Suvendu Adhikari was sworn in as the first BJP chief minister of West Bengal, marking the end of the Trinamool Congress' 15-year rule in the state.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has promised to expel infiltrators from West Bengal and secure the border if the BJP wins the upcoming assembly elections. He accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of neglecting North Bengal and favouring Muslims in budget allocations.
A severe cold wave has intensified across North India, with Delhi recording its lowest temperature of the season. Rajasthan experienced sub-zero temperatures, and several states have issued alerts and closed schools due to the extreme conditions.
'The southern states will have no voice.' 'Political parties in future need to focus only on one region, the northern region, to win the general election.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party has surged past the halfway mark in the West Bengal assembly elections, leading in 185 seats against the Trinamool Congress's 91, signalling a potential political shift in the state. Early trends suggest a geographically split mandate, with the BJP gaining in border, tribal, and industrial regions, while the TMC holds ground in parts of Kolkata and select rural strongholds.
Delhi Police have dismantled an interstate arms trafficking syndicate with alleged links to Pakistan, arresting nine individuals and seizing a cache of sophisticated firearms and ammunition.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed to the opposition to support the government's bills for implementing the women's reservation law, cautioning against politicisation and assuring that delimitation will be fair to all states.
Delhi recorded its coldest January morning in three years with the minimum temperature dropping to 3 degrees Celsius. Cold wave conditions are expected to persist, and air quality has deteriorated to the 'very poor' category.
'We should expect extreme heat, extreme rains, floods, landslides and maybe cyclones. Not just this year, in the coming year as well.'
The southwest monsoon arrived in Maharashtra on Sunday, making it the earliest onset of the annual rainfall season over the state in 35 years, according to the India Meteorological Department. The monsoon is expected to advance to Mumbai and some other parts over the next three days. The monsoon advanced into some more parts of the Arabian Sea, Karnataka, entire Goa, parts of Maharashtra, north Bay of Bengal, and parts of Mizoram, parts of Manipur and Nagaland on Sunday. The northern limit of monsoon passes through Devgad, Belagavi, Haveri, Mandya, Dharmapuri, Chennai, Aizawl and Kohima. Conditions are favorable for further advance into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, more parts of Maharashtra including Mumbai, Karnataka including Bengaluru, some parts of Andhra Pradesh, remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, more parts of west-central and North Bay of Bengal and some more parts of North Eastern states during next three days. The southwest monsoon hit Kerala on Saturday, marking its earliest arrival over the Indian mainland since 2009.
The BJP's document for Delhi polls sparked a row by describing people from NE states as 'immigrants'.
The electorate did not vote for the BJP as much as they voted against the TMC. This is an important distinction that the new government will ignore at its own peril, points out Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed confidence that the BJP would form the next government in West Bengal after the assembly polls, asserting that he would return to the state for the oath-taking ceremony after results are announced on May 4.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sent a notice to the Dehradun district magistrate and the senior superintendent of police (SSP) over the alleged racially charged killing of a student from Tripura in the Uttarakhand capital.
The brother of an Indore man murdered during his honeymoon in Meghalaya suspects his wife, the main accused, may have married her accomplice while in hiding after the crime.
Various theories are being attached to the constant targetting of India's north eastern states. Intelligence Bureau officials confirm that the mantle of infiltrating into the north eastern states is in the hands of the Bangladesh-based Director General of Forces Intelligence.
'...appearing culturally coercive or administratively vindictive.' 'If it governs as a conquering force, resistance will build.'
The Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir impacted tourism, but recovery efforts are underway with government initiatives and events to promote the region and boost MICE tourism.
At least five people were killed and 143 others injured after a strong earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck several provinces across Afghanistan in the wee hours of Monday, according to the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA).
A BJP government in Bengal inherits more problems than it might care to admit at its moment of triumph, points out Ramesh Menon
Jammu and Kashmir is no longer the area most affected my militancy and separatist violence in the country, as the conflict-ridden North eastern states of the country have surpassed it in respect of incidents of insurgency-related violence and related civilian casualties. The north eastern states recorded 1,489 incidents insurgency-related violence in 2007 while Jammu and Kashmir recorded about 500 incidents of violence less in the same year.
Sacred spots and soaring peaks: Bucket-listing across the heartland. Roopa Unnikrishnan and her father journey through the heart of India.
Sonam was arrested along with four others for allegedly killing her husband Raja while the couple was honeymooning in the picturesque north eastern state of Meghalaya.
All along, we were told SIR was an essential exercise carried out as part of the Election Commission's regular duties. But now that the ideological mentor of the ruling party has declared that SIR is a means of detecting infiltrators, one understands the unseemly haste with which it is being carried out, notes Jyoti Punwani.
US President Trump has issued emergency declarations for 10 states as authorities continue to prepare for frigid cold which will sweep across the eastern two-thirds of the country.
Describing north-east as the "gateway" to south-east asia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said his government has been pro-actively pursuing the 'Act-East Policy'
Indian security agencies have continued efforts to reinforce the Siliguri Corridor through improved infrastructure, faster mobilisation capability and diversified connectivity routes to the north east.
The chief ministers and the governors of the north eastern state have expressed dissatisfaction over the 'continuous reduction' of budget allocations of the North Eastern Council in the successive five-year plan.
The IRGC had announced earlier that it was carrying out an intense wave of attacks on US and Israeli positons throughout the region since dawn, using missiles as well as drones.
Government has no plans to create a separate time zone for 7 North Eastern states, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.
The national capital was in the grip of a cold wave, with the sun largely obscured by clouds and pollutants lingering in the atmosphere, leading to reduced visibility. At least 129 flights were cancelled at the Delhi airport on Saturday due to dense fog, according to an official.
A proposal for the creation of a regional hub in the north-east, which could include Guwahati, Bangkok, Kathmandu as well as a destination from West Bengal.
Delhi Traffic Police issued over 1,200 challans for drunk driving during a special enforcement drive on Holi, with the western range recording the highest number of violations.
'The BJP is keeping its options open and that the final decision is still tightly held.' 'That is consistent with the party's tendency to preserve suspense, avoid premature factional conflict, and use leadership selection as a way of resetting internal hierarchies.'
President Trump asserts the US military has decimated Iran's forces and no longer requires assistance from NATO allies to secure the Strait of Hormuz, despite earlier requests for support.
'As result, Netanyahu 'convinced' Trump to go to war with the help of overoptimistic Israeli intelligence assessments, essentially explaining to him that they only need to bomb Iran for 3-4 days, and the regime would then collapse.' 'Rather unsurprisingly, Netanyahu is ever since blaming his own intel service for the entire operation failing.'
North-eastern states have led the charge in recording a decline.
President Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, which aims to replace MGNREGA and guarantee 125 days of wage employment per rural household.
The brother of Sonam Raghuvanshi, who is among the five arrested for the murder of her Indore-based husband Raja Raghuvanshi, on Wednesday came out in support of the victim's family and vowed to fight a legal battle to get justice for them.
According to a post on X by the US European Command, the tanker violated US sanctions and was tracked by the US Coast Guard cutter Munro prior to the operation.
