Election Schedule: The Election Commission will announce the schedule for the Assembly elections in five states/ union territory on Sunday.. Election Schedule: The poll schedule will be released at a press conference at 4 pm. (File Photo). The poll body has convened a press conference at 4 pm to release the schedule. Assembly elections are set to be held in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry.. The terms of the assemblies of these states/ union territory are ending on different dates in May and June. Special intensive revision of the voters’ lists in these four states and one union territory have already been conducted, with final electoral rolls published.. This comes after the Election Commission held a crucial meeting in New Delhi earlier this week on Wednesday (March 11) to finalise the election schedule and phase-wise polling plan for the upcoming Assembly polls. The poll body had conducted its final ground review in the poll-bound regions, according to an earlier HT report.. The full bench of the Commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, reportedly returned to the national capital Tuesday night after conducting its multi-state preparedness review. 

 Airlines, including IndiGo and Air India, on Sunday issued advisories regarding disruptions to flights to the United Arab Emirates, particularly Dubai, as the evolving West Asia crisis has led to operational restrictions and schedule changes in the Middle East. Track updates on Iran US war. A traveller walks through the terminal at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., March 14, 2026. REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee (REUTERS). In a post on X, IndiGo informed passengers that flight operations in Dubai have been further restricted, leading to modifications in schedules. “Update: Due to the evolving situation in the Middle East, flight operations have been further restricted in Dubai, leading to changes in flight schedules. Customers travelling to/from Dubai are requested to check their flight status before leaving for the airport. We are also sending out notifications to keep customers informed of the latest updates,” the airline said.. Meanwhile, Air India stated that following instructions from the UAE airport authorities, both Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have curtailed several scheduled flights on March 15.. Also read: ‘Forsaken wisdom’: UAE rejects Iran’s accusations of territory use in US strikes on Kharg Island. According to the airline, Air India will operate only one Delhi-Dubai return flight, while four of the five planned Dubai flights have been cancelled. Air India Express will also operate a single Delhi-Dubai return flight, with five out of six scheduled Dubai flights cancelled.. In Abu Dhabi, all five Air India Express flights have been cancelled for the day. However, the airline plans to continue operations from Sharjah with flights scheduled to Delhi, Kannur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram.. Also read: Trump warns US may strike Iran’s Kharg Island few more times ‘just for fun’. Additionally, Air India Express said it would operate Ras Al Khaimah-Kozhikode and Ras Al Khaimah-Kochi services, subject to slot availability and prevailing operational conditions.. Passengers affected by cancellations have been offered the option to rebook to a future date without additional charges or opt for a full refund. The airline expressed regret for the inconvenience caused and said it remains committed to bringing stranded passengers home at the earliest.. The developments come amid broader disruptions in the aviation sector triggered by the evolving West Asia crisis, which have also driven a sharp rise in aviation turbine fuel prices.. Several airlines, including IndiGo, Air India and Akasa Air, have recently introduced fuel surcharges on domestic and international routes to offset rising operational costs linked to the surge in fuel prices. 

 NEW DELHI : The Election Commission of India (ECI) is considering a proposal to set up dedicated verification counters outside polling stations in West Bengal to check the identity of voters whose faces are covered, such as by a burqa, ghunghat, scarf or other cloth, two senior commission officials said, asking not to be named.. The Election Commission of India. (File Photo). Under the proposed system, such voters would have their faces checked against their identity cards at the external counter before being allowed to enter the polling station. Under the existing procedure, voters with face coverings enter the polling station directly and are verified only at the time of casting their vote, inside the booth.. “The proposal is still in the pipeline and the final decision is yet to be taken. If approved, it may be introduced when the Model Code of Conduct comes into force; further operational details will be issued at that stage,” one of the officials said. “The verification will be uniform — it will be conducted only by women officials, female polling staff and Anganwadi Sevikas.”. The proposal is currently being examined for the West Bengal elections, but the officials said it could also be considered for other regions going to polls after further discussions.. The officials cited complaints of malpractice in past elections as one of the reasons for the proposal.. Both officials confirmed that state government officials will staff the verification counters. However, Anganwadi sevikas will conduct the actual face verification. Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel will deploy at the counters to ensure security and protect both the Anganwadi workers and voters from intimidation, pressure or interference during the verification process.. The poll panel and the state government have been locked in a legal dispute, with the Supreme Court noting a “trust deficit” between the two sides in its February 20 order. The Commission had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court alleging obstruction, lack of cooperation and intimidation of election officials by the state administration.. “Inside-booth verification depends entirely on state-appointed polling officers conducting the checks. Moving the process to an external counter under closer ECI supervision, staffed by Anganwadi workers, election officials and CAPF personnel, reduces reliance on regular polling staff and ensures better monitoring of the verification process,” one of the officials mentioned above said.. “It also creates a visible, documented and auditable checkpoint, generating a paper trail that would be easier to defend before the Supreme Court, which is already supervising the election,” they added.. The proposal raises several legal questions. The Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 — the two primary statutes governing elections — do not mention any face-verification procedure at polling stations. The officials qu 

 New Delhi: Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply is a matter of concern mainly because of panic bookings that surged by 59% to nearly 8.9 million, but no dry-outs have been reported from any place so far, an official said, as the government on Saturday issued an order prohibiting a person having piped natural gas (PNG) to keep LPG connections.. People carry a household LPG cylinder that they received after waiting in a long queue. People queued up to collect their household LPG cylinders amid an ongoing LPG shortage. (Raju Shinde/HT Photo). Evoking the Essential Commodities Act, the government prohibited the supply of domestic LPG to a person having a PNG connection. In case a person has both PNG and LPG facilities, “such persons will be required to immediately surrender their domestic LPG connection,” the order said.. Divulging details of fuel supply situation at the inter-ministerial briefing on recent developments in war-torn West Asia, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), said: “Regarding LPG supply, it is still a matter of concern for us in view of prevailing geopolitical situation, but no dry-out has been reported so far.”. There has been a surge in the number of LPG bookings on account of panic buying. Daily bookings have increased from an average of 55.7 lakh (5.57 million) to 88.8 lakh (8.88 million) yesterday, she said.. Sharma appealed to both domestic and commercial LPG customers to switch to piped natural gas (PNG) supplied by city gas distribution (CGD) companies to reduce reliance on LPG.. “India imports 60% of the LPG it uses. In the last one decade, the number of domestic LPG (cooking gas) connections crossed 33 crore (330 million) from about 14 crore (140 million), a 136% jump,” she said.. She informed that state-run gas marketing major GAIL India on Friday held virtual meetings with CGD companies supplying fuel in major urban areas such as Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kanpur, and Jaipur and advised them to expedite and promote new commercial PNG connections for hotels and restaurants so as to reduce pressure on LPG supplies.. Earlier this week, the government ensured natural gas supply to priority sectors at 100% to domestic PNG and CNG customers, without any cuts. Supplies to commercial and industrial consumers, however, are regulated at 80%.. “Commercial cylinders are at the disposal of state governments so that they can prioritise consumers. Distributions have started in about 29 states and union territories (UTs), and consumers are getting them uninterrupted,” she said.. “It is the responsibility of all states and UTs to monitor the supply situation, and the district administration plays a major role in this. Some chief ministers, including those of Haryana and Goa, have held meetings with their senior officials to ensure the equitable distribution of gas cylinders. Similarly, senior officials of Telangana and Andhra Prades 

 The Congress on Saturday released its second list of 23 candidates for the upcoming Assam assembly elections, with the party so far naming its nominees in 65 seats in the 126-member House.. A man waves a Congress flag at a rally in Gujarat. (AP File Photo). The party also left 15 seats for its alliance partners in the northeastern state, where assembly elections are likely in April.. The Congress is leading an alliance of opposition parties, including CPI(M) and Assam Jatiya Parishad, with the CPI (ML) Liberation also lending its support on Saturday.. The Raijor Dal had been a part of the opposition alliance in previous elections, but the arrangement has not come through for the forthcoming polls. Its chief Akhil Gogoi had won the last assembly election as an Independent.. In the second list of candidates, released by Congress general secretary, Organisation, K C Venugopal, three sitting MLAs have been renominated – Wazed Ali Choudhury (Birsing Jarua), Abul Kalam Rasheed Alam (Goalpara East) and Rakibuddin Ahmed (Chamaria).. Former Lok Sabha MP Abdul Khaleque, who had also served two terms as an MLA, has been named from Mandia constituency.. Among other candidates on the list are Bipul Gogoi from Tingkhong, Kartik Chandra Kurmi from Rangapara, Santanu Borah from New Guwahati, Kishore Kumar Barua from Dimoria, Nurul Islam from Srijangram seat and Devid Phukan from Tinsukia.. The Congress has set aside the assembly constituencies of Bajali, Palasbari, Guwahati Central, Goreswar, Morigaon, Barhampur, Bindakandi, Behali, Dibrugarh and Diphu, among others, for the alliance partners.. The assembly elections will be held in Assam for the first time since the completion of delimitation of constituencies in 2023, where boundaries of seats were redrawn without changing the total number of seats.. The Congress had on March 3 released its first list of 42 candidates for the upcoming Assam assembly polls, fielding state party chief Gaurav Gogoi from the Jorhat seat.. Taking a lead in announcing the names of its candidates even before the declaration of the poll schedule, the party said Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Debabrata Saikia will contest the election from the Nazira constituency.. Former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Ripun Bora has been fielded from the Barchalla constituency.. The Congress has been out of power in the northeastern state since 2016, while the BJP-led government will be eyeing a third straight term. Currently, the ruling BJP’s strength in the 126-member assembly is 64, while its allies AGP has nine MLAs, UPPL has seven, and BPF has three members.. In the opposition camp, the Congress has 26 MLAs, AIUDF has 15 members, and CPI(M) has one MLA. There is an Independent legislator as well.