Kolkata, Aug 18 (IANS) Veteran Bengali folk singer and Padma Shri awardee Purna Das Baul on Tuesday alleged that his land was seized during the previous Trinamool Congress government’s rule. After the change in government, the Baul artist and his son, Dibyendu Das Baul, approached the District Magistrate of Birbhum to reclaim the land.It has been alleged that local mafia forcibly occupied about four bighas of land belonging to Purna Das Baul in Kamarpara, Ilambazar area of Birbhum district. Th…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday held a review meeting on the National Testing Agency (NTA) and directed all concerned to put in place necessary security and related infrastructural facilities for the smooth conduct of examinations following the recent cancellation of three University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) tests after errors were reported in the question papers. The UGC-NET is held to determine the eligibility for appointm…

Jaipur, Aug 18 (IANS) Acting on the instructions of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Headquarters, the anti-corruption agency’s Sikar unit on Tuesday conducted a trap operation and arrested four police personnel from the Cyber Crime Police Station in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya district, while they were allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2,80,000 from the complainant. The arrested personnel are Sub-Inspector Yashwant Singh, Constables Pawan Tripathi, Sohanlal, and Gaurav Charag. Govind Gupta, Director Ge…

Gangtok, Aug 18 (IANS) The Sikkim government is preparing to introduce an integrated online system for issuing Restricted Area Permits (RAP) and Protected Area Permits (PAP), aimed at improving transparency, curbing revenue leakages and regulating tourist movement in designated areas, officials said on Tuesday. Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang chaired a stakeholders’ consultation on the proposed system, organised by the Tourism and Civil Aviation Department under the Sikkim INSPIRES initiative…

Shillong, Aug 18 (IANS) The Meghalaya government has acquired 96 acres of land at Rongalgre in East Garo Hills to develop a permanent venue for the Me’gong Festival, with plans to create replica villages showcasing the traditional lifestyles and cultures of the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo communities. Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma announced the initiative on Tuesday while speaking at a programme. He said the proposed cultural destination is currently in the planning stage, but work has already b…

Bhubaneswar, Aug 18 (IANS) The Odisha Vigilance on Tuesday arrested a woman Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) in Baleshwar district for allegedly accepting a bribe from a vehicle owner to facilitate the release of bills towards the hire charges of his vehicle used for official purposes. The accused was identified as Madhusmita Mohanty, CDPO, Sadar, Baleshwar, and In-charge CDPO, Baleshwar Municipality.Vigilance stated that Mohanty had recently been given additional charge of CDPO, Baleshw…

Hyderabad, Aug 18 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday announced that the State government would provide pensions to all eligible toddy tappers. Addressing a meeting after unveiling the statue of Sardar Sarvai Papanna Goud, he said the government would take responsibility for protecting toddy tappers’ livelihoods.The Chief Minister said the government would plant wild date and Palmyra trees on government lands and along canal embankments to provide more livelihoods to the …

Bengaluru, Aug 18 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA S.N. Channabasappa on Tuesday sparked a controversy by calling on Muslims who oppose “Vande Mataram” to leave India and said that Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi should also leave the country for allegedly supporting those who do not respect its laws. Speaking to reporters at the BJP office in Vidhana Soudha, Channabasappa added that those who do not accept or respect the country’s laws have no right to remain in India.”Imm…

Chennai, Aug 18 (IANS) National South Indian Rivers Interlinking Farmers Association State President, P Ayyakannu, said on Tuesday that the outfit has appealed to meet President Droupadi Murmu next month to request for Rs 1 lakh crore compensation from Karnataka for allegedly failing to release the Cauvery river water, leaving farmers to face droughts in Tamil Nadu.Speaking to IANS, Ayyakannu said: “According to the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s instructions, Tamil Nadu releases (Cauvery …

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Former Delhi Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Kumar Jain and former Delhi Jal Board (DJB) CEO Udit Prakash Rai, an IAS officer, were among six people arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) on Tuesday in connection with an alleged corruption and tender-manipulation case involving the augmentation and upgradation of sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the national capital. The other…