Kolkata: Polling began at 7 am Friday for the three constituencies in northern West Bengal in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections, officials said. The polling, being held in Darjeeling, Balurghat and Raiganj constituencies, would continue till 6 pm, they said. A total of 47 candidates, including state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, are in the...

Raipur: Polling began Friday morning in Naxal-affected Kanker, Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund Lok Sabha constituencies in Chhattisgarh in the second phase of general elections. The polling comes days after 29 Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Kanker district April 16. Altogether 41 candidates, including former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and former state home minister...

New Delhi: Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held Friday for 89 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala. All 20 seats of Kerala will go to polls besides 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, 8 seats...

Hyderabad: Rajat Patidar's explosive fifty and a collective effort from the spinners set up Royal Challengers Bengaluru's 35-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL here Thursday, bringing an end to their six-match losing streak. Patidar's 50 off 20 balls stood in stark contrast to Virat Kohli's measured 51 off 43 balls as RCB put up 206...

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict Friday on a batch of pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail, or VVPAT. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is likely to pronounce the verdict. The top court had Wednesday said it cannot "control...

Jeypore: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's close aide and senior leader Kartik Pandian Thursday launched a scathing attack on the opposition BJP and Congress leaders accusing them of opposing Odisha government's welfare schemes and politicising development work. Addressing two election rallies held at Pottani and Laxmipur assembly segments under Koraput parliamentary constituency, Pandian highlighted Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's...

New Delhi: India Thursday described a US State Department report citing alleged incidents of human rights violations including in Manipur as "deeply biased" and said it reflects a poor understanding of India and it attach no value to it. The annual report of the State Department highlighted instances of human rights abuses in Manipur following the outbreak...

Washington: The United States slapped Thursday sanctions on over a dozen companies, individuals and vessels, including three from India, for facilitating illicit trade and UAV transfers on behalf of the Iranian military. The US Department of Treasury said these companies, individuals and vessels have played a central role in facilitating and financing the clandestine sale of Iranian...

Bhubaneswar: Odisha reeled under severe heatwave conditions Thursday with Jharsuguda recording the maximum temperature of 43.8 degrees Celsius, officials said. Baripada sizzled at 43.6 degrees Celsius, followed by Nuapada (43.5), Talcher (43.4), and Boudh (43.2). Kendrapara, Cuttack and Bolangir town recorded a maximum of 43 degrees C, according to the Meteorological Centre at Bhubaneswar. A red alert...

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received an invitation from his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni to attend the G7 Summit Outreach Session in Italy in June. Modi spoke to Italian Prime Minister Meloni Thursday and thanked her for the invite to the G7 Summit Outreach Sessions to be held in Italy's Puglia, the Ministry of External...