STATE’S

Raipur, Feb 13 (IANS) Security forces have recovered a cache of explosives and weapons from a forested mountainous area in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh, police officials said on Friday.The operation, conducted in the Ongar region on Thursday, was a joint effort by the 29th Battalion of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Narayanpur Police, officials added.The search was led by Deputy Commandant Vikas Pachar, who acted on credible intelligence inputs about hidden Maoist materials. Despite the challenging terrain, characterized by dense forests and rugged hills, the joint team carried out an intensive area domination and combing exercise.Their vigilance and coordinated strategy paid off as they unearthed items concealed by Maoist cadres, intended for assembling improvised explosive...

Bengaluru, Feb 13 (IANS) Of the seven people who were killed in an horrific accident on Friday morning near M. Sathyavara village, six were on an early morning joyride in an XUV without informing their families, police investigation has revealed.In a tragic incident, seven youths lost their lives in a road accident early on Friday morning near M. Sathyavara village in Hoskote taluk of Karnataka’s Bengaluru Rural district.The accident occurred on the Hoskote–Dabaspet National Highway and involved a canter truck, a motorcycle and an XUV car.The identities of six of the deceased have been confirmed as Ashwin Nayar (17), Arhaan Sharif (17), Ayaan Ali (17), Bharat (18), Ethan George (17), and the bike rider Gagan. One more person who died in the accident is yet to be identified.Gagan was workin...

Kolkata, Feb 13 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI), on Friday, noticed that in the list of 8,505 Group-B officials sent by the West Bengal government for inclusion in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state, 500 are already operating as assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) in the voter revision exercise.An insider from the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)'s Office, said that the main idea behind getting the names of these 8,505 Group-B officers from the state government was to include them in the voter revision exercise as micro-observers."However, since 500 officers mentioned in the 8,506 officers provided by the state government are already operating as AEROs, there is no logic behind appointing them as micro-observers in the ...

Chennai, Feb 13 (IANS) Actor-turned-politician and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president Vijay on Friday sharpened his attack on the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), questioning what he described as rising public unrest in Tamil Nadu and alleging that governance in the State was "out of control".Addressing a well-attended party rally in Salem, Vijay responded to criticism that he had been "staying back at home," delivering an emotional retort."For those who ask where my house is, do you know where it is? My home is Tamil Nadu. Eight crore people live in my house. All of them are my relatives," he declared, drawing loud cheers from supporters.Targeting Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Vijay accused the DMK government of attempting to stifle his party’s growth and failing to maintain ad...

Jammu, Feb 13 (IANS) Senior National Conference (NC) leader and former Minister Qamar Ali Akhoon passed away on Friday as the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly observed a two-minute silence in tribute to the former legislator.The former Food Minister of the erstwhile state, Qamar Ali Akhoon, a prominent political face from Kargil in the Ladakh union territory, passed away, triggering widespread grief across political circles in Jammu and Kashmir.The demise of the senior leader was informed to the Legislative Assembly by National Conference spokesperson and legislator, Tanveer Sadiq.Soon after the announcement, members of the House expressed profound sorrow and paid rich tributes to his political and public service legacy.Akhoon, who hailed from Sangra village of Kargil, was regarded as a seasoned...

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 13 (IANS) Allegations of large-scale financial irregularities in the conduct of the Global Ayyappa Meet linked to Sabarimala have triggered a fresh political storm, with senior Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan accusing Devaswom Minister V. N. Vasavan of misleading the Assembly and demanding detailed disclosures.The much-hyped meeting was held last year and now the High Court too has come out strongly about its financial accountability.Chennithala alleged that "massive fraud" was carried out under the guise of the Ayyappa meet and announced he will move a breach of privilege notice against the Minister for allegedly providing incorrect information in the Kerala Assembly.The Assembly session will resume on February 23 and Chennitha...

Chennai, Feb 8 (IANS) Trial operations have commenced at the first 660 MW unit of the Udangudi Supercritical Thermal Power Plant in Thoothukudi district, marking a significant step toward strengthening Tamil Nadu’s power generation capacity. Officials indicated that the unit is progressing steadily and is likely to be commissioned by March.The Udangudi project, executed by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) on behalf of the Tamil Nadu Power Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO), consists of two supercritical units of 660 MW each.The project, launched in 2019 at an estimated cost of Rs 13,077 crore, is designed to improve efficiency and ensure a reliable power supply across the state.To support an uninterrupted coal supply, TANGEDCO has also developed an offshore coal jett...

Raichur (Karnataka), Feb 7 (IANS) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who also holds the Water Resources portfolio, on Saturday said that leaders from the region are pressuring him to prevent 30 TMC of water from the Tungabhadra reservoir from flowing into the sea, and asserted that he is committed to the cause. However, he said the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister is not giving him time to discuss the issue.“If the Andhra CM gives us an opportunity, we will stop the wastage of 30 TMC of Tungabhadra water and ensure justice to the farmers and people of this region,” Shivakumar said.He was speaking at the Raichur Utsava programme.Shivakumar said that MLAs from the district had pressed him to bring in a law to ensure that water reaches tail-end areas of canals.“Earlier, water was b...

Chennai, Feb 8 (IANS) The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has accused the Tamil Nadu government of enforcing a discriminatory Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for political meetings, alleging that the guidelines unfairly disadvantage emerging parties while favouring established ones.In a statement, TVK propaganda General Secretary K.G. Arunraj said the party had repeatedly faced hurdles in securing permission to conduct public gatherings, including its proposed public meeting in Salem.He claimed that the authorities were selectively applying the SOP to restrict the party’s political outreach activities.According to the statement, the party had submitted an application seeking permission to hold a public meeting in Vellore on February 8. However, the request was rejected within days on ...