States roundup: Murasu damage, Mehdi quits NC, UDP exits Meghalaya govt and more headlines from across India

Andhra Pradesh counted the cost of its second cyclone in a week, a Srinagar MP walked out of both the National Conference and the Lok Sabha, and Meghalaya's United Democratic Party moved to the Opposition benches. Here are the verified state and Union Territory headlines from Tuesday, 3 November, to Wednesday morning (IST).

North

Punjab: The Supreme Court on Tuesday put off hearing a plea by Jagtar Singh Hawara, convicted in the 1995 assassination of former Chief Minister Beant Singh, for a move from Tihar Jail to a Punjab prison. An Intelligence Bureau report told the court the transfer could affect the coming Assembly elections, and the bench agreed to take the matter up after the polls.

Haryana: Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini announced that the Vidhan Sabha will hold a special session on 26 November to mark Constitution Day. The Cabinet also cleared seven agenda items, including rules that make registration compulsory for travel agents and a new land pooling policy.

Himachal Pradesh: Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu inaugurated or laid foundation stones for 36 projects worth Rs 419.90 crore in Chamba district's Bhattiyat constituency. Most are water supply, sewerage, flood protection and road works. He also announced a civil court for Chowari.

Uttarakhand: Rescuers found the bodies of two trekkers on Tuesday on the Kedartal route in Uttarkashi district, where a group was caught by an avalanche at about 4,000 metres. Six people are still missing. The SDRF, NDRF and the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering are leading the search, with help from a state helicopter.

Uttar Pradesh: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced an LPG refill subsidy of about Rs 1,500 crore for more than 1.89 crore households under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana ahead of Diwali.

South

Kerala: Excise Minister M Liju said the UDF government will re-examine more than 400 bar licences given to beer and wine parlours under the previous LDF government. He said no new licences will be issued until a new liquor policy is in place. Former excise minister M B Rajesh hit back, saying Liju keeps claiming he did not know about decisions taken by his own officials.

Tamil Nadu: The government will let theatres run up to six shows a day, between 6 am and 2.30 am, for new Tamil films during their first week and on weekends and holidays. Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay agreed to the change after requests from producers' and theatre owners' bodies ahead of the Deepavali releases.

Karnataka: A Karnataka Rakshana Vedike campaign that sends teams to IT companies in Bengaluru to ask how many Kannadigas they employ drew criticism from industry figures, including former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, who asked the government to stop it. Chief Minister D K Shivakumar appealed to Kannada groups not to target IT firms or take the law into their own hands, and said the government would address their concerns.

Telangana: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy told irrigation officials to keep talking with Maharashtra on the proposed Tummidihatti barrage. He said Telangana will not object to Maharashtra carrying out its own survey of land that could be submerged, and is ready to pay compensation into a joint account of the two states.

Andhra Pradesh: Cyclone Murasu crossed the coast near Ongole early on Tuesday and then weakened. The state disaster management authority reported at least two deaths. Crops in 15 districts were damaged, along with thousands of power poles, and more than 10,000 people were taken to relief shelters. Union Home Minister Amit Shah called Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and promised central help.

East

Odisha: Police from Odisha and Andhra Pradesh came face to face on Tuesday at Neridibalsa in the disputed Kotia area of Koraput district, after villagers took down an Odisha Police barricade. The trouble is tied to Andhra's local body polls, and Odisha has sent extra police and executive magistrates to the area. In the south of the state, an eight-member central team began a two-day tour to assess damage from Cyclone Arnab.

West Bengal: Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari called an emergency meeting with block development officers from across the state for Wednesday, following complaints that the 125-day rural employment scheme is moving too slowly. Panchayat Minister Dilip Ghosh will also attend.

Bihar: Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary drew criticism for saying at an NHAI event in Delhi that crime may happen in Bihar but 'apraadh' does not. Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav shared the video and attacked him. Union minister Chirag Paswan did not comment on the remark directly and praised the Chief Minister's approach to crime control.

West

Maharashtra: The Supreme Court issued a contempt notice to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation commissioner for not clearing encroachments from Borivali land set aside for a BEST bus depot. It turned down the corporation's request for more time and imposed costs of Rs 5 lakh. It also ordered that the commissioner and his personal staff not be paid until its directions are followed.

Gujarat: Forest guards and beat guards called off their protest in Gandhinagar, which began on 28 October, after talks with senior forest officials. Forest Minister Arjun Modhwadia said their demands on pay, allowances and staffing would be looked at. Some of the issues still need approval from the finance and general administration departments.

Goa: Tribal Welfare Minister Ramesh Tawadkar said the state has gone to the Supreme Court, on the Solicitor General's advice, against a Bombay High Court order that stops the Census Commissioner from notifying Goa's estimated Scheduled Tribe population. The figure is needed to reserve Assembly seats for STs before the 2027 election.

Rajasthan: At a BJP march in Jodhpur, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma accused the previous Congress government of corruption and paper leaks. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot called the charges baseless and told Sharma to produce evidence within 24 hours or apologise.

Central

Madhya Pradesh: Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri is on course to win the Rajya Sabha bypoll unopposed after the nominations of his two rivals were rejected at scrutiny. The seat fell vacant when L Murugan resigned. The result is due on 5 November, and the Congress has said it will go to court.

Chhattisgarh: At the close of the state's Rajyotsav in Nava Raipur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Chhattisgarh is leaving Naxal violence behind and called it Naxal-free. He also released the latest instalment of the Mahtari Vandan Yojana, Rs 632.63 crore for more than 67 lakh women.

North-East

Assam: The state Cabinet decided to ask the Centre for a CBI inquiry into what caused this year's deadly floods in Sivasagar and Charaideo. It also amended the service rules so that government employees found practising polygamy will be dismissed. Separately, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said power tariffs will go up by no more than 5 paise a unit for about three months because fuel costs have risen.

Meghalaya: The United Democratic Party said it will quit the Conrad K Sangma-led MDA-II government and sit in Opposition, after its lone minister, party president Metbah Lyngdoh, resigned. Defections have left the party with one MLA, and its leaders said the National People's Party still has the numbers to govern.

Manipur: Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh asked security agencies to identify the armed groups behind recent violence and report quickly, leaving out groups in peace talks with the government. He said the Cabinet could declare any such group unlawful. A shutdown continued in Kangpokpi district.

Mizoram: Chief Minister Lalduhoma said the state wants to raise its share of India's GDP from about 0.1% to 1% by 2047. He was speaking at a youth entrepreneurship summit in Aizawl.

Tripura: Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury of the CPI(M) said opposition candidates were being stopped from filing nominations for the 27 November polls to 21 civic bodies, and the Left and Congress have asked for more security. The ruling BJP had not responded to these specific allegations in the reports. Chief Minister Manik Saha has warned of strict action against violence around nominations.

Union Territories

Jammu and Kashmir: Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi quit the National Conference and announced his resignation from the Lok Sabha at a rally in Budgam, accusing the party of failing to keep its 2024 poll promises. He did not launch a new party. The NC called his criticism a sign of moral bankruptcy, and Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary said the Omar Abdullah government faced no threat.

Delhi: Air quality was 'very poor' on Tuesday, with the average AQI at 331 in the morning and some hotspots, including Jahangirpuri, in the 'severe' range. Stage II curbs under the Graded Response Action Plan have been in force across the NCR since Monday.