National News
1.5 lakh RSS workers enrolled as BLOs in MP: Congress
Bhopal, Nov 8: Congress on Saturday alleged that a large number of RSS workers have been appointed as Block Level Officers (BLOs) for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise underway in Madhya Pradesh.
Congress also alleged that the process of SIR exercise started without complete preparation, as most of the BLOs were yet to receive form 18, and the people in more than 65 per cent of villages haven’t received those forms.
These startling allegations were made during a press conference addressed by a group of senior Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, MP LoP Umang Singhar, PCC chief Jitu Patwari, ex-minister Sajjan Singh Verma and others.
Senior leader Sajjan Singh Verma, who has been appointed as head of a committee of the Congress to look after the SIR issue in the state, briefing the media, said, “More than 1.5 lakh RSS workers have been enrolled for the BLOs job in Madhya Pradesh.”
Congress leader further claimed that the contact numbers of around 28,000 BLOs were not disclosed in the list provided by the Election Commission (EC).
“Why are the BLOs’ contact numbers not mentioned in the list provided to the Congress party?” Verma asked.
Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh alleged differences in the voters’ list being provided to the political parties and presiding officers during the elections.
He demanded that the vote list be frozen immediately after the election dates are announced.
While the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Madhya Pradesh, Umang Singhar, accused the BJP of conspiring to remove around 50,000 eligible voters, especially from Tribal populated districts.
He further stated that Congress is monitoring the SIR strictly and won’t allow it to remove eligible voters.
Notably, the Election Commission has kick-started the second phase of the SIR process in nine states, including Madhya Pradesh, and three Union Territories (UTs) from November 4.
The exercise will continue till December 4. For this purpose, one Block Level Officer (BLO) has been deployed at each of the 65,014 polling stations across the state, who will go door-to-door with enumeration forms.
Under this initiative, BLOs have been tasked to provide enumeration forms to electors at their doorstep.
The claims and objections will be accepted until January 8, and after all claims are resolved by January 31, the final voter list will be published on February 7.
Business
Banks raise $72.8 billion in forex inflows till Aug 21, FCNR(B) deposits reach $65.4 billion: RBI

New Delhi, Aug 22: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Saturday said that authorised dealer banks have raised a massive $72.848 billion in forex inflows till August 21, and a major chuck came from FCNR (B) deposits at $65.397 billion.
External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCBs) under Reserve Bank’s Swap facility helped raised another $7.451 billion till August 21.
RBI had introduced a special USD-INR forex swap facility covering FCNR(B) deposits, ECB and OFCB inflows on June 8, 2026.
“As already announced vide Press Release dated August 14, 2026, the Scheme is open till August 31, 2026 for FCNR(B) deposits, and up to December 31, 2026 for ECBs and OFCBs,” The Research Bank said in a statement.
The massive foreign inflows arrive as Indian banks have stepped up their efforts to attract FCNR(B) deposits by offering higher interest rates after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) suddenly cut short the deadline for its dollar-rupee swap window to August 31, from September 30.
The swap facility, announced in June to boost the inflow of dollars amid a weakening rupee, was originally available until the end of September, but the RBI abruptly shortened this by a month due to the “encouraging response” to the facility, which resulted in the required amount of foreign exchange flowing into the country.
While there may be valid reasons to justify an early closure of the RBI’s FCNR(B) deposit scheme, the most likely reason could be that the target for dollar mobilisation has already been achieved with inflows at $57 billion, and another $25-30 billion could easily flow in the remaining days of August, taking the total collections to around $85 billion, an SBI Research report said earlier this week.
According to the SBI report, “we don’t believe that the cost of swap could have been a constraining factor”.
“Our estimates show that the cumulative cost would amount to around 15 per cent of the corpus, or $10.5 billion. While this appears sizeable in absolute terms, it needs to be viewed against the scale of India’s foreign-exchange reserves rather than the FCNR(B) corpus alone,” the report argued.
Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves jumped $9.905 billion to $716.90 billion during the week ended August 14, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday. The latest increase comes a week after the country’s forex reserves had surged by $14.1 billion to $707 billion, marking their highest level in the current financial year.
The rise in reserves was supported by inflows under the RBI’s FCNR(B) deposit scheme, which began to reflect in the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
National News
CJP vs villagers: Rajasthan school shifted within 24 hours in Jaipur

Jaipur, Aug 22: A day after a dispute between the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and villagers of Rampura over an inspection of a government school in Jaipur escalated into allegations of assault, intimidation and a law-and-order breakdown, the government school was shifted to a building about 50 metres away, within 24 hours of Friday’s clash.
After the confrontation, CJP founder and convenor Abhijeet Dipke had warned of an escalation stating that he would sit on a dharna in Jaipur if steps weren’t taken within 48 hours to improve the condition of the school.
The Rampura government school was shifted to a house in the village on Saturday morning. More than 16 children were present at the new location along with two teachers.
The room being used for classes had previously operated as a grocery shop. At the time of inspection, some children were also seen studying outside in the Sun.
A blackboard had been placed outside one of the rooms, while the room itself contained a storage chest and other belongings.
Children also reported that the ceiling fan inside the room was not working, leaving them uncomfortable in the heat.
On Saturday morning, both sides filed complaints against each other at Shivdaspura police station, accusing one another of assault and creating a ruckus.
Both parties have also alleged that police personnel are putting pressure on them.
CJP national spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka alleged that party workers were assaulted in the village on Friday and that their clothes were torn. He demanded the immediate arrest of those responsible.
Ranka further alleged that people from outside the village were brought in for the attack and claimed that some of those involved were later seen with local BJP MLA Kailash Verma. He described the incident as a “pre-planned attack” and alleged that stones were used with the intention of causing serious harm.
According to Ranka, police personnel were not present at the spot despite repeated attempts to contact them. He said the CJP has made videos of the incident public and demanded an impartial investigation by the Rajasthan Police.
Ranka also alleged that Pratap Nagar police were intimidating him and putting pressure on him. He claimed police personnel were questioning CJP workers about him and his family.
In their complaint to the police, villagers alleged that the CJP had disturbed the atmosphere in Rampura.
They claimed that the arrival of a large number of people, allegedly carrying weapons, created fear in the village and that children were now frightened to attend school.
The villagers have denied the allegations made by CJP workers and sought action over what they described as intimidation and disorder.
Villagers said they want the government to reconstruct the school building at the earliest so that classes can resume properly within the village.
Reacting to the developments, Ranka said the CJP would not be intimidated and would continue its ‘School Thik Karo’ campaign over the condition of government schools.
He alleged that Education Minister Madan Dilawar would face embarrassment over the condition of Rajasthan’s schools and said he would personally visit schools again.
Ranka also said the CJP’s demand could now extend beyond school-related issues to seeking Dilawar’s resignation.
Meanwhile, Dilawar posted on social media that continuous efforts were being made to strengthen government schools in Rajasthan, including infrastructure development, construction and repairs, smart classrooms, laboratories and other essential facilities.
The allegations made by both sides have yet to be independently established.
The police investigation and the FIRs filed by the two parties are expected to determine the sequence of events and responsibility for Friday’s clash.
Crime
‘Give her to us’: Adobe techie Vinay Gupta’s mother, sister allege pre-planned murder by in-laws in Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 22: The mother and sister of 31-year-old software engineer Vinay Gupta, who was allegedly beaten to death by his in-laws in outer Delhi Nihal Vihar area, on Saturday alleged that the killing was pre-planned and demanded strict punishment for those responsible.
Speaking to reporters, Gupta’s mother alleged that her daughter-in-law had orchestrated the murder and deliberately called her relatives to their home.
“Give her to us, and we will punish her with our own hands. She orchestrated his murder and left,” she said.
According to her, the incident occurred early in the morning when her daughter-in-law allegedly called her brothers to the house. “We were preparing to serve them water, thinking that relatives had come to visit. But they did not want water. They grabbed him by his hands, choked his throat, jumped on his chest and killed him right before my eyes within five minutes,” she alleged.
She further claimed that when she tried to save her son, she too was assaulted. “When I rushed to save him, they beat me. When his father tried to rescue him, they assaulted him as well. Everything went dark before my eyes. There was no one else in the house. She had the CCTV cameras switched off,” the grieving mother stated.
Calling the incident pre-planned, she said there had been no major dispute before the attack. She claimed that six people were involved, of whom four had reportedly been detained while two are absconding.
Gupta’s sister, who was at her in-laws’ home at the time of the incident, also alleged that the killing had been planned in advance.
“My parents and my brother were alone at home. In the morning, she had an argument over something and stormed out of the house. Within just 10 minutes, she returned with six men from her family. She led them upstairs,” she said.
“My mother was preparing to serve them water, thinking that guests had arrived. But they refused the water, grabbed my brother by his hair, choked his throat and killed him. Before leaving the house, she had intentionally switched off the CCTV cameras,” she alleged.
She questioned how the relatives could have reached the house within 10 minutes when their residence was allegedly around 30 minutes away.
“It was completely pre-planned. Everything was orchestrated in advance,” she said, adding that her elderly parents were unable to save her brother.
The sister also alleged that Gupta’s wife frequently fought over minor issues and threatened the family. “There were six people who killed my brother,” she alleged.
The deceased was a resident of Laxmi Park and worked as a software engineer with Adobe in Noida. He had married his 31-year-old wife, a homemaker, around three-and-a-half years ago. The couple have twin children — a son and a daughter — who are about four-and-a-half months old.
According to the victim’s family, an argument broke out between Gupta and his wife in the morning over a matrimonial issue. Following the dispute, the woman allegedly contacted members of her parental family, who later arrived at the couple’s residence in Nihal Vihar.
The family alleged that Gupta was subsequently attacked and severely beaten by his wife’s relatives. Gupta was later rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. However, doctors declared him dead on arrival.
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