India

Mumbai, Oct 14: With the end of campaigning on Monday, Maharashtra braces for an epic poll battle. With a riveting and unprecedented five-way contest, even Mumbai’s bookies are hedging their bets. The splintering of long-standing political alliances, just three weeks before the polls, set the stage for an election which could dramatically alter the State’s political map. The big question is

Visakhapatnam, Oct 14: The death toll in Andhra Pradesh rose to 21 on Monday, with officials saying that most people died when trees or walls fell on them in Visakhapatnam (15 deaths), Vizianagaram (5) and Srikakulam (1). Special commissioner for disaster management K Hymavathi said 320 villages have been affected and 5,727 electricity transformers have been damaged. At least 400 government

Visakhapatnam, Oct 13: The picturesque port town of Visakhapatnam, a major industrial, educational and tourism hub in the east coast, is still reeling under the impact of havoc caused by the cyclonic storm Hudhud and is picking up pieces from a trail of destruction left behind by the calamity. Under the impact of Hudhud that made a landfall here yesterday, accompanied by gusty winds and heavy

New Delhi, Oct 13: The Kerala unit of the Congress appears to have won its battle against Shashi Tharoor as the party high command, Monday, decided to remove the Thriuvanathapuram MP from the post of party spokesperson. The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) had wanted action against Tharoor for his praise of Narendra Modi and accepting the Prime Minister's invite to him to participate in

Pune, Oct 13: Shiv Sena leader and former Maharashtra Minister Shashikant Sutar today asserted that BJP's mocking at the Sena by calling it a "mouse" had created a rage among the Sainiks and galvanised them into a frenzied campaigning for a clear win in the October 15 Assembly polls. Pointing to BJP President Amit Shah's oblique reference to the estranged ally with the "mouse" analogy at a rally

Visakhapatnam, Oct 13: As cyclone Hudhud weakened moving northwestwards, Andhra Pradesh was on Monday grappling with its aftermath following extensive damage to infrastructure and many losing their houses in the three worst affected districts which were facing shortage of essential commodities. An alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall has been sounded in districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and

Chandigarh, Oct 13: Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmad said here on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lowered the dignity of the office by “behaving like a sadak-chhaap neta (a low-level leader)”. Addressing the media at the Chandigarh Press Club, the Congress affairs incharge of Haryana said Modi was making “all kinds of statements” during campaigning for the BJP. “The Prime

Yavatmal, Oct 13: Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh warned BJP of ever-growing "Modism" which he termed as a personality cult that can best be equated with "Hitlerism" and accused the BJP and its ideological mentor RSS of running a communal agenda. "The BJP should re-think now for the upkeep of its ideology in the context of ever-growing Modism which is nothing but a cult which may be equated

New Delhi, Oct 12: Cyclone Hudhud, which made a landfall in Andhra Pradesh this noon, lost its intensity by evening as it moved further 60 km northwest of Visakhapatnam, the IMD said. Hudhud, which was so far a very severe cyclonic storm has now converted into a severe cyclone. Its speed is now limited to 100-110 kmph, said M Mahapatra, scientist at the Cyclone Warning Division of IMD. The cyclone

Visakhapatnam, Oct 12: Gusty winds, uprooted trees, torn roofs of hutments and sheds and snapped electric cables bore testimony to the impact of severe cyclonic storm ‘Hudhud’ which hit Andhra Pradesh’s coastal districts on Sunday. Normal life was thrown completely out of gear as winds with a speed of 170 to 180 kmph battered Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts on Sunday. The very