National News
Seven-phase polls in five states from Feb 10-Mar 7, counting on Mar 10

Spanned over seven phases, the elections to five states Assemblies — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gao, Punjab and Manipur — would be held from February 10 to March 7, and the counting of votes will take place on March 10, the Election Commission of India announced on Saturday.
Uttar Pradesh will go to polls on February 10, 14, 20, 23 and March 3 and 7; Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand would vote on February 14; while Manipur will vote in two phases on February 27 and March 3, said Chief Election Commissioner Sudhir Chandra .
The elections would be held following full Covid protocols.
Up to January 15, no physical rallies roadshows, padyatras, or vehicle rallies will be allowed keeping in view the pandemic situation. All parties have been advised to conduct campaigns in virtual mode.
Invoking Aarticle 171 (1), Chandra said that the Assembly tenure has to end in five years and, therefore, elections are necessary.
As per the Covid protocols for conducting elections, all elections officials will be double vaccinated, will be given a booster dose and will also be treated as frontline workers. Booths would be fully sanitised and there will be adequate gloves, sanitizers etc for the polling staff.
More than 15 crore people in the five poll-bound states have received the first dose of the vaccine, while nine crore people have received both the shots.
Polling time has been increased by one hour in all the states.
The final electoral rolls were published on January 5. There are a total of 18.34 crore voters, including service voters. Of these, 8.55 crore are women. The EC has made an effort to increase the number of voters and as a result, all states have seen an increase, with the maximum voter increase in Uttar Pradesh.
There are a total of 24.5 lakh first time electors and 30.47 lakh senior citizens. The EC has capped the number of voters per booth to 1,250, resulting in an increase in the number of polling stations to 30,334 as the average number of voters per polling booth has decreased.
At least one booth in each Assembly constituency will be managed exclusively by women, Chandra said.
“It will now be mandatory to publish criminal records of candidates minimum three times in local newspapers and television channels. Even the parties are expected to do so with their candidates,” he said.
Earlier, Chandra said that the Commission has set out three goals for these elections: Covid-free elections, hassle-free voting experience and maximum participation by voters.
The preparations have been going on for at least six months with EC teams visiting poll-bound states.
Business
BLS International shares crash 17 pc after MEA bars company from new tenders for 2 years

Mumbai, Oct 13: Shares of BLS International Services plunged sharply on Monday after the Government barred the company from participating in future tenders of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Indian Missions abroad for the next two years.
The stock crashed as much as 17.85 per cent to hit a 52-week low of Rs 277 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
The MEA had issued the directive on October 9, restricting BLS International from bidding for new tenders.
However, the company clarified that the order will not affect its ongoing contracts or financial performance.
“This development does not impact the company’s current financials or ongoing operations. All existing contracts with Indian Missions across the globe remain valid and continue to operate as scheduled,” BLS International said in a regulatory filing.
“Additionally, the order will not have any significant bearing on the company’s financial outlook,” the firm added.
The company added that it is working to resolve the issue and considers it a procedural development within the visa outsourcing industry.
“We remain confident of a constructive resolution in due course,” the company stated.
In the first quarter of FY26, Indian Missions contributed around 12 per cent to BLS International’s consolidated revenue and about 8 per cent of its EBITDA.
Despite its recent fall, BLS International has been a strong long-term performer. The stock has declined 21 per cent in the past month, over 24 per cent in three months, and nearly 40 per cent so far in 2025.
However, it has still gained 17 per cent in two years and delivered a massive 1,455 per cent return over the past five years.
During the early trade, BLS International shares were trading 14.40 per cent lower at Rs 288.65 on the BSE.
Crime
Haryana IPS suicide: Punjab Scheduled Caste panel seeks report from Chandigarh DGP

Chandigarh, Oct 11: The Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission on Saturday took suo moto notice in the suicide case of Haryana’s ADGP Y. Puran Kumar in Chandigarh and sought a report from the Chandigarh Director General of Police.
Commission Chairman Jasvir Singh Garhi said this matter has come to his notice through the media, on which he has taken action and he has instructed the Director General of Police of Chandigarh to submit a report regarding this matter and the action taken so far on the suicide note and the complaint given by his wife Amneet Kaur through an ADGP-level officer to the commission on October 13.
Also, the Scheduled Castes Commission Chairman will visit the victim’s family’s house on October 13.
Meanwhile, Jai Narayan, a spokesperson for the 31-member committee for justice for Puran Kumar, told the media here that they formed this 31-member committee on Friday to sustain the movement across all over Haryana with key members from various regions.
“The government has not conducted any meaningful investigation, and we demand that at the very least, those responsible be terminated; only then will the post-mortem be performed,” he said.
Meanwhile, protests were held in Rohtak, demanding arrest of the accused in the suicide case. Inspector General of Puran Kumar, who allegedly shot himself dead at his Chandigarh residence on October 7 with his service revolver, left behind a “final note”.
The victim’s spouse, Amneet P. Kumar, a Haryana cadre senior bureaucrat, in a letter to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has sought justice for her husband.
The letter, marked urgent and confidential, two days ago expressed anguish over what she described as a “grave injustice” and “complete administrative inaction” even after more than 48 hours of her husband’s death.
In a nine-page “suicide note”, Puran Kumar reportedly accused nine serving IPS officers of the Haryana Police, a retired IPS officer and three retired IAS officers of “caste-based discrimination”.
The serving officers included DGP Shatrujeet Singh Kapur and Rohtak Superintendent of Police Narendra Bijarniya.
Meanwhile, the government has removed Bijarniya from his post and has been replaced by Surinder Singh Bhoria as the Superintendent of Police of Rohtak.
No posting has been given to Bijarniya as of now. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to the wife of late Haryana IPS officer, saying the incident “reveals that even the highest-level officers can be denied social justice on account of discriminatory attitude”.
“The passing away of Mr Y Puran Kumar reveals that even the highest-level officers can be denied social justice on account of the discriminatory attitude and the preconceived notions of the powers that be. Crores of Indians stand with you in your fight for justice,” she wrote.
Mumbai Press Exclusive News
Crores of rupees were defrauded in the name of government jobs, the accused was arrested from Delhi… The accused had received money from hundreds of unemployed people

Mumbai: The Mumbai Economic Wing has claimed to have arrested the accused in a case of cheating in the name of getting government jobs in the central and state governments in several districts of Maharashtra. Santosh Ganpat, a businessman from Navi Mumbai, filed a complaint that the accused Nilesh Kanshi Ram Rathore had charged him Rs 5 lakh for a government job and Rs 5 to 15 lakh for medical tests and appointment letters. The EOW has registered a case against him because he has cheated him of Rs 2.88 crore by promising him a job and during the investigation it was revealed that he has cheated him of Rs 10 crore. The Economic Wing has formed a team to arrest the absconding accused and searched him in Akola and other areas. The accused cheated hundreds of youths for recruitment in RCF in 2022. His complaint was filed with the EOW. The EOW received information that the accused was trying to escape from Delhi, on which the police arrested him from Delhi. The accused has been booked in Mumbai EOW and Pune Deccan. A criminal case has been registered and further investigation is underway. This operation has been carried out under the leadership of EOW chief Nisht Mishra.
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