Cloudbursts. Flash floods. Landslides. Could the Char Dham highway project be making the Uttarakhand Himalayas more vulnerable? Help us investigate the true cost of this infrastructure push. Click here.

A first information report was registered against Union minister Lalan Singh after a video showed him urging supporters to prevent “a few leaders” from leaving their homes on the polling day in Bihar. The video widely shared online showed the Janata Dal (United) leader telling the crowd: “There are a few persons. Don’t let them step out of their homes on polling day. Keep them packed inside.”

It was unclear when the comment was made. The “few leaders” Singh was referring to were Opposition leaders, according to reports.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal said that Singh was attempting to suppress voters and run a “bulldozer over the chest of the Election Commission”. Read on.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav announced that financial aid of Rs 30,000 will be provided to women in Bihar if the Opposition Mahagathbandhan wins the Assembly elections. The cash will be transferred under the alliance’s proposed Mai Bahin Maan Yojana on the Hindu festival of Makar Sankranti in January, Yadav said.

The scheme aimed to provide Rs 2,500 per month to women from financially vulnerable and backward communities. On Tuesday, Yadav said that Rs 30,000 for 12 months will be transferred on January 14 based on the “demands of the mothers and sisters” of Bihar.

The poll promise came on the last day of campaigning for the first phase of the election that will take place on November 6. The second phase is scheduled for November 11 and the votes will be counted on November 14. Read on.

Also read: The cash handout burden and its underlying politics

Two United States courts ordered the immigration authorities not to deport a man of Indian origin, who was found innocent in a murder case in October after spending 43 years in jail in Pennsylvania. Subramanyam Vedam, 64, was released from prison on October 3 after a county court of common pleas vacated his conviction.

However, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement took Vedam into custody immediately after he was released from jail, citing his drug conviction at the age of 19. The order was dormant while he was serving a life sentence.

The authority is seeking to deport Vedam over the decades-old no-contest plea to charges of delivering a hallucinogenic drug, filed when he was about 20. Read on.

Four suspected members of the United Kuki National Army were killed in a gunfight with security personnel in Manipur’s Churachandpur district. The Kuki armed group that is not a signatory to the Suspension of Operations agreement between the Centre, the state government and two Kuki armed conglomerates.

During an intelligence-based operation, the militants carried out unprovoked firing at the Indian Army in Khanpi village, which led to the gunfight. Read on.

Canada rejected about 74% of study permit applications from India in August, Reuters reported citing data from the immigration department. In August 2023, Canada’s rejection rate for Indian student visa applications was 32%.

The increase in refusals came as the authorities tightened checks on fraudulent applications. In 2023, officials found more than 1,550 fake study permit applications, mostly involving forged acceptance letters issued by Indian education agents.

The Canadian government is also seeking powers from Parliament, through a bill, to cancel groups of visas from countries considered high-risk for fraud, including India, CBC News reported. Read on.

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