BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra in a grand ceremony at Azad Maidan in Mumbai.
Rajiv Kumar, the 25th chief election commissioner of India, has demitted office after a nearly three-year tenure marked by both electoral successes and allegations of bias from opposition parties. Kumar oversaw the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, among other major elections. During his tenure, he implemented reforms across various aspects of the Election Commission's functioning, including structural, technological, capacity development, communication, international cooperation, and administration. However, he faced criticism from opposition parties and activists on several issues, including the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines, alleged fudging of voter data, and being "lenient" on the ruling BJP. While the Commission responded to the allegations, Kumar often defended himself and the poll authority through poetry. In his farewell address, Kumar expressed concerns about the timing of petitions raising doubts over poll processes and the impact of freebie promises on the fiscal health of the state. He also criticized the practice of showing early trends on counting day by news channels, calling it "nonsense". Kumar's tenure was marked by numerous controversies, with opposition parties and activists alleging bias and irregularities. While the Election Commission defended its actions, the allegations cast a shadow over his time in office.
Hyderabad will host the final rounds of the 78th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy for the first time in 57 years, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Wednesday.
The probe report has estimated the cost of damage due to the accident at more than Rs 52 crore.
A stampede at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh early Wednesday morning resulted in several deaths and injuries as devotees jostled for space to take a holy dip on Mauni Amavasya. Eyewitness accounts describe a sudden surge of pilgrims, leading to a chaotic situation where many were trampled as barricades collapsed. Scattered shoes, slippers, and clothes at the site speak to the intensity of the stampede. Authorities are investigating the incident and have urged devotees to prioritize their safety.
The CPI(ML) took out a protest march in Patna on Sunday. After the march the party demanded action against ULFA.
The Indian government has scrapped the 'no-detention policy' for classes 5 and 8 in schools it governs. This means that students in these classes who do not pass the year-end exams will be allowed to fail. The decision comes after the amendment to the Right to Education Act (RTE) in 2019, which has already led to 18 states and union territories doing away with the 'no-detention policy' for the two classes. The new policy will be implemented in over 3,000 schools run by the central government, including Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navaodyala Vidyalayas, and Sainik Schools.
The counting of votes for the bypolls to 46 assembly seats in 13 states and in the Lok Sabha segments of Nanded in Maharashtra and Wayanad in Kerala, a crucial electoral exercise since the parliamentary polls in April-May, will begin at 8 am on Saturday.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
'Suddenly I felt a jolt and got thrown off my berth. It took a while before I could understand what had happened,'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, chief ministers of Nationalist Democratic Alliance-ruled states and prominent personalities from industry and Bollywood on Thursday attended the grand swearing-in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in Mumbai.
The minister said for eligible persons belonging to the violence-hit families seeking self-employment, the government would facilitate loans through banks.
Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Rajnath Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam), H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka), and Jitan Ram Manjhi (Bihar).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the damage caused by the earthquake in eastern India and has spoken to the chief ministers of Bihar, Assam and Sikkim, government sources said.
Considering the competition, engineering aspirants should ideally consider taking a minimum of five to seven entrance exams to maximise their chances of success and broaden their options when it comes to college, says rediffGURU Nayagam PP.
Several leading scientists, academicians, and agriculturalists have called for raising government support for research and development to make Indian agriculture future-ready.
In a significant move to control spiralling onion prices ahead of the festive season, the government will transport 1,600 tonnes of buffer stock via railways from Maharashtra to Delhi - the first such initiative using rail transport for the kitchen staple. The special rake, dubbed 'Kanda Express', will depart from Maharashtra's Lasalgaon Railway Station and reach Delhi's Kishanganj Railway Station on October 20, Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare announced on Thursday. The government expects this bulk movement to help stabilise prices in the Delhi-NCR region, where buffer stock onions are currently being sold at a subsidised rate of Rs 35 per kg.
Roundup of matches across various venues in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25
10 vacancies in the Upper House after Rajya Sabha members were elected to the Lok Sabha.
The flood situation in Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh showed signs of improvement on Sunday with most rivers receding even as heavy rains lashed parts of Goa, Rajasthan and Orissa.
The prime minister has been unveiling a slew of development projects running into lakhs of crores of rupees at various places as he turns the spotlight on his government's development and welfare agenda in the run-up to the general elections expected to be held in April-May.
Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.
Capital markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday said it will auction 27 properties of Rose Valley group of companies on November 25 at a reserve price of Rs 63.26 crore in a bid to recover money raised by the firm from the public through illicit schemes. The properties to go under the hammer include flats, buildings, land parcels and hotels located in West Bengal and Bihar, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a notice. The e-auction will be conducted on November 25 between 11 am to 1 pm.
Bihar became the first non-NDA state and overall second after the BJP-ruled Assam to pass GST bill.
Till Sunday evening, floods in Assam had claimed 29 lives while in Bihar the flood toll stood at 26.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and his son Karan are not part of the electoral college for the upcoming Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections.
Amid the political blame game over Bengal's potato ban, which led to shortages in Jharkhand and Odisha, Uttar Pradesh farmers are the unlikely winners.
Some of these states like -- Assam and Bihar -- have been tackling the annual floods during the monsoon season.
The meeting was attended by 26 participants including Chief Ministers and Lt Governors of UTs, he said while briefing the media.
Lakhs of voters will have to bear the searing heat when they step out to exercise their franchise in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday.
The revised budget for 2024-25 shows a sharp rise in the allocations, particularly for major irrigation projects and the Namami Gange Mission-II.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
Karnataka's Prakhar Chaturvedi on Monday broke Yuvraj Singh's 25-year-old record for the highest score in the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy final with an unbeaten 404 off 636 balls against Mumbai in Shivamogga.
The only occasion when the BJP had 100 seats in the Upper House was in 2022.
Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian were elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha Tuesday along with senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and former minister Upendra Kushwaha.
Heavy rain in the first week of July compensated for the shortfall but caused flooding in many northeastern states.
Among the fatalities recorded on Friday, the maximum 17 were from Uttar Pradesh, 14 from Bihar, five from Odisha and four from Jharkhand, where officials said more than 1,300 people are hospitalised with heatstroke conditions.
Two passengers were killed and 34 injured when eight coaches of the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derailed near Gonda in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, an official said.
India internationals Shardul Thakur and Shivam Dube starred with the ball and the bat respectively as 41-time champions Mumbai took an upperhand over Assam on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match in Mumbai on Friday.
Satellite imagery showed a layer of dense fog extending from Punjab and north Rajasthan to the northeast. Patches of fog were also visible along the east coast.
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