Bijapur: Two Maoists were killed, and a cache of arms and ammunition was recovered following an encounter with security personnel in the Indravati river area of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh, officials said Thursday. According to officials, the operation was launched after specific intelligence inputs about the presence of Maoists in the Indravati River region of Bijapur. Acting...

Kolkata: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to depute one Central observer for each of the 294 Assembly constituencies to oversee the pre-poll nomination phase in West Bengal. Insiders from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, said that all the 294 Central observers to be appointed to oversee the pre-poll nomination...

New Delhi: The European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will not see any exceptions despite the concluded India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), but both sides have committed to technical discussions to find the best way forward, a senior German environment ministry official said. Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature...

Tel Aviv: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu are scheduled to visit Yad Vashem together Thursday before holding an expanded bilateral meeting at the King David Hotel. The discussions are expected to focus on a comprehensive review of the India-Israel Strategic Partnership, with emphasis on strengthening collaboration in defence, science and technology, trade,...

Washington:  The Trump administration’s effort to fast-track deportations to third countries hit a legal setback after a US appeals court refused to pause a lower court order blocking the policy. The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston Wednesday (local time) denied the government’s emergency request to lift a preliminary injunction that restricts deportations...

Rourkela (Odisha):  A scuffle broke out between a group of people and police personnel during a protest against a mining expansion work in Odisha's Sundargarh district Wednesday, an officer said. The residents of areas near Lanjiberna have been opposing the expansion of dolomite and limestone mines owned by a private company, he said. Officials of a cement...

Nabarangpur: The dropout rate in Nabarangpur district is emerging as a serious concern, with an increasing number of students leaving school midway through their education. The trend, visible from primary to secondary levels, has alarmed both the School and the Mass Education Department and social organisations. In the recent session of the state Assembly, Balasore Sadar MLA...

Koraput/Borigumma: Police have arrested four persons in connection with the sensational double murder in the Borigumma area of Koraput district, Superintendent of Police Rohit Varma said Wednesday. The accused were identified as the minor’s boyfriend, P Adi Narayana Rao (21) of Dasiri Sahi, Preet Nayak (19), also of Dasiri Sahi in Borigumma, Adinarayana Panigrahi (19) of Bijapur,...

Nayagarh/Ranpur: Two persons were killed in separate elephant attacks under the Khordha forest division Wednesday, while a youth narrowly escaped unhurt, officials said. In the first incident, Kalu Moharana, 58, of Mayurjhalia village in Nayagarh district, was trampled to death near a health centre under the Ranpur forest range. He was riding a bicycle with his son...

Rourkela: Eighteen years after he was allegedly lured away from his village as a minor on the promise of being taught how to drive, a man from Sundargarh district returned to Rourkela Tuesday and reunited with his family at the railway station. Purushottam Goud, a native of Sonaparbat village under Suidihi panchayat in Lathikata block, had gone...