from Kokrajhar railway station on the route towards Salakati after midnight, an official said. The blast ripped apart nearly three feet of railway line with fragments of the damaged track found strewn several me

KOLKATA: Hospitals across Kolkata have reported a significant rise in respiratory illnesses among people and complications among pregnant women and IVF patients after Diwali and Kali Puja celebrations, with doctors attributing the surge to heightened air and noise pollution caused by bursting of firecrackers. Pulmonologists and gynaecologists observed an uptick in both outpatient and inpatient visits between October 20 and 22, with pollution levels soaring well beyond safe limits. Several medica

India has reached a significant milestone in global environmental conservation, moving up to the 9th position in total forest area worldwide, according to the Global Forest Resources Assessment (GFRA) 2025, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Bali. The report reveals that India accounts for 2% of the worlds forest areas, with a total of 72.74 million hectares, placing it just behind Indonesia. In the 2015 assessment, India was ranked 10th. The growth

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he would join the ASEAN-India Summit virtually in Malaysia next week. Modi conveyed this to his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim during a phone call on Thursday. Had a warm conversation with my dear friend, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia. Congratulated him on Malaysia's ASEAN Chairmanship and conveyed best wishes for the success of upcoming Summits, Modi said in a post on X. Had a warm conversation with my dear friend, Prime M