A special audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed that Odisha's forest and environment department sidestepped central guidelines, procuring and customising Mahindra Thar SUVs worth 17 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for forest protection, despite the funds being earmarked for 'preparedness and capacity building'.
With the announcement, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force in the state.
San Francisco is a coastal megacity yet at times it can feel like a foggy hill station full of picturesque views, recalls Dinesh Raheja after visiting one of America's prettiest cities.
Through policy interventions, Indian cities need to be reimagined as a network of inter-connected assets and services which serve to strengthen the social contract between citizens and their cities by improving their quality of life, the Economic Survey has flagged.
From Mexico to Canada, across 16 stadiums in wildly different climates, the continental tournament is putting turf science to its ultimate test. The goal: creating living surfaces that can withstand kicks, studs, tackles and scorching summer heat.
The building suffered extensive damage in the fire, with debris, shattered glass and burnt materials strewn in the vicinity. A large crowd gathered near the site as authorities cordoned off the spot and diverted traffic to facilitate rescue operations.
'This is a major rupture in Tamil Nadu's political order.' 'For the Dravidian parties, the message is clear: The old DMK-AIADMK binary is no longer guaranteed a future.'
Polling for 2,869 seats spread across 893 wards in these municipal corporations began amid tight security at 7.30 am and will conclude at 5.30 pm. A total of 3.48 crore voters are eligible to decide the fate of 15,931 candidates.
Votes will be counted on January 16 and the outcome will be keenly watched as the BJP-led Mahayuti will seek to stamp its supremacy in urban landscape, especially in Mumbai, while the Opposition parties will try to redeem themselves after last year's rout in assembly polls.
Breaking the nearly three-decade-old dominance of the undivided Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday emerged victorious in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and also vanquished the alliance of Nationalist Congress Party factions led by Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar in the Pune civic body.
The ULB polls were also considered as indicative of the voters' mood before the next Lok Sabha elections.
An elderly man was stabbed to death in northeast Delhi's Seelampur area following an argument that started because he allegedly stared at the accused, who had an old rivalry with the victim.
Gandhi shared a video carrying the remarks of an eyewitness, who said timely action could have saved the man, and that of the deceased's father, who lamented that there were several people there with some of them making videos but did not act to save his son.
The BJP and its Mahayuti allies have won 68 seats unopposed in the Maharashtra civic polls scheduled for January 15, even as the Opposition parties alleged the ruling combine used threats and money to force candidates to withdraw from the fray.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticizes Kerala's ruling Left government over the Sabarimala gold loss case, demanding a neutral investigation and accusing the government of protecting the real culprits. He also signals the start of the BJP's campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections.
'All this diversity that our country provides brings in a lot of learnings.' 'That is what I really end up sharing with the whole community.' 'But it all comes through making my shoes dirty.'
'This will split the Marathi and Shiv Sena vote.' 'The BJP has conducted 3 surveys indicating they shall secure 109 seats in the BMC.' 'They do not wish for the Shinde Sena to demonstrate excessive strength in the BMC.' 'If the Thackerays secure 60-70 seats, that will affect Shinde's seats.'
The Assam government has introduced a bill to ban polygamy, proposing imprisonment for offenders while excluding Scheduled Tribes and Sixth Schedule areas from its purview.
But the question before the leadership will be whether to retain the BJP alliance or dump it, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress-led UDF secured a decisive victory in Kerala's local body elections, dealing a blow to the LDF, while the BJP gained significant ground, including winning control of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
Elections for municipal councils and nagar panchayats in Maharashtra are scheduled for December 2, according to the State Election Commissioner. The schedule for other local bodies will be announced later.
Odisha-based BonV Aero has partnered with ParaZero Technologies to introduce advanced counter-drone systems to India's defence and security agencies, offering a kinetic solution to neutralise hostile drones.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday issued a provisional list of reserved seats for mayors of municipal corporations, and chairpersons of municipal councils and nagar panchayats for the three-tier urban elections.
Top leaders of Maha Vikas Aghadi, including Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar head Sharad Pawar along with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray, will lead the Opposition's November 1 protest march in Mumbai against alleged irregularities in voters' lists.
Automobile retail sales rose nearly 18 per cent year-on-year to over 27 lakh units in January, led by continued post-GST momentum, healthy rural cash flows on the back of harvest and weddings, and sustained demand visibility across freight, dealer's body FADA said on Tuesday.
He said that ruling party MLAs Manda Mhatre (BJP) and Sanjay Gaikwad (Shiv Sena) have also spoken about the duplication of voters and irregularities in the electoral rolls.
'That journey across India has changed me forever.'
With the Congress coming third overall and having done much better than Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP, its allies in Maha Vikas Aghadi, political analysts said it will force a rethink as far as coordination, seat-sharing and leadership are concerned ahead of the 2029 assembly polls.
The incidence of more crimes across Tamil Nadu is threatening to make law and order an inevitable poll issue in the state-wide local bodies elections due only months from now, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It will be an explosion of zoonotic diseases from these places.' 'People will not be able to live or work for kilometres around these places where thousands of street dogs are kept.'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis orchestrated a significant victory for the BJP in the recent civic polls, solidifying his position as a key strategist and influential leader within the party.
The Assam assembly on Thursday passed a bill to ban polygamy, making it an offence which may lead to a maximum of 10 years of imprisonment, barring some exceptions.
Counting of votes has begun in the Maharashtra municipal corporation elections, with a focus on the Mumbai battle between the BJP-led alliance and the Thackeray factions.
The number of no-confidence motions is seen as unprecedented and the Congress bagging the posts of chiefs of Urban Local Bodies is expected to strengthen the party in urban areas.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated corporator Ritu Tawade for the Mumbai mayor election, while its ally Shiv Sena declared Sanjay Ghadi as its candidate for the deputy mayor's post.
Under the policy recently cleared by the Bihar cabinet, persons having more than two children will be debarred from contesting elections for local bodies.
Multi-cornered contests, deep divisions within the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, reflected in the Congress and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray fighting separately and lack of a robust plan among its rivals helped the Bharatiya Janata Party in Mumbai polls as it looks poised to rule India's richest civic body for the first time.
The Shiv Sena-UBT-Maharashtra Navnirman Sena panel has lost all 21 seats in the election to the BEST Employees Cooperative Credit Society Ltd, a platform where the two parties came together, sparking buzz about a pan-Maharashtra alliance.
Police on Tuesday arrested the director of a real estate group in connection with the death of a 27-year-old software engineer, whose car had plunged into a water-filled pit at a construction site in Noida's Sector 150, officials said.
A new study alleges that Muslim voters are disproportionately represented in Logical Discrepancy (LD) lists during Kolkata's voter roll revision, raising concerns about potential bias in the electoral process.
