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KOLKATA: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has expressed serious concern over the alleged reluctance of many BLOs in West Bengal to mark cases such as absent, shifted, dead and duplicate in enumeration forms during their door-to-door visits for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal and senior officials held a virtual conference with district magistrates (DMs), who also serve as district electoral officers

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann announced that the State will embark on the biggest road construction work so far, targeting to construct 44,920 kilometres of roads with a total cost of Rs 16,209 crore by the end of next year. He added that the government has not received even a single rupee of Rural Development Fund ( RDF) from the central government and is constructing the roads from its own funds. Divulging more details, CM Mann said that roads will be with a five-year m

HALDWANI: A breakthrough in the Delhi blast investigation led Delhi Police to Uttarakhands Haldwani, where a local religious leader, Maulana Mohammad Asim Qasmi, was detained early Saturday for suspected links to the operative allegedly behind the explosion. Sources close to the investigation revealed that the breakthrough came after Delhi Police decrypted crucial data and tracked the call detail records (CDR) from the mobile phone of the suspected terrorist, Umar. Around 2:30 AM, a specialised

NOIDA: A 25-year-old woman was shot dead allegedly by her partner, with police suspecting that he killed her after she refused to marry him. The accused is absconding, and multiple teams have been formed to nab him, they added. According to police, the incident took place in the Phase 2 area on Friday evening when Krishna (26) opened fire at his girlfriend Sonu (25) at her paying guest accommodation here, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Shakti Mohan Avasthy said. Upon receiving inf

PATNA: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) state president Mangani Lal Mandal said on Saturday that all seats that Congress won in the recently held state assembly polls were because of RJDs support. The remark comes hours before a joint meeting of the Opposition INDIA bloc allies in the state capital to discuss strategy for the special session of the Bihar legislature, beginning December 1. Talking to media persons, Mandal said that if the Bihar Congress intended to adopt a 'different' way, it was free

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant on Saturday slammed the implementation of the Centre's four new labour codes , saying they would destroy the rights of workers and create uncertainty. Speaking to reporters, Sawant, who heads the Sena (UBT) workers' wing, accused the government of aligning with capitalists and the rich. The law has taken everything from certainty to uncertainty, he said, adding that the new codes will be challenged in the courts. The Union government has notified the Indu

KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal has directed district magistrates (DMs) across the state to upload details of Waqf properties to the Central Governments Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) portal. The state minority affairs and madrasa education department has sent the directive to the DMs at a time when some officials in the department felt that the exercise was a time-bound compliance requirement set by the Centre. The Centre has aske

Hundreds of displaced people, seeking to return to their homes, clashed with security forces in Manipur's Imphal East district on Saturday. The displaced people, who have been staying at different relief camps after ethnic violence broke out in May 2023, were stopped by security forces at Yaingangpokpi when they were marching towards their homes at Gwaltabi, located on the periphery of the district. As the situation escalated, security forces lobbed several rounds of tear gas shells to disperse

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday extended the NIA custody of deported gangster Anmol Bishnoi for seven more days. Special Judge Prashant Sharma ordered the extension till December 5 in the hearing conducted at the NIA headquarters amid high security. Wanted in connection with the killing of NCP leader Siddique, firing at actor Salman Khan's residence in April 2024, the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, among other crimes, Anmol was emoved from the US on November 18. He was detained

NEW DELHI: An estimated 95,000 people, mostly children younger than 5 years of age, died due to measles in 2024, said a new WHO report released on Friday. The World Health Organisation (WHO) report, however, said that global immunisation efforts have led to an 88% drop in measles deaths between 2000 and 2024. Nearly 59 million lives have been saved by the measles vaccine since 2000, it said. The WHO said that though the 2024 death toll is among the lowest annual tolls recorded since 2000, every

NEW DELHI: Investigation into a cross-border narcotics trafficking racket has found that Myanmarese nationals misused GST credentials of Indians to facilitate purchase of raw material required for manufacturing drugs, the ED said. The federal probe agency had conducted its first-ever searches along the India-Myanmar border on November 27 following registration of a money laundering case into a drugs trafficking case of Mizoram. Locations across Aizawl and Champhai (along India-Myanmar border) in

NEW DELHI: As many as 338 A320 family aircraft operated by Indian airlines require the software upgrade to address a potential issue related to flight controls, and modifications have been carried out in more than half of the affected fleet, according to DGCA data. Sources told PTI that there are no flight cancellations, but there are delays in the range of 60-90 minutes for some flights as the software updates are being carried out for the affected planes. On Friday, Airbus said intense solar r

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Saturday deferred its order on cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) chargesheet filed in the National Herald case. Special Judge Vishal Gogne deferred the pronouncement of the order to December 16. The ED has accused Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, as well as late party leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, along with Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda, and a private company, Young Indian, of conspiracy and money laundering. They allegedly acquired

NEW DELHI: IndiGo, Air India and Air India Express flight operations will see disruptions as they work on fixing a potential issue related to flight controls in their A320 family planes and 200-250 aircraft will be impacted in the country, according to sources. Airbus on Friday said intense solar radiation might corrupt data critical to flight controls in a significant number of A320 family aircraft and that the software changes required to fix the issue would lead to operational disruptions. Wi

VARANASI: The food and drugs department of the Uttar Pradesh government has filed a case against 12 more pharmaceutical firms in connection with the codeine-containing cough syrup-smuggling case in Varanasi. Previously, the department had filed a case against 26 firms. Inspector Janab Ali of the department said on Friday that the case against the 26 firms was filed on November 15. At that time, 12 suspicious firms were also found. When a team went to investigate these 12 firms, they were either

KOLKATA: The Election Commission appointed retired IAS officer Subrata Gupta as the 'Special Roll Observer' for the SIR exercise in West Bengal, an official said. The EC also appointed 12 IAS officers as 'Electoral Roll Observers' to oversee the key aspects of preparation of the electoral rolls following the SIR and help the district election officers (DEOs) and electoral registration officers (EROs) in taking corrective measures, he said. Gupta, a 1990-batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre, wi

NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Friday said there will be no luxury litigation in his court as his priority is to ensure justice for poor litigants, emphasising that if required, he will hold the court till midnight for them. The CJIs remark came after a senior advocate mentioned a matter for urgent hearing. The big lawyers want us to just hear them. There will be no luxury litigation in my court. My priority is the smallest litigant sitting at the very back and if required, Ill

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday said the Maharashtra state election commission will conduct local body polls as scheduled, but made it clear that results of the bodies where 50% ceiling on OBC quota have been breached will depend on its final verdict. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made the observation and referred the case to a three-judge bench, which will take it up in January 2026. The bench hearing pleas alleging that Maharashtras decision to implemen

BHOPAL: Senior citizens in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are facing a new and highly unsettling cyber-fraud tactic, with criminals impersonating anti-terror investigators, placing victims under a so-called digital arrest, and extorting huge sums by falsely accusing them of involvement in terror funding. In Bhopal, the fear triggered by such calls has already claimed a life. Sixty-eight-year-old advocate Shiv Kumar Verma recently died by suicide at his home. A suicide note, purportedly penned by h

Chief Minister Hemant Soren marked one year of his governments second term by distributing 8,792 appointment letters to newly selected candidates. This focus on recruitment directly aligns with the governments promise to expand employment opportunitiesa major poll commitment. The CM noted that this anniversary would have been even more meaningful had Dishom Guru Shibu Soren been present. Remembering his recent passing, he said the veteran leader would have been happy to witness so many youths re

RANCHI: Netarhat, long celebrated as the queen of hills in Jharkhand, is facing rapid, unchecked construction that residents and conservationists say violates SC guidelines meant to protect Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZ). Much of the plateau lies next to the Mahuadanr Wolf Sanctuary, the Palamu Tiger Reserve and Betla National Park, placing it firmly within the ESZ where new commercial structures require strict environmental clearance. According to locals, a surge of illegal hotel and resort construc

India gets a new Chief Justice as it marks the 76th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution. A new judicial era has begun with the appointment of Justice Surya Kant as the 53rd Chief Justice of India. His rise from humble origins to the high office reflects the democratic character and inclusivity of our public institutions. The new CJI has a unique opportunity to develop the constitutional vision of access to justice. His nearly-15-month tenure has the potential to make a substantive im

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has proposed installing solar panels along national highways, beginning with a pilot on the under-construction DelhiDehradun Expressway. The move aligns with Indias targets of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 and Net Zero emissions by 2070. The pilot will cover a 14.75 km stretch of NH-709B, including a 6.9km elevated section from Akshardham to DLF Ankur Vihar on DelhiUP border. Speaking at Delhi Dialogues , the i

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has ordered the release of a woman jailed by a lower court for changing her lawyers six times during an appeal in a cheque bounce case, describing the order as appalling and shocking. The case involves two dishonoured cheques issued by the womans mother, worth Rs 7 lakh and Rs 5.02 lakh respectively. The trial court convicted and sentenced both the mother and daughter. The woman subsequently filed an appeal before the sessions court in Faridabad, which has been pendi

RAIPUR: Union home minister Amit Shah stated that under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, the DGP/IGP conference has emerged as a vital forum for resolving the countrys internal security challenges from identifying problems and challenges to formulating strategies and policies. Shah made the remark on Friday while inaugurating the three-day Conference in Raipur. Talking about steps taken by the Modi Government for the complete elimination of Maoist, the home minister said that in the last seve

KANPUR/ NEW DELHI: Former Union minister and veteran Congress leader Sriprakash Jaiswal died in Kanpur on Friday following a cardiac arrest. He was 81. Jaiswal was first taken to a local nursing home in Kidwai Nagar on Friday evening after his condition worsened. He was later shifted to the Cardiology Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Born in 1944 in Kanpur to Ganga Prasad Jaiswal and Chandrakali Devi, Jaiswal remained closely connected to his hometown throughout his life. A

JAIPUR: The Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) has suspended Enforcement Officer Arun Kumar Poonia following a controversy over an encroachment notice issued to a Lord Shiva temple in Vaishali Nagar. JDA Secretary Nishant Jain issued the suspension order on Friday, stating that Poonia will receive allowances as per service rules during the suspension period and that his headquarters has been fixed at the office of the ADGP (Personnel), Jaipur. The dispute began during a road-widening drive in th

NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Indias economic growth, technological capabilities and principled foreign policy have positioned it as a voice of balance and responsibility in the changing global environment, with countries across the Indo-Pacific and the Global South viewing us as a reliable partner. He was speaking at the Chanakya Defence Dialogue organised in New Delhi on Friday on the theme Reform to Transform Sashakt, Surakshit aur Viksit Bharat. Rajnath Singh asserted that

RANCHI: All 64 lakh beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat Yojana will now get free treatment facilities up to Rs 15 lakh in Jharkhand. According to State Health Minister, Irfan Ansari, Rs 5 lakh will be provided under the Ayushman Bharat Yojna and additional Rs 10 lakh will be given under the Mukhyamantri Abuja swastya Suraksha Yojana. While speaking during a programme organised in Ranchi on Thursday, Ansari said that the state government will soon issue digital cards to all cardholders, making the t

DEHRADUN: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested an assistant professor who acted as a key conspirator in the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC) graduate-level recruitment paper leak, marking a significant development in the ongoing investigation. The accused, identified as Suman, an assistant professor at Shaheed Srimati Hansa Dhanai Rajkiya Mahavidyalaya in Tehri Garhwal, was taken into custody alongside two others, Mohd Khalid and his sister S

RANCHI: A minor girl was killed and two women were seriously injured in an alleged IED blast in the Saranda jungles of West Singhbhum on Friday evening. The incident occurred between Kolbanga and Bindikiri villages under the Jaraikela Police Station limits. West Singhbhum Superintendent of Police Amit Renu confirmed the incident. Three women had gone into the jungles to collect dried leaves and firewood, during which IED blast took place claiming the life of a young woman while two others were s

GUWAHATI: An Assam minister on Friday raised the pitch for a detention room within the Assembly complex to prevent suspended MLAs from going out. Speaking in the House during the ongoing Winter Session, cabinet minister Bimal Borah made this unusual suggestion to Speaker Biswajit Daimary. I have a suggestion. During Assembly proceedings, some members tend to create a disruptive atmosphere. You suspend them but they misinterpret their suspension before the media outside, Borah told the Speaker. T

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday reiterated his demand for the immediate restoration of statehood, saying security should be handed to the elected government and if we fail, take the State back. Speaking to reporters after the conclusion of the National Conferences two-day working committee meeting, CM Omar said, They link the Pahalgam and Delhi blast attacks with statehood denial to J&K. But how is the elected government responsible for it? He maintained that a

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday said that during its meeting with an All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) delegation, the full panel gave a point-wise rebuttal to all apprehensions and termed each baseless allegation made by the party as unfounded. A senior ECI official, while speaking to TNIE , said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners S S Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, also requested the AITC delegation to give claims and objections a

JAIPUR : Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Kisanrao Bagde has accepted the resignation of Mohanlal Sukhadiya University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sunita Mishra, who recently courted controversy after referring to Mughal ruler Aurangzeb as an efficient administrator. Her remark triggered strong reactions across Udaipur, leading to widespread student protests and a series of formal complaints. The controversy began on 12 September during an international conference on Roadmap for a Developed India held at a

Ten Naxalites, including senior cadre Chaitu, surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district. According to a PTI report, the cadres, collectively carried a reward of Rs 65 lakh on their heads. The naxalites, including three women, turned themselves in before senior police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials in Jagdalpur, the headquarters of Bastar district, under the `Poona Margem' (from rehabilitation to social reintegration) initiative, police said. The `Poona Margem' initiative o

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe has revealed that Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui , chairman and founder of Al Falah University , acquired land in south-east Delhis Madanpur Khadar through forged documents executed in the names of at least five deceased landowners, sources said on Friday. The Haryana-based university has come under the scanner after three doctors working there were found to be part of the white-collar terror module linked to the 10 November Red Fort car blast that killed 13 people.

GUWAHATI: The Congress on Friday opposed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmas statement that the BJP would bring Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state if it got re-elected. Congress leader Pawan Khera predicted that Sarma would not return to power. First of all, he (Sarma) will not return to power. He will go to jail after this election. He knows it. I know it, Khera told media persons in Guwahati. This country is a collection of several belief systems, customs, traditions, and languages. Y

NEW DELHI: The inflation rate in Delhi remained substantially lower than in other metro cities and the national average last year, especially in the fuel and light group, according to a government report. The report prepared by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics of the Delhi government, however, showed that the inflation rate rose in the food & beverages and housing sectors. The report assessed the Consumer Price Index (Industrial Workers IW) between Delhi and 14 other metros. These wer

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea of Byju Raveendran, the promoter of Think and Learn Private Limited that operates ed-Tech firm Byju, challenging an NCLAT order which has mandated that the settlement of the BCCI's claim be placed before the Committee of Creditors. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan dismissed the appeal against the April 17 order of the Chennai bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) and asked senior counsel Navin Pahwa

In a heart-warming display of compassion, a Hindu resident of Jammu, Kuldip Sharma gifted five marlas of land to journalist Arfaz Ahmad Daing soon after the latter's home was demolished on Thursday. The Jammu and Kashmir administration demolished the home of Daing alleging that it had been built on encroached land. However Daing claimed that the demolition of his house was an act of retaliation for his reporting. Daing, who runs the digital news portal Nees Seher India , recently linked a police

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday approved the empanelment of around 300 private specialist doctors across 12 key specialities, marking the first such move in the state to address a severe shortage of specialists in public healthcare institutes. The empanelled doctors will receive Rs 100 per patient for both OPD and IPD examinations. The initiative aims to strengthen secondary healthcare services by improving specialist availability across government hospitals. The empanelment will be ca

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday unveiled a 77-feet tall bronze statue of Lord Ram -- worlds tallest statue of the deity -- in Goa, as part of Shree Samsthan Gokarn Jeevottam Mutt's 550th year celebrations. Modi also visited the temple in the mutt, located in Partagali, South Goa. The mutt is among India's oldest monastic institutions, known for its spiritual, cultural, and social contributions and holds a prominent place in the Saraswat community. Sculptor Ram Sutar, who designed the Stat

CHANDIGARH: Punjab will hold the long-overdue Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections on December 14, with 50 per cent of seats reserved for women to boost their participation in grassroots governance. The elections are being seen as a litmus test for political parties ahead of assembly polls scheduled 14 months later. Originally scheduled for May, these elections were postponed multiple times, first to October and then to December, after floods hit the state in August and September. Politi

NEW DELHI: India on Friday delivered essential relief supplies to cyclone-battered Sri Lanka with Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveying to the island nation that New Delhi stands ready provide more aid to it to deal with the situation. New Delhi launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu' to assist Sri Lanka in its hour of crisis and the first tranche of relief materials were handed after the consignments were transported by Indian Navy's aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and frontline ship INS Udaigiri. At l

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said his party's MPs will chant 'Vande Mataram' loudly in Parliament, and dared the BJP to throw them out of the House. On November 24, the Rajya Sabha secretariat reminded the members not to use slogans like 'Vande Mataram' and 'Jai Hind' inside or outside the House, citing it a breach of parliamentary etiquette. Speaking at a press conference here, Thackeray said when the undivided Shiv Sena was with the BJP, the saffron party had asserted that

Amid rising political tensions over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, a Trinamool Congress delegation on Friday met the full Election Commission bench and alleged that at least 40 deaths linked to the exercise had occurred in the state, accusing the poll panel chief of having blood on his hands. A 10-member delegation, led by TMC Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien, met the EC officials amid the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union territories,

GUWAHATI: A patrolling team of the Assam Rifles came under fire from suspected militants in Manipurs Tengnoupal district near the India-Myanmar border on Friday, official sources confirmed, adding that the number of casualties or injuries is yet to be determined. A patrolling party of Assam Rifles was fired upon by terrorists in Tengnoupal district of Manipur, along the India-Myanmar Border on 28 November 2025 in the early morning hours. The fire was immediately retaliated with control and cauti

India and Canada will start discussions from next week to resume formal negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. In 2023, Canada paused negotiations for the agreement with India after the bilateral relations hit rock bottom following then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations of a potential Indian link to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canada and India are looking at CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreem

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday disbursed Rs 1,000 crore among 10 lakh beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, which is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship among the state's women. Kumar, who was recently voted back to power for a record fifth consecutive term, gave away Rs 10,000 to each beneficiary, through the DBT system, from his official residence, in the presence of cabinet colleagues and top officials. Speaking to reporters after the function, Rural Deve