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Congress to take a call on Presidental poll after Udaipur ‘Chintan Shivir’

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The Congress will take a call on the Presidential polls after the Chintan Shivir scheduled in Udaipur next week.

While the grand old party has no strength of its own to defeat the yet to be named NDA nominee, all eyes are on the joint opposition candidate, as and when it is announced. However, the ruling coalition is short of votes to get simple majority and the 1,17,000 approx. votes of non-NDA and non-UPA parties can play the game in the elections.

A Congress leader said on condition of anonymity, “We are more focused on the Chintan Shivir now, and there is no serious discussion on Presidential elections yet, though it may come up.”

Congress sources said that the party may go for a joint opposition candidate, which can test the opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

However, a Congress leader said that “the issue may come up in early June and Sonia Gandhi may call all the UPA partners to take a collective decision, but UPA will field a candidate for sure.”

Another Congress source said that the party can support a joint opposition candidate, but not a BJP nominee though it had supported A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2002 despite the fact that he was a BJP contender. But that was the era of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was best at reaching out to the opposition.

Kalam won the 2002 Presidential polls, defeating Left party candidate Lakshmi Sahgal. He was backed by the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Many feel that it’s not possible to come up with a joint opposition candidate given that many regional parties are likely to go with the BJP, including the BJD and YSRCP, which have good number of MPs in the Parliament.

The BJD has 12 Lok Sabha and nine Rajya Sabha members, which have 8,496 and 6,372 vote strength, respectively, while the YSRCP has 22 MPs with a vote strength of 15,576 in the Lok Sabha and 4,248 votes in the Rajya Sabha, which is enough to bail out the ruling party.

The biggest vote share among the regional parties is with the DMK, Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP). And the SP had supported Kalam in 2002, who was an NDA candidate.

The electoral college, comprising 776 MPs from both the Houses and 4,120 MLAs of all the states and Union Territories, has 1,098,903 votes, and a majority is 549,452 votes. As far as the value of votes is concerned, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of votes, approximately 83,824, followed by Maharashtra and West Bengal.

The BJP has a majority in the Parliament, but in terms of big states, which are key to the Presidential elections, its strength has reduced in Uttar Pradesh, while some other crucial states are ruled by the opposition parties, whose unity can pose a challenge for the saffron camp.

In fact, Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee has warned the BJP that the Presidential elections will not be a cake walk for the BJP, as it doesn’t have even half of the legislators of the country.

Maharashtra

7 accused arrested in cyber fraud case of over Rs 1 crore in Mumbai

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Mumbai: The Cyber ​​Police Station has claimed to have solved the mystery of a cyber crime in which the complainant was threatened with digital arrest on WhatsApp from April 2 to April 18, 2026, and was involved in a money laundering case and was defrauded of Rs 16.74 crore online by sending fake electronic documents. During the technical investigation, the police have arrested 7 accused, identified as Sanjay Hiralal, 57, who used to generate OTPs, the 32-year-old female accused used to hide the fraudulent money, Rishi Ramchandra Meena, 38, who used to transfer the fraudulent money to bank accounts, Naushad Ali, 31, who digitally arrested the complainant and the victim and worked in this gang digitally, Muhammad Khalid Hafeezuddin Saif, 27, a digital expert, Jogesh Mehta, 43, and Zubair Hussain, 27, who helped them deposit the fraudulent money in their accounts. 613 mobile phones, 2 laptops, 5 digital sign devices were recovered from the possession of the accused. SIM cards of several companies, 10 cheque books, 2 passbooks and 2 ATM cards have been seized. DCP Bajrang Bansode told the press conference that there is no such thing as digital arrest and in such a situation, do not keep in touch on unknown social media accounts. If someone threatens digital arrest, do not believe them.

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National News

Rail connectivity to Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur disrupted for month now due to track damage in Assam

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Guwahati/Agartala, Aug 10: Rail connectivity between southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and the rest of the country has remained disrupted for nearly a month following heavy rainfall and soil subsidence that damaged railway tracks along the strategically important Lumding-Badarpur Hill Section in Assam, officials said on Monday.

A senior Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) official said train services on the vital Lumding-Badarpur Hill Section under the Lumding Division have been partially disrupted following incessant moderate to heavy rainfall in and around New Harangajao station in Assam’s mountainous Dima Hasao district, formerly known as North Cachar Hills.

“A huge number of workers, railway personnel and engineering teams are working despite inclement weather, and heavy machinery has been deployed on a war footing to restore the affected tracks and lines at the earliest. However, we are unable to say when normal train services will resume. Regular train operations are expected to resume once the restoration work is completed safely,” the official told media.

Tripura Transport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury told media that the state government officials are in close touch with NFR officials and engineers to restore normal rail services after completion of the ongoing repair and maintenance work near New Harangajao station.

Opposition leaders, including those from the CPI-M and Congress, have accused the Railway Ministry and the Tripura government of failing to make adequate efforts to expedite the restoration of the affected railway tracks, despite the strategic importance of the Lumding-Badarpur Hill Section for southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, and Manipur.

The NFR official said continuous heavy rainfall had triggered soil subsidence beneath two of the three railway tracks near New Harangajao station, affecting a stretch of nearly 300 metres and severely disrupting train operations since last month.

“Restoration work has been progressing under challenging conditions, but continuous moderate to heavy rainfall and inclement weather have significantly hampered repair efforts, delaying the resumption of normal services,” he said.

The official said the settlement of the railway tracks on Line 1 and Line 2 near New Harangajao station had disrupted train operations on the Lumding-Badarpur Hill Section.

At present, all train movements through the affected stretch are being operated on Line 3 under strict monitoring and enhanced safety measures to ensure the safe passage of trains.

In view of the ongoing restoration work, the NFR has cancelled the Guwahati-Silchar and Guwahati-Dullabcherra Express services since the disruption occurred. Several other trains connecting southern Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur have either been rescheduled, regulated, or partially cancelled.

The Kolkata-Agartala Express, which was supposed to commence its journey on August 9, was regulated en route in the Lumding Division.

In the interest of passenger safety, the operation of passenger-carrying trains through the affected section has been suspended during night hours. During the daytime, trains are being allowed to pass through the affected stretch under regulated conditions and continuous monitoring.

The Lumding-Badarpur Hill Section is the principal rail link connecting Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, and southern Assam with the rest of the country, making it one of the most vital and strategically important railway corridors in the Northeast. Any prolonged disruption on the route has a cascading impact on passenger movement as well as the transportation of foodgrains, fuel, construction materials and other essential commodities to the region.

Every year during the monsoon season, railway infrastructure across parts of the Northeast remains vulnerable to heavy rainfall, floods, landslides and soil erosion, frequently disrupting passenger and goods train services along the Lumding-Badarpur Hill Section.

The four-month monsoon period from June to September often causes extensive damage to railway tracks, embankments, bridges and other infrastructure due to landslides, waterlogging and erosion, particularly in the mountainous terrain of Dima Hasao district. As a result, several Northeastern states, especially Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur, along with parts of southern Assam, frequently face prolonged disruptions in rail connectivity with the rest of the country, causing considerable hardship to passengers and affecting the timely movement of essential commodities and commercial goods.

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International News

India, Thailand discuss enhancing collaboration on combating online scams

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Bangkok : India’s Ambassador to Thailand Puneet Agrawal on Monday held a meeting with Thailand’s Minister of Digital Economy and Society Chaichanok Chidchob on enhancing collaboration, combatting online scams and integrating digital ecosystems to facilitate tourists.

India, Thailand discuss enhancing collaboration on combating online scams

“Views were exchanged on enhancing collaboration under the existing bilateral agreement on digital technologies, experience sharing on combating online scams, integrating digital ecosystems to facilitate tourists, among others,” it added.

Last month, Ambassador Agrawal and Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Phipat Ratchakitprakarn met and discussed ways to strengthen strategic partnership through enhanced maritime, air, and road connectivity, deepening people-to-people ties and tourism linkages.

India and Thailand elevated the bilateral ties to Strategic Partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangkok in April last year.

On July 16, Agrawal met Urasa Mongkolnavin, Director-General (DG) of the Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs at Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and held discussions on issues of mutual interest to strengthen the strategic partnership between both nations.

“Ambassador Puneet Agrawal met Mrs. Urasa Mongkolnavin, DG of the Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs, Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both sides exchanged views on various issues of mutual interest such as high-level visits, trade and investment, people-to-people connect, public health and traditional medicine, etc to further strengthen the Strategic Partnership between India and Thailand.”

Agrawal also met Thailand Trade Representative Chutintorn Gongsakdi at the Government House, with discussions focused on further strengthening trade and investment ties.

“Ambassador Puneet Agrawal had a cordial and fruitful meeting with H.E Mr. Chutintorn Gongsakdi, Thailand Trade Representative, at the Government House. Discussions focused on further strengthening trade and investment ties between India and Thailand through identifying areas of complementarities, resolving tariff and non-tariff barriers and having a balanced trade for mutual benefit,” the Indian Embassy in Thailand wrote on X.

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