Around 12.48 lakh devotees have visited the Sabarimala temple in the first 15 days of the mandala-makaravilakku pilgrimage season, officials said on Sunday.

 Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Praveen Kumar, on Sunday took additional charge of the Border Security Force following retirement of the incumbent, Daljit Singh Chawdhary.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday stressed the urgent need to transform public perception of the police, particularly among the youth, by enhancing professionalism, sensitivity, and responsiveness.

Cyclone Ditwah is expected to weaken into a deep depression and the weather system would be centred over southwest Bay of Bengal within a minimum distance of 30 km from the coasts of North Tamil Nadu and Puducherry by midnight of Sunday, the Regional Meteorological Centre said.

The government is likely to introduce two bills in the Lok Sabha to replace GST compensation cess with another levy, to ensure that the tax incidence remains the same on tobacco, pan masala and other sin goods after discontinuation of the cess.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise has become a "major trouble" for people and alleged that the Election Commission (EC) has ignored practical challenges faced by voters and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) while demanding three months extension of the SIR deadline.

Voter turnout in the MCD bypolls to 12 wards on Sunday remained subdued, with the overall polling recorded at 31.3 per cent till 4 pm, according to the State Election Commission.

A 46-year-old booth-level officer (BLO) hanged himself in the storage room of his home here in Baheri village because of work pressure, police said on Sunday.