Author: TheStateLine

Gandhinagar, Feb 16 (IANS) Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, on Monday, highlighted that more than Rs 22,000 crore has been directly deposited into the accounts of more than 6.9 million farmer families under the Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.Addressing the eighth session of the 15th Gujarat Legislative Assembly, the Governor emphasised the state government's commitment to inclusive development under the resolve of "Developed Gujarat to Developed India".Governor Devvrat said, "The state had provided timely financial assistance to farmers affected by unseasonal rainfall, announcing a relief package this year amounting to Rs 9,610 crore, benefitting more than 3.3 million farmers. Promoting natural farming remains a key priority, with the Gujarat Natural Farming Develop...

Kolkata, Feb 16 (IANS) The Indian Coast Guard seized a Bangladeshi fishing trawler and detained 28 Bangladeshi fishermen for entering Indian waters in violation of maritime boundaries.The Indian Coast Guard transported the trawler and the fishermen to Fraserganj Fisheries Port in South 24 Parganas district on Monday afternoon.During a Coast Guard patrol on Monday morning, a suspicious trawler was observed within Indian waters in the Bay of Bengal. Coast Guard personnel ordered the vessel to stop and, upon inspection, identified it as the Bangladeshi trawler 'Sagar 3.'After seizing the trawler, officials began preliminary interrogation of the fishermen. Several inconsistencies were found in their responses. The fishermen could not explain why they crossed international waters and entered ...

New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) Elon Musk-run X Corp suffered a global outage, including in India, as well as several other countries like the US and the UK, on Monday evening, with users unable to access their accounts properly, and posts unable to load on the platform.According to the outage detecting portal Down Detector, the number of outage reports surged to over 25,000.While 53 per cent of X app users were unable to log into their accounts, 16 per cent of website users reported issues, as per Down Detector data.The cause of the outage was not immediately clear, and X did not respond to a request for comment. The outage is the latest to hit internet services.In November last year, thousands of users of X faced service disruption across India and globally on Tuesday, along with other websites...

Jaipur, Feb 16 (IANS) Rajasthan Agriculture Minister Dr Kirodi Lal Meena said in the Assembly on Monday that serious irregularities by insurance companies have come to light under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in several districts of the state. He assured the House that these fraud cases would be investigated by the Special Operations Group (SOG).He informed that insurance claim payments for some farmers are pending due to reasons such as non-verification of bank accounts and Aadhaar, death of the insured farmer, and NEFT transaction failures. Instructions have been issued to the concerned District Collectors to expedite verification of bank accounts, Aadhaar authentication, succession certificates, and other required documents.He assured that payments would be made promptly...

Guwahati, Feb 16 (IANS) A team of the Election Commission of India (ECI), led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, arrived in Assam on Monday to review the state’s preparedness for the upcoming 2026 Assembly elections. The CEC is accompanied by Election Commissioners S.S. Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.The three-day visit is aimed at assessing the readiness of the election machinery, reviewing logistical arrangements and strengthening coordination with the state administration ahead of the crucial polls.Soon after their arrival in Guwahati, the ECI team began a series of engagements with senior officials of the Assam government, including top officers from the Home Department, police, district administration and election machinery.The Commission is expected to hold detailed review m...

Patna, Feb 16 (IANS) Panic briefly gripped Patna on Monday after reports surfaced that armed terrorists had entered the Taj City Centre, detonated explosions at the main gate, and taken several people hostage.​However, it was later clarified that the entire incident was part of a mock drill conducted by security agencies to test emergency preparedness.​As per the drill scenario, two simulated blasts were carried out at the hotel’s main entrance, following which terrorists entered the premises.​Upon receiving the alert, police from the local station and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) rushed to the scene.​The hotel complex was immediately cordoned off, barricades were set up, and a strategic operation was launched.​ATS personnel entered the hotel and conducted a thorough search operation.​...