Bhubaneswar, June 20 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday arrived at the helipad at Pahadpur village in Mayurbhanj district in a special Air Force helicopter on a one-day visit to Odisha. He was accorded a warm welcome by Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, along with senior ministers and administrative officials at the helipad.The Prime Minister later proceeded to Pahadpur village in a special motorcade amid tight security. Hundreds of people gathered a…

New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) In a major breakthrough in its ongoing anti-drug campaign, the Anti-Narcotics Squad (ANS) of Delhi Police’s East District on Saturday dismantled an interstate narcotics supply chain and arrested a key Odisha-based supplier allegedly involved in trafficking ganja to Delhi-NCR. Police recovered nearly 22.5 kg of ganja, classified a commercial quantity under the NDPS Act, and seized a car allegedly used to transport the contraband. The operation was carried out as part of …

Chennai, June 20 (IANS) Senior BJP leader H. Raja has strongly criticised the Tamil Nadu government over the sudden interruption of the live telecast of Assembly proceedings, questioning whether the move was intended to prevent the public from witnessing what he described as the Chief Minister’s “embarrassment” during debates in the House. The controversy erupted after the live broadcast of the Assembly proceedings was reportedly stopped during the discussion on the Governor’s Address. T…

Jaipur, June 20 (IANS) Rajasthan has put in place extensive security arrangements for the re-conduct of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) on Sunday, with over 2.09 lakh candidates set to appear across 577 centres in 25 districts.Authorities have installed HD-quality CCTV cameras and signal jammers at examination centres to prevent malpractice and ensure a fair examination processAccording to officials, mobile networks might remain disrupted in the vicinity of many centres due …

Jammu, June 20 (IANS) More than 9,000 pilgrims, mostly Kashmiri Pandits, left Jammu city for the annual Mata Kheer Bhawani Mela in Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on Saturday amid elaborate security arrangements.Officials said MLA Devyani Rana, DIG Shridhar Patil, and other senior officials flagged off the pilgrimage in the city. The pilgrims are taken to the Kashmir Valley in around 200 Jammu and Kashmir Road Transport Corporation buses under tight security cover.With participation significantly h…

Bengaluru, June 20 (IANS) Senior BJP leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, R. Ashoka, on Saturday alleged irregularities in the Gruha Lakshmi scheme of the Karnataka government, citing findings reportedly highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and demanded a CBI probe.Questioning the credibility of the government’s welfare programmes, Ashoka termed the state’s much-publicised “guarantee model” as a “Graft-antee Model,” alleging large-scale financial irregularitie…

Bengaluru, June 20 (IANS) Karnataka BJP President and MLA, B.Y. Vijayendra, on Saturday strongly condemned the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly’s resolution opposing the Mekedatu balancing reservoir and drinking water project, asserting that no one can deprive Karnataka of its legitimate rights over the waters of the Cauvery river.In a statement, Vijayendra said the unilateral resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly was highly condemnable and ran contrary to the spirit of India’s federal str…

Srinagar, June 20 (IANS) Extensive security arrangements have been made across J&K for the fair conduct of the NEET (UG) re-test scheduled on Sunday (June 21). Authorities have made extensive arrangements across Jammu and Kashmir, including decentralising centres to reduce travel and suspending classwork in designated institutions to ensure the smooth conduct of the re-test.Regular classwork is suspended in 60 designated higher secondary schools across the Kashmir Valley on Saturday to facil…

New Delhi, June 20 (IANS) Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi tore into the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday, over a shocking anomaly in the admit card of a NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) aspirant, just a day ahead of the re-examinations. Coming down hard on the examination body, Rahul accused it of “gambling” with the children’s future and said that despite bungling up on the previous occasion, it didn’t get its act together, thereby burdening the already str…

Kolkata, June 20 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in West Bengal on Saturday afternoon to a packed schedule till Sunday.As per the schedule provided by the West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Prime Minister will arrive at the Kalaikunda airbase of the Indian Air Force (IAF) at 2.30 P.M. on Saturday.From Kalaikunda, he will leave by a special helicopter for Tarakeswar in Hooghly district, where he will be attending a programme of the West Bengal government on …