Voting begins in UP, Bihar, Bengal; Modi-Kejriwal clash in Varanasi

May 12, 2014

Lucknow, May 12: Polling began on Monday morning on a peaceful note for 18 seats in the crucial last phase of Lok Sabha polls in eastern Uttar Pradesh, to decide the fate of 328 candidates, including BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, AAP's Arvind Kejriwal and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

“The polling has started on a peaceful note and will continue till 6 pm. Elaborate security arrangements have been made for this phase”, UP Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha said.

Over 3 crore voters, including 1.42 crore women, are expected to exercise their franchise at 19,881 polling centres to decide the fate of 328 candidates including 14 women and various political stalwarts.

In the mother of all political battles, Mr. Kejriwal will take on Mr. Modi from the temple city of Varanasi, which witnessed a massive show of strength by both the outsiders, also attracting the attention of international media.

Congress' Ajay Rai, a local' backed by Mukhtar Ansari's Quami Ekta Dal (QED), also wooed voters here as the high pitched canvassing saw allegations and counter-allegations flying thick and fast between leaders of different hues.

On these 18 seats, Samajwadi Party had clinched six seats from the region, BSP (5), BJP (4) and Congress (3) in 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

Interestingly, the BSP had registered marginal loss and ended up in the second place in 12 seats.

The Samajwadi Party supremo, besides sticking to his traditional bastion in Mainpuri, has thrown his hat into the ring from Azamgarh too.

Bihar

Patna, May 12: Voting began this morning in six constituencies in the last of the six-phase Lok Sabha election in Bihar in which 90 candidates are contesting.

Among the candidates are film-maker Prakash Jha and former Union minister Raghubansh Prasad Singh.

While Jha is trying his luck on a JD(U) ticket from Paschim Champaran, more popularly known as Bettiah, Raghubansh Prasad Singh, who won praise for piloting MGNREGA, is fighting from his traditional Vaishali seat on a RJD ticket.

Singh is pitted against muscleman-politician Rama Singh of the LJP and Vijay Kumar Sahni of the JD(U).

The six seats going to the poll are Valmikinagar, Paschim Champaran, Purvi Champaran, Vaishali, Gopalganj(SC) and Siwan.

Elaborate security arrangement has been made for the last round of election with 58,000 security personnel put on duty while armed personnel would be posted at every polling location.

The Election Commission reduced poll timings by two hours in five assembly segments in view of perceived Maoist threat.

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Air India Express brings back Mangaluru–Muscat direct flights from March 2026

News Network

December 15,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 15: Air India Express has announced that it will resume direct flight services between Mangaluru and Muscat from March 2026, restoring an important international air link for passengers from the coastal region.

Airport authorities said the service will operate twice a week—on Sundays and Tuesdays—from March 1. The initial flights are scheduled on March 3, 8 and 10, followed by March 15 and 17, with the same operating pattern to continue thereafter. The flight duration is approximately three hours and 25 minutes.

The Mangaluru–Muscat route was earlier operated under the 2025 summer schedule, with services beginning on July 14. At that time, Air India Express had operated four flights a week before suspending the service.

Officials said the summer schedule will come into effect from March 29, after which changes in flight timings and departure schedules from Mangaluru are expected. Passengers have been advised to check the latest schedules while planning their travel.

The resumption of direct flights to Muscat is expected to significantly benefit expatriates, business travellers and others, further strengthening Mangaluru’s air connectivity with the Gulf region.

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Think Before You Post! Mangaluru Police Crack Down on Provocative Instagram Accounts

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December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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