In a bid to increase its sales from rural India, the country's largest car maker, Maruti Udyog Ltd, is offering over 2.1 million functionaries in panchayats (local self-governing bodies in villages) its cars at special discounts.
Coming of age dramas, mind twisting thrillers, slice-of-rural life, here's everything you can watch on OTT this week.
The Janata Dal-United on Saturday hit out at Khap Panchayats over the recent incident of a village Panchayat in Uttar Pradesh issuing a diktat on the movement of women, saying strict action should be taken against such people engaging in such tendencies.
He even used foul language against the MLA and told her to leave the office, Singh alleged.
The TMC has won in 34,560 gram panchayat seats, besides leading in 705 seats, according to the SEC as of 11.30 am on Wednesday.
On Monday, August 14, 2023, at least 29 people were killed in Himachal Pradesh, nine of them buried under the rubble of a temple as rains wreaked havoc in the state, triggering landslides that blocked key roads and brought down houses.
A Dalit man has alleged a man from another caste smeared his face and body with human excreta after he accidentally touched the latter with grease in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district.
There was heavy police presence in Sao Jose De Areal village near Margao town on Sunday after some people installed a statue of the Maratha king, while another group took objection.
'We waded through the wet mud into the school, and what we saw were dead bodies strewn all over.' 'We could also see parts of human bodies buried under the wet mud.' 'It was a sight I will never forget in my life. Total devastation everywhere.'
A policeman was also injured in the gunfight that broke out in Bajaad village in the Gandoh area around 9:50 am.
A panchayat in Bihar has ordered a minor rape victim to take Rs 2 lakh and undergo abortion to settle the issue, the police on Wednesday said.
Suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi on Wednesday hit back at the BCCI, questioning the legality of its July 3 Special General Meeting convened to determine his fate and called it a "khap panchayat".
Eleven persons were injured in a clash between the Trinamool Congress and Congress party workers at Sabong in West Midnapore district as the first phase of panchayat polls began on Thursday in West Bengal. In another incident, senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Surya Kanto Mishra was involved in an altercation with local Trinamool Congress supporters outside a polling booth at Khadurdah gram panchayat area in West Midnapore district.
Besides Baksh Molla, the CBI also arrested Jaiuddin Molla, the Panchayat Pradhan of Sarberia village, and another person Faruk Akunji.
On April 29 last year, Tankha had recorded his preliminary statement in the court in the criminal defamation case.
Dharashiv, earlier Osmanabad, is among the eight districts that comprise the state's Marathwada region, where activist Manoj Jarange has led an agitation demanding reservation for Marathas in education and government jobs.
Bose is likely to meet Shah on Monday morning, he said, adding that the governor has prepared a report on his views after visiting violence-hit areas in the backdrop of the rural polls.
The Cabinet on Thursday approved the proposal for enhancing reservation for women in Panchayats from the present 33 per cent to 50 per cent with the provision being applicable to all seats filled through direct election, office of chairpersons and of offices reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Karanatka's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party toll early leads in the crucial zilla and taluka panchayat elections on Tuesday by emerging victorious in 12 out of the 30 districts in the fray. However, party insiders say that the results were below their expectations.
'BJP has lot of money. Even a rich person like me is scared of taking on the financial muscle of the BJP.' 'What is the point of throwing money? Result toh aane wala nahi hai.'
Security was beefed up on Monday a day after a row broke out over the removal of a saffron Hanuman flag from Keragodu village in Mandya, with protests demanding its restoration and the incident sparking a political confrontation between the Congress government and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (Secular).
In the first phase, Lok Sabha and assembly polls can be held and in the second phase, local body polls can be organised.
Coming down heavily on khap panchayats, the Justice J S Verma Committee on Wednesday said means adopted by them have assumed "unreasonable proportions" and asked the government to ensure such bodies do not interfere with choices made by people regarding marriage.
The apex court has upheld a Haryana legislation disqualifying a gram panchayat member from becoming a sarpanch if he or she had more than two living children.
Braving opposition from a section of villagers, Sottathatti panchayat president K Raju was presiding over a meeting after hoisting the national flag at a school.
One person was on Thursday killed in a clash between Trinamool Congress and Communist Party of India-Marxist supporters in North Dinajpur district during the fifth and final phase of West Bengal panchayat elections, taking the toll in poll-related violence to 21 since the exercise began.
Clashes resurfaced after four months on Sunday and Monday morning. Guns were allegedly used in the clashes between CPI-M workers and Trinamool Congress-backed Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee members, leaving five injured.
A 24-hour control room was set up in the neighbouring district of Wayanad following the Nipah outbreak in Kozhikode
Trinamool Congress supporters celebrate their party candidates' victory in the West Bengal panchayat elections 2023, at counting centres in North 24 Parganas, Howrah and Birbhum on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.
A Trinamool Congress legislator on Sunday threatened to not support any bill tabled by the government in the West Bengal Assembly in the future and abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in the state if 'atrocities' on his loyalists allegedly by a rival faction continued, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party said the collapse of the Mamata Banerjee government was just a matter of time.
The court noted that no appreciable steps have been taken ever since an order was passed by it on June 13 to deploy central forces in sensitive areas for the poll process.
The recoveries made from the gunned-down terrorist included two assault rifles along with two magazines and 234 rounds of bullets, five pistols with 10 magazines and 60 rounds, 15 hand grenades and 12 fuses for IEDs.
The changes suggested include the amendment to the provisions of the Constitution relating to preparation of the electoral roll by the Election Commission of India in consultation with the State Election Commission(s) for the elections to the local bodies (in Article 325).
The government has approved the 'Terms of Reference' for the 16 Finance Commission, which makes recommendations on sharing of tax revenues between the Centre and states. The recommendations would cover a five-year period commencing April 1, 2026, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Wednesday, giving details about the decisions taken at the Cabinet meeting last evening. The commission would submit its report by October 31, 2025, Thakur said.
He assured that the "tortured" women from Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district could seek refuge in Raj Bhavan, where they would be provided with shelter, food, and security.
In the tribal village of Edamalakkudy, nestled deep within this hill district's lush forests, lives 92-year-old Sivalingam. Despite his age and being bedridden, Sivalingam's determination to vote remains strong.
The report said while earlier reservations for women were a matter of ridicule, now stories of women being puppets in the hands of male relatives and similar anecdotal accounts have become rare.
India's largest life insurer, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported encouraging performance in the January-March quarter (Q4) of FY24. Total annual premium equivalent (APE) was at Rs 21,180 crore, up 10.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), with group APE of Rs 3,890 crore, up 60 per cent Y-o-Y, though individual APE contracted 2.1 per cent Y-o-Y. The participatory book contracted 20.2 per cent Y-o-Y, but the non-par grew by 206 per cent to Rs 3,740 crore.
Villages in Maharashtra are gearing up for e-panchayats as rural people adopt new methodologies for rural development.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to increase reservation for women to 50 per cent in panchayats.
