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Budget Session: Prez Murmu highlights India’s record growth in agriculture, health, infrastructure

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New Delhi, Jan 28: President Droupadi Murmu, addressing a joint session of Parliament at the start of the Budget Session on Wednesday, lauded India’s strides in agriculture, industry, healthcare, and social welfare, calling the nation’s rapid progress “a topic for global discussion”.

Highlighting record foodgrain production of over 350 million tonnes in the past year, the President announced that India has now become the world’s largest rice producer.

She further noted that the country has emerged as the second-largest fish-producing nation, reflecting the success of the blue economy, while continuing to lead globally in milk production — a testament to the strength of the cooperative movement.

On the industrial front, President Murmu praised India’s rise as the second-largest producer in mobile manufacturing, underscoring the government’s efforts to build a system free from corruption and ensure that “every rupee is spent on India’s development”.

Infrastructure development also featured prominently in her speech. She cited the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, initiated by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, which added nearly 18,000 kilometres of new rural roads in the past year alone.

Turning to healthcare, the President commended the establishment of 1.8 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs and highlighted initiatives benefiting senior citizens. Nearly one crore elderly citizens have been issued Vay Vandana cards, enabling around eight lakh of them to receive free hospital treatment.

She also pointed to the Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission, under which more than six crore citizens have been screened, and mission-mode campaigns that have helped control Japanese Encephalitis in rural Uttar Pradesh.

“It is a matter of pride that the World Health Organisation has declared India free of trachoma,” she added.

President Murmu emphasised that the government’s vision of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas is positively impacting lives across the country, particularly among Dalits, backward classes, and tribal communities.

She noted that social security coverage has expanded dramatically, with 95 crore Indians now benefiting from schemes, compared to 25 crore in 2014.

The President’s address set the tone for the Budget Session, underscoring the government’s achievements across agriculture, industry, healthcare, and social welfare, while projecting India’s development story as one of global significance.

Mumbai Press Exclusive News

Target to complete all works of Vidya Vihar Flyover by June 25, 2026, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Project) inspects site

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Mumbai: A flyover is being constructed by the Municipal Corporation at Vidya Vihar railway station, connecting the east and west sides of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s ‘N’ zone. The entire work of the project is targeted to be completed by June 25, 2026. However, all work on the eastern side of the bridge will be completed by February 28, 2026. The process of removing the affected residential and commercial structures and re-aligning the road on the western side of the bridge should be completed immediately. Keeping in mind the monsoon, all the necessary work on the bridge should be planned to be completed before May 31, 2026. After this, efforts should be made to complete the surfacing and finishing works and open the bridge for traffic by June 25, 2026, Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said (Projects) A flyover passing over the tracks of Vidya Vihar railway station, within the limits of the ‘N’ zone of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, is being constructed by the Bridge Department of the Municipal Corporation to connect Ram Chandra Chemburkar Marg in the east and Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg in the west with the Ghatkopar area. The flyover project also includes a main bridge of about 100 meters in length that passes over the railway tracks. Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar visited the project site today (January 29, 2026) and inspected it. During the inspection, he gave necessary instructions to the concerned agencies.

The flyover, which connects Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg and Ram Chandra Chemburkar Marg, has a total of two lanes. The 650-metre-long project includes a 100-metre bridge over the railway tracks, while a 220-metre approach road is being constructed on the eastern side and a 330-metre approach road on the western side. The flyover is also providing a connecting road to the footpaths of Vidya Vihar railway station. Along with this, the railway ticket counter, station master’s office and the stairs on both sides have also been reconstructed. The pedestrian path is being connected to the by-road through stairs within the railway limits. Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijeet Bangar said that the work on the eastern side of the flyover is currently in the final stage. All the work, including the completion of the concrete path on the eastern side and surfacing of the entire bridge, will be completed by February 28, 2026. For this, a detailed and phased planning of the work should be done. So far, the construction of six pillars on the western side has been completed. The construction of the remaining four pillars, bridge span, normal road etc. is pending. Traffic diversion during these works is a major challenge. Therefore, the road work on both sides of the bridge will be completed first to provide more space for traffic while the work is in progress. After this, the remaining works of the bridge will include removal of affected residential and commercial structures and realignment of the road. After the completion of both these processes, the flyover works will gain significant momentum. Keeping in view the upcoming monsoon, all the major essential works of the flyover should be completed by May 31, 2026, followed by surfacing and other final works. In any case, the flyover should be completed and opened for traffic by June 25, 2026.

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Crime

Rama Rao terms SIT notice to KCR in phone tapping case as ‘politics of vendetta’

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Hyderabad, Jan 29: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao has condemned SIT notice to party president and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in the phone tapping case and termed it as a ‘clear example of the most heinous politics of vendetta’.

Rama Rao alleged that the notice to K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) is an attempt by the Telangana government to cover up its failures and divert public attention from administrative shortcomings.

Rama Rao took to ‘X’ to react strongly to the notice issued by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to his father and BRS chief KCR.

“This is not an investigation. This is revenge. This is not justice. This is political malice,” he said.

Calling KCR a great leader, Rama Rao said he fought for statehood to Telangana with an unwavering resolve, risking his life, and ultimately achieved the goal.

Rama Rao said KCR is the leader, who through his ten-year rule, showcased Telangana to the world.

“He is a great visionary who nurtured all sections of society, treated the state like a newborn child, and led Telangana on the path of development with schemes like the irrigation revolution, Mission Bhagiratha, Mission Kakatiya, Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, and Dalit Bandhu,” wrote the BRS Working President.

“Such a leader is now being targeted by the incompetent Congress government, which came to power on the foundation of false promises and reckless assurances. Within a year of coming to power, this government has betrayed the people and completely failed in implementing its promises,” he added.

Stating that KCR is a leader who resides in the hearts of the people of Telangana, Rama Rao said that the Congress government cannot erase the history of Telangana with notices and threats.

“If you insult the Telangana movement and the self-respect of Telangana, the people themselves will teach you a fitting lesson. We will stand by the people and continue the fight against this unjust rule as the voice of the people. The history of Telangana will not be written by investigations but by the verdict of the people,” said Rama Rao.

The SIT on Thursday issued a notice to KCR, directing him to make himself available for questioning at 3 p.m. on Friday (January 30).

The case relates to alleged tapping of phones of several political opponents, businessmen, journalists and even judges under the previous BRS government.

The SIT earlier questioned BRS leaders and former ministers Rama Rao and T. Harish Rao and former MP J. Santosh Rao.

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Crime

High-security Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat gets bomb threat email

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Chandigarh, Jan 29: The high-security Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat, guarded by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), was evacuated on Thursday after a bomb threat email was received in the office of the National Informatics Centre (NIC), officials said.

Besides the CISF, Chandigarh Police, along with its counterparts from Punjab and Haryana, bomb squads and the Fire Brigade, were deployed in the Secretariat, which houses offices of the Chief Ministers of both states, their Cabinet colleagues and top-ranking government functionaries.

After the threat sent from an email id in the name of ‘Michael Gill’, the entire Secretariat was evacuated and thoroughly searched.

The CISF has been deployed in the Secretariat since 1995, when then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh was killed in a bomb blast at the complex in Chandigarh, the city that serves as the joint administrative capital of Punjab and Haryana.

A day earlier, around 30 schools in the city received bomb-threat emails, causing widespread panic among the police and local administration.

As the schools, both public and private, received the email in the morning, the police were informed, and an alert was issued from the police control room within minutes.

Upon receiving the information, the bomb detection team, the operations cell, and the local police station personnel reached the schools and began searching all premises.

The threatening emails contained inflammatory and objectionable content, including the phrase “bomb blast 1.11 p.m.” The email stated: “Chandigarh is Khalistan, stop the national anthem in schools…” It also mentions the Prime Minister’s proposed visit to Dera Ballan in Punjab’s Jalandhar on February 1 to pay his respects on Guru Ravidas Jayanti.

Normalcy returned as schools remained closed for the day and parents took their children back home.

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