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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

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Centre and others on a plea alleging that female sanitation workers at the Maharashi Dayanand University in Haryana were asked to prove through pictures of their private parts that they were menstruating. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan issued notices to the Centre and others. This reflects the mindset. In Karnataka, they are giving period leave. After reading this, I thought will they ask proof for giving the leav

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit India for a two-day trip beginning December 4, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Friday. During his stay in New Delhi, President Putin will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 23rd IndiaRussia Annual Summit. According to the MEA, the visit will allow the leaders of both nations to assess the current state of bilateral cooperation, outline priorities for advancing the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership, and hold in

BULANDSHAHR: A man died after being struck by a bullet fired during celebratory gunfire at a wedding here, police said on Friday. The incident occurred on Thursday night in Khanpur village of the Chola area, they said. During the event, the accused, Sugreev, opened fire using a licensed pistol, injuring Dharmendra Bhati (36), officials said. Dharmendra was rushed to a hospital in Noida, where he died during treatment. A case has been registered based on a complaint lodged by the victim's family,

KOLKATA: A booth-level officer (BLO) engaged in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls died of cardiac arrest in West Bengal's Murshidabad district, with his family alleging that mounting work pressure pushed him to the brink. This is the fourth such death reported in the state since the exercise began on November 4, sparking a political blame game. Officials identified the deceased as Zakir Hossain, a teacher at a state-run primary school who had been deployed as a BLO.

HAPUR: Two Delhi-based traders were arrested here after they allegedly tried to cremate a mannequin instead of a human body as part of an elaborate plot to fraudulently claim insurance money worth Rs 50 lakh to pay a debt, police said on Friday. The bizarre sequence unfolded when four men arrived in a Haryana-registered car with what they claimed was a corpse. They bought ghee and other items required for the last rites and quietly placed the ody on a pyre. However, their nervous behaviour caug

BHOPAL: After six days on the run, 23-year-old Salman, accused of abducting, raping, and critically injuring a six-year-old girl in Gauharganj, Raisen district, was arrested from the outskirts of Bhopal on Thursday night. Just hours after his arrest, while being taken in police custody from Bhopal to Gauharganj, Salman attempted to flee in the early hours of Friday in Obedullaganj, Raisen district. The escape bid ended after a short encounter that left him with a bullet wound in his leg. Tyre of

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Rajasthan government on a plea challenging the validity of the provisions of the Rajasthan Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2025. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notice to the state government seeking its response on the plea filed by the Peoples Union For Civil Liberties and others. The bench tagged the plea with separate pending petitions raising similar issue. Senior advocate Sanjay Par

UDUPI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a road show in the temple town of Udupi. Modi landed at the Mangaluru Airport and proceeded to Udupi by a special helicopter. The Prime Minister arrived here to take part in the Laksha Geeta Pathana, a mass recitation in which more than one lakh devotees will chant verses from the Bhagavad Gita in unison. Standing on the running board of his vehicle, the Prime Minister waved at the enthusiastic gathering, which showered his convoy with flower pe

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what he called silence on the escalating air pollution crisis in Delhi, urging an immediate and detailed discussion in Parliament on what he described as a health emergency. Gandhi, who met a group of mothers concerned about their childrens health, shared a video of the interaction and said families across the capital were exhausted, scared and angry as their children grew up breathing toxic air. Modi ji, Indias chil

ITANAGAR: The State Election Commission (SEC) has, for the first time in Arunachal Pradesh, introduced on-the-spot voting facility for personnel engaged in poll duty for the upcoming municipal elections, instead of exercising their franchise through postal ballots. According to an order issued by SEC secretary Taru Talo on Thursday, the polling personnel, hailing from Itanagar and Pasighat where the civic polls will be held will have to apply for the facility to their respective municipal retur

The central government is considering a day-long discussion on Vande Mataram during the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament starting December 1, said top government sources. According to sources familiar with the matter, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs may begin reaching out to Opposition parties for support at the all-party meeting scheduled for Sunday, held ahead of the sessions opening. The government plans to mark the 150th anniversary of the song with the special debate in both Hous

LUCKNOW: SP president Akhilesh Yadav has made a fresh attack on the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying it was a ig conspiracy against the people of the country that could push citizens into a state worse than the colonial era. Posting a 20-second video on the SIR process on his official X handle on Thursday evening, Yadav appealed to all opposition parties, including allies of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), to unite and expose this

BALLIA: Tension gripped the Gadwar area here after unidentified miscreants allegedly damaged a statue of Bhimrao Ambedkar, police said on Friday. According to officials, the statue installed along the Gadwar-Nagra Road in Rampur Asli village was found with a broken finger on Wednesday night. This marks the fifth incident of vandalism targeting Ambedkar statues in the area, triggering strong resentment among villagers. Following the incident, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Ravi Kumar, City Circl

SRINAGAR: In a significant shift of administrative control, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has taken over the financial powers earlier exercised by the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Kavinder Gupta, for approving schemes and projects up to Rs 100 crore. An order issued by the LG on November 24 confirmed that the move followed explicit instructions from the MHA. Under the revised framework, the authority to grant approval and sanction for all schemes and projects including those executed thro

SRINAGAR: The differences between National Conference (NC) MP Aga Ruhullah and the ruling party have widened after the MP, for the first time since 2002, was not invited to the partys two-day Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting that began in Srinagar on Thursday. It remains to be seen whether the partys working committee will take any action against the MP, who was the partys poster boy in the 2024 Assembly polls, and issue a show-cause notice. The two-day NC working committee meeting, held

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said judges do not have a magic wand to solve Delhis worsening air pollution, even as the citys air quality slipped sharply just a day after the rollback of Stage-III restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). There were multiple causes for the deteriorating air quality in Delhi, a bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed. Delhis AQI measured 377 on Thursday, while several localities dived into the severe category, goin

NEW DELHI: The MCD has decided to use cow dung cakes at crematoriums to fight air pollution in the city. The decision came at a meeting of the Public Health Department, which wanted to stop the use of wood to control citys toxic air. Its Standing Committee member and BJP leader Rajpal Singh said, We have decided to hand over twothree cremation centres to NGOs that work with cow dung. Pollution comes down significantly in this method. We started using this method at Kalkaji crematorium as a pilot

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Plantation Corporation of Kerala (PCK), and the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) to investigate the disappearance of hundreds of barrels of the banned insecticide Endosulfan in Kerala and submit a detailed report by the first week of January. Endosulfan, a highly toxic organochlorine insecticide known to cause severe environmental and genetic harm, was banned by the Supreme Court

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said that it has issued stop-work notices to 53 construction sites for contributing to air pollution, as the city grapples with deteriorating Air Quality Index (AQI). The civic body on Thursday also directed that the air pollution guidelines it had laid down should be followed strictly. These include installing sensors to monitor AQI that remain operational all the time. Ashwini Joshi, Additional Municipal Commissioner (city), warned of st

NEW DELHI: An Air India flight from Delhi to Ahmedabad returned to the Indira Gandhi International Airport shortly after take-off on Thursday night due to a smoke indication in the cargo hold. Flight A1 2939, an Airbus A320, took off from IGI at 4.44 pm. The cockpit alerted the pilots to smoke in the cargo hold, prompting them to steer the aircraft back to the airport on an emergency basis at 5.13 pm, according to flightaware.com. Fire tenders and ambulances were stationed at the airport after A

NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday called the success of Operation Sindoor a defining moment in Indias counter-terror and deterrence strategy. She said the world had taken note not only of the countrys military strength but also of its moral clarity to act firmly, yet responsibly while pursuing peace. Speaking at the inaugural session of the third edition of the Chanakya Defence Dialogue, a major Army-hosted event in the capital, the President said, The recent success of Operation S

NEW DELHI: Discontent within the Bihar Congress surfaced sharply at the partys first post-election review meeting, where several candidates flagged flaws in ticket allocation, selling of tickets and friendly fights between allies as main reasons for the humiliating defeat in the recent Assembly polls. The closed-door meeting, held at the party headquarters, was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi. Incidentally, Congress General Secretary (Organisation

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday indicated the need for an autonomous regulatory body to oversee what can be allowed as online content, while suggesting that Aadhaar could be used to verify viewers ages for programs considered obscene. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made the remarks while hearing multiple petitions concerning comedians and podcasters. The court observed the limitations of current warnings on platforms like YouTube. By the

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked YouTuber Samay Raina and three other comedians to host a show about the success stories of specially abled individuals to generate and raise funds for their timely and effective treatment. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi passed the directions in a case moved by the Cure SMA India Foundation seeking action against the online content that allegedly violates the right to life and dignity of persons with disability. Durin

NEW DELHI: Civil services stand at the heart of Indias journey towards Viksit Bharat and officers must think across domains, operate across sectors, and anchor their work in humility, integrity, and purpose, P K Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, said on Thursday. Addressing the plenary session of the UPSCs Shatabdi Sammelan programme, he said the officers must engage with data as confidently as with people, balance ethical judgment with administrative competence, and remain cont

PATNA: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary called on Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah in New Delhi on Thursday, heating up the political temperature after the National Democratic Alliances (NDA) landslide victory in the recent Assembly elections. The closed-door meeting between Shah and Chaudhary that lasted half an hour reportedly focused on Bihars development and law and order. Shah and Chaudhary, who has taken charge as state Home Minister in the Nitish Kumar Cabinet, dis

CHANDIGARH: Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday congratulated Punjab for achieving an 83 percent reduction in stubble-burning cases, calling the states progress a model that should be followed across the country. During his visit to several parts of Punjab, he met farmers, reviewed rural development work, and said the state had shown that determined community efforts could bring real change. Speaking about stubble burning, Chouhan said the issue had

RAIPUR: A group of tribal youths hailing from Jashpurmost of whom had never seen snow or experienced high-altitude terrainreturned with a historic achievement that filled all of Chhattisgarh with pride. At 5340 metres, they have become the first team to summit the Jagatsuk-1 Peak in Himachal Pradeshs Pir Panjal range, completing the ascent in just 12 hours. The range is a part of the lesser Himalayan region. For five of these young men, the journey was unimaginable only months ago. With no previ

JAIPUR: An encroachment notice sent by the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) to a Shiva temple has sparked anger in local residents, as it was sent directly to the temple rather than its management committee. Who will respond to the notice on behalf of the temple, and who will submit the documents? asked Indu Gurnani, a resident of Jaipurs Vaishali Nagar, where the temple is located. The notice, pasted on the temple wall on November 21, demands a response within seven days. The temples boundary

NEW DELHI: Indias ambition of becoming a $5-trillion economy will take longer than earlier thought, according to the latest projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The delay has been attributed to slower nominal GDP growth and sharper depreciation of the rupee. India initially aimed to achieve the $5-trillion milestone by 2024-25, before revising the target to 2027-28. However, the IMF now estimates the economy to cross the $4-trillion mark only in FY26 and reach $4.96 trillion in

NEW DELHI: Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday inspected the Noida International Airport in Jewar and held a review meet with officials. They called for expediting the security clearances and the speedy completion of the pending works so that it can be made operational at the earliest. The Bureau of Civil Aviation had recently conducted an inspection of the airport on Tuesday and the regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Avia

FARIDABAD: The Delhi blast investigation has revealed that Dr Muzammil Ganaie, one of the prime suspects arrested in connection with the alleged white-collar terror module linked to the 10 November terrorist incident, had maintained two additional hideouts near Al-Falah University, police sources have said. In addition to renting accommodation in Fatehpur Taga and Dhauj in Faridabad, Muzammil had taken a house on rent from the former sarpanch of Khori Jamalpur village on the pretext of starting

KOLKATA: A Bangladeshi national was arrested on Wednesday night by the West Bengal police on the charge of enrolling his name in the voters list by forging the enumeration form of a deceased person whose name had figured in the electoral rolls during the last Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in 2002 in the state. The incident took place at Mathurdangi under Ward 20 in Dankuni, Hooghly district, and prompted locals to hand over the Bangladeshi national to the nearby police station. Dankuni is har