Mysuru, Aug 28 (PTI) Expressing "deep dismay" over the controversies surrounding the Dasara celebrations this year, Pramoda Devi Wadiyar of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family on Thursday termed Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar's statement that Chamundi Hill which houses the famous Chamundeshwari Temple and the Goddess there, were not the property of Hindus alone, as "insensitive". Shivakumar on Tuesday said Chamundi Hill and Goddess Chamundeshwari belonged to every religion, and it was not t...Read More
New Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) With the PM Jan Dhan Yojana completing 11 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the scheme has given people the power to script their own destiny and asserted that when the last mile is financially connected, the entire nation moves forward together. The PM Jan Dhan Yojana, launched on this day in 2014, is a national mission on financial inclusion encompassing an integrated approach to bring about comprehensive financial inclusion of all the households in ...Read More
Mumbai, Aug 28 (PTI) The Maharashtra government is ready to talk with Maratha activist Manoj Jarange, but the efforts will have no meaning if he is rigid about bringing his protest to Mumbai, state minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said on Thursday. The water resources minister, who heads the cabinet sub-committee on Maratha quota, told reporters in Shirdi that talks would eventually take place with Jarange in Mumbai if he decides to proceed to the state capital. The cabinet sub-committee will...Read More
Bhubaneswar, Aug 28 (PTI) President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik on Thursday greeted the people on the occasion of 'Nuakhai', an agrarian festival mostly celebrated in the western parts of the state. The 'Nuakhai', which means 'new feed', is basically an agrarian festival where the first crop of the year is offered to the goddess in the western districts of Odisha, ...Read More
New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) Actor Shreyas Talpade walked down memory lane and shared a throwback pictures from his film "Iqbal", which completed 20 years from its release on Tuesday. Talpade essayed the role of Iqbal Saeed Khan in the film. Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, it released on August 26, 2005. "Iqbal" also starred Naseeruddin Shah and Girish Karnad. The film revolved around a cricket-obsessed, deaf and mute boy from a remote Indian village, who is ready to overcome all the obstacles and ful...Read More
Mumbai, Aug 26 (PTI) The BJP has requested Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange to join discussions with the Maharashtra government and reconsider his plan to hold demonstrations in Mumbai during the Ganesh festival. Jarange has refused to relent even after an Officer on Special Duty from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's office met him in Antarwali Sarathi to conciliate him on Tuesday. He has been demanding that all Marathas be recognised as Kunbis -- an agrarian caste included in the OBC ca...Read More
Jammu, Aug 26 (PTI) Relentless heavy rain led to a landslide on the route to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine atop the Trikuta hill on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least five people and injuring 14, officials said. Several people were feared trapped. The pilgrimage to the famed shrine in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district was suspended when the mountainside literally gave way and stones, boulders and rocks came hurtling down around 3 pm, catching people unawares. Rescue operations are underway ne...Read More
Surat (Gujarat) [India], August 21: KP Group, a leading name in India's renewable energy sector, is stepping up its expansion with a clear goal of reaching 10 GW capacity by 2030. With projects already underway in Gujarat, the Group is working on projects in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, supported by a strong order book and government partnerships. KP Group has signed memoranda of understanding with Gujarat, Odisha, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh for over 2.6 ...Read More
Mumbai, Aug 26 (PTI) India's readymade garment industry's revenue growth is expected to almost halve to 3-5 per cent this financial year, as the US imposes 50 per cent tariffs on its imports from India, which will become effective from August 27, 2025, a report said on Tuesday. Readymade garment (RMG) exports totalled USD 16 billion last fiscal, which accounted for 27 per cent of the sector's total revenue, Crisil Ratings said in a report. A third of the exports were to the US, and the 50 per ...Read More
New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) India's Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) market is gaining momentum with nearly 140 million sq ft of office and retail real estate already in the portfolio of five trusts listed on stock exchanges, according to Colliers India. Real estate consultant Colliers India noted that the REIT market in India is "steadily progressing from a 'nascent' to 'early growth' stage. Stating that around 500 million sq ft of office assets are REIT-worthy, the consultant said the four li...Read More
New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) BJP leader Anurag Thakur's remarks that Hindu god Hanuman might have been the first space traveller is an assault on rational thought, Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary MA Baby said on Tuesday. Taking to X, the CPI(M) leader said the BJP leader was "mocking science", and said India needs to invest in research, not "anti-science theatrics". "BJP leaders like Anurag Thakur are mocking science! Even in the myth, Hanuman travelled through the atmosphere, n...Read More
Bengaluru, Aug 26 (PTI) Targeting Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar for apologising for reciting a couple of lines from the RSS prayer song in the Assembly, opposition BJP and JD(S) dubbed it a "cowardly act", aimed at remaining in power, and to prove his loyalty to the Gandhi family. The BJP said Shivakumar should have apologised when Pakistan Zindabad slogans were raised in the Vidhana Soudha premises, rather than apologising for singing a prayer that teaches patriotism. "D K Sh...Read More
New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) Singer Armaan Malik on Tuesday sent his best wishes to brother Amaal on his participation in "Bigg Boss" and said people will get to witness his real side where he is rebellious, blunt but also someone with a heart of gold. Amaal is among the 16 contestants taking part in the 19th season of "Bigg Boss", hosted by Bollywood star Salman Khan. In a post on X, Armaan expressed hope that his brother would emerge victorious. "My brother Amaal has always been someone who foll...Read More
New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) Waaree Energies on Tuesday said its US arm Waaree Solar Americas has secured an order to supply 452 MW of advanced solar modules to a leading American developer of utility-scale solar and energy storage projects. Scheduled for delivery across FY2026-27, these modules reinforce Waaree's growing presence in North America and highlight a strategic shift in how the US market is embracing Indian manufacturing strength to accelerate its decarbonisation goals, a company stateme...Read More
Chandigarh, Aug 26 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday announced closure of all schools in the state from August 27 to 30 in the wake of heavy rains forecast. Incessant rains for the past two days have inundated villages across several districts of the state. "It has been raining heavily for the past few days and the weather department has predicted heavy rains for the next few days as well. "In view of this, all primary, secondary, senior secondary government and private sch...Read More
New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has denied bail to a man in a domestic violence case saying the "notion of patriarchal entitlement" cannot be legitimised as it reduces women to "subservience". Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma denied bail to a man accused of shooting at his wife in 2018. Assertion of the wife to not to be subjected to domestic violence cannot justify violence by a husband, the judge said. The high court further rejected the plea of the man of having acted "in the spur...Read More
New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) Gold prices jumped by Rs 600 to Rs 1,00,770 per 10 grams in the national capital on Tuesday, supported by a weak rupee and firm global trends, according to the All India Sarafa Association. The precious metal of 99.9 per cent purity had closed at Rs 1,00,170 per 10 grams on Monday. Gold of 99.5 per cent purity climbed Rs 500 to Rs 1,00,400 per 10 grams (inclusive of all taxes) from the last close of Rs 99,900 per 10 grams. Silver prices rallied by Rs 3,000 to revisit t...Read More
Lucknow, Aug 26 (PTI) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said there will be guaranteed minimum wages for all working youths in Uttar Pradesh, making it the first state with such an initiative in the country. Adityanath said companies must pay their employees fairly, while the state government will bear any additional burden, ending any scope of worker exploitation. Inaugurating the three-day "Rozgar Mahakumbh 2025" in Lucknow, the chief minister said labour laws are being modernised to ...Read More
Mumbai, Aug 26 (PTI) Benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled 849 points to close below the 81,000 level on Tuesday due to widespread selling pressure after the US issued a draft notice on the implementation of an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian products. The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 849.37 points, or 1.04 per cent, to close at 80,786.54 with 25 of its constituents ending lower and five with gains. During the day, the index nosedived 949.93 points, or 1.16 per cent, to hit a low of 80,685.98. T...Read More
Ahmedabad, Aug 26 (PTI) A day before US President Donald Trump's additional 25 per cent tariff kicks in, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday made a vehement pitch for swadeshi and Make in India that should help create jobs in the country. Swadeshi should be everyone's life mantra and irrespective of who is investing, production must take place domestically, Modi asserted on a day when Japan's Suzuki Motor Corporation committed to invest over Rs 70,000 crore in the country in the next five t...Read More
Jammu, Aug 26 (PTI) The Northern Railway has cancelled 18 trains to and from Katra, Udhampur and Jammu railway stations on Tuesday as relentless heavy rain wreaked havoc in the Jammu region, officials said. The Jammu region has been experiencing its heaviest rainfall in decades since Monday night, which damaged bridges, disrupted road connectivity and inundated large tracts of land, forcing people to shift to safer areas. The traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar and Kishtwar-Doda national highways wa...Read More
New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) Nearly one-third of school students take private coaching and the trend is more common in urban areas, the Centre's Comprehensive Modular Survey (CMS) on education has found. The survey noted that government schools play a pivotal role in providing education across India, accounting for 55.9 per cent of total enrolments. "It is higher in rural areas, where two-thirds (66.0 per cent) of students are enrolled, in comparison to urban areas (30.1 per cent). The private unai...Read More
Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Aug 26 (PTI) Refuting the allegations made by the YSRCP on land allocation to Oberoi Hotels here, TDP national spokesperson Jyothsna Tirunagari on Tuesday said it was the previous regime which allotted land to the Hotels chain in 2021. Dismissing the charges made by senior YSRCP leader B Karunakar Reddy that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu "conspired" to hand over valuable TTD property to Oberoi Hotels, the TDP leader alleged that former CM Jagan Mohan Reddy is cre...Read More
Madhubani (Bihar), Aug 26 (PTI) Launching a frontal attack on the NDA government at the Center over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said people must protect their right to vote to safeguard the Constitution. The SIR in Bihar has exposed the BJP and the EC, and so people have started calling leaders of the saffron party 'vote chor', he claimed while addressing a public rally in Madhubani district as part of the...Read More
Bengaluru, Aug 26 (PTI) Welcoming Deputy Shivakumar's apology for reciting RSS prayer song in the Legislative Assembly, Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad on Tuesday said no one in the party should in any way "legitimise" the Sangh. The MLC had demanded an apology from Shivakumar, who is the Congress' state President. "Congress party was not built by me or D K Shivakumar, someone has given it to us to save it for the future, if we have strength, we will have to save it and give it to the fu...Read More
New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) India on Tuesday said it expects the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to strongly condemn cross-border terrorism at its annual summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin next week, comments that came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China. Modi will begin a four-day visit to Japan and China from August 29 to September 1. In the first leg of his trip, he will travel to Tokyo to hold the annual India-Japan summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The t...Read More
Chandrapur, Aug 26 (PTI) Members of the BJP's OBC wing on Tuesday demonstrated in Chandrapur against Maratha leader Manoj Jarange, who has been pushing for a 10 per cent quota for Marathas under the Other Backward Classes category. The protesters opposed Jarange's "unconstitutional" demand for absorbing Marathas under the OBC grouping. "We are not against granting Kunbi certificates to Maratha families whose records are verified, but we will always oppose giving the reservation to the Maratha c...Read More
Hansalpur (Gujarat), Aug 26 (PTI) The risk associated with sourcing of lithium due to over dependence on China as the single source is one of the reasons for investors not investing in battery cells manufacturing in India in a major way, Maruti Suzuki India Chairman RC Bhargava said on Tuesday. Speaking at the sidelines of the beginning of exports of Maruti Suzuki India's first electric vehicle e-VITARA to 100 countries, and also the inauguration of production of lithium-ion battery cells for s...Read More
New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) India and Fiji on Monday firmed up an action plan to boost defence ties and agreed to jointly work for a peaceful and inclusive Indo-Pacific as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Fijian counterpart Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka held talks to expand the overall bilateral cooperation. India and Fiji may be oceans apart, but "our aspirations sail in the same boat", Modi said following the meeting. Rabuka, the prime minister of the South Pacific nation, arrived in Delhi on S...Read More
Ahmedabad, Aug 25 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday declared he can't compromise on interests of farmers, cattle-rearers, small-scale industries, cautioning "pressure on us may increase, but we will bear it", remarks coming two days before the 50 per cent US tariffs on Indian goods kick in. Without taking names, Modi asserted politics in the world now largely revolves around economic interests where everyone is concerned about just themselves even as he pushed for swadeshi and invoke...Read More