Tag: Report

Sega to acquire Angry Birds creator for $1 bn: Report

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San Francisco: Rovio Entertainment, the creator of the iconic Angry Birds mobile game franchise, may be acquired for $1 billion by Sega, the Japanese video game and entertainment company, the media reported.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Sega is close to buying Rovio and the deal may get closed by early next week.
The original Angry Birds game was a super success in 2009, but the franchise has seemingly fallen off since its 2014 peak.

The original was the first mobile game to reach 1 billion downloads, a record certified by Guinness World Records.
‘The Angry Birds Movie’ was a box-office success and is still the seventh highest grossing video game movie.
Its 2019 sequel, ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2’, did not achieve the same level of success though.
Rovio in February this year removed its original Angry Birds game from Google Play Store, and renamed the Apple iOS version to Red’s First Flight.
“We have reviewed the business case of Rovio Classics: Angry Birds, and due to the game’s impact on our wider games portfolio, we have decided that Rovio Classics: Angry Birds will be unlisted from the Google Play Store from February 23,” the company had said.

‘Rovio Classics: Angry Birds’ will remain playable on devices on which the game has been downloaded, even after it has been unlisted.
Earlier, Israeli developer Playtika was reported to be acquiring Rovio for around $800 million but the deal fell off.
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#Sega #acquire #Angry #Birds #creator #Report
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 15, 2023
Twitter releases more political ad data after POLITICO report

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Twitter announced in January that it would resume allowing political advertising, reversing a 2019 ban. There is little federal regulation around what digital platforms have to disclose about political advertising. Unlike platforms such as Google and Meta, Twitter requires users to request ad information via a form, rather than maintaining a full record of political ads on its website.
The updated dataset released by Twitter on Tuesday was shared with POLITICO by Andrew Arenge, director of operations for the University of Pennsylvania’s Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies. In previous reports, total revenue from the political ads was less than $1,700. But the latest report included more than $94,000 in paid promotions from more than a dozen accounts.
The updated data also includes promoted tweets from several political accounts that had not been included in the data Twitter had released on Monday, noted Arenge, who has been requesting data daily from the platform.
But the newly released data still did not include a few promoted tweets POLITICO had identified in March from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Adam Frisch, a Democrat running for Congress in Colorado. But it included several promoted tweets from the account of Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) that POLITICO had previously identified. The promoted tweets from Fetterman’s account were largely aimed at fundraising, including one highlighting his release from the hospital and others emphasizing the March 31 campaign finance deadline.
Other politicians running ads on the site included Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), whose account promoted a few tweets with links to surveys on GOP fundraising platform WinRed, and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who spent more than $10,000 on the platform. Unlike other candidates, most of Ramaswamy’s promoted tweets did not include fundraising links but instead included videos of him speaking or links to his podcast, although the ads would seem to still fall under Twitter’s political content policy, which includes tweets advocating for candidates.
The largest spender on the site, according to Twitter’s data, was MammothNationUS, which brands itself as “America’s conservative marketplace.” It spent more than $33,000 on Twitter ads since February, according to the platform’s data.

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#Twitter #releases #political #data #POLITICO #report
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 12, 2023
Dial 103 To Report Stunt Biking: Traffic Police

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SRINAGAR: Traffic Police Srinagar on Tuesday conducted a counselling session of stunt bikers in presence of their parents after identifying those involved in stunt biking through social media.
A senior traffic police official said that a productive counseling session was held for the youth involved in stunt biking, in the presence of their parents who appreciated the initiative.
During the session, the boys were briefed about the adverse aftermath of the incidents arising due to stunt biking, the official said.
In a tweet, city traffic police wrote, “Traffic city Srinagar acting against stunt bikers held counseling session with violators and their parents who appreciated the initiative. Any information regarding stunt biking may be reported on 103 number.”
The official added that they have issued a number 103 for the general public where they can report any occurrence of stunt biking happening in Srinagar.
“As of now, we are counseling them but those found involved again will be booked under the relevant laws,” he said.
The drive by traffic police follows a horrific road accident on Boulevard near SKICC earlier this month that resulted in the on-spot death of a 20-year-old Srinagar boy. (KNO)

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#Dial #Report #Stunt #Biking #Traffic #Police
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

April 11, 2023
OBCs form 37-41% of urban population in UP: Govt report

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Lucknow: The report submitted by the UP State Local Bodies Dedicated Backward Classes Commission for providing OBC quota for upcoming local body elections, shows that OBCs in the urban parts of the state comprise between 37 per cent and 41 per cent.
The urban population of Uttar Pradesh is estimated to be 4.78 crore.
The 505-page report says that there are 1.76 crore OBCs (overall 37 per cent), 2.4 crore members of general category, including Muslims (49 per cent), 65 lakh SCs (14 per cent) and 1.03 lakh STs.

The commission stated that the economic condition of the OBCs is not good and the community continues to face both social and educational barriers, and has recommended 27 per cent reservation.
According to the report, the population of OBCs is on the lower side in bigger cities but higher in smaller towns.
In 17 Nagar nigams, OBCs account for 25.58 per cent, while in 200 Nagar palikas (municipal councils) and 545 Nagar panchayats (town councils), their ratio is on the higher side as the community members constituted 42.29 per cent and 49.55 per cent, respectively.
Out of the seven political parties invited to give their suggestions, the commission got responses from the BJP, the SP and the RLD.
Other parties, including BSP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Communist Party of India did not participate in the survey.

Interestingly, the three political parties were on the same page when it came to offering reservations to the OBCs. They were unanimous in demanding 27 per cent reservation for the community, as was the case in previous elections.
The commission pointed out in its report that nobody was present at the Congress party office to receive the invitation.
The commission said that the triple test surveys conducted by the urban development department in 2017 and 2022 were satisfactory.
However, the five members of the commission were concerned about the procedure that the department had followed during the rotation process while reserving seats for the posts of mayors and chairpersons.
Citing the example of Maharajganj, the commission said that the seat for nagar palika chairperson was continuously reserved for SC candidates through OBC constitutes 51 per cent of the population.
Similar aberrations were noticed in the rotation process for the chairperson post in nagar palikas in Hardoi and Bijnor.
The commission noted that the primary grievance of the public was with the way rotation of the seats was being done and suggested that a wider population base should be taken into consideration in the forthcoming elections, a change which the state government has already notified.
The commission headed by Ram Autar Singh, retired judge of Allahabad High Court, included four members — Chob Singh Verma, Brijesh Kumar, Mahendra Kumar and Santosh Kumar Vishwakarma — who compiled the report within three months.
The ULB elections will take place on May 4 and May 11.
The commission was formed on the direction of Supreme Court.
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#OBCs #form #urban #population #Govt #report
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 11, 2023
73% of workers want to know about internal growth opportunities: Report

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New Delhi: About 73 percent of employees want to know about career opportunities inside their organisation, and employees, who are provided with access to self-service technology for career mobility exploration, are half as likely to have plans to quit their job, a new report showed on Monday.
According to the 2023 global research report focused on talent mobility trends by Cornerstone, about 51 per cent of employees say that the best way their company can support their skill development is by giving them opportunities to pivot, stretch, and grow.
The report measured the views of 1,060 employers and 1,000 learners across Europe, North America and Asia about the importance of career mobility and internal growth opportunities.

“As the talent landscape continues to evolve, employers will need to adopt a system which adequately attracts, engages and retains high-performing talent,” said Ben Eubanks, Principal Analyst and Chief Research Officer, Lighthouse Research & Advisory.
When it comes to high-performing organisations, they prioritise employee growth.
High-belonging employees, described as employees who feel a strong sense of belonging within their organisation, are more interested in all aspects of learning, while low- belonging employees are twice as likely to say they wouldn’t consider other career opportunities inside the business.
The report showed high belonging employees are 190 per cent more likely to say their manager would support their career growth, while employees who score low on workplace belonging are six times more likely to say they don’t know if their manager or employer tracks their skills.
Moreover, the report findings revealed that employee interest in exploring new projects and strengthening existing skills is not limited.

Women were roughly (33 per cent more likely than men) to say they would like to look into projects that would allow them to learn new or different skills.
People under the age of 45 were about 50 per cent more likely than those over 45 to say they would like to explore projects that develop new connections and mentors.
Employees in larger organisations (1,000+ employees) prioritise projects that let them explore other internal opportunities without risking their current position, according to the report.
Further, the report revealed that employees prefer using technology to explore career options rather than speaking directly with managers.
Nearly 80 per cent of employees are more likely to prefer a self-service technology option over a manager conversation when it comes to understanding what internal career opportunities exist.
Additionally, employees who have access to self-service technology for career mobility exploration are 50 per cent less likely to have plans to quit their job compared to those with no visibility.
“Based on the findings of our 2023 research study, there’s no doubt that employees are hungry for growth and development opportunities, and require increased career transparency. As technology and tools become smarter and more interconnected, the manager’s role in employee growth is changing and AI has the power to align individual career ambitions with company objectives, delivering real impact to the bottom line,” said Vincent Belliveau, Chief International Officer at Cornerstone.
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#workers #internal #growth #opportunities #Report
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 10, 2023
Twitter fails to report some political ads after promising transparency

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Stefanik’s tweet, which promised the opportunity to win a signed MAGA hat, included a link to her joint fundraising committee’s WinRed page, where users could donate. The tweets from Fetterman and Frisch included links to their respective campaign’s ActBlue pages. All three were labeled as “promoted” in users’ feeds and would seem to fall under Twitter’s political content policy, which allows for political ads — defined to include several types of promoted political content, including tweets that “solicit financial support” — but says they will be subject to public disclosure.
The lack of disclosure casts doubt on all of the political advertising data released by the platform and makes it hard to assess which groups are using Twitter to fundraise or sway voters ahead of 2024. It also highlights the hodgepodge of voluntary transparency efforts that experts say falls short when it comes to informing voters about who is trying to influence them online.
“Several of these social media companies have disclosure platforms that are imperfect, but at least somewhat useful, whereas Twitter is essentially non-disclosure masquerading as disclosure,” said Robert Maguire, a researcher with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit watchdog group. “It is really not a disclosure regime at all.”

A promoted tweet from Adam Frisch running in late March.
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POLITICO screenshot
While there are few standards around how digital companies have to disclose political advertising, companies such as Meta and Google maintain public libraries of all political ads on their platforms. In requiring users to submit requests for data, Twitter already added an additional step to making advertising information public. The omission of some tweets from the company’s publicly released reports makes it even harder to assess what paid political influence on Twitter looks like.
Twitter announced in January that it was resuming allowing political advertising, a reversal of the platform’s 2019 ban following Musk’s takeover. The company, which was never a major hub for political advertising and has seen traditional advertisers flee amid brand safety concerns, rolled out a Google Form linked on its website where members of the public could request information about the political ads run on the platform.
POLITICO requested data in late March and early April on all political advertising run on Twitter. In response, the company released a spreadsheet including just over 30 tweets from a handful of accounts, mostly linked to Republican candidates or groups. The disclosed ads included several promoted fundraising tweets from the National Republican Senatorial Committee that featured WinRed links, similar to the ads from political figures that the platform failed to disclose.
Twitter did not respond to additional questions about the reach of the Fetterman, Frisch and Stefanik ads and why they were not disclosed. After POLITICO inquired through Twitter’s form specifically about ads run by the three accounts, Twitter responded with the same spreadsheet that did not include tweets from those accounts. The email address previously used by the company’s press office auto-replies with the poop emoji, a change Musk announced a few weeks ago.
“When information about political ads isn’t fully disclosed, the public loses out on key details that can help people assess the merits of the messages and messengers of online political ads,” said Michael Beckel, research director at Issue One, a nonprofit that has supported reforms such as the Honest Ads Act, a bill that would model regulation of digital ads on the Federal Communication Commission’s long standing rules around political advertising on radio and television but has stalled for several years.

While federal campaigns are required to report spending in quarterly FEC reports, ad tracking is one of the few public ways to track spending from nonprofits and 501(c)(4) groups that often do much of their spending well prior to an election.
Digital ad disclosures, including those maintained by Meta and Google, also provide insight as to the demographics of users targeted by ads. Twitter’s limited data release also included information on targeting for the ads the platform did disclose; for example, a handful of fundraising tweets from the NRSC targeted users older than 35, according to the platform’s data (although some NRSC ads targeted younger users as well).
Other political advertising disclosed by Twitter from March include promoted tweets from Missouri State Sen. Bill Eigel, a New York State campaign to promote public financing of elections and a Texas group aiming to establish casino-style gambling in the state. The total spending on ads disclosed by the platform was just over $1,650.

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#Twitter #fails #report #political #ads #promising #transparency
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 10, 2023
Tiger numbers increase substantially in Shivalik Hills-Gangetic Plains: Govt report

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New Delhi: The tiger population has gone up in the Shivalik Hills-Gangetic Plains landscape, central India and the Sundarbans but their numbers have dwindled in the Western Ghats and the Northeast-Brahmaputra Plains due to habitat loss, fragmentation and poaching over the years, according to a government report released on Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the latest tiger numbers at a mega event being organised in Mysuru to mark the completion of 50 years of Project Tiger.
According to the data, the tiger population in the country increased from 2,967 in 2018 to 3,167 in 2022.

“The tiger population in the forest divisions of the Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains landscape has recorded a substantial increase with a total of 804 unique tigers being photographed, which is higher than the estimated population of 646 in 2018,” the “Status of Tigers Report 2022” said.
It said photographic evidence of tigers in new areas of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh provides hope for range expansion.
“To ensure their long-term survival, it is necessary to supplement and repopulate the Shivalik Forest Division of Uttar Pradesh and increase protection for tigers in Suhelwa, and pay special attention to the genetically divergent population of Valmiki,” the report said.
It also said linear infrastructure projects on the congested corridor between western and eastern Rajaji have left the area “functionally extinct” for large carnivores and elephant movement, and the adoption of green infrastructure is needed to recover the tiger population in this fragmented landscape.
Additionally, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh need to invest in mitigating conflicts between human beings and tigers and mega herbivores due to their increasing populations outside protected areas.

The data showed a “decrease in tiger occupancy throughout the Western Ghats”, except in a few areas like Kali (Anshi Dandeli). This was attributed to an “increasing overlap between wildlife and humans” in the region.
The area recorded 824 “unique tigers” in 2022 as compared to 981 in 2018, “indicating a decline in some regions and stability in well-protected tiger reserves”.
“While tiger populations within protected areas have either remained stable or increased, tiger occupancy outside of these regions has significantly decreased, such as in the Wayanad landscape, BRT Hills, and the border regions of Goa and Karnataka,” the report said.
The number of “distinctive tigers” captured on camera in the Northeastern Hills and Brahmaputra Plains landscape was 194 as compared to the estimated population of 219 tigers in 2018.
The report, however, said the tiger population in the region is “secure”.
“The tiger population of Northeast is genetically unique and is small in size, thus requiring intensive conservation efforts…. The region is currently facing several threats such as habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict, which necessitate increased conservation efforts,” it added.
Central India also saw an increase in the tiger population, with 1,161 tigers photographed as compared to an estimated population of 1,033 in 2018.
Tigers have occupied new areas in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, the report said.
However, it noted that the “local tiger population has become extinct in several areas, including tiger reserves like Kawal, Satkosia and Sahyadri”.
While the expansion of tiger habitats is a positive development, there is a need to pay attention and act quickly in these areas to reverse the trend of extinction of small populations and avoid negative human-tiger interactions, it said.
The report called for serious conservation efforts to help recover the tiger population in Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The images of 100 tigers were captured in the Sundarbans in 2022 as compared to a population of 88 in 2018.
Officials said the population is steady, with a limited potential to extend its range.
The tiger population and landscape are both threatened by biotic interference in the form of forest exploration, fishing, palm and timber extraction, and the expansion of waterways. To preserve the ecological integrity of the area, cross-border collaboration and knowledge exchange between India and Bangladesh are imperative, the report said.
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#Tiger #numbers #increase #substantially #Shivalik #HillsGangetic #Plains #Govt #report
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 9, 2023
10 regional parties received Rs 852 crore through electoral bonds in 2021-22: ADR report

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New Delhi: Ten regional parties, including the DMK, BJD, YSR Congress, JDU and the AAP, have declared receiving Rs Rs 852.88 crore donations through electoral bonds in 2021-22, according to an NGO working for electoral reforms.
The total income of 36 regional parties for the financial year was Rs 1,213 crore, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said in a report, citing official data.
The report analysed the total income and expenditure incurred by 36 out of 54 regional parties during 2021-22, as declared by these parties in their audit reports submitted to the Election Commission on India.

“Ten regional parties — DMK, BJD, TRS, YSR-Congress, JDU, SP, AAP, SAD, MGP and TDP — have declared receiving donations through electoral bonds worth Rs 852.88 crore…for 2021-22,” it said.
The TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samithi) has subsequently renamed as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi. The party is in power in Telangana.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which is currently in power in Tamil Nadu, reported having the highest income among the parties at Rs 318 crore, which forms 26.27 percent of the total income of all the parties analysed, followed by the BJD with an income of Rs 307 crore and the TRS Rs 218 crore, according to the report.
The total income of top five parties amounted to Rs 1024.424 crore, or 84.44 percent of the total income of the political parties analysed collectively.
For 35 parties out of 36 political parties whose data is available for both 2020-21 and 2021-22, twenty parties have shown an increase in their income and 15 parties have shown a decline in their income.

The total income of the 35 parties increased from Rs 565.424 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 1,212.708 crore in 2021-22, a total increase of 114.48 per cent.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which governs Odisha, reported the highest increase in its income of Rs 233.941 crore, followed by TRS and DMK which declared a total increase of Rs 180.454 crore and Rs 168.795 crore respectively, it stated.
Twenty-one regional parties declared a part of their income as remaining unspent for 2021-22 while 15 political parties spent more than the income collected during the year.
The DMK has more than Rs 283 crore of its total income remaining unspent while BJD and TRS have Rs 278 crore and Rs 190 crore unspent income respectively.
The total declared expenditure of the 36 regional parties for 2021-22 was Rs 288 crore.
The total expenditure incurred by the top five parties is Rs 176.779 crore or 61.35 per cent of the total expenditure as reported by the 36 political parties.
The top five parties that have incurred the highest expenditure are SP (Rs 54 crore), DMK (Rs 35 crore), AAP (Rs 30 crore), BJD (Rs 28 crore) and AIADMK (Rs 28 crore).
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#regional #parties #received #crore #electoral #bonds #ADR #report
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 8, 2023
Report: Russia charges Journal reporter with espionage

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In the Russian legal system, the filing of charges and a response from the accused represent the formal start of a criminal probe, initiating what could be a long and secretive Russian judicial process.
Tass quoted its source as saying: “The FSB investigation charged Gershkovich with espionage in the interests of his country. He categorically denied all accusations and stated that he was engaged in journalistic activities in Russia.”
The source declined further comment because the case is considered secret.
Russian authorities arrested Gershkovich, 31, in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city, on March 29. He is the first U.S. correspondent since the Cold War to be detained for alleged spying.
The FSB specifically accused Gershkovich of trying to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory. The Wall Street Journal has denied the accusations.
The case has caused an international uproar.
In a rare U.S. bipartisan statement, the Senate’s top two leaders demanded Friday that Russia immediately release Gershkovich. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. declared that “journalism is not a crime” and praised Gershkovich as an “internationally known and respected independent journalist.”
On Thursday, the U.S ambassador to Russia and a top Russian diplomat met to discuss the case.

In the meeting with U.S. Ambassador Lynne T. Tracy, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stressed “the serious nature of the charges” against Gershkovich, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement.
The statement repeated earlier Russian claims that the reporter “was caught red-handed while trying to obtain secret information, using his journalistic status as a cover for illegal actions.”
Lawyers representing Gershkovich met with him Tuesday for the first time since his detention, according to Wall Street Journal. Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker.
Tucker said the reporter is in good health and “is grateful for the outpouring of support from around the world. We continue to call for his immediate release.”
Gershkovich was ordered held behind bars for two months in Russia pending an investigation. A Moscow court said Monday that it had received a defense appeal of his arrest; the appeal is scheduled to be heard on April 18, Russian news agencies reported.
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#Report #Russia #charges #Journal #reporter #espionage
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 7, 2023
Allahabad HC asks UP govt to upload OBC panel report on website

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Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to upload the OBC Commission’s report on OBC reservation in urban local bodies’ polls on the state Urban Development Department’s website within four days.
The state government had constituted the Uttar Pradesh Backward Classes Commission to study the representation of OBCs in the urban local bodies.
The responsibility of the Commission was to collect data on the political backwardness of the OBCs.

A division bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Manish Kumar passed the order on a writ petition filed by Vikas Agarwal.
Agarwal had challenged the state government’s draft notification issued on March 30, 2023, regarding reservation of Nighasan Nagar Panchayat in the Lakhimpur Kheri district.
In his writ, the petitioner had submitted before the high court that the Commission’s report was not in the public domain, making it impossible for him to file an objection.
“As regards other relief made in this petition, we see no reason to interfere at this stage for the reason that the petitioner has already been informed that the ‘Agarwal’ caste does not fall in the OBC category,” the court said.
“Now, when the petitioner is aware that the seat pertaining to the Nagar Panchayat Nighasan has been reserved for the OBC category and the petitioner does not belong to the same, other relief can be claimed at the appropriate stage as and when the need arises,” the court added.

The Supreme Court on March 27 permitted the State Election Commission to issue notifications to roll out the election process for local bodies in Uttar Pradesh within two days.
Thereafter, a draft notification on reservation in the urban local bodies’ polls was issued on March 30 and the government invited objections by April 6.
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#Allahabad #asks #govt #upload #OBC #panel #report #website
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 7, 2023