Jharkhand Elections: Home Minister Amit Shah Addresses Rally in Giridih

A total of 7.45 lakh civil servants participated in the national learning week and completed different programmes on professional development, according to a statement issued by the personnel ministry on Thursday.

These details were shared at an event on the culmination of the "Karmayogi Saptah" (national learning week).

Presiding over the function, Union minister Jitendra Singh said the initiative is aligned with "our national goals, fostering a unified 'One Government' approach".

It is about ensuring that each civil servant is better equipped to serve the country and contribute to the realisation of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India), the minister of state for personnel said at the "Karmayogi Saptah" valedictory ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan here.

He emphasised that the "Karmayogi Saptah" was conceptualised to drive forward the vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047, empowering civil servants to enhance their competencies, work collaboratively and innovate.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 19, the "Karmayogi Saptah" received an extraordinary response, with a collective commitment from all ministries, departments and civil service training institutes.

Agreeing to the demands of aspirants after protests, the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) on Thursday postponed the Review Officer and Assistant Review Officer exams, and announced that it will hold the Provincial Civil Services (PCS) Preliminary Exam-2024 on the old pattern in a single day.

The Commission also announced that it will form a committee on Review Officer (RO) and Assistant Review Officer (ARO) exams to ensure its transparency and fairness.

While the announcement of conducting the PCS preliminary exam on a single day brought happiness to some candidates, those preparing for the RO and ARO exams appeared a bit disappointed. The protesters said they will continue the agitation till a decision is taken on the RO and ARO exams.

On the directives of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the UPPSC has decided to postpone the RO and ARO exams and hold the PCS preliminary exam on the old pattern, Commission Secretary Ashok Kumar said here outside the UPPSC office.

The committee for the RO and ARO exams will study all the aspects in detail and submit its report soon so that the purity and credibility of these examinations can be ensured, he said.

Kumar said in view of the incidents of paper leaks in many parts of the country in recent months, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to ensure the purity and transparency of the selection examinations.

For this reason, the Commission had announced to conduct the proposed PCS and RO/ARO examinations in multiple shifts in December.

However, after the demand of the students and the intervention of the chief minister, now the PCS Preliminary Examination will be held on a single day. This decision will bring great relief to lakhs of students who are preparing for this exam, a government spokesperson said.

"Conducting the exam on a single day will give the students confidence in transparency and fairness in the examination process. Also, the report of the committee constituted by the Commission will further strengthen the integrity of future examinations.

A joint committee of three institutions that come under the Ministry of Petroleum is investigating the recent fire and explosion at the Indian Oil Corporation refinery here and is expected to submit its report next week, officials said here on Thursday.

Eight workers were injured in the fire and explosion that took place on Tuesday in the atmospheric vacuum unit of the main plant that was being restarted after a month-and-a-half shutdown for maintenance work.

"The joint committee from the Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD), Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), and the refinery headquarters is investigating the cause of the explosion and fire. The report is likely to be submitted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas by next week," refinery spokesperson Renu Pathak said.

The OISD operates as a self-regulatory agency to enhance safety measures in India's oil and gas sector, while PESO is the nodal agency regulating the safety of hazardous substances such as explosives, compressed gas and petroleum products.

Pathak said the condition of the injured workers is improving steadily.

Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday said soybean will be purchased even if moisture content is 15 per cent.

Campaigning in Nagpur South West seat for Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, he said farmers must not worry.

When the soybean price came down the government immediately increased import duty on palm oil from zero to 27.5 per cent, Chouhan pointed out.

"I want to tell farmers that soybean will be taken at the procurement centre even if moisture is 15 per cent against earlier limit of 12 per cent," he said.

Chouhan also said the Union government had given relief to onion farmers.

The people of Maharashtra must not allow the Maha Vikas Aghadi to come to power as the alliance will destroy the state, he claimed.

The MVA is not "gatbandhan" (alliance) but "thugbandhan" (alliance of cheats), he added.

The condition of Shiv Sena (UBT) Uddhav Thackeray is such that he is "neither here nor there" after breaking his alliance with the BJP in 2019 and joining hands with the Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP), Chouhan claimed.

"He has committed the sin of troubling Balasaheb Thackeray in heaven," he claimed.

The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that challenged the ongoing Maiyan Samman Yojana, a scheme launched by the Hemant Soren government earlier this year.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice MS Ramchandra Rao and Justice Deepak Roushan was hearing the PIL filed by one Vishnu Sahu, who argued that the scheme, which provides Rs 12,000 annually to women between the ages of 21 and 50 years, was aimed at luring voters ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

Justice Rao, while rejecting the petition, stated that the court would not interfere with the state government's policy decision, as the scheme was aimed at providing financial support to women in need.

The scheme was later revised, relaxing the age criteria to make women above 18 years eligible for benefits.

According to the scheme, women who meet certain qualifying parameters will receive Rs 1,000 every month, credited directly to their bank accounts. The bank account is required to be linked with the Aadhaar card of the beneficiary. Only such women whose family do not come in the minimum income tax bracket will be eligible for the scheme.

Delhi CM Atishi tweets, "Due to rising pollution levels, all primary schools in Delhi will be shifting to online classes, until further directions."

Delhi recorded its second-lowest daytime temperature of the season so far at 29.4 degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperature was recorded a notch above normal, with the mercury touching 27.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, the lowest maximum temperature of this winter season so far, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Visibility was recorded at 200 metres at both Safdarjung and Palam at 5:30 am and 8:30 am respectively.

The weather office has forecast a largely clear sky for Friday, with surface winds expected to predominantly blow from the northwest at a speed of less than 8 kilometres per hour in the morning.

Smog or moderate to dense fog is expected at a few places in the morning. The wind speed will increase thereafter, reaching up to 12 kmph from the northwest in the afternoon. 

 Delhi witnessed cold, breezy winds across the city on Thursday evening, accompanied by a thick layer of fog that lowered visibility and added a chill to the air. 

Thirteen-year-old Maira said the smog is overwhelming on her way to school. "It’s really sad to see Delhi like this. It was supposed to be green, but now it's grey," said the teenager who accompanied a citizen action group that submitted a letter on pollution to the Union Health Ministry on Thursday.

"We have to sit in class the whole day, and we can't even go out to play," she said.

On Children’s Day, ‘Warrior Moms’, a network of mothers demanding clean air and climate action in cities, visited Nirman Bhawan and submitted a memorandum and a copy of their survey on respiratory issues among children to Health Minister JP Nadda.

Delhi air quality plummets to alarming levels every year in the winter. On Thursday, after the air quality in the capital remained in the "severe" category for a second consecutive day, authorities imposed the third stage of GRAP.

Purnima Ranganath, one of the mothers, said that even though air pollution is a serious health issue, it is being ignored. "That’s why we are here to request the health minister to take a firm stand and hold those responsible for this public health crisis accountable," she said.

GRAP-III imposed In Delhi starting tomorrow at 8 AM amid ‘severe’ air quality.  

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday granted bail to former Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki but rejected his plea seeking stay on conviction in a 2022 case of setting a house on fire in Kanpur.

A bench of Justices Rajiv Gupta and Surendra Singh also dismissed the appeal of the state government seeking enhancement of sentence.

Solanki had lost his membership of state assembly after a special court in Kanpur on June 7, 2024 sentenced him and four others to seven years of rigourous imprisonment for setting a woman's house on fire in Jajmau area.

Solanki was MLA from Sishamau assembly seat in Kanpur.

Meanwhile, his wife Naseem Solanki, who has been fielded by the Samajwadi Party for the November 20 bypoll to Sishamau assembly seat, welcomed the high court's decision.

Talking to PTI over phone, Naseem Solanki said the order has increased the family's hope for justice and made it clear that her husband is "innocent". "The decision of the high court is completely accepted." On the high court not accepting the plea to stay the sentence, she said, "We will move the Supreme Court to get the sentence stayed." "Whenever I meet people to seek votes, they say that my husband is innocent and the high court's decision has also put its seal that Irfan is innocent," Naseem Solanki said.

Delhi court accepts bail bond, issues release order for AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in Waqf Board case.

The Kirti Kisan Union, a farmers' organisation, Thursday donated Rs 5 lakh for the people of Palestine through its mission here as a humanitarian aid and expressing solidarity with the people there facing difficult times due to the ongoing conflict.

A delegation of the union met Palestine ambassador to India Abed Elrazeg Abu Jazer at the Palestinian embassy here and donated the money, a release from the organisation said.

The union has raised its voice in favour of a permanent truce in West Asia and also demanded that the United Nations find a sustainable solution to the Palestine issue.

The Kirti Kisan Union delegation included President Nirbhai Singh Dhudike, General Secretary Rajinder Singh Deep Singh Wala, Press Secretary Raminder Singh Patiala, Vice President Jatinder Singh Chhina and Treasurer Jaswinder Singh Jhabelwali.

Addressing a press conference later, they alleged that the most "terrible genocide" in the history of human civilisation was being carried out by Israel under the "incitement" of major powers like the US in which thousands of people have lost their lives so far.

"We condemned what it described as the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel," the union's president said and labelled it a "dark chapter in the history of human civilisation".   The images of children, the elderly and women and the ruins tell a tale of heart-wrenching atrocities, the leaders said, adding that the people have been deprived of basic necessities like food, water, electricity and medicine.

UP govt agrees to conduct UPPSC in single shift 

The Delhi government has assured that by tomorrow the Air Quality in the national capital will be better. 

The Delhi government will not be imposing the third phase of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP-III) in the national capital, said environment minister Gopal Rai in anticipation of improved air quality tomorrow. 

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, upon returning from Wayanad to Delhi, said entering the capital was like “entering a gas chamber” amid the worsening air quality.

Congress and allies want restoration of Article 370 and are planning separate Constitution for Kashmir: PM Narendra Modi in Maharashtra. 

Former Mysuru Urban Development Authority chairman K Marigowda on Thursday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the MUDA site allotment scam.

Marigowda arrived at the central agency's office in Shantinagar here and recorded his statement.

The ED sleuths had on Wednesday questioned Raichur Congress MP G Kumar Naik, a former IAS officer who had served as the Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru district, and Siddaramaiah’s personal assistant C T Kumar for several hours.

Marigowda had resigned last month as the MUDA chairman citing personal reasons.

An IndiGo flight from Nagpur to Kolkata on Thursday made an emergency landing here after receiving a bomb threat which turned out to be a hoax, officials said.

A passenger was detained following the incident.

The flight with 187 passengers and six crew members onboard landed at the Swami Vivekananda Airport here sometime after 9 am following the threat, Raipur Senior Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh said.

As per the preliminary information, a passenger told aircraft crew members about the presence of a bomb when the flight was mid-air.

The Air Traffic Control was informed and the flight was diverted to Raipur. Upon landing, it was immediately taken to the isolation bay for mandatory security checks, the police official said.

A police team and a bomb squad also reached the airport. All the passengers were deboarded and the aircraft and the passengers' luggage were thoroughly checked, Singh said.

"After complete inspection, the bomb threat was found to be a hoax. The passenger who had informed about the bomb was detained and is being questioned," the police official added.

The flight departed for Kolkata around 12 noon, airport officials said.

Israeli airstrikes have killed approximately 200 Hezbollah terrorists and destroyed 140 rocket launchers in the past week, the Israel Defense Forces disclosed on Thursday morning.
The IDF said the launchers posed "an immediate threat" to the Israeli home front and soldiers operating in southern Lebanon.

Four persons were arrested in connection with an explosion following gas leakage from a pipeline in Haryana's Palwal district that left a shopkeeper dead, officials said on Thursday.

Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first visit to the UAE in 2015, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar highlighted the growing strength of India-UAE relations, stating that both countries are now in an "era of new milestones".

Speaking at the launch of Symbiosis International University's campus in Dubai on Thursday, Jaishankar noted that the ties between India and the UAE have reached new heights, driven by key collaborations in sectors like fintech, renewable energy, infrastructure, and defence.

BJP MP Anurag Thakur on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the ruling INDIA alliance in Jharkhand stating that in their last five years' regime, the people of Jharkhand have only got "love-jihad" and "land jihad". Thakur accused the ruling alliance of cheating the people of the state, saying that RJD-JMM-Congress have cheated the public not just on one front, but on every front.

Eight vehicles collided on NH9 due to dense fog in Haryana's Rohtak 

Addressing a public rally, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "I want to tell the infiltrators that CM Hemant Soren's government is going to end, your time will also come to an end. The BJP will throw you out of Jharkhand. Those who have encroached on the land of tribals, we will bring a law against them.

Jharkhand elections: Home Minister Amit Shah addresses rally in Giridih

The Commonwealth of Dominica will bestow its highest national award, the Dominica Award of Honour, upon PM Narendra Modi, in recognition of his contributions to Dominica during the COVID-19 pandemic and his dedication to strengthening the partnership between India and Dominica.

Manipur BJP president Sharda Devi on Thursday called for the immediate release of the three women and three children allegedly abducted by militants in Jiribam district.

She termed the alleged abduction of six members of a family from Borobekra and Jakuradhor in Jiribam as "unfortunate" and demanded their release on humanitarian grounds.

Prayagraj Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abhishek Bharti on Thursday said that some 'anti-social elements' were provoking the UPPSC students and becoming part of the demonstrations being held over demands to hold 'single shift' exams in the state.

 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday arrived in the UAE for an official visit aimed at further strengthening bilateral ties.

Jaishankar was received by the Ambassador of India to the UAE, Sanjay Sudhir, on his arrival in the country.

 A court here on Thursday ordered the release of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board case, while refusing to take cognisance of a chargesheet filed against him.

Special Judge Jitendra Singh said while there is sufficient evidence against Khan to proceed against him, there was no sanction to prosecute him.

Doctor Balaji who was stabbed at the Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Government Hospital on Wednesday has now recovered from his injuries. The Director of the Hospital, L Parthasarathy said that that Doctor Balaji was out of danger and in a stable condition.

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday granted bail to former MLA of the Samajwadi Party Irfan Solanki but rejected his plea seeking stay on conviction in a case of setting a woman's house on fire.

In its ongoing efforts to break down the terror network in Kashmir, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday attached the immovable property of a major terror suspect associated with 'The Resistance Front' (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the agency said on Thursday.

Former BJP MP Harishchandra Chavan died at his residence in Maharashtra's Nashik city on Thursday after a prolonged illness, family sources said.

He was 74.

Chavan was ailing since a long time and was admitted to a private hospital a few days ago.

A flight from Nagpur to Kolkata made an emergency landing at Raipur airport following a bomb threat. The plane is being checked at the airport and further probe is underway: Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Kirtan Rathore.

A traffic advisory has been issued by the IGI Airport for passengers traveling to and from Delhi amid smog.

A dense layer of smog enveloped the national capital as the pollution levels continued to rise.
The AQI level in Delhi at 8 a.m. was 428, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

A 22-year-old suspect in a murder case was arrested after a brief exchange of fire with a team of special cell of Delhi Police near Rohini, a police official said on Thursday.

Nihal, who is suspected to be member of the Tillu gang, sustained bullet injuries in the exchange of fire, a senior official said.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary on Thursday.

Nehru was born on this date in 1889 in Uttar Pradesh's Allahabad (now Prayagraj). He was one of the leading faces of the country's freedom struggle. He breathed his last on May 27, 1964.

Assam Chief Minister and BJP Jharkhand co-incharge Himanta Biswa Sarma hit out at the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in the state saying that the Chief Minister Hemant Soren-led party wanted to keep state in the clutches of poverty.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Thrusday for an official visit.
Taking to social media platform X, the Consulate General of India in Dubai said that the EAM's visit aims to further strengthen bilateral ties and enhance cooperation between the two countries.

 Police have detained a 42-year-old scooter rider after seizing Rs 1.5 crore cash from his possession in Maharashtra's Nagpur city, officials said on Thursday.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Wednesday assured support to protesting UP Public Service Commission aspirants, stating that the government is taking their demands seriously and has instructed officials to find a solution.

Union Health Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda on Wednesday accused Congress of promoting urban Naxal forces in the country and claimed that Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has allied with them.
"Congress is promoting urban Naxal forces in the country, and Uddhav Thackeray--the son of Hindu Hriday Samrat, Balasaheb Thackeray--has joined hands with Congress," Nadda said.

After the 2024 United States Presidential election that confirmed Donald Trump's victory, social media platform X (formerly Twitter) witnessed its largest user exodus since Elon Musk acquired it in 2022, with users migrating to alternatives like Bluesky, CNN reported.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CB) has arrested a Railway official in Gonda Uttar Pradesh for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000, the agency said in a release on Wednesday.
As per the release, the CB arrested an accused SSE, P.Way, Truck Depot, Indian Railways, Gonda (Uttar Pradesh) for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 from the complainant.

AIADMK leader and former state minister D Jayakumar on Wednesday slammed the ruling DMK-led Tamil Nadu government over the law and order situation of the state following a brutal attack on a doctor in a Chennai hospital, saying, "Tamil Nadu is facing worst law and order situation."

US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday met President Joe in the Oval Office of the White House. Biden welcomed Trump and congratulated him following his 2024 presidential election victory, saying that he looks forward to a smooth transition.