Balodabazar: A total of 78 students of a government-run school in Chhattisgarh’s Balodabazar district were administered anti-rabies vaccine after they consumed mid-day meals contaminated by a stray dog, an official said on Saturday.

The incident took place on July 29 at Government Middle School in Lachchhanpur under Palari block and a probe is underway into the chain of events, he said.

“A stray dog contaminated cooked vegetables that were to be served to school students as part of their mid-day meal. Some of the students informed the teachers about the incident. Teachers had asked the self-help group that cooked the food to not serve it but they went ahead claiming it was not contaminated. A total of 84 students had food,” he said.

The students then narrated the incident in their homes after which parents and villagers approached the school, including its management committee chairperson Jhalendra Sahu, for clarifications, said Umashankar Sahu, father of one of the students.

The villagers sought the removal of the SHG for ignoring instructions on not serving allegedly contaminated food, he said.

“The anti-rabbies vaccine was administered as a precautionary measure, not because of confirmed infection. There is no side effect of the first dose. It was done on the demand of villagers, parents and SMC (school management committee) members,” said Lachhanpur health centre in charge Veena Verma.

On Saturday, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Deepak Nikunj and block education officer Naresh Verma along with other officials visited the school to initiate a probe into the matter. They recorded statements of the children, parents, teachers and school management committee members.

However, members of the SHG did not join the investigation, the official added.

Meanwhile, local MLA Sandeep Sahu wrote to Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai demanding a probe into the incident and action against the culprits. He also sought to know on whose instructions the children were given anti-rabies injections.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Saturday dubbed as “baseless” claims of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav that his name was missing from the draft electoral rolls of Bihar as poll body sources said inquiries were on to understand the “reality” behind the second voter card.

To prove that his name was not on the draft rolls, Yadav had entered a voter identity card number, which showed no records.

While asserting that his name figures in the draft at serial number 416, officials said even if he still had any grievance, he should have followed the legal procedure laid down.

Meanwhile, the EC sources said that the RJD leader used the electoral roll with EPIC no. RAB0456228 for filling his nomination papers on affidavit in 2020.

“He was having this voter ID card number even in the electoral roll in 2015. His name with this voter card number exists in the draft electoral rolls too,” an official pointed out.

The other voter card with the number — RAB2916120 — has been found to be non-existent, and records from the last more than 10 years have been checked, the sources said.

They said no records have been found for the second card number “yet”.

“It is highly likely that the second card was never made through an official channel. Further inquiries are on to understand the reality of the second voter card number… whether it is a forged document,” the official cited above said.

Yadav on Saturday claimed his name was missing in the draft electoral rolls published by the EC as part of the special intensive revision in Bihar, ahead of the assembly polls.

At a press conference, Yadav, a former deputy chief minister, connected his phone to a big screen and tried to search his own EPIC number, which threw up the result ‘no records found’.

The RJD leader claimed he was not provided with any receipt by the booth-level officer who came to his house with an enumeration form.

Hitting back, the poll authority said pure electoral rolls are the foundation of any democracy.

Under the special intensive revision, the period of claims and objections is for a full month, from August 1 to September 1.

“He should ask the 47,506 booth-level agents of his party to file claims and objections if they find that the name of any eligible is left out or if the name of any ineligible voter has been included,” the EC said.

It pointed out that no booth-level agent (BLA) of any political party, including the RJD, has submitted a single case to the booth-level officers for inclusion or deletion during the past 24 hours.

“All BLAs have agreed to go through the booth-wise draft lists given to them on August 1 carefully. The EC is not able to understand why he is continuing to make baseless allegations that his name is not there,” the EC said.

Arrested accused Sagar Patil, Krishna Madar, Nagangouda Patil

Belagavi: Three individuals have been arrested for allegedly mixing pesticide into the drinking water tank of a government primary school in Hulikatti village, Savadatti taluk, reportedly with the intention of defaming and transferring the school’s Muslim headmaster.

The arrested have been identified as Sagar Patil, Nagangouda Patil, and Krishna Madar.

Speaking to the media, Belagavi District Superintendent of Police Dr. Bheemashankar S Guled stated that Sagar Patil, who is allegedly associated with the Shri Rama organization, had orchestrated the act with the intent of tarnishing the image of Suleman Gorenayak, the headmaster who had served at the government school for 13 years, and to push for his transfer.

Investigation has revealed that all three accused were known to each other, Nagangouda is a relative of Sagar, and Krishna had previously worked with Sagar as driver. Krishna was in a relationship with a girl from another community, and Sagar allegedly blackmailed him by threatening to expose the relationship unless he helped execute the plot. The accused even used a student by luring him with incentives to carry out the act.

The incident took place on July 14, when pesticide was mixed into the school’s drinking water tank. After consuming the water following their mid-day meal, eleven students fell ill and showed symptoms of poisoning.

A case was registered, and the Savadatti police launched an investigation, leading to the arrests.

Bijnor (UP) : The mutilated body of a 35-year-old woman was found in a field near Afzalgarh town in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district, police said on Sunday.

While the police suspect she was attacked by a leopard, forest officials believe it to be a case of murder, with the body later mauled by an animal.

Afzalgarh Circle Officer Rajesh Solanki said the woman had gone to a field near the town on Saturday evening to collect fodder for cattle when she was attacked by a leopard.

Her body was later found in a severely mutilated condition.

“Initial signs suggest a leopard attack,” Solanki said, adding further clarity would emerge after postmortem.

However, Bijnor Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Abhinav Raj contradicted the police version, saying the injury marks and circumstances point towards murder.

“It appears to be a case of murder. The body may have been partially eaten by an animal after death,” he said.

Police have sent the body for postmortem and further investigation is underway.

Gadag (Karnataka) BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavarj Bommai on Sunday condemned Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s statement on the Mahadayi river project, as he also questioned the Congress’ moral right to speak on the issue.

He claimed that whatever progress has been made on the Mahadayi issue, it happened under the BJP government.

Addressing the Goa Assembly last week, Sawant claimed that the Centre would not approve the Mahadayi project.

He also said the Goa government would file a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Karnataka for carrying out activities aimed at diverting Mahadayi river water.

Bommai said, “There is no need to politicise the Mahadayi project issue. We are all united as this is an issue concerning the state. I condemn the statement made by the Chief Minister of Goa. There is no need to play such a big political game over one state’s interests. He must act in accordance with the law, and hence I condemn his remarks.”

Speaking to reporters here, he questioned the moral standing of Congress leaders in Karnataka on the Mahadayi issue.

“Congress leader Sonia Gandhi herself during the Goa polls said that not a single drop of Mahadayi water would be given to Karnataka. What moral right does Congress have to speak on this issue?” he asked.

Dubbing the Goa CM’s statement an “insult to the people of Karnataka”, CM Siddaramaiah had earlier hit out at the BJP stating “Why has the Centre not officially communicated its concerns? Is this how federalism works under the BJP? Are we being punished for not surrendering to the BJP?”

Bommai accused the Congress party of building a barrier to prevent Mahadayi water from flowing into the Malaprabha river, thereby obstructing the interlinking canal work initiated during the BJP regime and this was the only “contribution” Congress made to the Mahadayi project.

“Whatever progress has been made on the Mahadayi issue, it happened under the BJP government. The Congress, which constituted the tribunal, did not even provide it an office for four years. It was the BJP government that gave it an office. Though the tribunal gave a verdict, it was not notified. The NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued the notification,” he said.

It was the central NDA government that prepared the DPR for the Mahadayi project and got it approved. “It was also the BJP government that secured environmental clearance. The only thing the Congress did was to block the interlinking canal works started during the BJP tenure by constructing a barrier to prevent Mahadayi water from reaching the Malaprabha river,” he said.

Goa has been opposing Karnataka’s Kalasa-Banduri project in the Mahadayi river basin.

The Kalasa-Banduri project by the Karnataka government proposes diverting Mahadayi river water into the Malaprabha river to enhance the drinking water supply in parts of Dharwad, Belagavi, Bagalkote, and Gadag districts.

The Mahadayi river flows through Karnataka and Goa before joining the Arabian Sea. Known as the Mandovi in Goa, it is one of the state’s two major rivers.

The diversion of Mahadayi water has long been a point of contention between Karnataka and Goa, with the latter claiming “it would severely impact the state’s flora and fauna.”

Speaking about the urea shortage in the state, Bommai said the government could have averted the crisis.

“Rainfall began early this year, and fertilizer should have been supplied where needed. Buffer stock should have been maintained, the management has not been proper,” he said.

Noting that the state government has now submitted to the Centre for additional urea fertilizer supply, he said, “We (BJP) too will speak with the Union Minister for Agriculture and Fertilizers to get more supply. But more importantly, the fertilizer that is already arriving must be distributed properly by the Agriculture Department and the concerned ministers.”

New Delhi: India’s largest IT services firm, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), is set to lay off about 2 per cent, or 12,261 employees, of its global workforce this year, with the majority of those impacted belonging to middle and senior grades.

As of June 30, 2025, TCS’s workforce stood at 6,13,069. It increased its workforce by 5,000 employees in the recently concluded April-June quarter.

The move is part of the company’s broader strategy to become a “future-ready organisation”, focusing on investments in technology, AI deployment, market expansion, and workforce realignment, TCS said in a statement.

“TCS is on a journey to become a Future-Ready organisation. This includes strategic initiatives on multiple fronts, including investing in new-tech areas, entering new markets, deploying AI at scale for our clients and ourselves, deepening our partnerships, creating next-gen infrastructure, and realigning our workforce model.

“Towards this, a number of reskilling and redeployment initiatives have been underway. As part of this journey, we will also be releasing associates from the organisation whose deployment may not be feasible. This will impact about 2 per cent of our global workforce, primarily in the middle and the senior grades, over the course of the year,” it said.

TCS will provide appropriate benefits, outplacement, counselling, and support to the impacted employees, it added.

Batumi (Georgia): International Master Divya Deshmukh gave nothing away and held higher-ranked Grandmaster and compatriot Koneru Humpy to an easy draw on Sunday to force the final into a tie-breaker where games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.

Divya, who did not make utmost use of her promising opening in the first game of the match, was far more composed against a Queen pawn opening and faced little trouble playing with black pieces.

Humpy, got the optical advantage with her pair of bishops out of the opening but Divya knew that if she placed her knights perfectly, white will not be able to create many problems. As it happened in the game after two minor pieces, the pair of rooks also changed hands and the queen-and-minor-piece endgame only offered little hope.

Humpy tried to make some headway with a pawn sacrifice in the endgame but in the process her bishop pair was gone, and though a pawn plus, Divya had to cover some weaknesses.

After the dust settled, Humpy recovered the pawn back and Divya repeated the position through checks to sign peace in 34 moves.

The tiebreaker will see two games of 15 minutes each with a 10 second increment after every move is played.

If the scores are still level, the players will play another set of 10 minutes per game with a 10 second increment. If the tie doesn’t get resolved, it will be two more games of five minutes plus three second increment.

Should the deadlock continue, one game will be played with three minutes to both players with a two second increment unless one player ends up winner.

In the play-off for the third place between China’s Zhongyi Tan and Lei Tingjie, the match looked headed towards a draw.

Results: Koneru Humpy (Ind) drew with Divya Deshmukh (Ind); Lei Tingjie (Chn) playing Tan Zhongyi (Chn).

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress in Kerala on Sunday vehemently criticised the BJP and the Sangh Parivar over the reported arrest of two Catholic nuns from the state by police in Chhattisgarh.

According to media reports, the Kerala-based nuns were arrested at a railway station in Chhattisgarh recently on charges of human trafficking and forced conversation raised by right-wing activists.

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan cited it as the latest example of attack against minorities in the BJP-ruled states.

In a post on ‘X’, Venugopal said attacks on minorities have seen a rampant increase under BJP-ruled states, be it Chhattisgarh, Odisha or Madhya Pradesh.

“The latest attacks by Bajrang Dal goons on two Catholic nuns in Durg, Chhattisgarh point to a tacit support for such hate crimes from the ruling establishment,” he alleged.

Venugopal said he has written to the Union Home Minister and Chhattisgarh CM demanding strict punishment against these culprits and the urgent need to uphold the Constitution so that fundamental rights of minorities are not threatened under their rule.

Echoing similar sentiments, Satheesan said witch-hunt in the name of religion or caste is unacceptable.

In a Facebook post, he alleged that the Kerala nuns became victims of a brutal police witch-hunt.

A “mob trial” was held against the nuns and a false case was filed against them, he alleged.

“The rights guaranteed by the Constitution are for everyone. It is not the generosity of the BJP or the RSS. The nuns arrested in a false case in Chhattisgarh should be released immediately,” Satheesan said.

Alleging that the Sangh Parivar are “wolves in sheep’s clothing”, the Congress leader said that they would come to the churches and Christian homes in Kerala with cakes. “In other places, they will disrupt all the celebrations of Christians. They will attack them brutally. The latest example of this was seen in Chhattisgarh,” he alleged.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge

Vijayapura (Karnataka): Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said he has no information on the actual reason for Jagdeep Dhankhar resigning as the Vice President.

Dhankhar has to tell what really happened as the matter is between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.

Noting that Dhankhar always took the government’s side, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said he never allowed the opposition, whenever it tried to raise issues, whether it was concerning farmers or poor or on foreign policy issues.

“I don’t know all those details. He (Dhankhar) was always on the government’s side. He should say what happened,” Kharge said in response to a question whether Dhankhar was forced to resign as he spoke in favour of farmers.

Speaking to reporters here, Kharge said, “When we raised several issues concerning farmers, poor, international issues or foreign policy, he never used to give us an opportunity (in Rajya Sabha as its Chairman).”

“When we tried to raise issues by giving notices on issues regarding the poor, atrocities against women, dalits and downtrodden, and incidents like Hindu-Muslim clashes, he did not give us an opportunity. It (reason for Dhankhar’s resignation as Vice President) is between him and Modi. We don’t have any information on that,” he added.

In a sudden move, Dhankhar on July 21 evening resigned from his post as Vice President, citing medical reasons, triggering speculation in political circles.

In his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu, Dhankhar said he was stepping down with immediate effect to “prioritise health care”.

Responding to a question about changing the Karnataka Congress president, Kharge said, “All those things cannot be said now. Will speak later.”

Currently, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar is holding the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president post on an extended tenure.

There have been voices within the ruling Congress in the state to replace him, citing him holding two key positions.