Dehradun, Jun 6 (PTI) The Centre and the Uttarakhand government are committed to making the state a national hub of horticulture, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Friday. Interacting with farmers at a Kisan Chaupal in Pavwala Sauda village under Doiwala block of Dehradun, the agriculture minister said, "The quality of fruits, grains and vegetables grown in Uttarakhand is unique and they have full potential to make a mark at the global level." "The Centre and the state go...Read More
Mumbai, Jun 6 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted searches at the premises of actor Dino Morea, some BMC officials, and contractors among others, as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged Rs 65 crore worth Mithi river desilting "scam", official sources said. The raids covered more than 15 premises located in Mumbai in Maharashtra and Kochi in Kerala. This includes the premises of Dino Morea in the Bandra (West) area of Mumbai, those linked to his brothe...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Friday said it will raise Rs 500 crore through ESG bonds. An ESG bond is a debt security that funds an environmental, social, or governance goal. "Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has announced a Rs 500 crore ESG bond issuance deal, becoming the first Indian corporate to do so under the Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) newly introduced ESG and sustainability-linked bond framework," the company said in a statement. HSBC...Read More
Kolkata, Jun 6 (PTI) Social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli was released from prison on Friday after the Calcutta High Court granted her interim bail in a case involving alleged communal remarks made in a video uploaded on social media. The Calcutta High Court on Thursday granted interim bail to Panoli, who was arrested by Kolkata Police last week following an FIR lodged at the Garden Reach Police Station. The court observed that the complaint against Panoli did not disclose any cognisable ...Read More
Mumbai, Jun 6 (PTI) The Maharashtra Congress on Friday said it will welcome an alliance between the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) if it is in the interest of the state and to keep the "communal" BJP away. The party's statement comes amid speculation about a possible reconciliation between estranged cousins - Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and MNS president Raj Thackeray - as their recent remarks indicated that they could join hands. State Congress spokesperso...Read More
Hyderabad, Jun 6 (PTI) BJP Lok Sabha MP Eatala Rajender on Friday appeared before the judicial commission probing the alleged irregularities in the Kaleshwaram irrigation project in Telangana. Rajender, who was a BRS leader before joining BJP in 2021, had served as Finance Minister in the government headed by former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. Speaking to reporters later, he said he was asked 11-12 questions by the panel and that he answered all of them. The BJP leader clarified that ...Read More
Bengaluru, Jun 6 (PTI) MLC K Govindaraj has been relieved from the post of political secretary to the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with immediate effect, the government said on Thursday. The decision is seen in connection with the stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium here that killed 11 people. The stampede occurred on Wednesday evening in front of the stadium, where a large number of people thronged to participate in the RCB team's IPL victory celebrations. Eleven people have die...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) NSE Sustainability Ratings and Analytics Ltd, an entity of the National Stock Exchange, on Friday announced the launch of its ESG ratings for listed companies. The firm focus on assessing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance providing stakeholders with vital information to make informed decisions. In a statement, NSE Sustainability said it received registration certificate from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to operate as a Category ...Read More
Bengaluru, Jun 6 (PTI) Opposition BJP and JD(S) in Karnataka on Friday jointly lashed out at the Congress government for making police officers the "scapegoat" for the stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium here that killed 11 people, and alleged that the entire responsibility for the incident lies with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar. JD(S) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy termed the suspension of five officials as a "blunder" and asserted that this governm...Read More
New Delhi, June 6 (PTI) CPI Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar on Friday wrote to President Droupadi Murmu alleging "misuse" of gubernatorial authority in the opposition-ruled states. Mentioning a recent incident in Kerala where a portrait of 'Bharat Mata' was used at an event at the Raj Bhavan, leading to a boycott of the function by a state minister, Kumar expressed serious concern over the "continued misuse of gubernatorial authority in the opposition-ruled states". Kumar said it was most recen...Read More
Mumbai, Jun 6 (PTI) The Reserve Bank is all set to raise the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for lending against gold to 85 per cent for loans under Rs 2.5 lakh from the present 75 per cent, Governor Sanjay Malhotra announced on Friday. Speaking to reporters at the central bank headquarters, Malhotra said the relaxation will come with riders, and pointed out that both principal as well as interest will be included while computing the LTV as against the current industry practice of sticking only to th...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) Realtors' apex bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO hailed the RBI decision to cut repo rate by 50 basis points, saying that this bold and timely step will improve consumer sentiment and boost housing sales, especially of low-cost homes. On Friday, the RBI cut interest rates by 50 basis points, a third consecutive reduction, and unexpectedly reduced the cash reserve ratio for banks to provide a major liquidity fillip to support the economy amid geopolitical and tariff headwinds. We...Read More
Ayodhya (UP), Jun 6 (PTI) A total of 45 kilograms of pure gold has been used in the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, according to Nripendra Mishra, the chairman of the Ram Temple Construction Committee. Mishra informed on Friday, a day after the consecration of the Ram Darbar on the first floor of the temple complex. He said the estimated value of the gold, excluding taxes, is around Rs 50 crore. Gold has been used extensively in the doors on the ground floor of the temple and the th...Read More
Mumbai, Jun 6 (PTI) People from all walks of life gathered at Raigad Fort in Maharashtra on Friday to pay tributes to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to mark the 351st anniversary of his 'rajyabhishek' (coronation). It was on this day in 1674 that the legendary warrior king took the title Chhatrapati, marking the establishment of his kingdom Hindavi Swarajya. The hill fort, situated in the Sahyadri range in Raigad district and built massively by Shivaji Maharaj in the second half of the 17th centu...Read More
Mumbai, Jun 6 (PTI) Maharashtra minister Chandrakant Patil has said that from the next academic year, the Common Entrance Test (CET) for professional courses in Maharashtra will be conducted at the examination centres only in the state to prevent malpractices. With this, students from outside Maharashtra taking the CET for a course offered by an institution will have to travel to an examination centre in the state. The announcement comes in the wake of alleged irregularities at some examinatio...Read More
Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 6 (PTI) Congress veteran and former president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Thennala Balakrishna Pillai, known for his gentlemanly demeanour, simplicity and concensus-oriented leadership, died at a private hospital here on Friday, following age-related ailments, party sources said. He was 95. Pillai, who had been away from active politics for some years, was a two-time MLA and three-time Rajya Sabha MP. He also served as the president of the KPCC in tw...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) India's biggest gas utility GAIL has started operating its 5 million tonnes a year liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Dabhol in Maharashtra at full capacity as it received its first ever cargo at the facility during monsoon. The company had to shut the Ratnagiri terminal, popularly known as the Dabhol LNG plant, for four months from May 25 each year to avoid high swell in the sea damaging ships or the jetty while berthing. The firm has now completed building a...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) Veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who was part of India's two World Cup-winning campaigns, on Friday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after a career spanning more than two decades to undertake a "new journey" that he did not specify. The 36-year-old made the announcement via an Instagram post. "After more than two decades on the field, the time has come to bid adieu to the beautiful game," Chawla wrote. "Though I step away from the crease, cricket wil...Read More
Dehradun, June 6 (PTI) Two persons accused of killing local BJP leader Rohit Negi were arrested from Purkazi in Uttar Pradesh after an encounter, police said on Friday. Azhar Tyagi and his accomplice Ayush Kumar alias Sikandar were arrested following a tip-off on Thursday night, Dehradun SSP Ajai Singh said. The duo was spotted near Manglaur in Uttarakhand from where they were to proceed towards Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, the officer said. When the accused saw a police team chasing them ...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) A Delhi court on Friday acquitted former coal secretary H C Gupta, ex-joint secretary (coal) K S Kropha and then director K C Samaria in a case related to allocation of Mahuagarhi coal block in Jharkhand. Special Judge Sanjay Bansal, however, convicted Jas Infrastructure Capital Ltd and its then director Manoj Kumar Jaiswal for cheating and criminal conspiracy in the allocation of the coal black. The judge will hear the argument on sentence on July 8, 2025. PTI UK AMK AM...Read More
Mumbai, Jun 6 (PTI) Streaming service Prime Video on Friday unveiled its latest docuseries "In Transit", a four-part exploration of the lives of trans and non-binary individuals navigating identity, love, and belonging in India. Directed by Ayesha Sood and produced by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti through their Tiger Baby banner, "In Transit" will premiere on the streamer's platform on June 13. Through the stories of nine individuals from different parts of India -- including a classical musician...Read More
Bhubaneswar, Jun 6 (PTI) Hundreds of junior school teachers in Odisha on Friday staged a protest here to demand for regularisation of their jobs. Holding posters and banners against the contractual appointment of junior teachers in schools, the teachers, including women, demonstrated at Mahatma Gandhi Marg. The teachers, representing various schools across the state, demanded immediate regularization of their posts and scrapping of the contractual appointment system for junior teachers in scho...Read More
Mumbai, Jun 6 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said whatever people of Maharashtra wish will happen, amid talks of possibility of an alliance between his party and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray. Talking to reporters here, the former chief minister said there was no confusion in the minds of the workers of both the parties about this. "Whatever people of Maharashtra wish will happen," Thackeray said. The Thackeray cousins have sp...Read More
Katra (JK), Jun 6 (PTI) Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday raked up the issue of restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir at the flagging off of the maiden train to Kashmir by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this pilgrim town. "There are four persons on this stage who were present at the inauguration of the Katra railway station (in 2014). You had just won the election, becoming the Prime Minister for the first time. MoS in PMO Jeetendra Singh was present then and our LG Manoj Sinha sa...Read More
Thiruvananthapuram/Chennai, Jun 6 (PTI) Malayalam actor Shine Tom Chacko's father died in a road accident near Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu on Friday morning when the family was travelling to Bengaluru, police said. According to a senior police officer in Dharmapuri, the actor suffered a fracture to his left arm, while his brother and mother, who were also in the vehicle, and the driver of the car suffered minor injuries. The incident occurred early in the morning on the national highway from Sale...Read More
Gorakhpur, Jun 6 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met with the public on Friday morning at the Janata Darshan held in Gorakhpur and assured them of effectively addressing their problems. Personally interacting with around 200 people, the chief minister heard their grievances and collected their petitions, according to an official statement. "He directed officials to respond swiftly and sensitively to public complaints, ensuring timely, fair, and satisfactory resolutions," it ...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) India's active Covid case tally crossed the 5,000 mark with Kerala remaining the most affected state followed by Gujarat, West Bengal and Delhi, according to the Union Health Ministry data released on Friday. In view of the increase in cases, the Centre is conducting mock drills to check facility-level preparedness for COVID-19. All states have been instructed to ensure availability of oxygen, isolation beds, ventilators, and essential medicines in view of rising cases o...Read More
Bengaluru, June 6 (PTI) Four officials of RCB and event management firm DNA entertainment private limited were arrested in connection with the stampede outside Chinnaswamy stadium here that claimed lives of 11 people and injured another 56, police sources said on Friday. They were taken into custody in a joint operation by the crime branch and Bengaluru Police. Speaking to PTI Videos, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh confirmed that few arrests have been made in the connection...Read More
New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) The BJP on Friday slammed the Congress for "spreading half truth" about the Kashmir rail link project, and said the Modi government finished what it started, unlike the opposition party which only made announcements and forgot to fulfil them during its term. This came after Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL) is a powerful example of continuity in governance which it claimed is "consistently denied" by Prime Minister Nar...Read More
Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 6 (PTI) The Kerala Government's decision to change Bakrid holiday triggered a political row in the state on Friday with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) accusing it of attempting to implement "communal agenda and fascism" in the state. Originally Friday (June 6) was marked as holiday for Bakrid. However, following the reports that the festival would be celebrated on Saturday across the state, on Thursday, the Kerala government announced that Saturday, June 7, will b...Read More