Breaking News, July 25 | HIGHLIGHTS

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has directed the Special Commissioner of Transport to conduct an inquiry into recent accidents involving Delhi government buses. The investigation aims to identify the causes of these incidents and propose measures to prevent future occurrences. The report is expected within seven days.

Farmers in Mathura district have launched a major protest against what they claim are unjust demolitions of their property. The demonstrations have escalated, with farmers threatening to blockade the Yamuna Expressway if their demands are not met.

A fire erupted in the Kanakia Samarpan Tower, located opposite Magathane Metro station in Borivali East, Mumbai at 12:37 PM. The fire was reported by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB). READ MORE...

Maharashtra deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday took stock of the flooding situation in Mumbai, Thane and Pune cities which are receiving extremely heavy rains. Pawar visited the state disaster management department at the government headquarters `Mantralaya' here and instructed officials in the affected cities to mobilise all necessary resources and relocate people to safer areas.

 Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Thursday visited forward areas along the Line of Control in Kashmir valley to review the preparedness of the forces involved in counter-infiltration and counter-terror operations, officials said. The Chief of Army Staff later left for Kargil to take part in the silver jubilee celebrations of Kargil Vijay Diwas.

The DMRC booked more than 1,600 people for creating nuisance, including making reels, on the metro premises during April to June, a rise of three per cent from the corresponding year-ago period, officials said. A senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official said the separate calculation for passengers penalised only for making reels, however, was not available.

The government on Thursday extended the deadline for submission of public comments on draft guidelines to curb unsolicited business communications like promotional calls and text messages to August 8. The food and consumer affairs ministry in a statement said that the extension was granted in view of requests received from various federations, associations and other stakeholders. The earlier deadline was July 21.

 Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Thursday demanded the scrapping of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test and reinstatement of the "old system" of medical admissions. Several opposition parties have slammed the BJP-led central government over alleged irregularities in the medical entrance examination NEET. 

"The irregularities in the All-India NEET-UG Medical Examination is a serious issue and has reached Parliament and the Supreme Court. Whatever be the result, the pain and mental agony caused to lakhs of candidates and their families will always haunt them," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said on X.

The Rajasthan government will organise pilgrimages for 36,000 senior citizens, Devasthan Minister Joraram Kumawat told the assembly. He was responding to a debate on the grant demand of the Devasthan department in the assembly late on Wednesday. After the discussion, the House passed a grant demand of Rs 85.22 crore by voice vote. The minister said 2,999 senior citizens had benefited from the operation of four trains for the darshan of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Former Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA Udaybhan Karwariya, sentenced to life in prison for the 1996 murder of a Samajwadi Party legislator, was released from prison on Thursday following his pardon by Governor Anandiben Patel. Naini Central Jail senior superintendent Rang Bahadur Patel told media, "The release orders of Udaybhan Karwariya were received on Wednesday evening. Acting on the order, he was released on Thursday morning."

The Mangaluru Municipal Corporation has said street hawkers will be dealt with strictly again, following increasing complaints about them in areas like Kankanadi, Bejai, Attavar and Mannagudda, causing inconvenience to pedestrians. The action, called 'Operation Tiger' has been kicked in force in the past too, whenever street vendors' issues escalate in the city. It will resume on July 29.

A fresh batch of more than 3,000 pilgrims on Thursday left Jammu for the twin basecamps of the Amarnath cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas. More than 4.25 lakh pilgrims have already paid obeisance at the naturally-formed ice lingam at the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine, as compared to over 4.5 lakh last year. The 28th batch of 3,089 pilgrims left the Bhagwati Nagar base camp here at 3.23 am in 106 vehicles under Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) escort.

BJP MLA from Jewar Dhirendra Singh has written to the Chief Executive Officers of the Noida, Greater Noida, and Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development authorities, proposing the creation of a dedicated web portal to help the children of farmers find employment in the industrial sector. The three authorities, which function under the Industrial Development Ministry of the Uttar Pradesh government, manage the development, acquisition and allotment of land in Gautam Buddh Nagar district.

Police have apprehended a man in connection with the murder of a history-sheeter inside a spa in Worli area of Mumbai, officials said. The crime branch of the Mumbai police apprehended the 26-year-old accused from Nalasopara in neighbouring Palghar district late Wednesday night, hours after the murder, an official said.
Guru Waghmare, 52, was murdered inside the spa by two unidentified persons in the early hours of Wednesday. 

The Assam government has set up a new centre to facilitate submissions for people listed in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) who have not received Aadhaar cards due to biometric discrepancies. According to an official release on Wednesday, the new centre with four receiving counters will operate at Dak Bungalow, near the DC Office, to address this issue from July 25. People included in the NRC but lacking Aadhaar due to biometric issues are encouraged to visit the centre starting at 10 am to submit their claims, the statement added.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has expressed his gratitude to the Union government for allocating Rs 14,738 crore to enhance railway facilities in the state.  The Chief Minister said that more than 80 railway stations in Western Central Railway (Zone) are currently underway, for which, the Union government has already sanctioned an amount of Rs 81,000 crore.

Welcoming the abolition of angel tax by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her annual budget presentations, a top Silicon Valley entrepreneur and venture capitalist on Wednesday described it as a phenomenal move that will increase the activity of angel investing in the India-US corridor. “I think that (abolition of angel tax) is definitely a great first step and one would have not expected anything less than Finance Minister (Nirmala) Sitharaman’s move. She always seems to be so in tune with what is important for the country, with what is important to fuel the growth,” TiE Silicon Valley president Anita Manwani told news agency PTI in an interview.

The Indian Railway has planned to extend the railway connectivity to the border areas of the North Eastern region as well as internally connect Imphal, Aizawl, and Kohima in the coming years, thereby reducing travel time to the region. Sabyasachi De, CPRO of Northeast Frontier Railway (NF Railway), told the media that there are lots of future railway projects in the North Eastern region.

An electric transformer in Pun's Indrayani Nagar area of Pimpri Chinchwad city caught fire, causing alarm among local residents. The incident, which occurred around midnight, prompted a swift response from the Pimpri Chinchwad Fire Department. Firefighters arrived at the scene shortly after the fire was reported and worked diligently to control and extinguish the flames. Their prompt and efficient efforts ensured that the fire did not spread to nearby structures or cause further damage. No injuries or casualties have been reported as a result of the incident. The fire department has confirmed that the situation is now under control, and the area has been declared safe.