New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) Over 6.98 lakh Olive Ridley turtles nested at the Rushikulya river mouth in Odisha have been protected under the Indian Coast Guard's annual mission 'Operation Olivia', officials said on Monday. Conducted annually from November to May, 'Operation Olivia' is an important initiative of the ICG aimed at ensuring safe nesting grounds for the turtles particularly at Gahirmatha Beach and surrounding coastal areas of Odisha, which see the arrival of over eight lakh turtles each...Read More
New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) After a tepid start to 2025, the IPO market is getting back on track with six main-board companies, including Schloss Bangalore -- owner of luxury hotel chain The Leela, are set to float their initial share-sales this month to collectively mobilise over Rs 11,000 crore, investment banking sources said on Monday. Of the six firms, Borana Weaves and Belrise Industries will launch their IPOs this week. Borana Weaves will float its Rs 144-crore IPO on May 20, while Pune-bas...Read More
New Delhi, May 19 (PTI) Godrej Properties has bought 14 land parcels across major cities to build housing projects with revenue potential of about Rs 26,500 crore in the last fiscal year and will continue to acquire more land to grow its business, its Chairperson Pirojsha Godrej said. The company bought these land parcels, all outright, in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Indore. In an interview with PTI, Pirojsha Godrej said, "Last financial...Read More
Hazaribag (Jharkhand), Feb 10 (PTI) The former SDO of Hazaribag Sadar, Ashok Kumar, an accused in connection with the death of his wife in December last year, was on Monday forwarded to judicial custody, officials said. Kumar was produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Hazaribag, S Lamhe, who forwarded him to judicial custody. A team of police officers had apprehended Kumar, who had been absconding, from Ranchi on Sunday evening. Earlier on January 31, a local court had reject...Read More
Rameswaram, Feb 10 (PTI) The new 2.05 kilometre Pamban Bridge will allow trains to cross the sea between mainland India and Rameswaram Island in Tamil Nadu in less than 5 minutes, significantly less than the previous 25-30 minutes on the old structure, railway officials said on Monday. The bridge is ready to be dedicated to the nation and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate it within the next few weeks, though a date is yet to be decided, he added. "Trains used to take 25-30...Read More
Cuttack, Feb 7 (PTI) Australian legend Ricky Ponting finds it incredulous that Shreyas Iyer has not been given a permanent slot in India's white-ball side, given his magnificent form and the ability to dominate spinners on slow subcontinental pitches. Iyer was one of the vital cogs in India's run to the final of the 50-over World Cup in 2023, with the middle-order batter scoring 530 runs to emerge the seventh-highest run-getter in the global event, and he further validated his prowess in the fo...Read More
Bengaluru, Feb 7 (PTI) Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Friday rejected Karnataka Micro Finance (Prevention of Coercive Actions) Ordinance 2025 that the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had proposed to regulate microfinance. According to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), the governor cited several reasons for his rejection. Gehlot felt that the punishment of 10 years and fine of Rs 5 lakh proposed by the Karnataka government is excessive, said the CMO. He was also of the opinion that the ...Read More
Nagpur, Feb 7 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday rejected Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's allegation of irregularities in the state voter list, saying the claim stems from his party's imminent defeat in the Delhi assembly polls. Talking to reporters in Nagpur, Fadnavis, a senior BJP leader, maintained the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha needs to introspect otherwise there will be no revival of the Congress. "Rahul Gandhi is doing cover firing after sensing huge defea...Read More
Jaipur, Feb 7 (PTI) The prevailing dry weather will persist for the next one week in Rajasthan, a Met office spokesperson said on Friday. There is a strong possibility of an increase of 2 to 3 degrees Celsius in the minimum and the maximum temperatures during the next 48 hours, he said. At present, the temperature is normal in most parts of the state. The lowest minimum temperature was recorded in the Shekhawati region at 2 to 4 degrees Celsius, he added. There is no possibility of a cold wav...Read More
New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) Ola Electric Mobility Ltd on Friday reported a widening of consolidated net loss at Rs 564 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2024 impacted by lower revenue due to enhanced competition and one-off cost to address service issues. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 376 crore in the third quarter last fiscal, Ola Electric Mobility Ltd said in a regulatory filing. Revenue from operations in the third quarter stood at Rs 1,045 crore as compared to Rs 1,296 cro...Read More
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 7 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan hailed the state budget presented by Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Friday as a "creative intervention" driving Kerala's development vision, while the Congress-led opposition dismissed it as "hollow". "Despite financial constraints and economic discrimination by the Union government, the 2025-26 budget adopted an approach to strengthen Kerala's development and the welfare of the people. The budget focuses on short-term re...Read More
New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) Eight Shiv Sena (UBT) parliamentarians on Friday asserted that they were firmly with the party, rejecting claims by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena of mass desertions from the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit. Maharashtra minister Uday Samant had claimed several incumbent and former MLAs and six MPs from Shiv Sena (UBT) were in talks to join the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena (UBT) has nine members in the Lok Sabha and two in the Rajya Sabha. On Friday, Lok Sabha members of...Read More
Mumbai, Feb 7 (PTI) Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Friday said India can certainly achieve over 7 per cent growth rate and the nation should aspire for that. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its bi-monthly monetary policy has projected 6.7 per cent growth for financial year 2025-26, up from 6.4 per cent estimated for the current fiscal. "I would like to stick my neck out and say that, certainly India can achieve a 7 per cent and plus growth rate. We should certainly aspire for that...Read More
Srinagar, Feb 5 (PTI) Security forces on Wednesday recovered a cache of arms and ammunition from snow-covered area in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. The arms and ammunition, which were wrapped in a blanket and concealed in the hollow trunk of a tree, were recovered by a joint team of security forces at Anganpathri in Boniyar area, they said. The recoveries included three AK 47 rifles, 11 AK magazines, 292 AK rounds, one UBGL (Under Barrel Grenade Launcher), nine UBGL ...Read More
New Delhi, Feb 5 (PTI) Delhi recorded 60.10 per cent voter turnout in the assembly polls on Wednesday amid charges of malpractices including money distribution and fake voting by both AAP and BJP who are engaged in an intense battle to decide who rules the national capital. The turnout almost touches what it was in the 2020 assembly polls (62.59 per cent) when the Arvind Kejriwal-led party won 62 seat of the 70 seats, while the BJP got eight and the Congress zero. Long queues of voters were wi...Read More
Mumbai, Feb 5 (PTI) Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Wednesday slammed the introduction of a facial recognition system at Mantralaya here, saying it is a ploy to keep common people away from those in power so that land and wealth can be given to builders and industrialists. In a tweet, Patole said while builders' cars roll into Mantralaya, the state secretariat in south Mumbai, smoothly, common people's entry is being obstructed. "The fact is the new process is an attempt to keep comm...Read More
Mumbai, Feb 5 (PTI) GST authorities have imposed penalties totalling Rs 115.86 crore on IndiGo, the airline said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. According to the filing, the penalty order was passed on February 4. Of this, Rs 113.02 crore pertains to services provided to offshore recipients, which the goods and services tax (GST) authorities did not consider as "export of services", and denied input tax credit on certain services for FY18, FY19, and FY20 while the remaining Rs 2.84 crore ...Read More
New Delhi, Feb 5 (PTI) Unicorns and startups on Wednesday met OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and discussed ways to lower the cost of AI model and data sovereignty. Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said during the discussion, apart from lowering cost of AI, there was an understanding seen among industry players that there should be a sovereign AI model for India and data should be kept within the country's boundary. When asked about the change that he has seen during this second visit of Altman to India, ...Read More
Ranchi, Feb 5 (PTI) The Hemant Soren government on Wednesday said the state has received investment proposals to the tune of Rs 26,000 crore, having the potential of generating 15,000 jobs, during 'Advantage Jharkhand' programme held as part of Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) in Kolkata. Soren, along with his wife and MLA Kalpana, attended the eighth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) at the invitation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. "Investors have come up...Read More
Hyderabad, Feb 5 (PTI) The Telangana Legislative Assembly secretary issued notices to some BRS MLAs who 'shifted loyalties' to the ruling Congress on disqualification petitions filed by the regional party. They have sought time to submit their responses. Kadiyam Srihari, one of the MLAs who received the notices, said on Wednesday that, to his knowledge, he and two other MLAs have received notices. "We have replied to the notice, seeking time to respond," he told PTI. Ten BRS MLAs have switche...Read More
Solapur, Feb 5 (PTI) Police have registered a case against 10-12 persons for allegedly assaulting stand-up comedian Pranit More in Maharashtra's Solapur after a performance, a police official said Wednesday. According to the police, the attackers were upset with More for his alleged jokes aimed at actor Veer Pahariya, the grandson of former chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde. A statement on behalf of More was put up on his social media account about the alleged assault on him. "...They brutall...Read More
Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded nearly 2 per cent on Tuesday in line with a recovery in Asian peers after US President Donald Trump delayed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for a month. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,397.07 points or 1.81 per cent to settle at a month's high of 78,583.81. During the day, it surged 1,471.85 points or 1.90 per cent to 78,658.59. The NSE Nifty soared 378.20 points or 1.62 per cent to 23,739.25, a level not seen since January 3. From the ...Read More
New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) Finance Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Tuesday said the government has taken measures to lower fiscal deficit and delivered a non-inflationary Budget, and hoped that the RBI's monetary policy will work in tandem with fiscal policy to support growth. He also said that although rupee depreciation increases inflation on imported inputs, it also adds to export competitiveness. Pandey said that the government has bettered its fiscal deficit projections for the current fiscal...Read More
New Delhi: The vandalism of B R Ambedkar's statue has put the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Punjab government under severe criticism. The incident saw a 33-foot statue of Ambedkar in Amritsar being defaced in daylight, using a hammer, on January 26, Republic Day, near a police station. This act of disrespect sparked a fierce backlash from political parties especially with the onset of the upcoming Delhi assembly polls. The BJP has fiercely criticized AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of show...Read More
Kolkata, Feb 4 (PTI) A motorcyclist was killed and seven others were injured in two separate road accidents in Kolkata on Tuesday, police said. The motorcyclist was killed in Chinar Park area in the northern part of the city when a private bus first dashed against the motorcycle and then ran over the rider while trying to overtake the two-wheeler near Loknath Mandir, a senior officer of Bidhannagar Police said. "The motorcyclist was declared brought dead when taken to a nearby hospital. The dr...Read More
New Delhi: The GST Council will soon decide on having fewer and lower rates as the review work is almost complete, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday. Currently, Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a four-tier tax structure with slabs at 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. Luxury and demerit goods are taxed at the highest bracket of 28 per cent, while packed food and essential items are in the lowest 5 per cent slab. The Council, chaired by Sitharaman and comprising her state counterparts,...Read More
New Delhi: Tata Power on Tuesday posted a 10 per cent on-year rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,188 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2024 on higher revenues. It had reported a Rs 1,076 crore consolidated net profit in the quarter ended December 31, 2023, the company said in a statement. The company's total income also rose to Rs 15,793 crore in the quarter under review, from Rs 15,294 crore in the same period a year ago. "We have delivered a sustained PAT growth trajectory over t...Read More
Mumbai, Feb 4 (PTI) Activist Anjali Damania on Tuesday alleged that there was a Rs 88 crore scam in the agriculture department when NCP leader Dhananjay Munde held the portfolio in the previous Mahayuti coalition government in Maharashtra. Munde, currently a minister for Food and Civil Supplies, termed her allegations as "baseless" and politically motivated. Despite the Union government's 2016 directive to transfer money directly to farmers' bank accounts under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), t...Read More
Guwahati, Feb 4 (PTI) The army and the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IITG) have signed an MoU for research, design and fabrication of "Epoxy bamboo-based composites" as replacement of traditional building materials used in the construction of bunkers in High Altitude Areas, a defence release said on Tuesday. The project will culminate in constructing multiple defence works in high-altitude terrain for field trials. The fabricated panels will provide the same level of protection, al...Read More
Puri (Odisha), Feb 4 (PTI) Thousands of people took a holy dip at Chandrabhaga at Konark in Odisha's Puri district on the occasion of 'Magha Saptami' on Tuesday. Magha Saptami is observed as the birthday of the Sun God and is held on the seventh day of 'Magha' month of the Hindu calendar. People offer prayer to 'Tri Mahadev' after taking a dip at the confluence of Chandrabhaga River and the Bay of Bengal. Devotees also offer puja at 'Naba Graha' on the premises of the Sun temple at Konark. Th...Read More