Kolkata, Jun 27 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday inaugurated the first Rath Yatra from the newly constructed Jagannath temple in the coastal town of Digha. Amid the chants of 'Joy Jagannath' by thousands of pilgrims, including foreigners, the CM, along with her cabinet colleagues, pulled the ropes of the chariots of Lord Jagannath and his two siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra this afternoon. She appealed through a public address system that the devotees could touch the...Read More
Ratlam (MP), Jun 27 (PTI) As many as 19 vehicles in the convoy of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav broke down after they being refuelled allegedly with adulterated petrol and diesel, officials said on Friday. According to officials, the administration sealed the petrol pump in Ratlam, where the vehicles were sent for refuelling a day before the chief minister's scheduled to travel to the district for a programme. After these vehicles broke down, new ones were arranged from Indore, the...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) Chartered accountants' apex body ICAI is bullish on the growing global capability centres in the country and expects their number to cross 5,000 in the next two years. Global Capability Centres (GCCs) will benefit the chartered accountants as they offer various services, ICAI President Charanjot Singh Nanda said on Friday. "India is an attractive destination for GCCs," he said and added that currently, there are around 80,000 chartered accountants employed at the GCCs. ...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) Upgrading India's Sukhoi-30MKI fighter fleet, production of air-to-air missiles and expeditious supply of two batches of S-400 missile systems figured prominently in Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's talks with his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov in the Chinese city of Qingdao. The two defence ministers held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Thursday. The Indian Air Force is operating around 260 Sukho...Read More
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 27 (ANI): A female student was allegedly gang-raped inside a law college in Kolkata's Kasba on Wednesday evening. The police have arrested all three accused within 24 hours. The three accused, named as Monojit Mishra (31), Zaib Ahmed (19), and Pramit Mukhopadhyay (20), were former students or staff members of the same law college. Also Read | Student Gang-Raped at South Kolkata Law College: Police Arrest 3 Youths for Sexually Assaulting Young Woman Inside La...Read More
Aizawl, Jun 27 (PTI) The Mizoram government is considering confiscating the identity cards of Myanmar refugees who repeatedly cross the international border to and from the neighbouring country, an official said on Friday During a meeting with Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary Surinder Bhagat in Aizawl on Thursday, Chief Minister Lalduhoma told him that there are many refugees, who are obedient and follow the laws, while some of them are "repeatedly crossing the border to go to Myanma...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) The government, industry and academia are working to resolve the issues concerning rare earth magnets, which are used in the automobile sector and other devices, a senior Meity official said on Friday. The technology exists to make rare earth magnets but to produce them at a commercially competitive rate is a challenge, Ministry of Electronics and IT, Additional Secretary, Amitesh Sinha said. Speaking on the sidelines of the Tec-Verse event showcasing PSU technology res...Read More
Ahmedabad, Jun 27 (PTI) One person was injured on Friday during the Rath Yatra procession in Ahmedabad, when a male elephant, agitated by excessive noise, broke a barricade and rushed into a narrow lane, officials said. The mahouts on two other elephants followed the jumbo and controlled it, ensuring that the procession proceeded smoothly on its designated route, said RK Sahu, superintendent of Kankaria Zoo in the city. "One bystander was injured after an elephant got disturbed and entered a n...Read More
Thrissur(Kerala), Jun 27 (PTI) Three migrant labourers died when an around 40-year-old building, at Kodakara in this central Kerala district, where they were living, collapsed early Friday morning as they were getting ready for work, police said. According to the police officials and officers of the fire and rescue services who visited the spot, there were 17 migrant workers living in the building, and of them, 14 escaped without any injuries. The incident occurred around 6 am, and the entire ...Read More
Jammu, June 27 (PTI) A multi-tier security setup is being put in place for the annual Amarnath Yatra, with more than 180 companies of paramilitary forces deployed in the Jammu region, officials said. The 38-day-long yatra is scheduled to start on July 3 from the twin routes -- the traditional 48-kilometre Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the shorter but steeper 14-kilometre Baltal route in the Ganderbal district -- leading to the 3,880-metre-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath. The first b...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) Student recruitment solution provider Crizac on Friday said it has fixed the price band at Rs 233-245 per equity share for its Rs 860-crore initial public offering (IPO) that will open for public subscription on July 2. The public issue will conclude on July 4, and the bidding for anchor investors will open for a day on July 1. Investors can bid for a minimum of 61 equity shares and in multiples thereof, the company said in a statement. The IPO is entirely an offer for...Read More
Noida, Jun 27 (PTI) Forty-two elderly people were rescued from an "illegal" old-age home after a police raid at the institution found some women tied up, many residents without clothes and others in "basement-like" rooms, officials said. During a raid conducted on Thursday in the presence of members from the Uttar Pradesh State Women Commission and the State Welfare Department, the old-age home was found in a deplorable condition, they said. Meenakshi Bharala, a women's commission member, said...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) Jio BlackRock Broking Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jio BlackRock Investment Advisers Pvt Ltd, has received regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to commence operations as a brokerage firm. JioBlackRock Broking aims to bring affordable, transparent, and technology-driven execution capabilities for investors, the company said in a statement. The broking entity's parent company, JioBlackRock Investment Advisers, is a 50:50 join...Read More
Pune, Jun 27 (PTI) NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said on Friday that he can take a stand on the proposed Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Expressway if the government provides a detailed briefing on the project. Pawar said experts should first deliberate on whether the project is in the interest of the people. "Generally, any new project faces opposition. I am trying to see how I can resolve issues. It is important to understand the views of the farmers (whose land will be acquired)," he said. At the sam...Read More
Kolkata, Jun 27 (PTI) A college student in Kolkata was allegedly raped by her two seniors and a former student of the educational institute, police said on Friday. The three accused were arrested on Thursday night in connection with the gang rape, an officer said. The incident took place on June 25 evening when the woman went to the college and was taken by the three accused to a room inside the educational institute and gang-raped, the police said. "The student lodged a complaint with the Ka...Read More
Lucknow, Jun 27 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday launched a scathing attack on the previous Samajwadi Party government, accusing it of ignoring the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector while keeping the state trapped in caste-based conflicts and nepotism for political gains. Speaking at a program in Lucknow on the occasion of International MSME Day, the CM said, "Before 2017, UP was known for riots, mafia networks, and being one of the most unsafe states...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) Sajjan Jindal's JSW Paints on Friday announced acquisition of Dutch paint maker Akzo Nobel's India unit in a Rs 12,915-crore deal to become the fourth-largest player in the paint industry in the country. JSW Paints will buy a 74.76 per cent stake in Dulux paint-maker Akzo Nobel India for Rs 8,986 crore and launch an open offer to buy another 25 per cent from open market for up to Rs 3,929.06 crore. "JSW Paints today (Friday) entered into definitive agreements to acquire...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) Comedian and actor Vir Das has been announced as one of the key guests of honour at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, and will be feted for his contributions to entertainment and comedy. The 16th edition of the festival, which is held to showcase and celebrate Indian cinema to an Australian audience, will take place between August 14 and August 24, in Melbourne, Australia. Das said it is "incredibly humbling" to be recognised by IFFM. "A festival that celebrates t...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) Union External Affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday said India wanted a reference to terrorism in the outcome document of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers' meeting, but it was not acceptable to one member country, an oblique reference to Pakistan. Jaishankar said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's view on the matter was right since the main purpose of SCO was to fight terrorism and without a reference on it (on India's concerns on terrorism)...Read More
Varanasi, Jun 27 (PTI) In response to the recent incident in Etawah where a non-Brahmin kathavachak (religious storyteller) was allegedly assaulted and tonsured, the Kashi Vidvat Parishad, a prestigious council of Sanskrit scholars and experts on Hindu scriptures, has issued a strong statement defending the rights of all Hindus to recite and narrate the Bhagavad Katha. Professor Ramnarayan Dwivedi, General Secretary of the Kashi Vidvat Parishad, said, "In Sanatan Dharma, the right to speak abou...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) Biocon Ltd on Friday said its arm Biocon Biologics has been granted a notice of compliance by Health Canada for its biosimilar Yesafili injection used to treat various ailments of the eye. "Health Canada has granted a Notice of Compliance (NOC) for Yesafili(aflibercept), a biosimilar to Eylea injection, in vial and prefilled syringe presentations, 2 mg/0.05 mL on June 26, 2025," a regulatory filing by Biocon said. This approval paves the way for the launch of Yesafili i...Read More
Mumbai, Jun 27 (PTI) Estranged cousins Uddhav and Raj Thackeray will unite for the cause of the Marathi language, as their parties will stage a joint protest against the "imposition" Hindi and the state government's three-language formula for Classes 1-5. The protest on July 5 will bring Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray on the same platform. Both leaders had asserted on Thursday that they would vehemently oppose the imposition ...Read More
Bengaluru, Jun 27 (PTI) The discovery of a seemingly stale carcass of a cow in Hugyam forest range in Mahadeshwara Hills on Friday strengthens the doubt that the death of a tigress and her four cubs could be due to poisoning, officials said. These five tigers were found dead in this forest on Thursday. It is suspected that the miscreants had poisoned the cow, and after eating it, the tigress and its cubs might have died. "Either the bovine was poisoned before being left in the forest, or the ...Read More
Shimla, Jun 27 (PTI) Search and rescue operation by joint teams of national and state disaster response forces, police and home guards to look for six missing people following cloudbursts and flash floods in Himachal Pradesh resumed on Friday morning, officials said. These people are feared to have been swept away following cloudbursts and flash floods in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra and Kullu districts on Wednesday. So far, five bodies have been recovered from a hydro project site in the Kangra ...Read More
Kolkata, Jun 27 (PTI) The country's engineering exports conceded a marginal fall of 0.82 per cent year-on-year to USD 9.89 billion in May due to a higher statistical base and geopolitical tensions in West Asia, EEPC India said in a statement. According to EEPC, the share of engineering goods in the country's overall merchandise exports increased to 25.53 per cent during this period. India's engineering exports to the US, a top destination among major exporting countries, remained positive in M...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday flagged off 105 new orange-coloured DEVI (Delhi EV Inter-connector) electric buses and inaugurated the newly built Sector A9 depot in Narela, calling it a step towards cleaner and more efficient public transport for the capital. Gupta said the depot was completed in just 90 days and claimed it reflects the BJP government's commitment to deliver on promises made to Delhi residents. She also attacked the previous Aam Aadmi Party ...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Friday said if the 'Mahagathbandhan' gets a majority in the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls, the chief minister will be from the RJD, and added that there was "no confusion or dispute" over Tejashwi Yadav being the main face for the CM's post. Kanhaiya Kumar, however, asserted that issues would be paramount in the polls and there was "a conspiracy" by rivals to divert attention by raking up the matter of the coalition's CM face. Claiming ...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 27 (PTI) The Congress on Friday alleged that the RSS has "never accepted" the Constitution and its call to review the words 'socialist' and 'secular' in the Preamble is part of a "long-standing conspiracy to dismantle" Babasaheb Ambedkar's vision for a just, inclusive and democratic India. The opposition party also said the suggestion by the RSS is a "deliberate assault on the soul of our Constitution". The Congress' attack came a day after the RSS called for reviewing the words...Read More
Digha, Jun 27 (PTI) Hoteliers in West Bengal's Digha have experienced a 20 per cent surge in occupancy as travellers in large numbers are thronging the seaside town since the opening of the Jagannath temple in April, an official said on Friday. Around 90 per cent of the boarders are coming for a two-day stay in hotels to visit the town and offer puja to Lord Jagannath in the new temple, Digha Hoteliers Association joint secretary Bipradas Chatterjee told PTI. "Since the opening of the Jagannat...Read More
Rohtak, Jun 27 (PTI) The Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) stamped its authority at the sixth Junior (U-17) boys and girls' National Boxing Championships by emerging as the overall champion in both the categories. Services reclaimed the team title in the boys division and pulled off a decisive victory in the girls division, toppling defending champions Haryana, who finished second across both categories. SSCB wrapped up the week-long event at the National Boxing Academy in Rohtak with nine ...Read More