Browsing: India

Nagpur: Forest minister Ganesh Naik on Tuesday approved a Rs260 crore action plan to prevent human-wildlife conflict in Maharashtra, including AI-based alert systems in 1,000 villages near forest areas and 10 control rooms across the state to track wildlife movement and coordinate emergency response.The decisions were taken at a meeting of the standing committee of the State Wildlife Board, chaired by Naik at Mantralaya. It was decided that the measures would be implemented immediately to prevent attacks on humans and damage to crops.Under the plan, 10 control rooms modelled on police control rooms will be set up across the state,…

Kolkata: The process for implementing the state’s new Annapurna Yojana would begin on Wednesday, with application forms being set to be released both online and offline, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari announced on Tuesday.After an administrative review meeting in Kalyani, the CM said the govt had initiated the process of converting the existing Lakshmir Bhandar scheme into Annapurna Yojana. Allaying apprehension among women, who used to get previous govt’s Lakshmir Bhandar aid, he said the existing beneficiaries would continue to get Lakshmir Bhandar payments until the transition to Annapurna Yojana. “Like we are continuing Swasthya Sathi until its conversion to Ayushman…

France is facing another major abuse scandal after the Gisèle Pelicot case, but this time involving children in educational institutions across Paris.More than 100 allegations of mistreatment, physical violence and sexual abuse involving children as young as three have surfaced from nurseries, primary schools and daycare centres.The allegations reportedly include cases of sexual assault and rape, as well as physical abuse during lunch breaks, nap times and after-school activities. Authorities are continuing investigations as scrutiny over child safety in Paris schools intensifies.Defendant accused of abusing children during school supervisionThe 36-year-old defendant, whose identity has not been publicly disclosed, is accused…

Victim Sandhya Jain (56) and CCTV footage snip of culprit biker (R) NAVI MUMBAI: A Navi Mumbai based journalist Sandhya Jain (56), who writes on women’s rights and safety, was badly injured in a hit-and-run accident recently on the Palm Beach Road, as a speeding motorcyclist jumped a red signal to crash straight into her scooty.Shockingly, the culprit biker has not been caught due to “poor CCTV camera quality” as the registered number plate of the motorcycle could not be captured on camera on the city’s landmark road stretch.For the past nine days, Jain has been lying at Apollo Hospital…

Senior officers reached the spot and cordoned off the area NEW DELHI: A 17-year-old boy is battling for life after being shot in the head during a brazen attack at a market in southeast Delhi’s Amar Colony on Tuesday night, police said.According to a senior officer, the Class XII student was eating with a female friend when a group of youths brushed against his chair, and one of them stared at them, prompting an objection. The youths left, with one of them saying, “koi baat nahi” (never mind), but returned five minutes later and opened fire at close range. Police…

India’s first indigenous super pressure balloon, developed by Red Balloon Aerospace, has successfully launched from Vijayawada HYDERABAD: Near space startup Red Balloon Aerospace, which was founded by former Skyroot Aerospace executives, successfully launched India’s first indigenous super pressure balloon at Vijayawada on Wednesday.The Vijayawada-based startup, which recently conducted tethered trials of its super pressure balloon, plans to set a new national endurance benchmark with its maiden balloon flight by keeping the balloon airborne for up to 24 hours in the stratosphere, between 20 and 40 km above Earth, a layer that is beyond the reach of conventional aircraft and below…

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai has publicly opposed the Centre’s three-language policy CHENNAI: Former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai Tuesday came out against his own party-headed government at the Centre on the issue of threelanguage policy, demanding that the CBSE withdraw its recent notification for schools.In a post on X, Annamalai said the May 15 notification violated the previous notices on the policy. “In April 2026, it was explicitly mentioned the third language for class IX children studying in CBSE schools will be made compulsory only from the academic year 2029-30, which is three years from now. On…

In Gujarat, cooperative sugar societies have ensured that farmers receive maximum benefits not only from sugar production but also from the income generated through various by-products such as molasses, ethanol, and power generation through co-generation Gandhinagar: In a major relief to the state’s agriculture sector, the Gujarat govt has officially approved the sugarcane prices paid by cooperative societies to farmers between 2007-08 and 2014-15. The retrospective approval effectively wipes out a looming income tax (I-T) burden of Rs 1,500 crore on these cooperatives.Providing information on the background of this decision, state cooperation minister Jitu Vaghani said that sugar societies across…

Cuttack: Md Abdur Raheman spent more than 10 years in jail for being a terrorist. The 47-year-old resident of Paschimkachha village in Cuttack district, who ran a madrasa, can now walk free after a sessions court in Cuttack On Tuesday acquitted him of all charges, holding that the prosecution had failed to produce convincing evidence linking him to terrorist activities or anti-national acts.Raheman was arrested in Dec 2015 by a joint team of Delhi and Odisha police following intelligence inputs alleging his involvement in radicalisation and recruitment of youths for extremist organisations. He was booked under UAPA and was also…

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Guwahati: State govt has set up a price-monitoring mechanism and no significant increase in prices of essential commodities has been observed so far, said CM Himanta Biswa Sarma.However, Sarma added that he does not want to rule out any the possibility of an impact due to fuel price increase in the coming days.Replying to the “Motion of Thanks to the Governor’s Address” in the assembly on Tuesday, the CM said, “In view of the ongoing West Asia conflict, we have taken certain austerity measures already. We will bring in more such measures in the…