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.
Kolkata: The Election Commission has found 3.4 crore names of voters that match the 2002 SIR list. This indicates that 44.7% of Bengal's 7.6 crore voters, according to the 2025 electoral rolls, match the 2002 data. The EC has received from seven electoral districts: Jhargram (51.3%), Alipurduar (53.7%), Malda (54.4%), Kolkata North (55.3%), Purulia (61.2%), West Midnapore (62.9%), and Kalimpong (65.2%). However, EC officials describe this as tentative data, stating that further filtration is needed. EC have requested most districts to submit their data by Oct 16. Some districts, however, have requested additional time. With districts like Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling still reeling under the effects of flood, officers hope data would be received by Oct 19.Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal said that the data from 2002 SIR for Kulpi assembly was unavailable, and EC had to use the data from the 2003 draft roll.
New Delhi [India], February 7 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved the order on an application moved by Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid seeking custody parole to attend ongoing parliament session amidst jurisdictional row. However, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), while opposing the custody parole, stated that Rashid Engineer does not need to respond to any questions. They emphasized that this request is generic and pointed out that Engineer has no speech to deliver. Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra appeared for NIA also argued that taking an oath and campaigning are separate m ...Read More >
Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday said that concerted efforts would be made to increase green cover in the state from current 30.05 per cent to 50 per cent by 2047 when India would celebrate its centenary year of Independence. Addressing the Vana Mahotsavam event on the World Environment Day at Ananthavaram village in Thullur mandal near here, the Chief Minister said: "Currently, Andhra Pradesh has 37,421 sq km of forest area, accounting for 23 per cent of the total area in the State. When we add greenery outside forests, the state's green cover stands at 30.05 per ce ...Read More >
VIJAYAWADA/GUNTUR : Governor S Abdul Nazeer has planted a Sapota (Sapodilla) sapling in the Raj Bhavan lawns here on World Environment Day, on Thursday. Governor Nazeer participated in the sapling plantation programme under the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' initiative, coinciding with World Environment Day. Speaking on the occasion, the Governor said, "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is an effort to show our respect and dedication towards our motherland and nature. The Governor said this campaign aims to plant a tree in the name of a mother and create a lasting memory, ...Read More >
The Election Commission introduces new rules for voter enrollment. Voters enrolled after 2003-04 must now provide proof of citizenship. This includes a self-attested declaration and supporting documents. The move aims to remove illegal immigrants from the electoral roll. Bihar will be the first state to implement the special intensive revision. Other states will follow soon.In a move to identify and remove illegal immigrants wrongly included in the electoral rolls, the Election Commission has man ...Read More >
Kolkata, Jun 28 (PTI) Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said the Centre is committed to investing in the railway sector in West Bengal and has significantly increased allocations as part of its broader push to boost connectivity, cargo movement and support micro and small enterprises in the state. Speaking at the inauguration of the Udyami Sammelan Mela 2025 at the National Library in Kolkata, Vaishnaw said the railway budget for Bengal has seen a sharp rise from around Rs 3,000 crore under the previous regime to around Rs 14,000 crore now. The minister outlined upcoming projects, ...Read More >
Hardik Pandya played an excellent knock of 69 runs in 30 balls to lead Baroda to a three-wicket win over Tamil Nadu in a high-scoring Group B match at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Wednesday. Hardik's innings included four 4s and seven 6s. Out of those seven sixes, four came in the 17th over bowled by left-arm pacer Gurjapneet Singh. Chasing a stiff total of 222, Baroda was at 121 for 4 when Hardik came out to bat after the dismissal of his elder brother Krunal. The equation came down to 66 needed off 24 balls when Gurjapneet, a 6'3" seamer bought for Rs 2.2 crore by five-time Indian Prem ...Read More >
The financial repercussions of Parliament disruptions are considerable, impacting both public resources and the productivity of the nation's legislative process. However, both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have cumulatively functioned for merely 2 hours, with daily disruptions and sloganeering resulting in adjournments. The Rajya Sabha faced disruptions today (December 2) as Vice Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar expressed discontent over sloganeering by Opposition MPs. The protests, which centered around demands for discussions on key issues, forced the Vice Chairman to adjourn the session until 12 ...Read More >
Bhubaneswar, Dec 3 (PTI) Odisha MLAs across party lines on Tuesday demanded an increase in their salaries and enhanced pensions for former lawmakers. The issue was raised during Zero Hour by Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik, supported by members from both Congress and BJP. Mallik emphasised the need to increase the pension of former MLAs, saying they were struggling to manage due to rising market prices and medical expenses. She pointed out that a committee formed by the previous government had already submitted a report recommending an increase in the salary of MLAs to Rs 2.5 lakh per ...Read More >
Ludhiana, Jun 8 (PTI) Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Sunday asserted that his party will win the Ludhiana West assembly bypoll, scheduled to be held on june 19, with a "record margin". "Congress practically has no competition here", he claimed. Warring, who is also the Ludhiana MP, said that the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was badly mistaken that the Congress would allow it to abuse power and misuse the official machinery for the elections. "First of all, we will not let any misuse of the official machinery and second, in case any official is found to be misusing ...Read More >
Kolkata, Jun 27 (PTI) The IMD on Friday forecast heavy to very rainfall in some districts of West Bengal, owing to a low-pressure area that is likely to form over north Bay of Bengal and adjoining coastal areas of the state. Heavy rainfall is likely in the south Bengal districts of North 24 Parganas, Purulia, East and West Bardhaman, Jhargram, Bankura and Hooghly till July 1, it said in a bulletin. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast very heavy rainfall in South 24 Parganas on June 29, and in East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Jhargram, Bankura and Hooghly on June 30. The sub-Hi ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: The government on Saturday extended the term of the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Ravi Agrawal by one year, an official notification said.The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the re-appointment of Agrawal, an IRS officer of the 1988 batch, as CBDT chairman for one year from July 1 this year to June 30, 2026, on contract basis.Agrawal took over as the CBDT chairman from Nitin Gupta in June 2024 after Gupta's extended tenure ended. Agrawal has been a member of CBDT. He was member administration and had served as DG investigation in Delhi. The gover ...Read More >
Kolkata: A two-member National Commission for Women team on Sunday visited the south Kolkata law college where a student was allegedly gang-raped last week.The team, accompanied by a videographer, was initially denied entry and asked to produce a formal order. After an hour-long discussion at the college entrance, the team, led by Archana Majumdar, was allowed in under two conditions -- no access to the crime scene and no videography permitted.The visit lasted 10 minutes. "We were denied access to the crime scene and other floors. I will include this in my report," said Majumdar, who was the f ...Read More >
Alipurduar, May 29 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday laid the foundation of a Rs 1,010 crore City Gas Distribution Project in West Bengal's northern district of Alipurduar and said that the state's development is key to India's future. The project aims to supply Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to 2.5 lakh households, over 100 commercial establishments, and establish 19 CNG stations. "The City gas distribution project in Alipurduar is our commitment to strengthening the region's clean energy infrastructure," Modi said at the outset. "Bengal's development is key to India's future," Modi ...Read More >
Andhra Pradesh government launched a massive greening campaign on World Environment Day, initiating "Vana Mahotsav" and an "End Plastic Pollution" drive. The goal is to increase the state's green cover from 29 to 50 percent by planting one crore saplings statewide. The initiative includes advanced monitoring and aims to achieve 37 percent green cover by 2029.The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday launched a massive greening campaign to mark World Environment Day, aiming to increase the state's ...Read More >
Hyderabad: The Union government announced on June 4 that it will conduct the long-pending nationwide census, starting on March 1, 2027, as the reference point. It is one of the most ambitious exercises undertaken by any democracy, as the nation's population according to the 2011 census was 121 crore (1.21 billion). Though it was supposed to be done in 2021, COVID caused a delay that extended to 6 years. The 2027 census would also take into account caste, an issue that has been politically contentious. Census is not just about counting people. It's about understanding who we are as a nation -- ...Read More >
Srinagar- Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said foreign countries were told clearly during the post-Operation Sindoor diplomatic outreach that in case of a fresh provocation, India would repeat its action. Speaking at a discussion at the Ahmedabad Management Association, Tharoor said Indian delegations which visited foreign countries in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor managed to convey that India acted with restraint and responsibility. "In other places, we actually were able to get some very high-placed people to say not only that they respected and supported India's right of self- ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: Former head of Air India and chairman of the Railway Board Ashwani Lohani is the new Prime Ministers Museum and Library (PMML) director. The official order for his appointment was issued on Wednesday. A 1980-batch officer of the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineering (IRSME), Lohani is known for turning around various organisations during his illustrious career. Following his retirement from IRSME service, he joined the GMR Group as the CEO. According to the order dated June 4, his appointment to the post of director, Prime Ministers Museum and Library in the rank and pa ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 7 (PTI) Rahul Gandhi claimed on Saturday that the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections were a "blueprint for rigging democracy", drawing rebuke from BJP president J P Nadda, who accused the Congress leader of "cooking up bizarre conspiracies" in his desperation after losing a series of elections. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha alleged in an article in the Indian Express that this poll "match-fixing" would next happen in the Bihar elections and "anywhere the BJP is losing". In a post on X, he said, "My article shows how this happened, step by step: Step 1: Rig the ...Read More >
New Delhi: Alleging "blatant misuse" of agencies to defame its leaders, AAP on Thursday questioned why the first information report filed against former Delhi ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Satyendar Jain was being kept under wraps and "selective" press notes were being leaked to the media.Bharadwaj, who is Delhi AAP convener, alleged that only two former ministers were named in the case without any reasonable cause while all the officers of the health and public works departments, who were actually responsible for executing the hospital projects, were spared. "Is the FIR so baseless that BJP ...Read More >
Digha: A day after Rath Yatra, the festive fervour continues in Digha as the seaside town is now gearing up to host Ulta Rath or the return journey of the deities from the 'Masir Bari' or the old Jagannath temple. On July 5 -- the Ulta Rath day -- hotels are hoping for fresh tourist influx. Though the deities are currently in Masir Bari, a large queue of devotees visited the newly-constructed Jagannath temple on Saturday. They offered prayers to the stone idol permanently installed there. It is the wooden idols of Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra that have taken the chairot rides. Bipradash Cha ...Read More >
DHARMAPURI: For the third time in the past two months, a wild leopard wandered into a private farmland near Valaithottam village near Palacode and hunted chicken raised by a local farmer. Locals are increasingly distressed and urged the forest department to take steps to relocate the leopard. Over the past few months, there have been several reports of leopard sightings in forest areas near Palacode, particularly in Valaithottam village, near the forest's fringe. There have been two instances when the leopard attacked farmlands, taking away a domestic dog and a chicken. On Saturday, the leop ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jun 30 (PTI) Amid protests by opposition parties, the Election Commission on Monday said the special intensive revision is needed as the electoral roll keeps changing due to a variety of reasons and the Constitution mandates it to ensure that only eligible citizens are part of the voters' list and those not, do not get to vote. Several opposition parties have said that the intensive revision carries the risk of willful exclusion of voters using the state machinery. In a statement, the poll panel said the revision of electoral rolls is must as it is a dynamic list which keeps chang ...Read More >
BHUBANESWAR : Unable to regulate retail price of the potato even after normal flow of the tuber from West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, the state government has decided to provide the kitchen essential to consumers at a subsidised rate through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED). In the first phase of its market intervention initiative, the state government has procured 60 tonnes of potato from Uttar Pradesh through NAFED and the same will be available ...Read More >
A severe cold wave, comparable to the intensity of summer heat, is expected to sweep across West Bengal. How long will these frigid conditions persist? A severe winter is approaching, with temperatures expected to drop sharply across West Bengal. The Meteorological Department has forecast a cold wave from December 13 to 15, marking the onset of intense winter conditions. Dry weather is likely to persist until December 18, accompanied by northerly winds sweeping across the state. Light fog is ex ...Read More >
Silchar: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday visited the flood-ravaged districts of Hailakandi and Sribhumi in the Barak Valley. He assured affected residents of providing timely disbursement of rehabilitation grants and swift repair of damaged infrastructure.This marks Sarma's second visit to the flood-hit region within four days, underscoring the gravity of the situation. Speaking to the media in Sribhumi after inspecting multiple relief camps, the CM said, "Flood-related problems may persist till July. I will return before Durga Puja to ensure that roads and infrastructure ar ...Read More >
New Delhi, June 7 (SocialNews.XYZ) Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has launched a stinging attack on the BJP, alleging that the party "match-fixed" the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections to secure a victory through large-scale electoral rigging. Taking to X, LoP Gandhi posted, "How to steal an election? Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2024 were a blueprint for rigging democracy." In a sharply-worded opinion piece published in a national daily, Gandhi laid out what he termed a "step-by-step playbook" used by the BJP to undermine the democratic process in Maharash ...Read More >
PATNA: The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday said all activities related to special intensive revision (SIR) of the voters' list were progressing as per schedule. The EC's contention came a day after RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav asked whether it was possible to develop the voters' list for 8 crore people within 25 days. An EC statement said SIR has already started successfully in Bihar for verifying the eligibility of each elector with full participation of all political parties. "Out of the existing 7,89,69,844 electors, 4.96 crore electors, whose names are already in the last intensive rev ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram: Ravada A Chandrasekhar took charge as the new State Police Chief on Tuesday. He succeeds Shaik Darvesh Saheb, who retired on June 30. His tenure will run until July 1, 2027. A 1991-batch IPS officer currently serving as Special Director with the Intelligence Bureau, Chandrasekhar is on central deputation. He was selected over Nitin Agarwal, who topped the official list of probables. The appointment order, issued by Kerala Chief Secretary Dr A Jayathilak on behalf of the Governor, was released soon after a cabinet meeting held on Monday. Hailing from Andhra Pradesh's Godav ...Read More >
Kolkata: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at multiple locations in West Bengal in connection with irregularities in the medical admissions in the state under the non-resident Indian (NRI) quota. The irregularities in medical admissions come after a major recruitment scam in Bengal in 2022, where former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and his close aide were arrested. The raids and search operations were conducted in multiple locations in the state. ED reportedly started the investigation based on a complaint filed in the Electronic Complex Police Station under Bidhannagar ...Read More >
Ranchi, Feb 5 (PTI) The Hemant Soren government on Wednesday said the state has received investment proposals to the tune of Rs 26,000 crore, having the potential of generating 15,000 jobs, during 'Advantage Jharkhand' programme held as part of Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) in Kolkata. Soren, along with his wife and MLA Kalpana, attended the eighth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) at the invitation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. "Investors have come up with investment proposals to the tune of Rs 26,000 crore in Jharkhand during 'Advantage Jharkhand' ...Read More >