Author: Indmedia

Bengaluru: Videos of a class 1 student falling into a drain below an under-construction footpath earlier this week came to fore Friday, reviving concerns about pedestrian safety amid ongoing road and footpath projects. The incident took place at Govindapura in north Bengaluru. The boy escaped without injury. Bengaluru North city corporation commissioner Pommala Sunil Kumar said the incident occurred on Feb 2 during works taken up under B-Smile as part of a high-density corridor project. “The incident did not come to our notice earlier, which is not a good thing. While the footpath has since been covered, that does not…

Hyderabad: A complete ban on social media for children below 16 years is the only effective way to curb the rising incidence of online child sexual exploitation, said Bhuwan Ribhu, founder of Just Rights for Children, on Thursday. He also called for regulated access for those aged 16 to 18 years.Ribhu was delivering the keynote address at Shield 2.0, an event on cybercrime awareness organised by the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau, with TOI as the official media partner.Hyderabad: Lawyer Murdered By Brother, ₹42L Lost In KBC Fraud, ₹2.85L Cr Farm Crisis Loss And MoreHis remarks come amid an international debate…

Madurai: The V O Chidambaranar (VOC) Port Authority in Tuticorin has signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) and Sagarmala Finance Corporation Ltd (SMFCL) to explore joint financing of up to ₹15,000 crore for its proposed Outer Harbour Project. The project includes construction of bunds and breakwaters, capital dredging, land reclamation, and related infrastructure under the Hybrid Annuity Model. Officials said the partnership will support financial structuring, funding identification, project execution, and capacity building to accelerate implementation.Separately, VOC Port also signed an MoU to become a partner in Bharat Container Shipping Line, a joint…

Gandhinagar: To address growing traffic-related challenges in Ahmedabad and Surat cities, the Gujarat govt has approved a proposal to set up an urban transport fund (UTF) under the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA).According to top sources, the decision was taken at the first meeting of UMTA chaired by the chief secretary. The principal secretary (urban development) and senior officials from Ahmedabad and Surat also attended the meeting in which traffic and public transport challenges were discussed.Sources close to the development said that in line with the National Urban Transport Policy, 2006, and the Metro Rail Policy, 2017, the state govt…

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to one Nazim Raja Khan, an accused in the Sept 2025 Bareilly violence case wherein a mob attacked a police team with bricks, stones and acid bottles.The order was passed by Justice Vivek Verma on Feb 2. During the court proceedings, the counsel for the applicant submited that the applicant was not named in the FIR and was falsely implicated in the present case. “As per the FIR, 28 named and 200-250 unknown people are mentioned in the report. The name of the applicant surfaced during the course of investigation. A vague…

Bhubaneswar: Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday wrote to external affairs minister S Jaishankar, seeking urgent intervention to trace and rescue Sarthak Mohapatra, a marine engineer from Odisha who went missing while onboard a container vessel near Mauritius.In his letter, Pradhan said Mohapatra was reported missing under unexplained circumstances from the vessel EA Jersey on the morning of Feb 3, while the ship was transiting about 135 nautical miles east of Mauritius.Bhubaneswar: Constable’s Suicide After ₹9L Transfer, 24 Places To Be Renamed, India-US Trade Boost And MoreDescribing the disappearance as “sudden and mysterious”, Pradhan urged Jaishankar to personally look…

Gurgaon: The city’s clean-air action plan will now be monitored through mandatory monthly reporting by all implementing agencies, with MCG commissioner Pradeep Dahiya on Friday directing departments to submit progress updates by the fifth of every month for onward reporting to Central Air Quality Management Commission (CAQM).The direction was issued at a coordination meeting of agencies involved in air-pollution control, including the traffic police, GMDA and Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), where officials reviewed implementation of measures aimed at cutting particulate pollution (PM10 and PM2.5 levels) by 10% by 2026. Officials from GMCBL, HSVP, PWD and NHAI were also…

Aizawl: Mizoram legislative assembly’s business advisory committee (BAC) may defer the presentation of the state’s annual budget for 2026-2027, originally scheduled for Feb19. CM Lalduhoma, who also holds the finance portfolio, has indicated that he may not be ready to present the budget on the allotted date, assembly speaker Lalbiakzama said.“The house leader has conveyed that preparations are still underway. The BAC may meet again to revise the calendar of the upcoming budget session as desired by the CM,” Lalbiakzama told TOI.Islamabad Suicide Blast, Bangladesh Crisis, RBI’s Fraud Compensation And MoreAssembly secretariat officials confirmed that the BAC will reconvene on…

Belagavi: Women and child welfare minister Laxmi Hebbalkar said the work on solar power project was stopped in Badal Ankalagi village following the illegal cutting of trees. Meanwhile, BJP workers and various farmer organisations staged a protest on the premises of DCF office, seeking action against the culprits involved in tree felling.The minister, on Friday said the cutting of trees for solar power generation under the PM KUSUM scheme was stopped for the time being. A case was registered against a person for burning the trees. The govt land was used for a govt project in coordination with the revenue…

Mangaluru: Parishioners of Immaculate Conception Church, Kinnigoli, have handwritten the New Testament of the Holy Bible. Thirteen parishioners completed the New Testament, and two children wrote the four Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The parish is about 27km from Mangaluru.The effort began after parish priest Fr Joachim Fernandes urged parishioners during the Gospel Week. “It was last Jan, during Gospel Week, I gave a call to parishioners to handwrite the Holy Bible. It was a voluntary effort. Similar initiatives are quite familiar in Kerala, and I first tried it when I was the parish priest of Kelarai near…