K’taka OKs auto approval of period leave for govt staff

K’taka OKs auto approval of period leave for govt staff

Niranjan.Kaggere@timesofindia.com  06.10.2026

Bengaluru: Women govt employees across Karnataka will no longer need to justify their need for menstrual leave with their sanctioning authority, as the state govt Monday ordered automatic approval of all such leave applications through the Kartyavya app. 

In a move aimed at ensuring menstrual leave remains an entitlement rather than a matter of discretion, the latest directive from the Praja Seva department has made the leave sanctioning process virtually automatic, eliminating the need for human intervention. Officials have been instructed to ensure that employees apply for menstrual leave only through the Kartyavya app.

App-authorised leave can’t be reversed Continued from page 1 

The Kartyavya app is an AI-powered mobile attendance registration platform. Once a menstrual leave application is authorised through the app, no sanctioning authority can withhold, question or reverse the decision. The decision follows recent reports that women employees were facing hurdles in availing the leave, with applications allegedly being held up and some sanctioning officers even questioning the need for such leave.

The state govt has now made it clear that such discretion cannot be exercised once the prescribed conditions are met. The circular issued by Praja Seva department said state govt had already extended a day’s menstrual leave every month to women govt employees. The benefit was specifically introduced to do away with the need for a medical certificate. “An application that fulfils the prescribed conditions should be sanctioned promptly, and the sanctioning authority has no discretion to reject it,” the circular further clarified.

HC sets 6-month timeframe for disciplinary action against errant state govt employees

HC sets 6-month timeframe for disciplinary action against errant state govt employees

K.Kaushik@timesofindia.com 03.10,2026

Madurai: Reminding Tamil Nadu govt of its stated ‘zero tolerance’ towards corruption, Madras high court has ordered that disciplinary proceedings initiated against errant govt employees should be completed within six months. “If govt servants who are violating the conduct rules and engaging in corrupt practices are dealt with in a prompt manner, then it would send a strong message against corruption and discourage other officers from committing such acts,” said Justice B Pugalendhi. Directing the govt to amend the Tamil Nadu Civil Service (Discipline and Appeal) Rules and relevant conduct rules by incorporating GOs and court rulings that permit simultaneous conduct of disciplinary and criminal proceedings against delinquent govt servants, the judge said: 

“By keeping the disciplinary proceedings in abeyance merely because the criminal case is pending, and thereby permitting such delinquent officers to continue in service and receive benefits, the very purpose of the conduct rules would be defeated. Such an approach would have the effect of enabling delinquent officers to avoid or delay the consequences of their misconduct.” The judge said, “When the entry of a person with criminal antecedents into govt service is considered to have a bearing on the purity of administration, the involvement of a serving govt servant in a criminal case cannot be viewed with any lesser seriousness. The continued presence of such a person in service, without timely departmental action, has a direct bearing on the purity, functioning and reputation of the administration.” 

He added, “The court is unable to understand as to how the disciplinary authority can take a call on whether the disciplinary proceedings can be kept in abeyance, when the decisions of the Supreme Court have consistently made it clear that there is no legal bar for simultaneous disciplinary proceedings during the pendency of criminal cases.” The court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by govt servants against whom criminal cases were filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, based on traps conducted by DVAC. On being placed under suspension, they filed petitions challenging their suspension orders saying they were under suspension for a prolonged period and that disciplinary inquiry has not been conducted against them.

Fake details, blank documents: ‘Donkey’ gets nursing certificate

Fake details, blank documents: ‘Donkey’ gets nursing certificate

30.09.2026

Jamal.Ayub@timesofindia.com 

Bhopal: An online nursing registration application submitted in the name of a donkey was approved by the Madhya Pradesh Nurses Registration Council, raising questions over the verification process of its newly launched portal. 

The application was submitted by NSUI state vice-president Ravi Parmar as a test of the council’s online system. According to Parmar, the form carried the name “Donkey”, a photograph of a donkey and fictitious details, including “Donkey Father” and “Donkey Mother” in the parents’ fields and “Animal” in the caste column. 

Despite the details, a temporary nursing registration certificate was issued after an online payment of Rs 2,050, Parmar claimed. He said the certificate was generated around five minutes after the application was submitted and payment made on Sept 25.

The application also contained arbitrary Class 10 and 12 examination details, while Bhopal Nursing College and Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre were entered as training institutions. Blank sheets were uploaded instead of training completion and degree or diploma certificates, Parmar said. 

The council’s response was not immediately available. Parmar has sought an inquiry into the portal and the agency managing it, saying the probe should establish how the application was approved without verification.

Compassionate ground can’t be used to seek higher posts: HC

Compassionate ground can’t be used to seek higher posts: HC

Vasantha.Kumar@timesofindia.com  24.09.2026

Bengaluru: A compassionate appointment is a one-time measure arising from an exceptional circumstance and cannot be converted into a recurring claim for higher posts or better service benefits, the Dharwad bench of Karnataka high court ruled. 

A division bench of Justices M Nagaprasanna and Hema Kulkarni, in a judgement delivered on Sept 22, also cautioned state govt against allowing transposition from one Group C post to another merely because a compassionate appointee possesses higher educational qualifications. The court made the observations while allowing petitions filed by govt and reversing orders of Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal (KSAT) in two cases involving Sathish V Gulla and Sandeep Kumar V Kulkarni. 

Both men had been appointed under the compassionate appointment scheme to the post of second division assistant (SDA). KSAT had directed govt to consider their cases for appointment as first division assistants (FDAs), taking into account their higher educational qualifications. Govt challenged the orders, contending that compassionate appointment was not a form of direct recruitment in which qualifications and other eligibility criteria were assessed for appointment to a higher post. 

The high court agreed with govt’s position, holding that the purpose of compassionate appointment was to provide immediate financial assistance to a family suddenly deprived of its breadwinner. “Once that compassion has translated itself into public employment and the appointment has been accepted, the stream of compassion cannot be permitted to flow endlessly into claims for higher posts, better cadres or superior service benefits,” the bench observed. It said the purpose of the scheme was fulfilled once the eligible family member was appointed to the post contemplated under it. Possession of qualifications for a higher post, by itself, could not justify invoking compassion afresh for appointment to that post. 2

The bench also warned govt about making individual exceptions outside the governing scheme. Picking and choosing individuals for such benefits, it said, could disturb administrative discipline and lead to grievances of unequal treatment.

College ‘ran’ BEd course on paper for years

College ‘ran’ BEd course on paper for years 

20.09.2026

Bhopal: A private college in Jatkhedi has come under police scrutiny over alleged irregularities in its B.Ed course, with claims that the institution was not physically functioning for nearly a decade even as admissions, practicals, examinations and degree records were maintained every year. 

Bag Sewania police registered a case on Saturday on a complaint by Amin, a B.Ed student from Ashta, who said he enrolled in 2025 after being told the college was affiliated to Barkatullah University, was charged an excessive fee, shown another building as the premises and later told his admission was not cleared. A BU inquiry allegedly found the college non-functional. TNN

33 and unmarried? VAO’s doubt stalls engineer’s wedding

33 and unmarried? VAO’s doubt stalls engineer’s wedding

Ram.Sundaram@timesofindia.com 

19.09.2026

Madurai: For most couples, marriage plans get delayed by finances, family negotiations or careers. However, for a fintech engineer from Madurai working in Japan, it’s a village officer’s doubt about how he could “still be unmarried at 33” that has stretched things. 

U Arivanandan, who moved to Japan for work three years ago, met a Japanese woman there, and they decided to marry. For the marriage in Japan, he requires an unmarried certificate from authorities in Madurai, which subsequently has to be attested by the ministry of external affairs. 

His family applied online in Jan 2026. A month later, the application was rejected by Madurai district authorities. “At the age of 33, your son is still not married. I doubt it,” Arivanandan’s father Udhayachandran quoted the VAO as telling him. 

The officer also wanted Arivanandan to appear before him personally, Udhayachandran told TOI. The family then approached the Madurai collector and submitted a fresh application in May. They were again called to the VAO’s office, but the certificate was once again rejected last Tuesday. 

Eight months have passed since he applied, and the wedding remains on hold. Defending his decision, the VAO told TOI that Arivanandan, aged 33 already, had been living abroad for years and there was no way to verify locally whether he had married in Japan already. “If he resides here, we can issue it based on his statement and two witnesses. When he is living abroad, I cannot get into trouble without verification. Also, he had not produced a letter from Indian Embassy in Japan stating he was unmarried,” the VAO said.

However, the official TNeGA portal for certificate applications does not specifically require an unmarried-status letter from the embassy. It lists a photograph, address proof, age proof and self-declaration among documents for an unmarried certificate. Under the declaration, the applicant accepts responsibility for the information furnished and can face prosecution if it is later found false.  Madurai district collector Nishant Krishna did not respond to queries.

Govt employee dumps wife, and two daughters on street

Govt employee dumps wife, and two daughters on street 

07.09.2026

Ahmedabad: A govt employee allegedly dumped his 52-year-old wife and two daughters on the streets saying he could not arrange for their accommodation. The woman from Kalol on Saturday filed a complaint with Sola police alleging that the husband, posted with the supply department in Una, and his family have been harassing her. 

The woman harmed herself after being left on the road. The woman told police that she lived in a rented room in Kalol while her husband lives in Una, Gir-Somnath. A few days ago, rainwater entered the room, forcing the woman and her daughters, aged 14 and 17, to move to Trimandir in Adalaj. The husband came to see them and suggested arranging accommodation elsewhere for a month. According to the complaint, the woman wanted a permanent arrangement, to which the husband allegedly said he did not have the money and she could do what she wanted. 

She alleged that he left the three on Ognaj Road and went away. According to the complaint, the woman harmed herself with a blade and was taken to a hospital. She has also accused her brother-in-law and sister-in-law of subjecting her to harassment. Times News Network

HC junks govt plea against increment order to disabled govt employee

HC junks govt plea against increment order to disabled govt employee

Siddharth Pandey & Ashutosh Shuklatnn 04.09.2026

Jabalpur/Bhopal: A division bench of Madhya Pradesh high court refused to interfere with a single-judge bench order, directing the state to grant an increment due to a specially abled govt employee, regardless of her failing to clear a typing test. 

The order came on a writ petition filed by the govt, challenging the single-bench ruling on the contention that the grant of increment in this case may set a precedent for other employees to demand a similar raise in pay without having the requisite qualification. 

Dismissing the state’s contention, the division bench of Justice Vivek Rusia, the acting Chief Justice, and Justice Pavan Kumar Dwivedi, in its August 21 order, said the apprehension of the grant of increment setting an unhealthy precedent was ‘absolutely baseless’, as the case of petitioner Sanju Yadav and 24 more specially abled employees was reconsidered by the govt through an order on April 15, 1999, as a special case for granting compassionate appointment, relaxing all conditions. “Once such sensitivity and compassion was shown at the time of appointment, it is highly improbable on the part of the state government to deny the benefit of increment on account of not passing the typing examination,” the bench ruled. 

The judges noted that the petitioner was ‘highly qualified’, possessing an MSc degree (first division) and a BEd degree from Jiwaji University, adding that with the passage of time, the govt itself has done away with the requirement of passing a typing test, as typewriters have come to be replaced by computers. “We find no merit in the present writ appeal. The same is, accordingly, dismissed,” the bench ruled, junking the plea.

Class 9 student dies after suspected heart attack in school

Class 9 student dies after suspected heart attack in school 

03.09.2026

Mandya: A 14-year-old student died after reportedly suffering a heart attack during lunch break at SCMM High School in Somanahalli village of Maddur taluk Wednesday. The deceased is Veeramani, who was staying with his grandparents while his parents were residing in Tamil Nadu. According to school authorities, the incident occurred during lunch break when Veeramani suddenly collapsed while drinking water. He was a class 9 student at the school. Teachers immediately rushed him to Maddur Public Hospital in a school vehicle, where he was provided first aid. 

As his condition was critical, doctors advised that he be shifted to Mandya MIMS Hospital for further treatment. However, doctors at MIMS confirmed that the boy had died. Dhananjay, BEO, Maddur, confirmed the death of Veeramani and mentioned that the student was very active in school. The news of Veeramani’s death left his parents and relatives devastated, with the family mourning outside MIMS hospital. Maddur police have registered a case and are conducting an inquiry into the incident. tnn Lunch-hour tragedy

Bus travel for women, three LPG cylinders to be free: CM Expected To Cost 10,000Cr Annually

Bus travel for women, three LPG cylinders to be free: CM Expected To Cost 10,000Cr Annually 

Shanmughasundaram.J@timesofindia.com 25.08.2026

Chennai: Chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday announced two welfare measures aimed at easing household and mobility costs—three free LPG cylinders a year for over 1.3 crore families and expansion of fareless bus travel for all women and transgender persons across Tamil Nadu. 

Announced under Rule 110 in assembly, the schemes carry a combined annual financial cost of around 10,000 crore per year. Under the expanded fareless bus travel scheme, women and transgender people can travel in express, limited stop services (LSS), deluxe services in urban areas, while they were earlier permitted to travel for free only in ordinary govt buses. In addition, they can also travel in inter-district mofussil buses and in hill areas, from Oct 2. “There will be no income ceiling or limit on the number of trips,” Vijay said. 

The fareless bus scheme was launched by DMK govt as ‘Magalir Vidiyal Payanam’ but was renamed as ‘Vettri Payanam’ recently by TVK govt. “The scheme is not just about free bus travel. It is a social investment securing a student’s education, a worker’s livelihood and a mother’s household security,” Vijay said, drawing loud applause from the treasury benches. “No woman in Tamil Nadu should lose an opportunity because of commuting costs,” he said adding TN govt would incur an additional expenditure of 6,000 crore annually for the scheme. Vijay also announced ‘Annapurni’scheme under which eligible families will get subsidy equivalent of three LPG cylinders a year. The scheme will cover around 1,30,16,104 households, which include families with an annual income below 2.5 lakh, small and marginal farmers and households having persons with disabilities. 

Beneficiaries will buy cylinders directly from oil companies, with the subsidy amount reimbursed to their linked bank accounts after purchase, Vijay said. The state has earmarked an additional 4,000 crore for the scheme a year, which will be formally launched during Pongal in Jan next year. 25/08/2026, 06:14 Bus travel for women, three LPG cylinders to be free: 

CM Vijay’s poll promise was to provide six LPG cylinders to each family, but it has been halved considering the fiscal situation of the state. File Photo FUELLING WELFARE: Measures aimed at easing daily costs

Endoscopic camera used to copy paper in sealed packet CM orders probe

Endoscopic camera used to copy paper in sealed packet CM orders probe

23.08.2026

Raipur: A tiny endoscopic camera was allegedly slipped through a pinhole in a sealed question paper envelope to film a BSc agriculture entomology paper without opening the packet, exposing a startling loophole in exam security at Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV) in Raipur, Chhattisgarh police said Saturday, reports Rashmi Drolia. 

The paper leak surfaced on Aug 20, shortly before the exam. The test was cancelled and rescheduled for the first week of Sept. About 1,200 students from 27 agriculture colleges were to take it. Six people have been arrested, including Yogesh Sonkesariya, a professor at a private college in Durg, and five students who allegedly paid Rs 12,000 each for the leaked paper, DCP Smritik Rajnala said Saturday.

C’garh police searching for two more suspects, CM orders probe 

Raipur police are searching for two more suspects and are probing if the group was part of a wider network. Sonkesariya allegedly took the sealed entomology paper home, pierced its envelope with a needle and another pointed tool, inserted an endoscopy camera costing about Rs 2,500 and filmed the contents through the tiny opening. The camera, normally used to inspect narrow and hard-to-reach areas inside the human body, allowed him to access the paper without visibly opening the packet. Police said Sonkesariya allegedly reconstructed the questions from the video, sold the paper and passed it to a student network that circulated images through WhatsApp about two hours before the exam. When university officials compared the paper being distributed at exam centres with the viral copy, the questions matched. Police said an FIR was registered under Chhattisgarh Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2008 and BNS sections. CM Vishnu Deo Sai has ordered an impartial probe, while the university formed a five-member panel.

State can’t undo 33-year-old appointment: Gujarat High Court

State can’t undo 33-year-old appointment: Gujarat High Court

July 5, 2026, 01.02 AM IST

Ahmedabad: 05.07.2026

The Gujarat HighCourt has quashed a state govt order cancelling an appointment of a teacher 33 years after he was given the job and some 17 years after his death, and stopping the pension being given to his widow.

In this case, Harshad Bhavsar, along with five others, was appointed as a teacher in its school by Sugyan Education Trust in 1988. After ascertaining he got requisite qualification for the post, his appointment was regularised by the district education officer in 1989. After serving for 16 years, Bhavsar died in 2004. The education department began paying family pension to Bhavsar’s widow, Manorama.

In 2021, the director of schools cancelled the appointment of six teachers and a librarian of the school, including that of Bhavsar, withdrew grant benefits, cancelled employee numbers and stopped salary payments under the Direct Salary Scheme.

The govt action was initiated following a complaint made in 2015 by the husband of then school principal, alleging that the appointments had been made in violation of recruitment rules. The govt cancelled the appointments on the grounds that they were based on forged documents, made without obtaining a no-objection certificate, without publishing advertisements and without seeking names from the employment exchange, causing a financial loss of over Rs 6 crore to the exchequer.

The school trust and the affected employees, including Bhavsar’s widow, challenged the order before HC in 2021. A single-judge bench quashed the govt’s s decision, ruling that appointments could not be cancelled after more than three decades.

However, the state govt appealed appealed against the order regarding the revocation of Bhavsar’s appointment.

Dismissing the appeal, a division bench of N S Sanjay Gowda and Justice J L Odedra said, “If an appointment was made in the year 1988, was regularised in 1989, the same cannot be subjected to a challenge or could be doubted by the state nearly 33 years after the appointment was made.”

The bench further said, “The state, after granting a family pension to the widow of the employee, is now doubting the very appointment itself, which its own officials had regularised. The learned single judge, in our view, has rightly quashed the order of cancellation and held that the state could not exercise its powers to cancel the appointment at such a belated stage.”

One-Year PG vs Two: Reimagining the master’s degree under NEP 2020

One-Year PG vs Two: Reimagining the master’s degree under NEP 2020 

Given the diversity of higher education landscape, both pathways may need to coexist for some time, allowing varsities to adopt models aligned with their academic strengths 

Rajlakshmi.Ghosh@timesofindia.com 18.05.2026

As the implementation of NEP 2020 gathers pace, postgraduate education is undergoing one of its biggest transformations in decades. Universities are introducing multiple pathways to a master’s degree — a one-year PG for students completing a Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP), alongside the conventional two-year master’s route for students with a three-year bachelor’s degree. 

The shift is aimed at aligning higher education with global norms, improving flexibility, and creating research-centric academic trajectories. Since India’s higher education system is currently operating within multiple parallel academic structures involving traditional three-year UG programmes, FYUP models, autonomous university systems, and professional pathways, experts claim that a one-size-fits-all approach will no longer work. In such a diverse environment, an overly rigid approach may create unintended inequities.

 “Traditionally, the master’s degree functioned largely as an extension of UG learning. Today, however, PG education is increasingly being viewed as a stage of advanced specialisation, research orientation, innovation, and professional preparedness. This transition has been shaped both by NEP 2020 and the changing realities of the global knowledge economy. Universities are now expected to prepare graduates who are multidisciplinary, research-oriented, globally competitive, and capable of adapting to rapidly evolving sectors driven by technology and innovation. The one-year PG model emerges from this context. It assumes that students completing an FYUP, particularly Honours or Honours with Research, would have already acquired substantial academic grounding, research exposure, internships, and cross-disciplinary learning during the fourth year itself.

 This distinction has also been formally recognised in the UGC framework,” says Prof Raghavendra P Tiwari, vice-chancellor, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda. Global Benchmarks Considering the Indian one-year PG is still at the early stages of implementation and the first FYUP cohorts are only now entering the pipeline, quality will vary widely across institutions. “The UK one-year master’s degrees work because they sit on top of rigorous honours programmes with strong final-year research component besides being backed by established universities. The Indian variant will take years to build comparable credibility. Until then, a two-year PG from a reputed Indian institution carries far greater weight with international peers and employers than a one-year PG from an average university,” says Ram Kumar Kakani, vice-chancellor, RV University. 

“The need for the oneyear master’s is not organically driven nor is it choice of central universities,” says Abha Dev Habib, associate professor, Miranda House, University of Delhi (DU) advocating the need for a 3+2 PG format which is structurally more robust. “NEP 2020 introduced a flexible 4+1 structure with multiple exit options for UG and PG degrees, but it also made the system more ‘porous’. The added fourth year has increased student numbers without additional faculty, space, or research facilities. Colleges now face higher teaching loads, inadequate student-teacher ratios, and limited capacity to support undergraduate research. 

Under the new system, students who complete the fourth year of their undergraduate programme are eligible for a one-year MSc. However, no additional infrastructure or funding has been provided to support this change,” she adds. Pointing to the larger picture, Prof Tiwari says, “The one-year PG is envisioned as a more focused and intellectually intensive phase where students engage with specialised domains, emerging technologies. However, the effectiveness of this model will ultimately depend on the quality of FYUP implementation.” Given the diversity of the higher education landscape, both oneyear and two-year postgraduate pathways may need to coexist for some time, allowing universities to adopt models aligned with their academic strengths, regional realities, and student aspirations.

 18/05/2026, 06:50 Times of India ePaper ahmedabad - Read Today’s English News Paper Online https://epaper.indiatimes.com/timesepaper/publication-the-times-of-india,city-ahmedabad.cms 2/4 18/05/2026, 06:50 Times of India ePaper ahmedabad - Read Today’s E

Groom not the man she met on Instagram, bride calls off shaadi

Groom not the man she met on Instagram, bride calls off shaadi 

MATCH MISMATCH 15.05.2026

Lucknow : A friendship that began on Instagram ended in chaos at a wedding venue in UP’s Shahabad, after the bride alleged that the groom was not the same person she had connected with on the social media platform. 

The wedding was called off. Police registered an FIR against 10 people on cheating and criminal conspiracy charges, and arrested five, including the groom. Cops said the woman had befriended an Instagram user who identified himself as “Rahul Mishra” and claimed to be serving in the Army. Over time, the two grew close and decided to marry. 

The woman told police that Rahul had even visited Shahabad earlier and met her in person. After discussing with her elder sister, the wedding was scheduled for May 12. On Tuesday, a wedding procession arrived, guests were welcomed, and the rituals began. However, during the garlanding ceremony, the bride alleged that the groom was not the man she had met and interacted with online. 

She refused to marry the one in front of her. Police said Devendra Parmar — who had arrived as the groom — claimed the woman had been speaking to him all along. He denied knowing anyone called Rahul Mishra. The situation quickly escalated into chaos, with some people at the venue assaulting the groom and members of his wedding party. Police were informed, and a team rushed to the spot and detained several baraatis. 

“If the person she earlier met was someone else, how did Devendra Parmar know when and where to arrive with the wedding procession? Who posed as Rahul Mishra and met the woman? These are some of the questions we are probing,” SHO Arvind Rai said. TNN

No biryani, wedding turns bloody

No biryani, wedding turns bloody 

Knives Out After Wedding Guests Bicker Over Being Served Pulao 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  Ahamedabad 14.05.2026

Ahmedabad : Food can make or break an event. And, a wedding meant to celebrate a new beginning went spectacularly off the rails after a late-night argument over biryani, or rather a lack thereof, exploded into a violent family clash involving knives and iron ladles. 

The bride, 23, who had travelled from Delhi with her family for the May 12 wedding, ended up spending the night at a police station, accusing the groom and five others of attacking her relatives after guests complained that pulao, and not biryani, was served at dinner. 

According to the bride’s complaint, she and her family were staying near the marriage hall in Kubernagar. The engagement ceremony was held on May 10, followed by the wedding rituals the next evening. Trouble began brewing during a pre-wedding dinner when guests objected to the pulao being served. They also allegedly created a ruckus on it “not being prepared properly”, the complainant stated. 

A heated exchange followed, but relatives allegedly managed to calm things down. A few hours later, however, tempers flared again. The bride alleged that around 1 am, the groom, his brother and several others arrived at the hall where her family members were staying and restarted the argument over the food issue. 

According to the complaint, the groom’s side began “hurling filthy abuses” at the bride’s father. The bride told police, “One of the men attacked my father with a knife, injuring his left hand, while another relative, who intervened, suffered a knife wound on her left palm. We all stepped in to separate them.” As relatives rushed to stop the fight, the marriage venue allegedly turned into a battleground, with pushing, shouting, and scuffles breaking out between members of both families. 

During the chaos, gold ornaments worn by the bride and her aunt reportedly disappeared. The injured relatives were rushed to Civil Hospital for treatment before the bride filed a complaint seeking action against the groom and his relatives. However, the groom’s side has given police a very different version. According to the cross complaint, police were called to settle the verbal dispute that arose during dinner, and both sides “reached an understanding”. “However, around 1.30am, the argument allegedly erupted again after the bride’s brother began abusing members of the groom’s family. 

When relatives attempted to calm him down, the bride’s brother, her father and another man attacked them with kitchen utensils and a sharp weapon. An iron ladle was used to strike the complainant on the head,” stated the complaint. Three people from the groom’s family also suffered injuries and were taken to Civil Hospital, the complaint stated. Police have registered complaints from both sides and launched an investigation into the wedding-night showdown.

Chennai faces worsening LPG crisis as wait for refill stretches to 50 days

Chennai faces worsening LPG crisis as wait for refill stretches to 50 days

The supply of LPG cylinders to domestic consumers has been impacted for the past three weeks due to the Gulf war, and the situation has now escalated, severely affecting thousands of households.

A LPG delivery person putting a lock to the empty cyclinders kept on the roadside at patravakkam in Chennai.Photo | P Ravikumar

B Anbuselvan

Updated on:

08 Apr 2026, 9:29 am

CHENNAI: The waiting period for getting a domestic LPG refill has increased unofficially, as the gap between getting refills widening to nearly 50 days in a few parts of the city - this includes the compulsory 25-30 days booking gap between deliveries followed by the delivery time of 15-20 days.

The supply of LPG cylinders to domestic consumers has been impacted for the past three weeks due to the Gulf war, and the situation has now escalated, severely affecting thousands of households.

As a result, many consumers who booked their cylinders 15-20 days ago are flocking to agency offices to collect cylinders directly. Home delivery has been disrupted in areas including Padi, Korattur, Kolathur, Ambattur and Madhavaram.

A section of consumers who interacted with TNIE said they have been buying food from hotels because of the delay in receiving cylinders and have fallen ill as a result. “The gap between two cylinders is now nearly 50 to 55 days.

For a family of four, one cylinder lasts a maximum of 30 to 35 days. For the last 15 days, I have been buying food from hotels for my son who underwent a surgery recently, and I have fallen sick,” said K Rajeshwari of Korattur TNHB colony.

However, officials from the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), which is the state level coordinator for the oil industry in the state dismissed the complaints as an exceptional incident and claimed there is no major disruption in domestic LPG supply.

A Sathish Kumar from Padi said he has not received his refill even after 15 days. “I went to the agency office to inquire about the delivery and found more than 40 people waiting with empty cylinders to exchange for new ones. When asked, I was told that those who booked before March 16 (19 days before) had still not received their cylinders and were being given supplies directly from the agency office. There was insufficient stock for home delivery.”

Another consumer, S Visalakashi (55) from Ambattur, a housemaid, said, “When I tried to book, the system only allowed bookings 29 days after the delivery of the previous cylinder. Subsequently, I booked my cylinder on March 15. When I checked with the agency, the booking was only accepted on March 22, and I was told I would receive it only around April 10. If necessary, I was asked to collect the cylinder from the agency office by handing over the empty one.”

However, in some areas like Kilpauk, residents said that they had received delivery of cylinders five days after booking through the Triplicane Urban Co-operative Society (TUCS) distributor.

LPG dealer offices have been crowded throughout the day, as many consumers who have not updated their mobile numbers, addresses, or e-KYC details are facing difficulties in booking cylinders. “If a booking made 15-20 days ago is accepted, we issue a receipt immediately and ask consumers to purchase from the office. Door delivery may take another 15 days,” said a gas agency staff member.

V Vetriselvakkumar, chief GM (corporate communications), IOCL, assured to look into the issue. “We are in a crisis situation. Home delivery of cylinders has not been stopped anywhere. In fact, in a few places, consumers receive their deliveries within a few days,” he said.

Registrar questions own varsity’s high NAAC ranking via emails, shunted out

Registrar questions own varsity’s high NAAC ranking via emails, shunted out

Ramendra.Singh@timesofindia.com TIMES OF INDIA BHOPAL07.04.2026

Bhopal : In a surprising selfindictment, the registrar of Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV) challenged the favorable NAAC accreditation for his own university. RGPV was awarded A++ in 2025. TOI has access to a copy of the mail sent by him to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). 

The registrar in question was removed from his post on April 1. The controversy erupted as RGPV, which oversees dozens of engineering colleges across Madhya Pradesh, faced scrutiny over its credi-bility and ranking. Affiliated institutions rely on the parent university’s NAAC grade for their own standings. Former registrar Mohan Sen had fired off emails to the NAAC on several occasions in the past three months, alleging inflated marks for nonexistent campus facilities and manipulated data in the Self Study Report (SSR) submitted for Cycle 2 in Nov 2024. 

Sen demanded that the awarded grade be withheld until a thorough probe. Despite the complaints, NAAC remains silent. Sen, who assumed the registrar’s role in Feb 2024, claimed in mails that the SSR data was never verified by current university authorities, including himself, the controller of finance, and director of UIT RGPV Bhopal. “These are just a few examples,” his letter concludes. When contacted, the then registrar, Sen, said, “The last NAAC ranking given to RGPV was A++. Several questions were raised from different corners of society, challenging such a high ranking. I investigated the issue and found that even those parameters, for which the university has no facilities, were considered. I then requested NAAC authorities to physically verify the claims made so that the truth would come to the surface. Unfortunately, NAAC has never responded to any of my emails.” RGPV's spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Akela refused to comment on the matter.

DM arrives late, sparks min’s fury, reprimand

DM arrives late, sparks min’s fury, reprimand

 Neha.Lalchandani@timesofindia.com 

28.03.2026

Lucknow : Made to wait for 45 minutes by the district magistrate at a govt event in his own assembly constituency, Kannauj Sadar, on Thursday, social welfare minister (independent charge) Asim Arun , who was invited as chief guest, first walked out of the programme and later wrote to the district magistrate demanding that he and his team should be more punctual in future.. 

The matter did not end there as the minister started a campaign on Friday evening, asking people to cite incidents where their time was wasted by someone. He named the campaign as ‘Viksit Bharat aur late latifi ek saath nahi chal sakte’. The minister added that it was necessary to emulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for punctuality and discipline. 

Earlier, the minister took the initiative to monitor calls being made by public representatives to officers, after complaints that often their calls were not being attended to for days. Asim told TOI that both the campaigns were aimed at making the bureaucracy answerable. 

 Holding high posts does not give moral right to waste time of others, says Asim In his letter to district magistrate Ashutosh Mohan Agnihotri, after which the DM tendered a ‘letter of regret’, the minister said that at an event organised at Roma Smarak on Thursday, he was invited as chief guest for the event that was to begin at 5.30pm. 

In his letter to the DM, Arun wrote: “The chief organiser was SDM Vaishali who reached 15 minutes after me. The ADM arrived even after her. I waited for around 45 minutes for the programme to start. During this time, they kept announcing from the stage that the event will begin after your arrival. You will agree that the situation became intolerable for me. Nobody knew when you would come so I had no option but to leave.” 

Launching the campaign, Arun said that it was not the issue of insult to any minister and asked that had he not been the chief guest, would the seriousness of this delay be less. He said that people holding high posts did not have a moral right to waste the time of others. “If India wants to become Viksit Bharat, then it is necessary to shed half-heartedness and negligence from our working style. We will have to add punctuality in our DNA. We will have to adhere to time like citizens of Germany, Japan and Switzerland,” he said. 

He asked people to respond with what steps were needed to ensure punctuality at personal and administrative levels in India, as is seen in developed countries. Later, in a letter apologizing to the minister Kannauj DM Ashutosh Mohan Agnihotri blamed a “delay in communication” for the incident. The 2016 batch officer said in his letter that the event had been organized by the District Tourism and Culture Council, Kannauj and the programme was to begin at 5.30 pm. However, the DM added, “the district tourism officer informed him that the show required use of LED lights and at 5.30 pm, a lot of sunlight was anticipated on the open stage. Participants were also delayed and the district tourism officer requested your representative to ask you to delay your arrival till 6.30 pm”. The unpleasant situation arose due to a delay in the communication, he added.

Telangana man ‘digs’ his own grave

Telangana man ‘digs’ his own grave 

Sushil.Rao@timesofindia.com  31.12.2025

Hyderabad : An 80-year-old man from Telangana’s Jagtial district has dug his own grave — well, literally. Not willing to leave the task to his four children, or anybody else for that matter, Nakka Indrayya picked a piece of land and dug up one for himself — to be sure of where he would be laid to rest once he dies. It is close to where his wife is buried. Not just that, he visits a grave every day to waters the plants, cleans the place, and spend some time by himself. “It is my home which I have dug for myself,” Indrayya told TOI from his house in Laxmipur in Jagtial, after returning from his daily visit. That others around him find this strange, doesn’t perturb him. “It is where I will be laid after my death, so I made it as per the design that I wanted,” a rather nonchalant Indrayya said, even going on to share how the entire grave is built only with granite — since it doesn’t get damaged. 

The total cost: About ₹12 lakh. Further elaborating on just why he decided to do this, the senior citizen said that he didn’t want to be a burden on anybody. And this, he added, stems from the fact that he lost his father at an extremely young age of 10. Soon afterwards, Indrayya started working — first as a local labourer and then in Dubai’s construction sector for 45 years. He lost his wife a few years ago. “There is no need to fear death. Everyone will die. I know I will die too. I also know where I will be buried,” he said going on to give more details about the grave that’s 5ft in depth and more than 6ft in length and built with the help of a mason from Tamil Nadu. 

“All that one has to do is take a crowbar and move the granite on the top of the grave, for which too I have made a provision,” he said.

Buffalo dies of dog bite in UP, villagers who had ‘raita’ made from its milk rush for vaccine

Buffalo dies of dog bite in UP, villagers who had ‘raita’ made from its milk rush for vaccine 

Krishna.Chaudhary@timesofindia.com 30.12.2025

Bareilly : More than 200 residents of Pipraul village in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district suddenly queued up in large groups at a local health centre for precautionary anti-rabies vaccines after widespread speculation that ‘raita’, a side dish made up of yogurt, served at a funeral feast was from a buffalo which had died due to rabies after being bitten by a ‘mad’ dog. The feast was held on Dec 23 in memory of late Oran Sahu, a resident of Pipraul — a village with a population of around 1,800 people, as per official records. 

Locals said villagers from nearby settlements also attended the ‘tehravi’ ceremony. One of them said that the buffalo belonged to Sahu’s cousin who used its milk to prepare the ‘raita’ dish. Three days later, the buffalo died, sparking panic in and around the village. “People are anxious because no one knows much about rabies, and there is more hearsay than facts spreading here... Nearly 250 residents have taken the anti-rabies vaccine already, and others are lining up to do the same. Most of them have left all their work to get this done first,” said Deepak Kumar, husband of village pradhan Renu Devi. He added villagers were particularly worried since the dog — believed to have bitten the cattle — could not be traced. Also, the buffalo was buried soon after its death without a postmortem, leaving health officials without a clue regarding the exact cause, Kumar said. 

A medical team has since been stationed in the village to monitor the situation and counsel residents. Health authorities said that they are vaccinating anyone seeking “precautionary protection”. Budaun’s chief medical officer, Dr Rameshwar Mishra, said, “In two days, 247 residents from Pipraul came to our facility for vaccinations en masse. On Monday alone, 110 people got the shots. 

Counselling is also underway, and villagers are being advised not to panic.” Experts, meanwhile, said that current evidence does not support the widespread belief that rabies can be transmitted through milk. Dr Abhijeet Pawde, principal scientist and in-charge of IVRI (Indian Veterinary Research Institute) Polyclinic, told TOI , “Studies so far do not conclusively show milk consumption as a mode of rabies transmission. No scientific literature confirms that rabies passes into milk in such cases. Transmission risk is higher via direct exposure to saliva or tissue.” Budaun’s chief medical officer said in two days, 247 residents from Pipraul came to the facility for vaccinations en masse. ‘On Monday alone, 110 people got the shots’