Karnataka government signs MoU with Meesho to empower 2,500 self-help groups

The Karnataka government has announced on Friday that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between Sanjeevini – KSRLPS(Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society) and e-commerce firm Meesho to empower 2,500 self-help groups in the state. Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai attended the event and showed his complete faith in the rural women entrepreneurs in the state. He also assured an assistance from the government of Karnataka in this regard.

Murder of Bengal businessman accused of coal smuggling triggers BJP-TMC tussle

A businessman in West Bengal, who was under police investigation for illegal coal mining operations, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in front of an eatery on Saturday 29 January. Rajesh Jha, who had ties to the Bharatiya Janata Party, was found with critical injuries in a white SUV in the city of Shaktigarh, while his associate was injured on the back seat. The police are examining CCTV footage recovered from the scene and are investigating whether a blue car found abandoned on the old Grand Trunk Road was linked to the incident.

Punjab: Govt panel member suggests snapping of free power supply to agri tubewells

Dr Gurdev Singh Khush, an international rice breeder and member of an advisory panel set up by the government of India's Punjab state to suggest an agricultural policy, has called for an end to free power supply to agriculture tubewells to preserve underground water. Khush suggested that the government could stop providing free power to wealthy farmers who do not need it, and instead continue the benefit to small and marginal farmers who own 2-3 hectares of land. The area under paddy and wheat crops should also be reduced, he said, and replaced with crops such as soybean, sugarcane, maize and maize sorghum.

Male cheetah spotted in village 20 km from Kuno National Park

A male cheetah named Oban has strayed from Kuno National Park (KNP) in India in a bid to find his own territory. Oban is one of four cheetahs imported from Namibia in September 2022, and released in the wild under India's Intercontinental Cheetah Translocation Project. Villagers claimed the big cat killed a cow in the village he strayed into, but KNP officials have denied the claim. KNP has 23 cheetahs, including four cubs born recently to a female cheetah.

‘Will straighten rioters after putting them...’: Amit Shah in Bihar

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has warned that those involved in rioting and violence in Bihar would be "straightened" after being "put upside down" if his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) forms government in the state. Violent communal clashes erupted in Nalanda and Rohtas during Ram Navami processions, injuring several people. Shah has been focusing on politically significant Bihar, which has been known for triangular politics revolving around the BJP, RJD, and the JD-U. Bihar has 40 Lok Sabha seats, out of which the NDA bagged 39 in 2019 in the company of the JD-U.

Name of Nasrullaganj in MP's Sehore changed to Bhairunda

Nasrullaganj in Sehore district of India has been renamed as Bhairunda, according to a notification from the Revenue Department. The move follows the Indian government's approval last month to rename Maharashtra's Aurangabad and Osmanabad districts as Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar and Dharashiv, respectively.

In UP, IAS officer’s gesture for disabled elderly man goes viral

Photos of an interaction between an IAS officer and a disabled elderly man in Uttar Pradesh have gone viral after the officer helped the man purchase an electric cycle under a government scheme. Saumya Pandey, the Chief Development Officer at Kanpur Dehat, was praised for sitting on the ground and listening to the man's complaint, despite the heat. Praise was given to Pandey for rising above the "VIP culture in bureaucracy."

Karnataka elections: Another MLA submits his resignation to JD(S)

A second MLA has quit the Janata Dal(Secular) ahead of the Karnataka assembly elections. Arasikere JD(S) MLA Shivalinge Gowda submitted his resignation on Sunday, following Gubbi MLA S R Srinivashad who resigned on March 27 and joined the Congress. Gowda has not yet joined another party. Over 300 supporters were present during the submission of his resignation, and he is now reportedly planning to join the Congress himself. JD(S) MLA AT Ramaswamy also resigned and joined the BJP.

18 NIT students in Assam booked for beating juniors inside campus

Eighteen students from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Assam's Silchar have been charged under India's Penal Code after allegedly beating two juniors. The incident occurred on 31 August and resulted in fourth semester engineering student Siddhant Paitya being taken to the Silchar Medical College and Hospitals in critical condition. He later lodged an FIR against the 18 seniors, alleging that a number of them had bullied him over his mother tongue and the area he came from.

Bits and Bytes: Know about startup, business news in Pune

Shalmali Kadu of Innergize won the TiE Pune chapter BizQuoTiEnt contest. The business plan competition was held in Maharashtra, and Kadu's gadget to help people stimulate the vagus nerve won the prize. The first runner-up was Akshat Bhatia, who created a protein bar with millets and no preservatives or sugar substitutes. The second runner-up was Ajinkya Salve of XGen Fuels.

Startup Mantra: Scripting data to tell the success story

Indian start-up Dataneers offers data and cloud engineering services to e-commerce, storage product start-ups and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Founded in December 2019 by Amit Chaurasia, a storage professional with experience in cloud and virtualisation, the company offers data management, data migration, analytics and infrastructure and application modernisation. It is also set to launch a Network Attached Storage offering for firms that do not want to migrate their data to the cloud.

CBI files ‘closure report’ into 2015 Finnish national’s death

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's top investigative agency, is to close its investigation into the death of Finnish national Felix Dahl in South Goa in 2015. Dahl was found dead with multiple skull fractures and brain haemorrhage on an interior road in Canacona. The CBI confirmed that the case is to be closed due to lack of evidence. Over the past decade, 245 foreign tourists have died in Goa, with some deaths occurring in mysterious circumstances.

Siddaramaiah questions PM Modi's visit to K'taka, says violation of EC code

Former Chief Minister of Karnataka and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to the state on April 9, which will be his eighth visit to the region this year. Siddaramaiah said that the Prime Minister's visit would violate the Model Code of Conduct, which is currently in force in the state. Modi is due to inaugurate an event celebrating 50 years of the Tiger Project and will also go on safari at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve. The Karnataka Assembly elections are scheduled to be held on May 10.

Maha CM takes part in BJP-Shiv Sena's ‘Savarkar Gaurav’ Yatra: VIDEO

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde participated in the BJP-Shiv Sena's 'Savarkar Gaurav Yatra' in Thane district. The yatra, set to cover all three assembly seats in the city and culminate at Ahilyabai Holkar Chowk, is aimed at honouring Veer Savarkar and opposing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's comments on him. The participants were seen wearing saffron caps with 'Mi Savarkar' (I am Savarkar) and other messages written on them, riding motorbikes and carrying saffron flags.

Manipur reports new Covid-19 case after almost 3-month gap

Manipur has reported a new COVID-19 case after a gap of almost three months, state health officials have said. The patient is a first-year PG student of JNIMS, who has had two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The state has taken containment measures since the new positive case was detected. Manipur's total number of recovered COVID-19 cases is 1,37,775. The state's recovery rate stands at 98.46%.

Watch: Cheetah sneaks out of Kuno National Park, spotted in village 20 kms away

A cheetah named Oban, which is part of India's ambitious reintroduction programme of the species, has strayed into agricultural fields and entered a village in India. The cheetah is being monitored and efforts are underway to bring it back to Kuno National Park. Oban, along with three others, was released into the wild last month as part of the programme. The reintroduction of the cheetah to India comes after the species was declared extinct in the country in 1952 due to poaching and shrinking grasslands.