THE HEADLINES:
- Election Commission publishes draft Electoral rolls for Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Andaman and Nicobar following Special Intensive Revision exercise.
- Two new bills to prevent sale of fake seeds and fertilizers to be introduced in next session of Parliament, says Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
- President Droupadi Murmu confers Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi; Eminent Scientist Jayant Vishnu Narlikar honoured with Vigyan Ratna posthumously.
- 22 Maoists including 10 women surrender in Malkangiri district of Odisha.
- Renowned writer and Jnanpith awardee Vinod Kumar Shukla passes away in Raipur.
- And in Women’s Cricket, Sri Lanka set a target of 129 runs for India in second T20 match in Visakhapatnam.
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The Election Commission today released draft Electoral rolls for three states and one UT as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision exercise. These are Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Andaman and Nicobar. The second phase of SIR of electoral rolls commenced on the 4th November in nine States and three Union territories. The states and UTs are Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The large-scale revision of the electoral rolls will conclude with the publication of the final voter list on 14th February next year.
Talking to Akashvani News, Chief Electoral Officer of ChhattisgarhYashwant Kumar, said that under the SIR exercise, enumeration forms were received from one crore eighty-four lakh ninety-five thousand nine hundred and twenty voters across the state.
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Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the government is preparing to introduce strict laws to curb the sale of fake seeds and fertilizers. He was addressing a state-level farmers’ conference held in Merta City of Nagaur district today. Mr. Chouhan stated that two new laws will be introduced in the upcoming session of Parliament. Once these laws come into force, those selling substandard seeds and fertilizers will not be able to escape action. He informed that the survey under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana has been completed. Beneficiaries who have not yet received house need not worry. He added that several conditions of the scheme will also be relaxed. The Union Minister further said that the government is working to address shortcomings in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana.
Mr. Chouhan also dismissed the negative publicity surrounding the Viksit Bharat Ji Ram Ji Yojana, calling it baseless. He said that the scheme has been designed keeping in mind the welfare of the farmers and labourers.
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President Droupadi Murmu today conferred the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar 2025 at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. This is the nation’s highest recognition for exceptional contributions in the fields of science, technology, and innovation. In the second edition of Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar, the awards were given under four categories, including Vigyan Ratna, Vigyan Shree, Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar and Vigyan Team.
In the second edition of the award, Padma Vibhushan Prof. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar has been honoured with Vigyan Ratna award posthumously. Prof. Narlikar was a renowned Indian astrophysicist and cosmologist who developed the Hoyle-Narlikar theory to unify gravitation and matter creation, providing a framework for a steady-state universe in the 1960s. Eight scientists including Dr Yusuf Mohammad Seikh, Jayan N, Prof. Mahan Maharaj were conferred with Vigyan Shree award. Fourteen young scientists including Ankur Garg of ISRO, Prof Amit Kumar Agarwal of IIT Kanpur, Prof. Arkaprava Basu of IISc Bengaluru were awarded under the Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar category. While the Vigyan Team award was given to Team Aroma Mission CSIR. With Anand Kumar, Saklen Akhtar for Akashvani News, Delhi.
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The Delhi High Court today suspended the jail term of expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar who is serving a life sentence in the 2017 Unnao rape case. The court granted relief subject to strict conditions including movement restrictions and regular police reporting.A bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar directed Sengar to furnish a personal bond of 15 lakh rupees with three Delhi based sureties of the same amount and to stay in Delhi, and report weekly to the police and deposit his passport.
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Indian Railways has strengthened Artificial Intelligence (AI) -based system to protect wildlife on railway tracks. The Railways has deployed Al-based cameras to Alert Loco Pilots half kilometre in advance to save elephants, lions, tigers on tracks. The AI enabled Intrusion Detection System using Distributed Acoustic System for detecting presence of elephants has also been deployed on Railway tracks. The System has been implemented in 141 Route Kilometres section on Northeast Frontier Railway to prevent elephant collisions.
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In Odisha, 22 Maoists, including 10 women cadres, surrendered before the police in Malkangiri district today. The surrender took place in the presence of Odisha Director General of Police, Y B Khurania. It comes after the Odisha government revised its Maoist surrender and rehabilitation policy, offering significantly higher incentives. Addressing the surrendered cadres, DGP Y B Khurania said the government will provide structured rehabilitation support to the surrendered Maoists.
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Renowned litterateur and Jnanpith Award awardee Vinod Kumar Shukla passed away in Raipur today. Mr. Shukla, who was around eighty-eight years old, had been undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS Raipur, for the past few days. He breathed his last at around five this evening. Vinod Kumar Shukla was recently honoured with the prestigious Jnanpith Award.
Vinod Kumar Shukla was born in nineteen thirty-seven in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh. He remained actively engaged in literary writing for over five decades. He was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel “Deewar Mein Ek Khidki.” His other notable works include the novel “Naukar Ki Kameez,” the poetry collection “Lagbhag Jai Hind,” and the short story collection “Pedon Par Kamra,” all of which earned him wide recognition. Many of Mr. Shukla’s books have been translated into several languages. Vikalp Shukla, Akashvani News, Raipur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the demise of the renowned writer. In a social media post, Mr Modi said that Vinod Kumar Shukla will be remembered for his invaluable contribution to the world of Hindi literature. The Prime Minister also conveyed his condolences to the family and admirers of the renowned writer.
Expressing grief over his demise, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said that Mr. Shukla’s sensitive and meaningful writings will continue to inspire future generations.
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The Delhi Cabinet today approved an amount of 100 crore rupees to rejuvenate water bodies across Delhi for long-term pollution abatement. Addressing a press conference, Delhi’s Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the rejuvenation of Delhi’s water bodies will play a crucial role in pollution control. The Minister also emphasised that ‘NO PUCC – NO FUEL’ campaign will continue, even after the removal of GRAP-4 in the national capital.
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A Delhi court today ordered the framing of charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption against Congress MP Karti Chidambaram and six others in the Chinese visa scam case. Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh rejected Chidambaram’s plea for discharge but cleared one accused, Chetan Shrivastava, citing lack of evidence. The case stems from alleged bribery in 2011 to facilitate additional and reused project visas for Chinese nationals working on a power project of Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd (TSPL) in Punjab, when Karti Chidambaram’s father, P. Chidambaram, was the Union Home Minister.
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External Affairs Ministry today called in Bangladesh High Commissioner Riaz Hamidullah amid security concerns. Earlier last week, the High Commissioner was summoned by the Ministry and apprised of India’s strong concerns at the deteriorating security in Bangladesh. Several organisations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal today protested outside the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi over the atrocities against minority Hindus in Bangladesh and mob lynching of Dipu Chandra Das. Security has been increased outside the High Commission and the area has been secured with three layers of barricading. The Ministry has also urged that the perpetrators of the barbaric killing of Dipu Chandra Das be brought to justice.
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Benchmark domestic equity indices, the Sensex and the Nifty, ended on a mixed note in a choppy trade today. Both indices swung between gains and losses throughout the session and ultimately settled nearly unchanged.
“The Sensex dipped 43 points, to close at 85 thousand 525 while the Nifty eked out a marginal gain of five points, to settle at 26 thousand 177. The broader market indices at the Bombay Stock Exchange closed in positive zone. The Mid-Cap index settled nearly flat and the Small-Cap index rose almost 0.4 per cent. In the forex market, the rupee today depreciated marginally to close at 89 rupees and 66 paise against the US dollar. Rajesh Laikh, for Akashvani News”
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In Women’s Cricket, chasing a target of 129 runs, India were 61 for 1 in 5.2 overs against Sri Lanka in the second T20 game of the five-match series at ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam, when reports last came in. The visitors scored 128 runs for the loss of nine wickets in stipulated 20 overs. Earlier, India won the toss and elected to bowl. The hosts are leading 1-0 in the series. Indian team led by captain Harmanpreet Kaur had defeated Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the opening T20 match in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
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Several flights and trains experienced disruptions due to dense fog conditions in the National Capital and NCR region today. Talking to Akashvani News, an official from Delhi Airport said that around 10 flights were cancelled due to low visibility at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The Delhi Division of Indian Railways said that the movement of several Delhi-bound trains was also affected today.
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India Meteorological Department has forecast cold wave conditions over Bihar tomorrow. Dense to very dense fog has been predicted over Delhi, Haryana, Chandigarh, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh for the day. Dense fog conditions will prevail over Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:
- Election Commission publishes draft Electoral rolls for Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Andaman and Nicobar following Special Intensive Revision exercise.
- Two new bills to prevent sale of fake seeds and fertilizers to be introduced in next session of Parliament, says Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
- President Droupadi Murmu confers Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi; Eminent Scientist Jayant Vishnu Narlikar honoured with Vigyan Ratna award posthumously.
- 22 Maoists including 10 women surrender in Malkangiri district of Odisha.
- Renowned writer and Jnanpith awardee Vinod Kumar Shukla passes away in Raipur.
- And in Women’s Cricket, Sri Lanka set a target of 129 runs for India in second T20 match in Visakhapatnam.
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