In view of the surge in COVID-19 cases in Odisha, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday issued an advisory making face masks mandatory for people living in areas under its jurisdiction. "All citizens residing within BMC area as well as outside citizens coming to BMC area or present in BMC area shall have to wear mask appropriately while moving out and while in public places," the advisory read. It further stated that all citizens need to maintain a social distance of two metres among themselves at all times while in public places. In the order, the BMC said, "All malls, shops

Reiterating the firm commitment of the state government to regularise the services of all the eligible contractual employees, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today announced to constitute a three-member Cabinet committee comprising Cabinet Ministers Harpal Cheema, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and Harjot Singh Bains to remove all the legal hurdles for passing a new bill in this regard, said the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Thursday. Announcing this at the floor of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the Chief Minister said that the state government is fully sensitive towards the need for regularising

Ahead of the crucial presidential elections which will take place on July 18, the BJP continues to reach out to various political parties seeking support for the NDA's presidential candidate, Droupadi Murmu. In line with this outreach initiative, BJP national president JP Nadda dialed the party's former ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal seeking support for Murmu's candidature. It may be noted that BJP and SAD were together for over 25 years. However, SAD left the BJP-NDA government over three farm laws, which were withdrawn a year later. Both parties also separately

Eknath Shinde, who led a revolt against Shiv Sena leading to the collapse of the 31-month-old Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Thursday evening. He was administered an oath by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Deputy Chief Minister. Fadnavis, who was Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2014-19, announced at a joint press conference in Mumbai on Thursday that Eknath Shinde will be the new CM. Fadnavis also announced at the press conference that he wil

India team skipper Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the rescheduled fifth Test against England to be played from Friday as he is affected by COVID-19. Rohit underwent a rapid antigen test Test on Thursday morning and tested positive for COVID-19. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Jasprit Bumrah as captain for the upcoming Test and Rishabh Pant as his deputy. The fifth and final Test against India will take place from July 1 onwards in Edgbaston. The rescheduled match is a part of last year's five-match Test series that had to be delayed after the fourth Test due to a COVID-1

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau nabbed Rakesh Kumar, Class-4 employee of Civil Hospital, Pathankot Ms. Bableen Kaur, Drug Inspector informed the officials on Wednesday. The due was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs. 30000. "The accused Rakesh Kumar has been arrested on the complaint of Pathankot-based man, who had approached the VB informing that he had applied online for a grant of license to open a medical store at Mamoon. The complainant was later called by Ms. Bableen Kaur, Drug Inspector, who told him to contact Rakesh Kumar, a Class-IV employee in the Civil Hospital, Pathanko

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray resigned minutes after the Supreme Court ruled that he must prove tomorrow that his government still has a majority. Thackeray announced his resignation during a Facebook session he was addressing. The Supreme Court refused to stay an order by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari calling for a special session of state assembly tomorrow (Jun 30) for Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP government to take a floor test. "I am resigning as the Chief Minister," Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray announces. I had come (to power) in an unexpected

The UK government has partnered with leading businesses in India to offer 75 fully-funded scholarships for Indian students to study in the UK from September, the British High Commission (BHC) said. The BHC, in a statement, said that this is the highest number of fully-funded scholarships given for the one-year master's programme to date. Companies like HSBC, Pearson India, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Sons and Duolingo are supporting this special initiative to celebrate India's 75th year of independence, the high commission said. The programmes on offer include Chevening scholarships for a one-yea

Tailor Kanhaiya Lal, who was beheaded in Udaipur in Rajasthan by two men for allegedly posting content in support of suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma, has created a public outcry. Reacting to the horrific and brutal killing of her husband, his wife Yashoda demanded that the culprits should be hanged to death. Kanhaiya Lal, whose gruesome murder shocked the nation, was cremated on Wednesday in Rajasthan's Udaipur in the presence of a large number of people who raised slogans demanding capital punishment for the accused. "For the last 10-15 days he was getting life threats. They said that they