New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi eyes a record-equaling third straight term in power amid the INDIA opposition bloc’s hope of springing a surprise as the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha election is set for Tuesday, bringing an end to a marathon polling exercise stretching over 80 days. While most experts have long seen the...

New Delhi: Citing the Conduct of Election Rules, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar Monday said the count of postal ballots will start first across all counting centres and asserted that there was "no doubt about it". Responding to questions at a press conference here, he said after half-an-hour of the start of the postal ballot count, the...

Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission has made elaborate preparations for counting of votes for 21 the Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats in Odisha. Counting will be held in 70 centres throughout the state starting at 8 am on Tuesday, officials said. Over 2.5 crore voters exercised their franchise in the four-phase elections, with a turnout of 74.44...

New Delhi: A day after the Maldivian government decided to ban Israeli passport holders from entering the country amidst the deadly war in Gaza, the Embassy of Israel here Monday recommended its citizens to explore some of the most scenic beaches in India. "Since the Maldives is no longer welcoming Israelis, here are some beautiful and amazing...

Bhubaneswar: Four more people lost their lives due to sunstroke in Odisha, taking the death toll to 30 during this summer, an official statement said Monday. Altogether 147 cases of suspected sunstroke deaths have been reported during the season so far and of them, 30 were confirmed to be due to heat-related illness. While 20 cases are...

New Delhi: Three coaches of the Jhansi-bound Taj Express train caught fire in southeast Delhi's Sarita Vihar Monday. No one was injured in the incident as passengers managed to get out of the affected coaches in time, officials said. The cause of the fire was not known immediately and the railway police are investigating the matter. The...

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Monday wrote an open letter to the country's bureaucracy on the eve of counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections, urging officers to adhere to the Constitution and serve the nation without fear, favour and ill-will against anybody. "Do not get intimidated by anyone. Do not bow down to any...

Berhampur: Four persons were killed in lightning strikes in separate places in Odisha's Ganjam district, a police officer said Monday. The deceased were identified as Sanyashi Sahu, Lambodar Panigrahy and Sanjay Gouda of Ganjam district and Dugun Pradhan of Khurda district, the officer said. Sahu and Pradhan, who were selling toys at Pattapur had taken shelter near...

Annual day celebration of Nrutyashika Foundation at Rabindra Mandap in Bhubaneswar   A street vendor sells rope swings near BJB College, Bhubaneswar   Delayed drain cleaning work causes inconvenience to commuters in Bhubaneswar's Bomikhal area

Medininagar (Jharkhand): As many as 32 wild monkeys were drowned in an irrigation well in Jharkhand's Palamu district in a suspected bid to quench their thirst, a forest official said Monday. It took place in Sorath village in Panki block and the corpses were found Sunday, but officials were yet to ascertain the exact date of the...