Kolkata: Polling for Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal started Friday morning under tight security cover. However, in the first 30 minutes since the polling began, reports of tension had started surfacing from certain pockets in the Cooch Behar constituency, which is under the scanner of the Election Commission of India. Voters...

Dehradun: Polling began Friday morning for the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand, election officials said. The voting across 11,729 polling stations began at 7 am and will go on till 5 pm, they said. Apart from 40,000 police, home guard and Prantiya Raksha Dal personnel, 65 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure...

Nagpur: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat voted at a polling booth near Reshimbagh, here Friday morning. The RSS chief was among the earliest to arrive at a polling station. He waited for nearly 15 minutes before the polling started, entered to cast his vote and emerged soon thereafter, displaying his inked left-hand forefinger with...

Aries: Your sportsman spirit will find its way into both your professional and personal life. Today may be an important day in your life, and Ganesha says you must not forget your special quality. Taurus: You will put your heart and soul into whatever you do today, says Ganesha. But there may still be dark clouds hovering...

Lucknow: Polling for the first round of Lok Sabha elections in eight constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh began at 7 am Friday. The seats include Saharanpur, Bijnor, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Nagina (reserved), Moradabad, Rampur and Pilibhit. These fall in the Jat and sugarcane belt of the state. Among the prominent candidates are BJP's Jitin Prasada from Pilibhit, Union...

New Delhi: Over 16.63 crore voters in 1.87 lakh polling stations across the country will decide the fate of 1,625 candidates in the first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections Friday. Deploying over 18 lakh polling officials, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said that it has taken a "slew of decisive measures" for the peaceful...

Keonjhar: A court in Odisha's Keonjhar district Thursday sentenced a 29-year-old man to life in jail for raping and impregnating a minor girl, who tragically died after delivering a stillborn. Keonjhar POCSO court judge Bijay Kumar Mishra pronounced the verdict against convict Ansuman Mohapatra after hearing the testimony of 16 witnesses and reviewing medical reports, the public...

Mullanpur: Ashutosh Sharma's pyrotechnics did not prove to be enough  as five-time champions Mumbai Indians beat Punjab Kings by nine runs in an Indian Premier League match here Thursday. Chasing a challenging 193, young sensation Ashutosh played the knock of his nascent career, smashing a 28-ball 61 to keep PBKS in the hunt till the end. Besides...

Bhubaneswar: Odisha's principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) Debadutta Biswal Thursday said his department has identified 11,367 forest fire points across various forest divisions. He said the numbers are lower compared to last year's 31,210 points as April 17. To combat fires, the forest department has deployed 370 squads and 330 fire-fighting vehicles. Additionally, a dedicated portal...

Malkangiri: In a breakthrough, the BSF personnel Thursday recovered huge explosive materials and arms from two Maoist dumps in the Bejangiwada Reserve Forest area in Odisha’s Malkangiri district. Officials sources said a Joint Operation was carried out by BSF troops of COB- Bodigetta, COB- MPV 21, Tactical Headquarters of142 Bn BSF, and Intelligence Team of Sector HQ...