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Bengal bypolls: Polling underway, peaceful in first 2 hours

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Polling for the bypolls for Asansol Lok Sabha and Ballygunge Assembly constituencies in West Bengal on Tuesday have been more or less peaceful with hardly any reports of poll-related irregularities.

The polling began at 7 a.m.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), the polling percentage for Asansol Lok Sabha till 9 a.m. was 13 per cent and in Ballygunge Assembly constituency it was eight per cent.

In the morning, the BJP candidate from Ballygunge, Keya Ghosh complained to the Election Commission of India about the presence of Kolkata Police personnel within a couple of election booths. The office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, after looking into the matter rejected the applications, Ghosh’s closest contenders for Ballygunge Assembly by polls are Trinamool Congress’ Babul Supriyo and the CPI-M’s Saira Shah Halim.

The BJP candidate from Asansol, Agnimitra Paul, also made a similar complaint of the presence of state police personnel in certain booths of the constituencies. Trinamool Congress filed a counter-complaint against Paul of going to cast her vote being escorted by armed security personnel allotted for her. Trinamool has fielded popular Bollywood star, Shatrughan Sinha from Asansol this time. The CPI-M candidate from Asansol is Partha Mukherjee.

On Tuesday morning, the office of the CEO received a complaint about the person escorting an ailing voter pressing the EVM voter on behalf of the voters. The CEO ordered an action taken report (ATR) on this count. Later the presiding officer of the said booth was also replaced by the CEO.

Similarly, Supriyo complained to the CEO, West Bengal that he was prevented by the central forces personnel at a booth in Ballygunge assembly constituency.

The CEO office has sought an ATR on this count as well.

In another development, at another booth in the Barabani area under Asansol Lok Sabha, tension broke out between the BJP and Trinamool supporters after the BJP candidate, Agnimitra Paul reached the booth. Following the clashes between the supporters of the two parties, the vehicle of Paul was damaged and one of her bodyguards was injured. The CEO office has sought an ATR on this count as well.

Webcasting is being conducted in 100 per cent of the booths in Ballygunge and 51 per cent of the booths in Asansol.

While Ballygunge Assembly constituency has a total 300 booths, the number in case of Asansol Lok Sabha constituency is 2,102. A total of 23 booths in Ballygunge have been declared as sensitive. The number of identified sensitive booths in the case of Asansol is 680.

Ballygunge has 40 micro-observers and Asansol has 442. A total of 133 companies of the central armed forces have been deployed for the bypolls, out of which 116 companies are allotted to Asansol and the remaining 17 companies to Ballygunge.

Results for the bypolls will be declared on April 16.

Business

Piyush Goyal to lead business delegation to Spain, Belgium and Finland to deepen trade, investment ties

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New Delhi, July 12: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will lead a high-level Indian business delegation on a five-day visit to Spain, Belgium and Finland from July 13 to 17, as India seeks to deepen its economic engagement with Europe through enhanced cooperation in trade, investment, technology, innovation and sustainability, it was announced on Sunday.

The delegation will include leading Indian companies from sectors such as advanced manufacturing, clean energy, digital technologies, gems and jewellery, food processing, healthcare and design. The visit is aimed at expanding business-to-business partnerships and exploring new opportunities for collaboration with European industries, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said.

The visit will begin in Spain on July 13, where Goyal will participate in a business roundtable jointly organised by the Chamber of Commerce of Spain, CEOE and ICEX Spain Trade & Investment. The discussions are expected to focus on sectors including automotive, renewable energy, railways, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, food processing and tourism.

The meeting will bring together industry leaders from both countries at a time when India and Spain are celebrating the Spain-India Dual Year 2026, marking 70 years of diplomatic relations. Several Spanish companies, including Iberdrola, Acciona, CAF, Talgo, Gestamp and Indra, have already established a strong presence in India, while Indian technology and engineering firms such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and Larsen & Toubro are expanding their operations in Spain to support digital transformation and Industry 4.0 initiatives.

In Belgium, where the delegation will travel on July 14 and 15, the minister will visit the Port of Antwerp to study Europe’s leading logistics hub and gain insights into multimodal connectivity, green logistics and resilient supply chains.

During the Belgium visit, Goyal will hold CEO-level meetings with senior executives of Thales Group and Silox Group.

The minister will also participate in the India-EU Business Roundtable and the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Plenary, where discussions will cover foreign direct investment, trade facilitation, sustainable technologies and resilient supply chains.

The final leg of the tour will take the delegation to Finland on July 16 and 17. Goyal will participate in the India-Finland Business Roundtable, engaging with Finnish companies across digitalisation, clean energy, advanced manufacturing and the circular economy.

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Crime

Speeding Ferrari crashes into apartment building in Hyderabad Jubilee Hills

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Hyderabad, July 12: A speeding Ferrari car crashed into the gate of an apartment building in Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills area in the early hours of Sunday. There were no casualties, said officials.

The incident occurred on Road Number 5 in the upscale Jubilee Hills under the Film Nagar Police Station limits.

The occupants abandoned the heavily damaged Ferrari Roma, said to be worth more than Rs 3.50 crore, and fled before police arrived at the scene.

The gate of Fort View Apartments was completely damaged in the collision. The front portion of the luxury car was badly mangled.

The man driving the vehicle escaped after the accident. Police suspect that the person at the wheel was under the influence of alcohol and driving the vehicle at a high speed and in a rash manner.

Police registered a case and launched an investigation into the person who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident. Police were examining the CCTV footage to ascertain if there were other persons in the vehicle.

Police shifted the damaged Ferrari to the police station with the help of a towing vehicle.

This is the second such incident in Jubilee Hills in less than a week. An SUV had crashed into Tollywood actor Dharma’s residence on the night of July 9.

A man who was under the influence of alcohol had rammed the SUV into the residence of Dharma on Road Number 10. The compound wall of the actor’s house was damaged in the incident.

The accused was identified as Karthik Kumar, who drove the SUV in a rash and negligent manner before losing control and ramming into Dharma’s house. Luckily, there were no casualties.

The actor alerted the police, who rushed to the spot and arrested the accused. A breathalyser test confirmed that the accused was drunk while driving the SUV.

Police registered a criminal case against Kartik Kumar and launched further investigation.

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National News

4.5 magnitude earthquake in Bay of Bengal triggers tremors in Visakhapatnam

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Visakhapatnam, July 12: A 4.5 magnitude earthquake in the Bay of Bengal triggered tremors in parts of Visakhapatnam and adjoining districts of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday.

Some areas in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam were jolted by the tremors around 5.05 a.m.

The tremors were felt in Gajuwaka, Mangalapalem, Sagar Nagar, Pedda Waltair, Arilova, MVP colony, Appughar and other areas.

According to the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), a mild earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale occurred in the Bay of Bengal early on Sunday, and mild tremors were felt in several parts of Visakhapatnam city.

National Center for Sesimology said the earthquake occurred at 5:05:46 a.m. IST at a depth of 10 km, with its epicentre located about 225 km off the Kakinada coast in the Bay of Bengal. The epicentre was located at latitude 16.805 degrees N and longitude 84.381 degrees E.

No casualties, property damage or any other loss have been reported due to the earthquake.

There are reports of tremors being felt in parts of Anakapalli, Vizianagaram, Kakinada and Konaseema districts.

Experts described it as a shallow earthquake. They said there was no need for people to be worried as the tremors were mild due to structural adjustments. They pointed out that the region is considered tectonically stable.

In November last year, Visakhapatnam and Alluri Sitharamaraju districts were jolted by a mild earthquake.

An earthquake of magnitude 3.7 had struck the Alluri district in north coastal Andhra on November 4, 2015. The tremors triggered panic among residents in some areas. People ran out of their houses on hearing a loud sound. However, there were no casualties or any other damage. According to the National Center of Seismology, the epicentre of the earthquake was at G. Madugula in Alluri Sitharamaraju district at a depth of 10 km. The epicentre was 110 km from the port city of Visakhapatnam.

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