A high voter turnout was recorded in West Bengal, Assam Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry assembly elections on Tuesday. The massive polling exercise following COVID-19 health protocol and involving lakhs of personnel began at 7 am and the last hour from 6 pm to 7 pm was set aside for COVID-19 patients and those under isolation. The counting of votes in the states will be held on May 2.
Of the 1,075 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 432 fatalities, followed by Gujarat at 197, Madhya Pradesh at 130, Delhi at 56, Rajasthan at 51, Uttar Pradesh at 39 and Andhra Pradesh at 31.
With COVID cases declining, Delhi will see further relaxation in lockdown, including reopening of markets and malls and resumption of metro services, from June 7 while Maharashtra will implement a five-level plan to ease curbs based on weekly positivity rate and occupancy of oxygen beds in districts.
Security has been increased in and around the ancient Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati in view of the Al-Qaeda threatening to spread its network to Assam.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a forum comprising 40 farmer unions, called for a Bharat Bandh on Monday against the Centre's three agriculture laws. Here is its impact across the country:
Here is a look at coronavirus-induced restrictions imposed by states and union territories.
Black Lives Matter protests and coronavirus rages across the pandemic and much more. Here are the top images from the month of June.
It took 110 days for the COVID-19 cases in the country to reach one lakh and just 59 days more to go past the nine-lakh mark.
These states and UTs are Maharashtra (seven districts/municipalities), Telangana (four), Tamil Nadu (seven), Rajasthan (five), Assam (six), Haryana (four), Gujarat (three), Karnataka (four), Uttarakhand (three), Madhya Pradesh (five), West Bengal (three), Delhi (three), Bihar (four), Uttar Pradesh (four), and Odisha (five).
''A third wave is very likely to come because infection is still around.' 'But it can be just a ripple.'
There may not be a third wave of coronavirus in the country if strong measures are taken and effectively implemented at the state, district and city-level, the country's top scientific officer said on Friday, two days after he warned that this wave was inevitable.
The minister also said the Bengaluru-specific anti-terrorist squad (ATS) probably will be operational in November first week.
At a combined level, the fiscal deficit of the Centre and states together will come at 12.1 per cent, with the states contributing 4.5 per cent.
After spending 40 years in the Indian Army, Lieutenant General Subrata Saha marches into the electoral battlefield as the BJP candidate from Rashbehari.
In an order, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said buses shall be used for transport of such groups of stranded people and these vehicles will be sanitised and will have to follow safe social distancing norms in seating.
Protests were held outside the Uttar Pradesh Bhawan, Rajghat, India Gate, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), Assam Bhawan and Delhi University where people voiced their opposition to the controversial changes introduced in the law.
The EC on Wednesday reminded political parties about the bad effects of plastic and asked them to avoid using it for making banners and posters for electioneering.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal over phone and discussed about the prevailing condition on Monday.
At over 6 per cent, most states in October had inflation rates above the Reserve Bank of India's target band of 2-6 per cent.
Several parts of north and west India reeled under scorching heat wave with the temperature touching 50 degree Celsius in Rajasthan's Churu district on Tuesday, even as the meteorological department predicted very heavy rainfall in Assam and Meghalaya till May 28.
'The BJP portrays a make believe world.' 'The Tripura victory is being seen by some as a result of bahubal and money power -- but that would be a very simplistic explanation.' 'Money and muscle power can play a role up to a point, but the BJP's victory is remarkable because it replaced a party that was in power for 25 years.'
Have we been allowed to forget Partition? Isn't Partition the reason many Hindus cannot bring themselves to trust Muslims? So many Muslims born after 1947 have told me with anguish: "How long will we be blamed for Partition?" notes Jyoti Punwani.
Prayers were offered and sweets distributed though people mostly took the virtual route to extend wishes. People also visited temples, observing social distancing norms.
It is time he stood up and assured the middle class that they can count on him as one of their own, says Dr Sudhir Bisht.
In Uttar Pradesh, the death toll due to lightning strikes rose to 42.
The death toll climbed to 15,301 with 407 new fatalities, according to the Union health ministry data.
The TMC expects to emerge victorious by way of a majority of minority votes and a minority of majority votes, notes Arun Bhatnagar, a retired IAS officer.
Eighty per cent of the new employment requirements over the next decade would arise in the 10 states - Uttar Pradesh (UP), Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Assam - that account for 62 per cent of our population.
The activist, who advises various farmer organisations, was arrested when Assam was witnessing widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
'The government had a vaccine from January.' 'The government should have given the vaccine to all population above the age of 45, right from the start.' 'Each state has its own problems, but as far as vaccine coverage in India is concerned, there have been mistakes.'
'We are very protective of him.' 'People can't go close to him and take pictures like before.'
The central government may, however, advise state authorities to continue with strict curbs in COVID-19 containment zones in the worst-affected 30 municipal areas that account for 80 per cent of the positive cases in the country. These 30 municipal areas are from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Odisha.
Vehicular traffic came to a halt in many parts of Guwahati city on Thursday for hours as thousands of landless farmers stormed the city demanding land and denouncing government's design to allot agriculture land to industrialists at throwaway prices flouting all norms.
With lakhs of these workers stranded on highways and inter-state bus terminus, the government stepped in and asked states and union territories to immediately set up relief camps for migrant workers and others who are returning to their home states or trying to do so during the nationwide lockdown period.
SAIL City Football Club rallied to beat Assam Regiment 2-1 and advance in the Osian Durand Cup football tournament qualifiers at the Ambedkar stadium in Delhi on Saturday.
Manash Borah, the Congress candidate in Gauhati Lok Sabha constituency, has reasons to feel special for two reasons.
Amidst glitz and glamour surrounding the larger than life Durga images worshipped all over Kolkata, a young artist from a small town of Assam has come down to the city to exhibit the world's smallest Durga idol.
The FIFA Under-17 World Cup semi-final between Brazil and England has been shifted from Guwahati to Kolkata because of poor pitch conditions in the North-Eastern city.
Bibek Debroy highlights the importance of the Assam Rail Link Project.
A militant of the United Liberation Front of Assam was killed in an encounter with the security forces on Tuesday.
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