Midday News

THE HEADLINES:

Election Commission transfers four senior police officers in West Bengal ahead of Assembly Polls.

Polling underway for 11 Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, Odisha and Haryana.

Notification for Assembly elections in Assam, Keralam and Puducherry issued.

Lok Sabha takes up Railways’ Demands for Grants for 2026-27; Rajya Sabha takes up Appropriation Bill, 2026 for consideration.

Government to launch a revamped version of Stand-up India scheme to provide more benefit to SC, ST and Women entrepreneurs, says, Finance Minister.

Tensions escalate in West Asia as strikes continue between US-Israel and Iran; Drone strike near Dubai International Airport triggers large fire.

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The Election Commission has transferred four senior police officers in West Bengal with immediate effect. The commission has ordered transfers of the Director General of Police (DGP) of the state, DG Correctional Services, ADG Law and Order and Commissioner of Kolkata Police. The Commission has appointed 1992 batch IPS officer, Siddh Nath Gupta as the new DGP of West Bengal. A 1996 batch IPS officer Ajay Kumar Nand has been posted as Commissioner of Kolkata Police. The Commission has also appointed N Ramesh Babu who is a 1991 batch IPS officer, as Director General, Correctional Services. While a 1995 batch IPS officer, Ajay Mukund Ranade has been posted as ADG, Law and Order.

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The Election Commission has issued the notification for the Assembly elections in Assam, Keralam and Puducherry.

Yesterday, the Election Commission of India had announced that Assembly elections in Assam, Keralam, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu will be held in a single phase, while polling in West Bengal will take place in two phases. Announcing the poll schedule in New Delhi yesterday, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said voting in Assam, Keralam and Puducherry will be held on 9th of April, while in Tamil Nadu polling will take place on 23rd. In West Bengal, voting will be conducted in two phases on 23rd and 29th of April. Counting of votes for all four states and the Union Territory will be held on the 4th of May.

The notification for Tamil Nadu and for the first phase of Assembly polls in West Bengal will be issued on 30th of March. Notification for the second phase of polling in West Bengal will be issued on 2nd of April.

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In Bihar, voting is underway for 5 Rajya Sabha seats. Since morning, MLAs have been lining up to cast their votes at the polling centre set up in the Bihar Legislative Assembly premise in Patna. Bharatiya Janata Party’s national president Nitin Naveen also reached the Assembly to cast his vote. Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav also arrived at the Assembly and exercised his franchise. JDU MLA Anant Singh reached to vote under special arrangements from jail. The voting process will continue till 4 PM, while the counting of votes will begin at 5 PM. According to the number of members in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, each candidate requires 41 votes to win a seat.

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In Odisha, voting for four Rajya Sabha seats is underway in the state assembly since 9 this morning. Five candidates are in the fray for the four seats that will fall vacant on the second of this April. The BJP has fielded its state president Manmohan Samal and sitting Rajya Sabha member Sujeet Kumar, while former Union Minister Dilip Ray is contesting as an Independent with the support of the party. The opposition BJD has nominated party leader Santrupta Mishra and eminent physician Dr Datteswar Hota. Counting of votes will begin at 5 this evening and results are likely to be declared by tonight.

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In Haryana, voting is underway for two Rajya Sabha seats. There are three candidates in the fray one candidate each from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress, along with one independent candidate. BJP is supporting the Independent candidate. The BJP has fielded former MP Sanjay Bhatia while Congress nominated Karamvir Boudh in the election and Satish Nandal is contesting as an independent candidate. Chief Minister Nayab Saini casted the first vote.

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The State Chief Electoral Officer, Archana Patnaik, said the model code of conduct has been in force throughout the State since yesterday evening. Speaking to the media in Chennai today, she said that election officials will seize cash carried in person without any documents, and the owners can get it back after providing the documents.

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Lok Sabha has taken up discussion on the demands for grants under the control of the Ministry of Railways for 2026-27. Initiating the discussion, Tariq Anwar of Congress alleged that the government has failed to meet its own targets. He said, under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, out of one thousand 337 stations, the redevelopment work has been completed at only 160 stations. Mr Anwar also alleged that the government is only making announcements in the name of passenger safety. He also expressed concern over the shortage of employment in Indian Railways.

Ganesh Singh of the BJP said that over the last ten years, a significant transformation has taken place in the railway. He added that earlier the railway budget was merely 63 thousand crore rupees in 2013-14, which has now increased to two lakh 78 thousand crore rupees.

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The government will launch a revamped version of the Stand-up India scheme to provide more benefit to SC, ST and Women entrepreneurs across the country. Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha today, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, the Stand-up India scheme, which was launched in April 2016, came to an end in March last year. She said the scheme was studied by NITI Aayog and other department and it is being redrafted to provide more benefits to beneficiaries.

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the government has taken concrete measures to ensure rigorous and uniform assessment of mortgaged assets by banks and financial institutions. Replying to supplementaries in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour today, Ms Sitharaman said that master directions have been issued by the Reserve Bank of India to Banks and Financial Institutions on the assessment of mortgaged assets. She said, a strict Standard Operating Procedure, SOP is in place for that. The Minister said, RBI has directed these regulated entities to have a Board-approved policy in place for the valuation of properties, including collaterals accepted for their exposures. She said, the valuation is done by professionally qualified independent valuers.

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Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha JP Nadda has accused the Congress Party of playing politics over the reported LPG crisis in the country, saying that the current crisis is not because of India and India has no role in creating it. He informed the house that due to the prevailing international situation, a crisis has emerged. In response to this crisis, the government has held detailed discussions and has clearly explained the situation, but they were not willing to listen.

Earlier, during the zero hours, the Leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge has raised the LPG issue in the house and accused the government for not taking necessary steps to deal with the crisis.

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Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Congress party are habitual in targeting the Constitutional bodies. Mr Rijiju made these remarks after a TMC walkout in the Rajya Sabha during the heated exchange, over the transfer of senior officers in West Bengal ahead of state assembly election.

Defending the Election Commission decision, Kiren Rijiju said the matter being raised was related to a constitutional body, and neither the government nor Parliament had any role in its decisions. He said it was not right for members to question the decisions of institutions like the courts and the Election Commission in the House.

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The Rajya Sabha today bid farewell to nominated Member Ranjan Gogoi, who completed his term in the Upper House today. When the House met at 11 AM, Chairman C P Radhakrishnan announced about it. He said, former Chief Justice of India Mr Gogoi began his association with the House in March 2020 following his nomination by the President of India. Mr Radhakrishnan said, as a distinguished Jurist, Mr Gogoi brought unparalleled legal acumen and experience to the deliberations of the Rajya Sabha.

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In Odisha, at least ten patients were killed after a fire broke out in the Trauma Care Intensive Care Unit of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, in the early hours today. The blaze reportedly occurred due to a suspected short circuit and triggered panic inside the hospital. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said seven patients died inside the ICU, while three others succumbed while being shifted to other wards during the rescue operation. At the time of the incident, 23 patients were admitted to the ICU ward. The Chief Minister visited the hospital to review the situation and announced an ex-gratia of 25 lakh rupees for the next of kin of each deceased. He also ordered a judicial inquiry into the fire tragedy.

President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President C. P Radhakrishnan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the loss of lives in the fire incident. The Prime Minister announced an ex-gratia of two lakh rupees from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the next of kin of each deceased. The injured will be given 50 thousand rupees.

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A drone strike hit the vicinity of Dubai International Airport early this morning, triggering a large fire near fuel storage facilities and forcing the temporary suspension of flight operations. Airport authorities later resumed flights to selected destinations after the brief halt. Officials said the fire was brought under control within a few hours and was contained without spreading to other critical infrastructure.

Air India and Air India Express flights to and from Dubai have been cancelled for the day. The Airline said that their teams remain fully committed to assisting guests and ensuring stranded passengers are brought home safely at the earliest opportunity.

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Japan, Australia and the UK have said they have no plans to send ships to help secure the strait of Hormuz, as US President Donald Trump ramps urged its allies to provide support.

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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange colour warning for thunderstorm accompanied with hailstorm at isolated places over Bihar, East Uttar Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttarakhand today. The Weather Agency also predicted heavy rainfall over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya till tomorrow.

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:

Election Commission transfers four senior police officers in West Bengal ahead of Assembly Polls.

Polling underway for 11 Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, Odisha and Haryana.

Notification for Assembly elections in Assam, Keralam and Puducherry issued.

Lok Sabha takes up Railways’ Demands for Grants for 2026-27; Rajya Sabha takes up Appropriation Bill, 2026 for consideration.

Government to launch a revamped version of Stand-up India scheme to provide more benefit to SC, ST and Women entrepreneurs, says, Finance Minister.

Tensions escalate in West Asia as strikes continue between US-Israel and Iran; Drone strike near Dubai International Airport triggers large fire.

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