Coinciding with the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday distributed scholarships worth Rs 25.25 crore to 1,709 meritorious students from economically weaker sections under the Delhi Higher and Technical Education Assistance Scheme. Addressing the scholarship distribution programme at Thyagaraj Stadium, Gupta said providing financial assistance to students was the Delhi government’s investment in their future and a step towards strengthening the city’s youth. The event was attended by Education Minister Ashish Sood, senior officials of the Education Department, vice chancellors of various universities, educationists and a large number of students, according to a statement. The chief minister said that scholarship amounts for the academic years 2023-24 and 2024-25 had been transferred directly to the bank accounts of eligible students studying in universities across Delhi. She also informed that a pending scholarship amount of Rs 19 crore from the previous government’s tenure had been released by the present government, asserting that no funds earmarked for students’ education would remain pending in future. Marking National Youth Day, Gupta urged students to draw inspiration from the thoughts and philosophy of Swami Vivekananda and to pursue their goals with dedication and discipline. She said the progress of the nation depended on the advancement of its youth and highlighted the role of young people in achieving the goal of a developed India by 2047. The chief minister also said that national development was not possible through government policies alone and required the collective responsibility and active participation of citizens. Speaking on the occasion, Sood said the government was committed to improving the education sector and ensuring that students from disadvantaged backgrounds received adequate support. He said the government’s approach was guided by the principle of Antyodaya, aimed at ensuring that benefits reached those at the lowest rung of society. He said the Narela Education City project, which had remained stalled for several years, was now being implemented. He added that the project’s budget had been increased from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,300 crore and would include shared university campuses, auditoriums, libraries, digital libraries and ICT laboratories spread across 160 acres. The Education Minister said the objective of the government was to address challenges in the education sector through policy measures and effective implementation, adding that education would play a key role in shaping leadership for the future. Meritorious students from economically weaker sections who have passed Class XII from Delhi schools with at least 75 per cent marks and meet the prescribed income criteria are eligible for financial assistance under the Delhi Higher and Technical Education Assistance Scheme, it said. The scholarship amount is transferred directly to beneficiaries’ bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system, it added.

New Delhi: Former Indian Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash (retired) on Monday reportedly submitted all the necessary documents linking him to the electoral roll from last special intensive revision (SIR), paving the way for early resolution of the matter relating to the system-driven notice issued to him after all the fields in his enumeration form (EF) pertaining to linkage with the last SIR roll, were left blank.“The documents were collected by the competent field officer on Monday and the matter will be settled, perhaps by Tuesday, making the retired Admiral and his wife eligible for inclusion in the final electoral roll of Cortalim assembly constituency (AC) in Goa,” an officer aware of the proceedings told TOI on Monday. Similarly, a hearing due on Jan 16 on the notice served to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, an elector in Bolpur AC of West Bengal, after the age of his mother, with whom he was mapped in the EF filled and submitted by his relative, was reportedly found to be less than Sen’s, is expected to sort out the anomaly. A hearing will be held at Sen’s registered address at Shanti Niketan, and the relative will have the opportunity to correctly map Sen to the SIR from the last roll, said an officer. In a clarification issued in Admiral Prakash’s case on Monday, the Cortalim ERO explained that his EF was categorised as “unmapped” after it was observed that the said EF did not contain the mandatory particulars relating to the previous SIR, including the name of the elector, EPIC number, name of the relative, name and number of the AC, part number, and serial number in the electoral roll. “In the absence of these essential identification details, the BLO application was unable to establish an automatic linkage between the submitted EF and the existing electoral roll database,” the ERO said.Underlining that the BLO application is designed to automatically map EFs only when the prescribed identification particulars are duly filled in, the Cortalim ERO said the blank fields in Prakash’s EF triggered the system to categorise his EF as “unmapped”, mandating an auto-generated notice for further verification through a hearing mechanism.“As per the standard, system-driven procedure, a hearing notice was automatically generated and issued to enable verification of the elector’s details and ensure due opportunity for confirmation of eligibility,” shared the ERO. The officer said any elector can notice blank fields in the EF and cross-check with the BLO, before signing the form. Unlike SIR Phase 1, no eligibility documents are to be submitted with EF in Phase 2; however, the fields regarding linkage to last SIR must mandatorily be filled to avoid a notice after the draft roll is published.

NEW DELHI: Retail inflation inched up to a three-month high in Dec, led by narrowing deflation in some food prices and fading favourable base effect, but remained below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) tolerance level for the fourth month in a row.Data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Monday showed retail inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), rose an annual 1.3%, higher than the 0.7% in Nov and below the 5.2% in Dec 2024.Food inflation contracted 2.7% in Dec and there is an increase of 120 basis points compared to Nov. Rural inflation was at 0.8% while urban was at 2% during Dec.

Core inflation, which excludes food and fuel, soared to a 28-month high of 4.8% during the month, up from 4.4% in Nov, led by a sharp spike in gold and silver prices, which surged 69% and 97% year-onyear, respectively. Excluding these metals, core inflation moderated to 2.3% in Dec.The increase in overall inflation and food inflation during Dec was largely attributed to increase in inflation of personal care and effects, vegetables, meat and fish, egg, spices and pulses and products. Personal care and effects, which includes gold and silver, rose 28.1% in Dec.“Looking ahead, headline inflation is expected to edge higher but remain below the RBI’s 4% target for the rest of FY26. For FY26 and FY27, CPI inflation is projected to average around 2.1% and 4% respectively, based on the current CPI basket. The rollout of the new CPI series with a 2024 base year next month will be an important development to watch,” said Rajani Sinha, chief economist at ratings agency CareEdge.“From a monetary policy standpoint, the recent uptick in inflation is unlikely to trouble the RBI. While inflation projections leave room for a further 25 basis points rate cut, we expect the monetary policy committee (MPC) to pause and conserve policy space, opting to ease only if growth conditions deteriorate,” said Sinha.

BHOPAL: From late-night raids to routine seizures spread across villages miles apart, they were present everywhere – many a time simultaneously at different locations. Allegations of ‘omnipresent’ police witnesses in Madhya Pradesh’s Mauganj district have snowballed into a major controversy after scrutiny of digital crime tracking records confirmed that the same six individuals were repeatedly cited as govt witnesses in hundreds of cases registered at Laur and Naigadhi police stations in the district. The pattern of a few selected names recurring case after case emerged from FIRs accessed through Crime & Criminal Tracking Network & Systems, a home ministry project. At the centre of the allegations is Jagdish Singh Thakur, former in-charge of Naigadhi and Laur police stations, against whom complaints were lodged by an RTI activist, accusing him of misusing his position to register over 150 questionable FIRs. The complaint alleged that under his charge at the two police stations, the same favoured individuals were repeatedly cited witnesses to facilitate routine police action, justify the cases on paper and enable corruption. One of the six individuals, Amit Kushwaha, who was cited as a witness in hundreds of cases, allegedly moved with Thakur during his transfers. The activist, Kunj Bihari Tiwari, first lodged a police complaint in 2022. He filed another detailed complaint in Dec 2025, sharing ‘proof’.People say they were not ‘witnesses’, cops say probe will reveal allActing on the complaint, Mauganj SP Dilip Soni removed Thakur as Naigadhi police station incharge Sunday. “We are getting the complaint probed in detail. The complainant shared details regarding 145 FIRs with common witnesses,” Soni told TOI. He however, added that “this was not the only reason, but one of the reasons for which the action was taken”. Some of the ‘witnesses’ have now distanced themselves from the police’s move.

Dinesh Kushwaha, a vegetable vendor, told TOI: “I signed as a witness in only one or two cases where I was present. I wasn’t a witness in so many other cases. Police wrote my name as a witness without my knowledge.” Another witness, Rahul Vishwakarma, said: “I was not present during the action. Iused to sign after the accused were arrested and brought to the police station. But I did not sign as a witness in so many cases. I am a driver.” Tiwari claimed the rot runs much deeper. “I examined FIRs of more than a year and found around 200 cases with common names. When I scanned the records from the year 2000, I found similar names in about 1,000 FIRs. I am also a victim, as I was framed in a case by the same police officer,” the complainant alleged. TOIaccessed and examined copies of over 40 such FIRs and found the same names repeatedly listed as witnesses across unrelated cases. Police officers said the probe will determine whether legal procedures and norms were violated and whether disciplinary or criminal action was required.

NEW DELHI: BJP working president Nitin Nabin is set to take over as full-fledged national president of the party on Jan 20, in the presence of PM Modi and other senior leaders, including chief ministers, national office-bearers, state party presidents and national executive council members, reports Akhilesh Singh. He will replace JP Nadda, one of the longest-serving party presidents. Since his appointment as working president, Nabin has enjoyed the support of the party brass. His ascension, following elections on Jan 20, therefore, is being seen as a formality.Nabin ascension is seen as a move towards overhaul of BJP With full-throttle endorsement from the saffron fountainhead, RSS, Nitin Nabin (46) will be the youngest party president, and his ascension is seen as a move towards a complete overhaul of the party, with a possible mix of youth and experience. Party sources have indicated that nominations for the president’s election will take place on Jan 19, followed by election the next day. Party sources said that after completing the nomination process, Nabin will be elected national president the next day. He had been appointed BJP working president on Dec 15, but his formal takeover was on hold due to “kharmas”, an inauspicious phase when Hindus avoid taking up new work or marking a beginning. Since his appointment, Nabin has been meeting party workers at the BJP headquarters. Widely regarded as an organisational chief, Nabin currently represents Bankipur assembly constituency in Patna district. Nabin is the son of the late BJP politician and former BJP MLA Nabin Kishore Prasad Sinha. With nearly two decades of organisational experience, Nabin has held several key roles within the party, including as Bihar president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and BJP’s election in-charge for Chhattisgarh.