INDIA

Bhubaneswar, Oct 30 (IANS) The Odisha government has begun a comprehensive survey to assess the extent of damage caused by heavy rainfall and landslides triggered by Cyclone Montha across several districts of the state, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said on Thursday.Speaking to mediapersons, Pujari said that the cyclone hit the state during the harvesting season when crops were either ready for harvest or already being harvested in many areas. However, the cyclone-induced heavy rain has caused extensive damage to standing crops, particularly rice, cotton, and vegetables, in multiple districts.“The process of estimating the damages caused by the heavy rainfall triggered by the cyclone started today. We have instructed all district administrations to complete the dam...

Patna, Oct 30 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, launched a sharp counterattack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the Grand Alliance (RJD–Congress), saying that their remarks -- including Gandhi's claim that "PM Modi can dance for votes" -- were not just insults directed at him, but a reflection of deep internal discord within the Opposition.Addressing a massive election rally in Bihar's Chhapra, PM Modi said, "The real news of this election is not the insults hurled at me, but the infighting between the RJD and the Congress. Their relationship is like oil and water. Reports from across Bihar say RJD workers are pulling down Congress workers' posters, and Congress workers are showing animosity toward the RJD. Only the lust for power has brought them together."The Prime M...

New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) India's 45-day wedding season, starting November 1, is projected to generate an unprecedented Rs 6.5 lakh crore from an estimated 46 lakh weddings, a report said on Thursday.Delhi is expected to contribute Rs 1.8 lakh crore from 4.8 lakh weddings, according to the study by the CAIT Research and Trade Development Society (CRTDS).The research arm of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said that the study in 75 cities revealed that spending per wedding increased, despite a nearly unchanged wedding count from the previous year.CAIT Secretary General and Chandni Chowk MP, Praveen Khandelwal, said that the rise reflects higher disposable incomes, inflation in precious metals, and rising consumer confidence after a record-breaking festive season.In 2024, 48 lakh wed...

New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) In a major step towards citizen-friendly policing and digital transformation of law enforcement services, Delhi Police has decided to launch the registration of cyber e-FIR with effect from November 1 on complaints of cyber financial frauds involving an amount of Rs 1 lakh or more, which is presently in prevalence for cyber financial frauds involving an amount of Rs 10 lacs or more. According to a press note issued by Delhi Police on Thursday, “From November 1 2025, a complainant can visit any police station, where staff at the Integrated Help Desk will register his/her complaint and e-FIR in case if amount is more than Rs. 1 lakh, immediately.”All these e-FIRs will be investigated at par with regular FIRs in their respective jurisdictional cyber police stations, C...

Chennai, Oct 30 (IANS) AIADMK General Secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Thursday reiterated his long-standing demand that freedom fighter and spiritual leader Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar be conferred with the Bharat Ratna, the nation’s highest civilian honour.Speaking to reporters after paying floral tributes at Thevar’s memorial in Pasumpon village near Kamuthi in Ramanathapuram district, Palaniswami recalled the multifaceted contributions of the revered leader, who he described as a symbol of nationalism, sacrifice, and divine devotion. “Today, on the occasion of Thevar Ayya’s 118th birth anniversary and Guru Puja day, on behalf of the AIADMK, I, along with senior leaders, former ministers, and MLAs, paid homage at his memorial,” Palaniswami said. He no...

Kolkata, Oct 30 (IANS) After an incident in Panihati in North 24 Parganas district, another person has allegedly died by suicide in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, reportedly out of panic over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state’s electoral rolls initiated by the Election Commission of India (ECI).According to police, a 95-year-old man allegedly took his own life in Illambazar area of Birbhum district on Thursday, fearing that his name would be deleted from the voters’ list during the revision process.Birbhum Superintendent of Police Amandeep said, “We have come to know that an elderly person from West Midnapore district has committed suicide in Birbhum’s Illambazar. His name is Kshitish Majumdar. He had come to his relative’s house in the Ilambazar police station area. We ha...

Kolkata, Oct 30 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers probing the multi-crore cash for municipalities job case in West Bengal are tracking the involvement of shell companies in diverting the proceeds of crime.The doubts about the involvement of the shell companies in diverting the proceeds of the crime first came to the minds of the investigating officers after they secured several bills of a fake construction company from the office of a member of the West Bengal cabinet during the raid and search operations there earlier this month, sources aware of the development said.However, when ED officers reached the office of the said construction company, christened Venkatesh Construction, which was mentioned in the bills, that the office was closed. After entering the office premis...

Patna, Oct 30 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday paid rich tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on the eve of his 150th birth anniversary and announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take the salute of the grand parade to be held in Ekta Nagar on October 31.Addressing a press conference on the celebrations planned to mark the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas-2025, HM Shah said that the Ministry has decided that a grand parade will take place every year on October 31 in front of his magnificent statue in Gujarat’s Kevadia.He said that Sardar Patel made an immense contribution in uniting the country after independence, building today’s India and creating a united country.He said that since 2014, PM Modi has been coming to Kevadia every year on October 31, where a grand parade is h...

New Delhi, Oct 30 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has held that a guilty plea cannot validate a prosecution that is barred by law, ruling that once a person has been convicted for an offence, they cannot be tried or punished again for the same act under a different case number. While setting aside the second conviction of a life convict, a single-judge Bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula said: "A plea of guilt cannot confer jurisdiction. Once the bar under Section 300 CrPC or the rule against double jeopardy under Article 20(2) applies, the conviction is a nullity, irrespective of the voluntariness of the plea or the sufficiency of evidence.”The Delhi High Court noted that the petitioner, Subhash Pahwa @ Subhash Chander, had already been convicted in 2014 under Section 411 of the Indian Penal Code...

Hyderabad, Oct 30 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday urged the Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana not to permit the Congress government to expand the State Cabinet in view of the Jubilee Hills bye-election.A delegation of the BJP's Telangana unit leaders met Chief Electoral Officer Sudharshan Reddy and submitted a memorandum.They drew his attention to media reports that Congress leader and former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin will be inducted into the Telangana Cabinet.BJP's deputy floor leader in the Telangana Assembly, Payal Shanker, said that this would be a gross violation of the Model Code of Conduct by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. He alleged that the Chief Minister wants to appease a section of voters in the Jubilee Hills bye-election.The BJP le...