Author: Indmedia

Gandhinagar: With the aim of creating job opportunities and improving work conditions for women, the Gujarat govt on Tuesday passed a bill extending daily working hours and allowing women to work night shifts in shops and commercial establishments. The Gujarat Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, replaced an ordinance promulgated last year when the assembly was not in session.The bill, introduced by state labour, skill development and employment minister Kunvarji Bavaliya, was passed unanimously after members of both the ruling and opposition parties presented their views. The Congress extended its support to the…

Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has issued contempt notices to the district magistrate and the Superintendent of Police, Bareilly, for allegedly not permitting namaz inside the house of a petitioner.The order was passed by a division bench comprising Justices Atul Sreedharan and Siddhartha Nandan on a petition filed by one Tarik Khan of Bareilly.Khan alleged that despite a high court order permitting religious activities inside a person’s own premises, the respondent police authorities did not permit namaz inside his house in Bareilly on Jan 16.In its order, passed on Feb 12, the HC said, “Counsel for the state is requested…

Bhubaneswar: From Rs 1.8 lakh now to Rs 32 lakh by 2047. Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati on Tuesday underlined the govt’s aspiration to raise Odisha’s per capita income 17-fold and set out an aggressive roadmap centred on industrialisation, skilling and infrastructure expansion in his address to the assembly.Opening the budget session, the governor said the state aims to significantly improve living standards by cutting multidimensional poverty to 5% (from 15.68%), lifting female labour force participation from 44.7% to 70%, raising life expectancy from 70.3 years to beyond 80, and eliminating anaemia and malnutrition in line with national goals and global…

Gurgaon: Permanent elimination of road and soil dust is at the core of a roadmap to resolve the air crisis, according to an action plan, prepared by city residents. Road and soil dust, according to the plan, are the single largest contributor to particulate pollution. The action plan — prepared by a group of residents — has called for structural reforms that move beyond seasonal emergency responses and focus on “permanent emission reduction”. On Monday, Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) forwarded the proposal, which was submitted to it by Gurgaon Residents Against Pollution (GRAP), to the Haryana environment and…

Guwahati: BJP national president Nitin Nabin will visit the state on a two-day tour from Feb 18 to galvanise the moral and ideological commitment of party workers before the polls to the 126-member legislative assembly.Addressing a press conference at the party’s state headquarters here, BJP state spokesperson Kalyan Gogoi said Nabin will arrive at Mohanbari Airport in Dibrugarh on Feb 18.Modi & Macron Joint Presser, AI Summit Highlights, Great Nicobar Development Project And MoreGogoi added that Nabin will be accorded a grand and traditional welcome by nearly 2,000 party workers and cultural performers.“Upon reaching Khanikar Chariali, he will be received…

Belagavi: Women and Child Welfare minister Laxmi Hebbalkar inaugurated the ‘Akka Pade’ in Belagavi on Tuesday. She said women protection teams have existed under names like Channamma Pade, Obavva Pade and Durga Pade, and all these forces are now unified under Akka Pade to strengthen and expand safety measures for women and girls.Speaking after launching the Akka Pade at Kittur Channamma Circle on Tuesday, the minister said that Akka Pade is a symbol of women’s strength and self-respect and will soon be expanded to taluk level across the state. The mission of Akka Pade is to prevent violence against women…

Jhansi: A newly constructed overhead water tank under the Jal Jeevan Mission in village Nagardang, under Jaitpur block of Mahoba district in the Bundelkhand region, developed major cracks, causing huge water leakage. Villagers levelled serious charges of misappropriation of funds during the construction of the tank and now fear the threat of an accident if the tank crumples due to the poor quality of construction.According to locals, the tank was constructed in 2025 under the Jal Jeevan Mission and laid idle since then. Recently, after a verbal spat between Jal Shakti minister Swatantra Dev Singh and Charkhari MLA Brjbhushan Rajput…

Ludhiana: After a gap of more than a decade, the popular bullock cart races officially returned to the Kila Raipur Rural Games on Tuesday, drawing excitement from participants and spectators alike. The races were flagged off by Cabinet Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, marking their much-awaited restart.Khuddian, who was accompanied by MLA Jiwan Singh Sangowal and K N S Kang, underlined the cultural and historical significance of the races, calling them deeply rooted in Punjab’s rural traditions. He credited chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann with enabling the revival through the Punjab Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Punjab Amendment) Act, 2025, which…

Ghaziabad: A sessions court on Monday refused bail to a customer service associate-cum-cashier at the Patla branch of Punjab and Sind Bank, accused of embezzling Rs 67 lakh from customers’ accounts to another account linked to his mobile number.The branch manager of the bank, Himanshu Gupta, on July 4, 2025, noticed that Rs 2.5 lakh had been withdrawn from the accounts of two of his customers – Omkar and Ranbiri – through RTGS and deposited in an account belonging to one Tanushikha Bharti. When Gupta inquired, both customers said they had never visited the branch and transferred any amount. Upon…

Pune: Less than 500m from the towering Blue Ridge Township in Hinjewadi, a blue signboard set up by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) on the busy Maan Road cautions in Marathi: “Do not dump garbage or debris here. If you do so, action will be taken as per the law.”Behind this very sign, as if mocking the diktat, lies a sprawling, illegal dump — mounds of household waste, hotel garbage and construction debris piled high on an open plot. Over 12,000 residents of the township’s 4,800-odd flats, who have long waited for anyone — from politician to pollution…