In a surprising move to eliminate begging, authorities in an Indian city will begin registering police cases against individuals who give money to beggars, starting January 1, 2025, according to media reports. The initiative aims to make Indore the first city in India to be declared “beggar-free.” The district administration has announced that an awareness campaign will continue until the end of December. However, from January, legal action will be taken against those found giving alms, marking the enforcement of a city-wide ban on begging in Indore. This effort is part of a central government pilot project targeting the rehabilitation of beggars across ten cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. The initiative aims to reshape the lives of those who depend on begging while maintaining Indore’s reputation as a model urban center. India listed as 'uncooperative' country by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement The campaign is being supported by Madhya Pradesh’s Social Welfare Department and local organizations. According to officials, a local organization will provide six months of shelter to beggars while helping them secure employment opportunities. Indore authorities believe this dual approach—combining enforcement with rehabilitation—will not only eliminate begging but also create pathways for vulnerable individuals to reintegrate into society.

IPL will see the last third of the season go underway as Mumbai Indians will face Kolkata Knight Riders on 3rd May at the Wankhede stadium. Kolkata is sitting at the 2nd position while Mumbai is struggling at no. 9 with very slim chances of qualifying for the playoffs. The match will start at 8:00 PM BST. Schedule of MI vs KKR Match in IPL 2024  Table: Schedule of MI vs KKR Match Date Time Venue 51 Friday, May 3, 2024 8:00 P.M BST Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Preview of Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024 (51st Match) Historically this fixture is dominated by Mumbai Indians. But this time Kolkata Knight Riders will step on the ground as favorites. They have been a well-functioning side since the beginning of the campaign. The opening pair of Phil Salt and Sunil Narine have been performing great. Their destructive opening partnerships along with quick-fire innings from the likes of Andre Russell, Shryeash Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvangshi, and Rinku Singh have helped KKR score 200+ five times already. Wankhede is known for high-scoring encounters and this core of batters will fancy their chances here as well. Read more: Tigers set for New York: T20 World Cup pitches arrive at Nassau County Stadium Mumbai Indians on the other hand has been struggling with only three wins from 10 games this season. Their bowling has been disappointing beyond expectations and has been failing the batters all season. They conceded 200+ four times and 250+ two times this season. Although the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee have been doing their part being the highest and 4th highest wicket-takers of this season respectively. Yet it is proving to be nowhere near enough. Their key players like Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, etc. have been performing below their usual level. MI vs KKR H2H Records So Far Table: Head-to-head records between Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders Total Matches MI Win KKR Win Tie/NR 32 23 9 0 MI vs KKR H2H at Wankhede So Far Table: Head-to-head records between Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Wankhede Total Matches MI Win KKR Win Tie/NR 10 9 1 0 Read more: Bangladesh vs India Women’s 3rd T20I 2024: Match Preview Mumbai Indians Squad Table: List of players of the Mumbai Indians Team Players Role Hardik Pandya © Allrounder Dewald Brevis Batting Allrounder Jasprit Bumrah Bowler Piyush Chawla Bowling Allrounder Gerald Coetzee Bowler Tim David Middle Order Batter Harvik Desai Wicketkeeper Batter Shreyas Gopal Allrounder Ishan Kishan Wicketkeeper Batter Anshul Kamboj Allrounder Kumar Kartikeya Bowler Akash Madhwal Bowler Kwena Maphaka Bowler Mohammad Nabi Allrounder Shams Mulani Allrounder Naman Dhir Top Order Batter Shivalik Sharma Batter Rohit Sharma Top Order Batter Romario Shepherd Bowling Allrounder Arjun Tendulkar Bowler Nuwan Thushara Bowler Tilak Verma Batting Allrounder Nehal Wadhera Top Order Batter Luke Wood  Bowler Suryakumar Yadav Batter Read more: India Women secure lead with rain-affected win over Bangladesh Kolkata Knight Riders Squad Table: Players list of Kolkata Knight Riders Team Players Role Shreyas Iyer © Top Order Batter Vaibhav Arora Bowler Srikar Bharat Wicketkeeper Batter Dushmantha Chameera Bowler AM Ghazanfar Bowler Harshit Rana Bowler Venkatesh Iyer Allrounder Sunil Narine Bowling Allrounder Manish Pandey Top Order Batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi Top Order Batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz Wicketkeeper Batter Ramandeep Singh Middle Order Batter Nitish Rana Middle Order Batter Anukul Roy Allrounder Andre Russell Allrounder Sherfane Rutherford Middle Order Batter Chetan Sakariya Bowler Sakib Hussain Bowler Phil Salt Wicketkeeper Batter Rinku Singh Middle Order Batter Mitchell Starc Bowler Suyash Sharma Bowler Varun Chakravarthy Bowler Read more: BCB announces ticket sales for Bangladesh vs. Zimbabwe T20I Series Key Players to Watch in the MI Squad Jasprit Bumrah Jasprit Bumrah has been one of the only constants of Mumbai Indians this year. He is the highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets currently. 9 of them came from the three matches MI won with an economy of 5.33 only. It is evident how much Bumrah needs to shine for MI to win.  Tilak Varma Tilak Varma has been arguably the best batter of MI this season. He is the highest run-scorer for Mumbai with 343 runs from 10 games averaging 42.87 and striking at 153.81. He also played 3 50+ innings and is the only entrant from Mumbai in the top 10 run-scorer list. Read more: Preview of Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe 1st T20I Match of 2024 Key Players to watch in the KKR Squad Sunil Narine Sunil Narine has rediscovered himself in this IPL. The legend of this tournament has found a new life with the bat in hand. He is the 2nd highest run-scorer of KKR with 372 runs striking at a mammoth rate of 181. He also has a century as well. He also picked up 11 wickets with the bowl making him the most impactful player of this KKR side. Phil Salt Phil Salt is KKR’s other destructive opener who scored 392 runs and kept a strike rate of 180.64. He has four fifties which is joint most this season. His opening partnership with Narine has decided many games for KKR this season and it shouldn’t be anything different this time as well. Read more: Analyzing Bangladesh Preliminary Squad in the Upcoming BAN vs ZIM T20I Series 2024 Final Words According to statistics Mumbai Indians dominate over Kolkata Knight Riders. However, the situation is different in IPL 2024 where KKR and MI are holding rank 2 and 9 respectively so far.  MI cannot afford to lose any game now if they wish to qualify for the playoffs. On the other hand, KKR will look to strengthen their position at the top of the table with a win in this game.  Therefore, it can be said that it will be challenging for Mumbai Indians to win against a well-polished opponent like Kolkata Knight Riders in the 51st match of the IPL 2024 tournament.  Read more: What lies ahead for Bangladesh spinners under Mushtaq Ahmed's guidance

Formerly known as Bombay, Mumbai is a city packed with history and heritage on the west coast of India. The city is often dubbed the financial capital of India, owing to its business settlements and port. The iconic Hindi film industry, better known as Bollywood, is at the centre of Mumbai's popular culture.  This year, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai will host six games of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, including a home game and a semi-final. With the greatest cricket event on the horizon, let’s look at 10 of the best places to explore in Mumbai.  Top Places to Explore in Mumbai  Gateway of India  The Gateway of India is probably one of the most iconic landmarks in India. From paintings to notes to stamps, the Gateway of India is truly representative of India and its hospitality.  Getting to the Gateway of India is fairly easy. Either take a bus or taxi from anywhere in Mumbai and head over to Colaba, South Mumbai. On the far end of the edge of the Arabian Sea, the iconic monument stands tall.  Explore the surrounding areas on the rocky coast. There are numerous vendors selling delectable street food like vada pav, pav bhaji, and bhel puri. Visitors can also take boat rides to the nearby Elephanta Caves. Read more: How to get an Indian Tourist Visa from Bangladesh - UNB Marine Drive  Marine Drive connects the Gateway of India with downtown Mumbai with a 3.6 km long stretch along the boulevard on the south coast of Mumbai.  At night, the road lights up, which, when seen from above, looks like a string of pearls across the Mumbai coast.  The road also leads to the iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the crown jewel of the Taj Hotels and an iconic Indo-Saracenic architectural heritage of the city. 

The United Nations has designated an anti-India militant being held in Pakistan as a global terrorist, the world body’s second such designation stemming from the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people. The announcement regarding Pakistani citizen Abdul Rehan Makki was hailed by neighboring India on Tuesday, a day after the decision. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the Islamic nation is itself a victim of terrorism and Pakistan supports counter-terrorism efforts at the international level, including at the United Nations. Makki, 68, is a senior figure in the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba group, which is mainly active in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. He was arrested in Pakistan's Punjab province in 2019 and convicted in November and December 2020 in two separate cases on charges of terror financing. Makki was sentenced to one year in prison but officials say he is still in custody without providing an explanation. He is being held in Punjab pending his appeals, according to several government officials who are familiar with the case. The U.N. Security Council committee overseeing sanctions against al-Qaida and Islamic State extremists and their associates put Makki on the sanctions blacklist after approval by the council’s 15 members. Under the U.N. measure, Makki's assets can be frozen and he will also face a travel ban. Makki is a close relative of Hafiz Saeed, a militant leader accused of orchestrating the Mumbai attacks. Saeed, 72, is serving a 31-year prison sentence and was designated a terrorist by the United States and the U.N. Security Council after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Saeed, like Makki, was never charged in connection with the Mumbai attacks that strained relations between Pakistan and India. He is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was blamed by India for the attacks in India. Read more: Savage Truth Behind Mumbai Carnage Monday's U.N. Security Council decision came after China lifted a hold on adding Makki, who has been under U.S. sanctions since November 2010. The spokesperson at India's Ministry of External Affairs in the capital New Delhi, Shri Arindam Bagchi, on Tuesday welcomed Makki's designation as a terrorist. “India remains committed to pursuing a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism and will continue to press the international community to take credible, verifiable and irreversible action against terrorism," he said. Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson at Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, said: “Pakistan is a victim of terrorism and supports counter-terrorism efforts at the international level including at the United Nations and other multilateral fora." Baloch said in a statement that “Pakistan has always called for strict compliance with the Security Council’s listing rules, procedures and established processes to maintain the integrity of the UN counter-terrorism regime." Since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, Pakistan and India, which have a history of bitter relations, have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety. Read more: 13th anniversary of Mumbai terror attacks observed in Bangladesh

An Air India flight from Romania carrying over 200 Indian nationals evacuated from war-torn Ukraine landed at Mumbai airport on Saturday night, officials said. Since the Ukrainian airspace has been closed for civilian flights in the wake of the Russian invasion, some 209 stranded Indians, including students, were evacuated to Romanian capital Bucharest. "The evacuated Indians boarded the Air India flight from Bucharest. The flight landed at 8pm (local time)," a senior aviation official told the media. Also read: Ukraine: Curfew extended as Russian troops press on capital Earlier in the day, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar took to Twitter to share pictures of the evacuees on the flight. "I am personally monitoring. The first flight to Mumbai with 219 Indian nationals has taken off from Romania,” he wrote. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to immediately halt military action against Ukraine, underscoring the need for a diplomatic solution to the standoff. On Thursday, Ukraine's envoy in Delhi sought Modi's intervention in ending the Russian offensive. "Modi ji is one of the most powerful, respected world leaders. You have a privileged, strategic relation with Russia. If Modiji speaks to Putin we are hopeful he'll respond," Ukraine's Ambassador Igor Polikha had told the local media. Also read: Ukraine minister:198 killed, 1000 wounded "India should be much more actively engaged, given the privileged relation India has with Russia. Not just for our safety, but of your own citizen's safety too, we need intervention of India." An estimated 15,000 Indians are said to be currently in Ukraine.

Bollywood on Thursday bade a tearful adieu to legendary singer-composer Bappi Lahiri who passed away in the western Indian city of Mumbai on Tuesday. Lahiri was cremated as per Hindu traditions at the Vile Parle crematorium after his son Bappa rushed back from the US for the final rites of the 'Disco King of Bollywood'.  The 69-year-old, who introduced synthesised disco beats to Bollywood, died at a hospital in Mumbai around midnight on Tuesday. Hospital doctors had attributed Lahiri's death to obstructive sleep apnea. Also read: Bappi Lahiri, the disco king of Bollywood, departs Originally from Bengal, Lahiri shot to fame in Bollywood in the 1980s and 1990s for his music in blockbusters like 'Wardat', 'Disco Dancer', 'Namak Halaal' and 'Sharaabi'. He last movie song was for 'Baaghi 3' in 2020. Lahiri's last public appearance though was on reality TV show 'Big Boss 15', where he had appeared with Bollywood superstar Salman Khan to promote his grandson Swasti's new song Baccha Party. In 2014, Lahiri joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and was made its candidate from Srerampur parliamentary constituency in Bengal. He, however, failed to make it to the Indian Parliament. Also read: Runa Laila remembers friend, collaborator Bappi Lahiri

As many as 25 people have been killed in house collapses triggered by heavy monsoon rains in India's financial capital Mumbai in the past 24 hours, officials said on Sunday. Mumbai received 177 mm rainfall between 8pm Saturday and 8am Sunday, according to the Indian Meteorological Department. "While 20 people lost their lives after getting trapped under the debris of their houses in the hilly Chembur area, a Mumbai suburb, five more died in the neighbouring Vikhroli area," a civic body official told the media. Also read: Indonesia landslides death toll rises to 126, dozens missing In Vikhroli, a two-storey building collapsed like a pack of cards unable to withstand the heavy overnight showers, the official added. So far, 15 people have been pulled out alive by rescuers from under the debris in these two areas. "These injured survivors have been admitted to nearby hospitals. The victims include women and kids," he said. Local TV channels beamed footage of live rescue operations in these areas. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted to offer his condolences and also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the deceased. "Rs 50,000 would be given to those injured." Also read: Typhoon, landslides leave 35 dead, 59 missing in Vietnam A probe has been ordered into the building collapses, the civic body official added. Building collapses are common in India, particularly during the monsoon months of June, July and August. Poor construction quality is often blamed for such collapses.

A dilapidated building collapsed following heavy rains in the western Indian city of Mumbai, killing at least 11 people and injuring seven others, police said Thursday. Heavy monsoon rains during the day Wednesday had flooded several parts of the city that is India’s financial and entertainment capital. Read: India reports record high of 6,148 COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours The three-story building collapsed late Wednesday night, and police officer Ravindra Kadam said dozens of rescuers were clearing the debris to find any residents possibly still trapped. The New Delhi Television channel said the building collapsed onto another structure in a slum in the Malad West area of Mumbai. Read: 17 killed in India road crash Residents joined the fire and police officers in rescuing people and they took the seven injured to a hospital in the suburban Kandivali area. Mumbai recorded 222 millimeters (8 inches) of rain in 12 hours Wednesday. Tidal waves that reached up to 4. 6 meters (13 feet) prevented the rainfall from being drained, and roads, rail tracks and neighborhoods were left waterlogged. Read:18 die in India chemical factory fire Building collapses are common in India during the June-September monsoon season when heavy rains weaken the foundations of structures that are poorly built. In 2019, a three-story building collapsed in a hilly area in the northern Indian town of Solan following heavy rains, killing 14 people. A four-story building collapsed in Mumbai the same year and killed 10 people.

Indian navy ships and helicopters searched in extreme weather and rough seas Wednesday for 78 people still missing from a barge that sank off Mumbai as a deadly cyclone blew ashore this week. Navy Cdr. Alok Anand said 183 people were rescued within 24 hours by the three ships and helicopters engaged in the operation. A survivor told the New Delhi Television news channel that he jumped into the sea with his life jacket and was later picked up by the navy. In another operation, a navy helicopter rescued 35 crew members of another barge, GAL Constructor, which ran aground north of Mumbai, a government statement said. Read:India scours sea after barge sinks, 2nd adrift after cyclone Both barges were working for Oil and Natural Gas Corp., the largest crude oil and natural gas company in India. The company said the barges were carrying personnel deployed for offshore drilling and their anchors gave away during the storm. Cyclone Tauktae, the most powerful storm to hit the region in more than two decades, packed sustained winds of up to 210 kilometers (130 miles) per hour when it came ashore in Gujarat state late Monday. The storm left at least 25 dead in Gujarat and Maharashtra states. The Hindu newspaper Wednesday tallied more than 16,000 houses damaged in Gujarat state and trees and power poles uprooted. The cyclone has weakened into a depression centered over the south of Rajasthan state and adjoining Gujarat region, a statement by the Indian Meteorological Department said on Wednesday. In Nepal, authorities on Tuesday asked mountaineers to descend from high altitudes because the storm system may bring severe weather. Hundreds of climbers, guides and staff are on various mountains in Nepal, trying to climb the peaks this month when weather is usually most favorable in the high altitudes. Nepal has eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks, including Mount Everest. Read:Powerful cyclone hits land in India amid deadly virus surge The Department of Tourism in a statement Tuesday asked climbers and outfitting agencies to monitor the weather and stay safe. In 2014, snowstorms and avalanches triggered by a cyclone in India killed 43 people in Nepal’s mountains in the worst hiking disaster in the Himalayan nation. The snowstorms were believed to be whipped by the tail end of a cyclone that hit the Indian coast a few days earlier. The blizzards swept through the popular Annapurna trekking route and hikers were caught off-guard when the weather changed quickly.

For the first time in months, Izhaar Hussain Shaikh is feeling somewhat optimistic. The 30-year-old ambulance driver in India’s metropolis of Mumbai has been working tirelessly ever since the city became the epicenter of another catastrophic COVID-19 surge slashing through the country. Last month, he drove about 70 patients to the hospital, his cellphone constantly vibrating with calls. But two weeks into May, he’s only carried 10 patients. Cases are falling and so are the phone calls. “We used to be so busy before, we didn’t even have time to eat,” he said. Read:Hundreds of bodies found buried along Indian riverbanks In the last week, the number of new cases plunged by nearly 70% in India’s financial capital, home to 22 million people. After a peak of 11,000 daily cases, the city is now seeing fewer than 2,000 a day. The turnaround represents a glimmer of hope for India, still in the clutches of a devastating coronavirus surge that has raised public anger at the government. A well-enforced lockdown and vigilant authorities are being credited for Mumbai’s burgeoning success. Even the capital of New Delhi is seeing whispers of improvement as infections slacken after weeks of tragedy and desperation playing out in overcrowded hospitals and crematoriums and on the streets. With over 24 million confirmed cases and 270,000 deaths, India’s caseload is the second highest after the U.S. But experts believe that the country’s steeply rising curve may finally be flattening — even if the plateau is a high one, with an average of 340,000 confirmed daily cases last week. On Monday, infections continued to decline as cases dipped below 300,000 for the first time in weeks. It is still too early to say things are improving, with Mumbai and New Delhi representing only a sliver of the overall situation. For one, drops in the national caseload, however marginal, largely reflect falling infections in a handful of states with big populations and/or high rates of testing. So the nationwide trends represent an incomplete and misleading picture of how things are faring across India as a whole, experts say. “There will always be smaller states or cities where things are getting worse, but this won’t be as clear in the national caseload numbers,” said Murad Banaji, a mathematician modeling India’s cases. Given India’s size and population of nearly 1.4 billion, what’s more important to track is a cascade of peaks at different times instead of a single national one, experts said. “It seems like we are getting desensitized by the numbers, having gotten used to such high ones,” said Bhramar Mukherjee, a University of Michigan biostatistician tracking the virus in India. “But a relative change or drop in overall cases does not diminish the magnitude of the crisis by any means.” Read:COVID-19 cases rise to 24,372,907 in India, death toll reaches 266,207 With active cases over 3.6 million, hospitals are still swamped by patients. Experts also warn that another reason for an apparent peak or plateau in cases could be that the virus has outrun India’s testing capabilities. As the virus jumps from cities to towns to villages, testing has struggled to keep pace, stirring fears that a rural surge is unfurling even as data lags far behind. Combating the spread in the countryside, where health infrastructure is scarce and where most Indians live, will be the biggest challenge. “The transmission will be slower and lower, but it can still exact a big toll,” said K. Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India. Even in big cities, testing has become increasingly harder to access. Labs are inundated and results are taking days, leading many to start treating symptoms before confirming a coronavirus infection. In the last month, cases have more than tripled and reported deaths have gone up six times — but testing has only increased by 1.6 times, said Mukherjee. Meanwhile, vaccinations have plummeted by 40%. One of the biggest concerns for experts is that India may never know the full death toll from the virus, with fatalities undercounted on such a scale that reporters are finding more answers at crematoriums than official state tallies. But while authorities previously appeared to struggle to even acknowledge the scale, they’re now taking action. “Before, there just wasn’t a focused attention. But now everyone is focused on containing it as much as possible,” Reddy said. Hit by a staggering shortage of beds, oxygen and other medical supplies, many states are now adding thousands of beds a week, converting stadiums into COVID-19 hospitals, and procuring as much equipment as possible. States across India are preparing to be hit by another torrent of infections and even courts have intervened to help untangle oxygen supplies. Aid from overseas, while still facing bureaucratic hurdles, is starting to trickle in. More than 11,000 oxygen concentrators, nearly 13,000 oxygen cylinders and 34 million vials of antivirals have been sent to different states. Still, help is arriving too slowly in many districts as new infections surface in every single region, even the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Indian Ocean. Read: India widens gap between two doses of Covishield to 12-16 weeks Even though Mumbai looks as if it might have turned a corner, surrounding Maharashtra state is still seeing around 40,000 daily cases. “You have a really, really complicated and mixed picture,” said Banaji, the mathematician. But in at least one Mumbai hospital, “the burden is 30% to 40% less than before,” said Dr. Om Shrivastav, a doctor and member of Maharashtra’s COVID-19 task force. Already, the city and state are bracing for more infections. A court told Maharashtra this week to continue updating and ramping up measures as authorities look into getting vaccines from abroad to fill a domestic shortage. “We are making sure we’re not caught napping. In the event this happens again, we’re going to do better,” Shrivastav said.