India's political landscape is ablaze with activity! From the ongoing debates surrounding the new farm bills and their impact on rural India, to the upcoming state elections shaping the national narrative, the stakes couldn't be higher. Key political figures are maneuvering strategically, with alliances shifting and power dynamics constantly in flux. The opposition's challenge to the ruling party is intensifying, sparking vigorous debates on crucial policy matters including economic reforms and social justice initiatives. Parliamentary proceedings are filled with heated exchanges, reflecting the deep divisions within the nation. This evolving political climate directly impacts the lives of every Indian citizen, influencing everything from economic opportunities to social welfare programs. Stay informed about the latest developments in Indian politics, from crucial legislative decisions to grassroots movements, by exploring Abtak.com for in-depth analysis and breaking news updates. Understanding the intricacies of our political system is crucial; stay engaged, stay informed, and stay ahead.
Pune: An alert was issued in the low-lying areas of Pimpri Chinchwad after the irrigation department on Saturday released water from the swelling Pavana dam into the Pavana river for the first time this monsoon.An official of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) said they were keeping a watch on water levels in the low-lying areas of Ravet and Tathawade along the Pavana river. The situation was under control on Saturday. Residents along the river were alerted about a possible rise in water level, the official said.The irrigation department officials said they were going ahead with a "controlled discharge" plan, wherein the release from the dam would be maintained at 400 cusecs for the next few days. The discharge would be increased depending on the inflow of rainwater in the reservoir. "The 'controlled discharge' of water will help reduce the chances of a sudden and large-scale release from the dam and thus minimise the chances of flooding," an official said.Pavana -- the main source of water for Pimpri Chinchwad -- can store over 8 TMC water. Its storage reached 73% (6 TMC) on Saturday. Catchments of the dam have so far recorded over 1,000mm of rainfall.The irrigation department is also monitoring the water level in the Andra Dam, another source of water for Pimpri Chinchwad. Its storage climbed up to 84% on Saturday. Water has not been released from it yet.The discharge of water from the Khadakwasla dam continued on Saturday at the rate of 1,600 cusecs. The water level in the dam has been maintained between 60% and 70% for the last couple of weeks to avoid a sudden increase in the discharge.The storage in four dams in the Khadakwasla circle reached the 60%-mark on Saturday. All four dams were half full, with Varasgaon being at the top with 65% water storage.Another irrigation department official said the water stock in the Mulshi dam surged to 70% on Saturday evening. Mulshi on Saturday recorded a maximum rainfall of 72mm -- the highest among major dams in the Pune district, followed by Temghar (54mm), Gunjawani (41mm) and Pavana (33mm).
SOLAPUR, India (Reuters) - India is likely to produce a record amount of sugar in the next marketing year from October after millions of farmers expanded cane cultivation, encouraged by ample water supplies and declining prices of competing crops, farmers and industry officials told Reuters. The rebound in production would allow the world's second-largest sugar producer to resume exports in 2025/26, they said, after a lack of rain cut cane yields and led to two years of restrictions. Indian exports could cap global sugar prices, traders said, by increasing supplies in the world market at a t ...Read More >
Berhampur (Odisha), Jun 6 (PTI) Environmental activist Medha Patkar on Saturday appealed to the people of Odisha for protection of Rushikulya river. The government planned to construct a dam in the river Pipalapnaka under Sorada block in the district. While participating in the Save Rushikulya river movement in Ganjam district, she said, "Rivers may be small or big, but they are our mother. We have to protect the rivers from attacks." She attended a meeting were organised by the Rushikulya Banchao Kriyaanusthan Committee (RBKC) and the Centre for Climate Justice, spearheading the agitation a ...Read More >
Heavy rains have triggered an orange alert in five Kerala districts, leading to rising river levels and flooding. Consequently, dam shutters are being opened across the state, including Banasura Sagar and Moozhiyar. Authorities are also preparing for the potential opening of the Mullaperiyar dam, managed by Tamil Nadu, prompting evacuations in vulnerable areas of Idukki district.Heavy rains lashed various parts of Kerala with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing an orange alert in fi ...Read More >
Kochi: Edison Babu's neighbours in Muvattupuzha knew him as the quiet engineer who had returned home during the pandemic. The 35-year-old former auto industry professional seemed to lead an unremarkable life in this sleepy Kerala suburb, occasionally visiting the local post office with packages: nothing unusual for someone running what appeared to be a small online business. What they didn't know was that their mild-mannered neighbour had built India's most sophisticated darknet drug empire, one that relied heavily on the very government postal service that was meant to serve the community. ...Read More >
GURGAON: The investigation into the murder of a 25-year-old former international tennis player, allegedly by her father, has revealed a sudden deterioration in their relationship. The apparent reason was a disagreement over the academy she ran near their house, but the roots clearly run deeper. The father, who claims to have spent Rs 2 crore on his daughter's tennis career, told interrogators he was troubled by questions about her "character" that some of his associates had raised.Deepak Yadav, who shot Radhika at their house Thursday morning, had allegedly been insisting for two weeks on her ...Read More >
Itanagar, July 12 (SocialNews.XYZ) Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed gratitude to the people of Riga village in Siang district for accepting the government plan to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Pre-Feasibility Report (PFR) of the proposed Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP), hydropower project with an estimated generation capacity of 11,000 MW. An official of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said on Saturday that people of Riga village of Siang district signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government in a meeting held on Frid ...Read More >
Haveri: Former chief minister and MP Basavaraj Bommai dismissed the Maharashtra chief minister's opposition to the Almatti dam height increase as unfounded and unsuitable. During a press conference in Haveri on Saturday, he referenced an existing tribunal order confirming no flood risks for Sangli and other Maharashtra regions. He noted that floods occurred in Sangli before the Almatti dam's construction, including a significant flood in 2005. A Central Water Commission's (CWC) assessment confirmed no correlation between the dam and flooding. Therefore, he considers Maharashtra's current objec ...Read More >
LAHORE/SRINAGAR (Reuters) -Pakistan's eastern towns of Chiniot and Hafizabad face a risk of catastrophic floods if an irrigation barrage crumbles on a major river upstream after heavy rains swelled it beyond capacity, officials warned on Thursday. Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan are battling torrential monsoon rains that have unleashed flash floods, swelled rivers and filled dams, with 60 deaths this month in Indian Kashmir, and Pakistan's toll at 805 since late June. Any flooding blamed on India stands to inflame relations between the archfoes, embroiled in a tense stand-off sin ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar has written a strongly worded letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, criticising General Education Minister V Sivankutty for walking out of a function held at Raj Bhavan on June 19. The Governor described the incident as a breach of protocol and an insult to the constitutional office. The letter, dated June 26, refers to an awards ceremony for the Bharat Scouts and Guides, where Sivankutty -- who also serves as President of the Association's Kerala chapter -- objected to the presence of a garlanded portrait of Bharat Mata on the stage, ...Read More >
Chandigarh: Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday said the state govt was consistently working to provide better resources to the doctors and quality healthcare services to the citizens.He mentioned that medical colleges were being established in every district.While there were only six medical colleges in 2014, the number has now increased to 15, and nine new colleges are under construction. As a result, MBBS seats in the state increased from 700 in 2014 to 2,185, at present. The state govt aims to increase the MBBS seats to over 3,400 by 2029, said Saini.The CM was addressing a ...Read More >
Amritsar: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey from Jharkhand has claimed that Britain assisted India in executing the 1984 Operation Bluestar at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, stoking a new controversy.In a post on X on Monday, Dubey alleged that then PM Indira Gandhi "launched an attack on the Golden Temple in collaboration with Britain", with British Army officers present in Amritsar.He uploaded a classified British document, "Sikh Community", claiming that on Feb 23, 1984, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office mentioned in a letter that the Indian govt had sought British advice over a plan to remove Si ...Read More >
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 26 (ANI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar announced on Thursday that the meeting on the Hemavathi link canal, originally scheduled for June 30, has been postponed to July 4-5, following a request from Union Minister V Somanna. Speaking to reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence here, Shivakumar said, 'We have postponed the meeting as Somanna is also the MP from the district. The officials have been instructed accordingly.' The Deputy CM also addressed the postponement of a meeting with Yettinahole project contractors in Tumakuru, attributin ...Read More >
Hyderabad: The state government on Monday urged the Union jal shakti ministry to direct Andhra Pradesh to take up the required repairs to the Srisailam dam to ensure safety, and that AP be asked to not open the dam gates until the reservoir reached its full reservoir level at 885 feet. The Telangana government said water was being released through the two hydel power stations on both banks of the dam. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is scheduled to perform special prayers and initiate the opening of some of the 12 crest gates on Tuesday morning at the dam, where the water l ...Read More >
Mumbai, July 19 (SocialNews.XYZ) Actor Harshvardhan Rane, who was last seen in 'The Miranda Brothers', is heaping praise on the recently released film 'Saiyaara', and its team. On Saturday, the actor took to the Stories section of his Instagram, and penned a special note for the film and its makers after it witnessed a stellar opening day. He wrote, "Another melodious example of a love story shattering all myths and formulas of the industry. Honest heart wrenching love story wins again in 2025! #Saiyaara". 'Saiyaara', which stars Aneet Padda, and marks the debut of Ahaan Panday, is helmed b ...Read More >
Inflow into the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur increased to 80,984 cusecs on Saturday. Following an increase in inflow, the Water Resources Department (WRD) issued a flood warning to people living in low-lying areas on the banks of the River Cauvery. On Saturday, the dam's water level stood at 117.93 feet against its full capacity of 120 feet. The storage level stood at 90.20 TMC against its full capacity of 93.47 TMC. At 8 a.m., inflow into the dam increased to 73,452 cusecs from Friday's inflow o ...Read More >
Kuppam (Chittoor dist): Adverting to objections raised by Telangana about Andhra Pradesh's plan for the Polavaram-Banakacherla project to lift water from the Godavari river, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has dismissed all the allegations surrounding the interlinking plan, calling them "baseless and politically motivated". Speaking to the media in Kuppam on Thursday, Naidu made it clear that the project would not harm anyone. He amplified that misinformation was being deliberately spread to mislead the public. Recalling his efforts in the past, when he was the chief minister of the undiv ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Signalling the government's intent to move ahead with the impeachment motion of Allahabad High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said that main opposition parties have given their in-principle approval to support the motion in the upcoming monsoon session scheduled for July21-August 21. Rijiju said that the government is yet to decide whether the motion would be brought in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. For the Lok Sabha, signatures of a minimum 100 MPs is required. The requirement is the support of at least 50 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. H ...Read More >
Pune: State Election Commission (SEC) will use the July 1, 2025, updated legislative assembly voters' list for the upcoming local body elections with chairperson Dinesh Waghmare directing district collectors and municipal commissioners to begin preparations based on the updated voter rolls during video conferences on Thursday and Friday.Elections are due for 29 municipal corporations, 290 nagar panchayats and parishads, 32 zilla parishads, and 336 panchayat samitis, as their terms have expired. "There is no separate voters' list for local body polls. The Election Commission of India (ECI)'s up ...Read More >
HYDERABAD: Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday directed officials to prepare a practical and scientific plan to ensure adequate irrigation for the Kharif season crops in the state. The minister said the plan must take into account current reservoir levels, inflows during this monsoon season, and the total ayacut that can be irrigated from each of the water sources. At a high-level meeting held at Dr B.R. Ambedkar Telangana Secretariat, Uttam Kumar Reddy said a clear and coordinated water release strategy must be in place based on real-time data, crop patterns, and the geograp ...Read More >
Vijayapura: For farmers in North Karnataka, the dream of raising the height of the Almatti Dam has been a decades-old aspiration. They see it as a lifeline for agriculture in a region constantly grappling with drought. However, just as the demand began to gather momentum again, fresh opposition from neighbouring Maharashtra has added a new political twist to this long-standing issue. The Karnataka government has been pushing to increase the height of the Lal Bahadur Shastri (Almatti) Dam from 519.6 metres to 524.256 metres. Maharashtra has objected to this move, and only two days ago, Maharas ...Read More >
Mumbai, Aug 19 (PTI) Copious rains in catchment areas over the last couple of days have significantly increased the water level in key dams across Maharashtra, forcing authorities to open floodgates and sending alerts to people living along the rivers downstream. Koyna dam, an important reservoir and lifeline in terms of both power generation and irrigation in the state, witnessed a dramatic leap in its water stock - from 84.70 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) on Sunday morning to 93.45 TMC by Tuesday morning, while its full capacity is 100 TMC, data released by the water resources departmen ...Read More >
SURYAPET : Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday reiterated that the Congress government was committed to protecting Telangana's rightful share of Krishna and Godavari waters at any cost. After inspecting the ongoing irrigation works on Krishna river in Suryapet district, the minister made it clear that there would be no compromise on the state's water rights, which he described as essential for farmers' prosperity and the future of Telangana. Uttam came down heavily on the previous BRS government, holding it responsible for pushing the irrigation sector into a ...Read More >
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], July 4 (ANI): Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday came down heavily on the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) over its pitch to reconsider the words 'secular and socialist' from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution while saying that it was 'all talk'. He dared and challenged RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale and top leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the centre to remove the words 'secular and socialist' from the Preamble. 'Days before, I heard that some RSS person said that we should remove Secular and Socialist words from ...Read More >
Gadwal: With the onset of continuous upstream rainfall and increased inflows into the Krishna river basin, water levels at the Priyadarshini Jurala Project (PJP) dam and Almatti Reservoir have shown significant rise, prompting dam authorities to regulate outflows carefully. PJP Dam Status as of 6 PM, July 11, 2025: According to information received from project officials, the water level at the PJP dam stands at 317.570 meters (1,041.896 feet). Against its Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 318.516 meters, the gross storage is recorded at 7.778 TMC, while live storage is 4.071 TMC. The dam is cu ...Read More >
Bareilly (UP), Jul 17 (PTI) A teacher from Bahedi district, who went viral recently after reciting a poem mentioning Kanwar Yatra, approached the police on Thursday stating a threat to his life from anti-social elements. A case has been registered at Bahedi police station based on a complaint from Dr Rajneesh Kumar Gangwar, a teacher at MGM Inter College in the district. According to Circle Officer Arun Kumar Singh, Gangwar's complaint says that ever since his recitation of the poem 'Tum Kanwad Lene Mat Jana, Gyaan Ka Deepak Jalaana' (You don't go get Kavad, light the lamp of knowledge inste ...Read More >
Mumbai: Bombay High Court has now got its fifth bench, located in Kolhapur. The HC bench at Kolhapur will start functioning from Aug 18, as stated in a notification issued on Friday."I, Alok Aradhe, Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, with the approval of the Governor of Maharashtra, appoint Kolhapur as a place at which Judges and Division Courts of the High Court may also sit, with effect from August 18, 2025," the notification dated Aug 1 said. The other benches of the HC are at Nagpur, Aurangabad, and Goa, apart from the principal bench in Mumbai.Lawyers and bar associa ...Read More >
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], August 3 (ANI): In a major crackdown on narcotics smuggling, officers of the Airport Commissionerate, Mumbai Customs Zone-III, have seized 14.738 kgs of suspected NDPS hydroponic weed (marijuana) valued at approximately Rs 14.73 crore during operations on Sunday. The seizures were made across Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMI), resulting in the arrest of one passenger, as stated in the press release. The passenger was arrested under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Based on specific intel, ...Read More >
Kerala is experiencing intensified monsoon rains, leading to flooding in Ernakulam, Idukki, and Thrissur districts. The IMD has issued an orange alert for seven districts, indicating the possibility of very heavy rainfall. In Wayanad, continuous rains caused the Chooralmala River to swell, raising concerns due to the area's history of deadly landslides. Monsoon rains intensified in Kerala on Thursday with some parts of Ernakulam, Idukki and Thrissur districts getting flooded and the India Meteor ...Read More >
Patna: Unlike most rivers in north Bihar, the Bagmati crossed the danger level at Benibad in Muzaffarpur district on Wednesday while the Falgu and North Koel rivers in south Bihar recorded an abnormal surge in discharge volumes, taking a threatening turn at several locations in the Magadh division.Farmers engaged in paddy transplantation, however, welcomed the recent rainfall. For the past fortnight, they had relied on electricity from agriculture feeders to run pumps for groundwater irrigation. ...Read More >
New Delhi/Bengaluru, Jul 9 (PTI) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who holds the irrigation portfolio, on Wednesday said that he has appealed for funds to the tune of Rs 11,122.76 crore for six irrigation projects in the state. Shivakumar met the Union Water Resources Minister, C R Patil, in Delhi. Also Read | Delhi-NCR Rains: Waterlogging and Traffic Disruptions in Several Areas As Sudden Spell of Heavy Rain Batters National Capital; IMD Issues Red Alert (Watch Video). In a statement, Shivakumar said he has requested funds for six irrigation projects, including Rs 804.66 cror ...Read More >