Mukesh Ambani emerges richest Indian for 11th consecutive year in Forbes list

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received ₹6,654.93 crore in donations during the 2024-25 financial year — a Lok Sabha election year — registering a 68 per cent increase over the previous fiscal.

In its annual contribution report submitted to the Election Commission on December 8, two days ahead of the deadline, the BJP disclosed all donations exceeding ₹20,000. The report, now available on the Commission’s website, covers contributions received between April 1, 2024 and March 30, 2025 — a period marked by the general election and Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Delhi.

The BJP, the world’s largest political party by membership, had reported donations of ₹3,967 crore in 2023-24. The latest figures represent the party’s highest donation receipts in the last five years.

Electoral trusts accounted for around 40 per cent of the BJP’s total donations. The Prudent Electoral Trust contributed ₹2,180 crore, followed by the Progressive Electoral Trust with ₹757 crore and the New Democratic Electoral Trust with ₹150 crore. Contributions from other electoral trusts together amounted to ₹3,112.5 crore. The remaining funds came from corporate donors and individuals. Electoral trusts are entities set up by companies to channel donations to political parties.

Among major corporate contributors, Serum Institute of India donated ₹100 crore, Rungta Sons Private Limited ₹95 crore, Vedanta ₹67 crore, and Macrotech Developers (formerly Lodha Developers) ₹65 crore. Three Bajaj Group companies together contributed ₹65 crore, while Derive Investments donated ₹50 crore.

Other notable donors included Malabar Gold (₹10 crore), Kalyan Jewellers (₹15.1 crore), Hero Group (₹23.65 crore), Dilip Buildcon Group (₹29 crore), ITC Limited (₹35 crore), Wave Industries (₹5.25 crore) and Zerodha’s investment firm, promoted by Nikhil Kamath, which contributed ₹1.5 crore.

Several BJP leaders also made individual donations. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma donated ₹3 lakh, Assam minister Pijush Hazarika ₹2.75 lakh, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan ₹1 lakh, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi ₹5 lakh, Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava ₹1 lakh, and Akash Vijayvargiya, son of senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, also donated ₹1 lakh, among others.

In contrast, most opposition parties reported a sharp decline in donations. The Congress received ₹522.13 crore in 2024-25, a fall of about 43 per cent from ₹1,129 crore in the previous year. The Trinamool Congress saw donations drop to ₹184.08 crore from ₹618.8 crore, while the Bharat Rashtra Samithi reported just ₹15.09 crore, down from ₹580 crore.

The Aam Aadmi Party, however, recorded an increase, collecting ₹39.2 crore compared to ₹22.1 crore last year. The Telugu Desam Party received ₹85.2 crore in donations, down from ₹274 crore, but also earned ₹102 crore through fees and subscriptions. The Biju Janata Dal reported ₹60 crore in donations, compared to ₹246 crore in the previous fiscal.

The 2024-25 financial year is also the first without electoral bonds, after the Supreme Court struck down the scheme as unconstitutional in February 2024. Since its introduction in 2018, the electoral bond scheme had enabled political parties to receive over ₹16,000 crore in anonymous donations, with the BJP receiving the largest share. 

At least seven elephants were killed and one calf injured after a herd collided with the Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express in Assam's Hojai on Saturday morning, leading to disruption of rail services. 

The Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express struck a herd of elephants, resulting in the derailment of the locomotive and five coaches. No passenger casualties or injuries were reported, officials said.

The New Delhi-bound train met with the accident around 2.17 am, PTI reported. The Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express connects Mizoram's Sairang (near Aizawl) to Anand Vihar Terminal (Delhi). 

Railway has issued helpline numbers at the Guwahati Railway Station:-

•    0361-2731621
•    0361-2731622
•    0361-2731623

The accident site is located about 126 km from Guwahati. Following the incident, accident relief trains and railway officials rushed to the spot to initiate rescue operations.

Train Services Disrupted

Sources said that due to the derailment and elephant body parts scattered on the tracks, train services to Upper Assam and other parts of the Northeast were affected.

Passengers from the affected coaches were temporarily accommodated in vacant berths available in other coaches of the train. Once the train reaches Guwahati, additional coaches will be attached to accommodate all passengers, after which the train will resume its onward journey.

The incident occurred at a location that is not a designated elephant corridor. The loco pilot, upon spotting the herd on the tracks, applied emergency brakes. Despite this, the elephants dashed into the train, leading to the collision and derailment.

Last month, an elephant was killed after being hit by a train in Dhupguri in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district. The incident took place on November 30. 

The adult elephant was killed on the spot, and a calf was discovered lying injured beside the tracks. 

Over 70 Elephants Killed In Train Collisions Over Last 5 Years

At least 79 elephants have died in train collisions across the country in the last five years, the Environment Ministry had informed Parliament in August.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh had said the figure is based on reports from state governments and Union Territory administrations for the period 2020-21 to 2024-25.

He said that the ministry does not maintain consolidated data on the deaths of other wild animals on railway tracks, including in designated elephant corridors.

Singh confirmed that three elephants, including a mother and her calf, were killed on July 18 this year after being hit by a speeding express train on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section in West Bengal's Paschim Midnapore district. The incident took place near Banstala between Jhargram and Banstala stations.

The minister said several measures have been taken jointly by the Environment Ministry and the Railways to prevent such accidents.

These include imposing speed restrictions in elephant habitats, pilot projects such as seismic sensor-based detection of elephants near tracks and construction of underpasses, ramps and fencing at vulnerable points.

The Wildlife Institute of India, in consultation with the ministry and other stakeholders, has also issued guidelines titled 'Eco-friendly Measures to Mitigate Impacts of Linear Infrastructure' to help agencies design railways and other projects in ways that reduce human-animal conflicts.

Singh added that capacity-building workshops were conducted for railway officials at the Wildlife Institute of India in 2023 and 2024 to raise awareness on elephant conservation and protection.

A detailed report titled 'Suggested Measures to Mitigate Elephant & Other Wildlife Train Collisions on Vulnerable Railway Stretches in India' had also been prepared after surveys across 127 railway stretches covering 3,452 km.

Of these, 77 stretches spanning 1,965 km in 14 states were prioritised for mitigation, with site-specific interventions suggested. 

Mangaluru: Public transport in Mangaluru is set for a state-led transformation as the government moves to deploy 100 new electric govt buses to replace unreliable private services. The initiative aims to provide a dependable alternative to private operators who have been frequently "cutting trips," leaving thousands of commuters stranded.

The announcement was made by Deputy Commissioner and MCC Administrator Darshan HV during a public phone-in session. The move specifically targets routes where private bus service has become erratic, ensuring that citizens no longer have to rely on a fluctuating private sector for their daily commute.

Restoring the Govt Presence

The transport crisis was brought to the forefront by Ramayya, a resident of Bajal, who highlighted a growing trend of private buses skipping morning and night trips. With the previous KSRTC (govt) services discontinued, residents have been left without a fallback option.

To fix this, the DC confirmed that the PM-eBus Sewa Scheme will bring 100 government-owned electric buses to the city:

•    Phased Deployment: The first 50 of the new 100 government buses are scheduled to arrive by March 2026.

•    State Infrastructure: Two new government depots, including one at Mudipu, are being prepared for operations.

•    Recruitment: The state has already begun training a new batch of government bus drivers to ensure the fleet is operational the moment it arrives.