Rajya Sabha elections Monday accentuated the opposition’s inability to hold its ranks, with absentee legislators costing the Grand Alliance a seat in Bihar, cross-voting delivering a bonus seat to BJP in Odisha and a dispute over ballot secrecy leaving the poll outcome in Haryana hanging. In Bihar, Mahagathbandhan’s lone candidate, RJD’s Amarendra Dhari Singh, lost … Read more
NEW DELHI/KOLKATA: A day after it substituted Bengal chief secretary and principal secretary (home) with its own choices, EC Monday replaced the DGP and Kolkata Police commissioner, among others. Hours after announcing the assembly poll schedule for Bengal along with those of three other states and a UT, the poll panel late Sunday night shunted … Read more
New Delhi: In view of difficulties faced by adult adoptees seeking information about their origins through the “root search” process laid out under the adoption regulations 2022, the Central Adoption Resource Authority has asked states and Union Territories to ensure that all physical and digital records are securely preserved and transferred to the designated authority … Read more
NEW DELHI: A central government source on Monday dismissed as “baseless” a report claiming that India and Iran had discussed the release of three ships seized by New Delhi in exchange for ensuring safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. The source also rejected assertions that the vessels were owned by Iran.“This report … Read more
NEW DELHI: A parliamentary committee has recommended strengthening institutional capacity in cybersecurity, data protection and digital infrastructure while examining the government’s spending plans for the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) for 2026-27. The panel also cautioned that inadequate funding could affect the expansion of digital governance systems, cybersecurity capacity and emerging initiatives such … Read more
NEW DELHI: The Left front on Monday released its first list of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections, fielding leaders like outgoing Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya and CPI(M) central committee member Minakshi Mukherjee .Out of 192 seats, CPI(M) will contest 142, the Forward Bloc (21), RSP (13), CPI (14), RCPI (1) and MCP … Read more
All restrictions imposed in Delhi-NCR under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) have been revoked after a significant improvement in air quality, officials said on Monday.The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said that owing to favourable meteorological conditions, the air quality index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded at 119 on Monday.“Further, the forecast by … Read more
New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday raised the LPG crisis arising out of the conflict in West Asia, asking why the govt did not do advance planning of LPG imports or make alternative arrangements despite being aware of the regional tensions. “Why did the govt not make alternative … Read more
As The Akshaya Patra Foundation prepares to serve its 5 billionth meal on March 17, with President Droupadi Murmu commemorating the milestone, the moment marks a significant chapter in one of the world’s largest school feeding programmes. What began in 2000 with just 1,500 meals served from the ISKCON temple in Bengaluru has grown into … Read more
NEW DELHI: Former prime minister and Rajya Sabha MP H. D. Deve Gowda on Monday wrote a letter to Congress MP Sonia Gandhi expressing concern over what he described as “chaos” inside Parliament and its premises. In his letter, Gowda shared that he had been “greatly disturbed” by developments in Parliament, which he attributed primarily … Read more