NEWS

Taking a prompt from repeated surveys conducted by the party in Punjab, the new Congress government under chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi is likely to prioritise reworking of power purchase agreements, resolving the sacrilege case and take action against drug and transport mafia in the state.

The surveys commissioned by the party showed these issues remained uppermost in people’s minds, even as persistent nudging of Congress managers failed to elicit action from former CM Amarinder Singh, who in fact said he was addressing the issues. This became a reason why the party leadership finally decided to go for a change, top sources said.

The West Bengal government on Monday declared a public holiday in Bhabanipur, Jangipur and Shamsherganj assembly constituencies which are going to polls on September 30.

"In view of schedule of elections to 56-Samsergan, and 58-Jangipur Assembly Constituency and bye-election to 159-Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency to be held on 30th September 2021 (Thursday) vide Press Note of the Election Commission of India, the undersigned is directed to declare the said day of the poll as a public holiday," a memorandum issued by the state government read.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is going to contest the Bhabanipur bypoll against the BJP's Priyanka Tibrewal. CM Mamata needs to win the bypoll to get elected to the state assembly and retain her seat as the chief minister.

Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday directed officials to frame a policy for fixing the “driving hours” for commercial drivers on the lines of pilots while taking note of driver fatigue resulting in fatal road crashes. He also instructed the officials to work on a plan to include On-Board Sleep Detection Sensors in commercial vehicles at par with European standards.

Sources said the issues of driver fatigue, drowsiness and lack of sleep were raised before the minister by members of the National Road Safety Council. A study of drivers by SaveLife Foundation across states a couple of years back had found that 58.3% faced fatigue or lack of sleep during trips.

Army authorities suspect infiltration of five to six armed terrorists in the Valley most likely from Uri sector during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday .

The fresh infiltration bid prompted the authorities to suspend mobile and internet services in Uri area of Baramulla district of north Kashmir to disrupt any communication between the terrorists and their bosses across the LoC. An extensive search operation was launched over the last 20 hours, a top army officer said on Monday.