Srinagar, Jul 13 (PTI) Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday said that the "unelected nominees of New Delhi locked up the elected representatives" of the people of Jammu and Kashmir after prominent leaders from ruling and opposition parties were not allowed to leave their houses to prevent them from visiting the graveyard of 1931 martyrs here. The detentions, which were not officially confirmed by police or the administration, were widely reported by leaders who posted videos and pictures show...Read More
Hubballi (Karnataka), Jul 13 (PTI) With a Congress MLA claiming that the BJP was planning to topple the government in Karnataka and has prepared a list to target 55 legislators through central agencies, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Sunday hit back, alleging that "horse trading" was on in the ruling party itself, amid CM change speculation. Congress MLA from Hungund Vijayanand Kashappanavar on Saturday accused that the BJP has prepared a list of 55 Congress MLAs to threaten them with ED or CB...Read More
Lucknow, Jul 13 (PTI) BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Sunday recalled how former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Chandra Bhanu Gupta once prepared a feast for the very people protesting against him. Singh related the story while speaking at a function at the National PG College in Lucknow, where he unveiled a statue of Chandra Bhanu Gupta and released a postage stamp. "Friends, I want to share another incident related to Chandra Bhanu Gupta ji with you all ... When he was the chief minister of Uttar ...Read More
Kota (Rajasthan), Jul 13 (PTI): Four members of a family were killed and 10 others injured when their minibus collided with a truck from behind on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway here on Sunday morning, police said. According to police, the deceased were identified as Geeta Soni (70), her two sons -- Anil Soni (48) and Brijesh Soni (55) -- and her son-in-law, Suresh Soni (45). The incident occurred around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday. Around 14-15 members of a jeweller's family were travelling in a minibus...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sunday condemned the alleged house arrest of party leader and Jammu and Kashmir MLA M Y Tarigami. The Left party also shared an X post by Tarigami showing a padlock on the gate of his house. Prominent leaders, including those from ruling and opposition parties, were placed under "house arrest" in Srinagar to prevent them from visiting the martyrs' graveyard to pay tributes to the 22 people killed by the Dogra army in 1931. "We stro...Read More
Srinagar, Jul 13 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday handed over appointment letters to the next of kin of 40 terror victims in Baramulla, reiterating that the government is committed to providing jobs and justice to terror victim families. Sinha also said that those days are over when family members of terrorists used to get jobs. An official spokesperson said Sinha has fulfilled his promise in 15 days by handing over appointment letters to the members of the 40 ...Read More
Mumbai, July 13 (PTI) Amid rumours of NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil resigning as the Maharashtra unit chief, senior BJP politician and minister Girish Mahajan on Sunday claimed that Patil is apparently unhappy in the party and maintains regular contact with him. "Let's wait and watch what changes unfold," Mahajan said, stressing that he and Patil never discussed the latter's possible resignation from the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar). Mahajan said Patil had never spoken to hi...Read More
New Delhi/Mumbai, Jul 13 (PTI) A five-member team, headed by 56-year-old Sanjay Kumar Singh, is probing the fatal crash of the Air India aircraft last month in Ahmedabad that killed 260 people. Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) Director Singh is the Investigator-in-Charge and Deputy Director Jasbir Singh Larhga is the Chief Investigator. There are also three Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials in the investigation team -- Deputy Director Vipin Venu Varakoth, Assi...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) Delhi Police has registered a case after broken glass pieces were found scattered on roads in Shahdara's Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) and Jhilmil Colony areas, both located along the Kanwar Yatra route, officials said on Sunday. CCTV footage is being examined to ascertain whether the glass came from a damaged vehicle or was deliberately thrown by miscreants, they said. The case has been registered at the Seemapuri police station and further investigation is underway, they ad...Read More
LONDON (AP) - India collected four wickets and England stumbled to 98-4 by lunch on a lively fourth morning of the third test at Lord's on Sunday. Mohammed Siraj took two wickets and Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep got the others. Joe Root was 17 not out at the interval with captain Ben Stokes on 2 and England was leading by 98 runs in its second innings. The pitch was offering plenty for the seamers with deliveries flying off a length, rearing up almost dangerously. It was such a minefield...Read More
Aizawl, Jul 13 (PTI) The Mizoram government is preparing to launch a large-scale exercise to collect biometric and demographic data of more than 35,000 Myanmar refugees currently taking shelter in the state, a senior official of the home department said on Sunday. The official said the process is expected to begin in the last part of July. He said the enrolment will be done online using Foreigner Identification Portal and it will be carried out first in towns and villages where there is good i...Read More
Srinagar, Jul 13 (PTI) Prominent leaders, including from ruling and opposition parties, were placed under "house arrest" in Srinagar on Sunday to prevent them from visiting the martyrs' graveyard to pay tributes to the 22 people killed by the Dogra army in 1931, a move termed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as "blatantly undemocratic". The detentions, which were not officially confirmed by police or the administration, were widely reported by leaders who posted videos and pictures showing their...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) Days after power supply was discontinued at Jai Hind Camp in Delhi's Vasant Kunj area, a delegation of Trinamool Congress MPs on Sunday visited the camp and accused the ruling BJP of discrimination against Bengali-speaking migrants living there. The TMC delegation comprising Rajya Sabha MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Sagarika Ghose, and Saket Gokhale interacted with the slum dwellers, who said they have been without electricity connection for the last five-six days. Situated ...Read More
Patna, Jul 13 (PTI) RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday cast doubts over the Election Commission's claim that the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar was progressing at a brisk pace and would be completed before the July 25 deadline. Addressing a press conference here, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly also took strong exception to the EC's "silence" on the Supreme Court's suggestion that Aadhar card and ration card be included in the list of acceptable...Read More
Bhubaneswar, Jul 13 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Sunday said the government is ensuring the "best possible treatment" for the 20-year-old student who set herself on fire on college campus in Balasore after allegedly being denied justice in a sexual harassment complaint. The student, admitted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar, remains on ventilator support with 95 per cent burn injuries, and her condition is described as "highly critical" by hospital authorities. Majhi, who was on a tou...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha has constituted a committee to ascertain the reasons for the prolonged delay in Boxing Federation of India elections even as the BFI Interim Panel on Sunday assured that the polls will be held by the August 31 deadline. The Fact-Finding Committee, formed on Friday, will also recommend a roadmap to ensure "fair and timely" elections. The new three-member committee is headed by IOA Treasurer Sahdev Yadav with IOA Executiv...Read More
Lucknow, July 13 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh government has launched an initiative to revive 75 small rivers and tributaries across the state through a well-coordinated and technology-driven campaign, an official statement said on Sunday. Acting on the directives of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a strategic plan has been implemented with the collaboration of 10 key departments and leading technical institutions to ensure effective and sustainable river rejuvenation, it said. A divisional-level m...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) The Commerce and Industry Ministry on Sunday said a 20,000 sq ft skill development centre will be set up at the Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) in Maharashtra. It will be established in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry, and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard is likely to be signed next week. Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), has emphasised the need to attract G...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) The government's move to ease sulphur emission rules for most coal-fired power plants strikes a delicate balance between costs, climate and compliance and is expected to cut electricity costs by 25-30 paise per unit, officials said on Sunday. In a gazette notification, the government has restricted the 2015 mandate of installing flue-gas desulphurisation (FGD) systems that remove sulphur from a power plants' exhaust gases, only to plants located within 10 kilometres of c...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) "Maalik", featuring Rajkummar Rao in the lead role, has earned Rs 9.47 crore nett at the domestic box office, the makers said on Sunday. Directed by Pulkit of "Bhakshak" fame, the film released in theatres on Friday and is produced by Kumar Taurani under the Tips Films banner and Jay Shewakramani's Northern Lights Films. Production banner shared the box office collection with a post on its official X handle, which featured the film's poster. "Superhit hai inka action a...Read More
Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 13 (PTI) Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Sunday rejected reports of discontent among some leaders over the recent organisational revamp in the state unit, saying that fresh faces coming into party posts is a natural phenomenon. In the BJP, everyone is equal regardless of status or position, and all leaders are working unitedly as a team with the sole objective of "Viksit Keralam" (Developed Kerala) he told reporters here. He also made it clear that no leader wo...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) Union Agriculture Minister Shivaraja Singh Chouhan on Sunday urged all states and union territories to take immediate and stringent action against the sale of counterfeit and substandard fertilisers. In a letter to the chief ministers, Chouhan asked them to regularly monitor fertiliser production and sales, besides conducting sampling and testing of counterfeit and substandard products. "Forced tagging of nano-fertilisers or bio-stimulant products, along with convention...Read More
Nagpur, Jul 13 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday congratulated eminent lawyer Ujjwal Nikam for being nominated to the Rajya Sabha, and lauded his contribution in fighting cases against terrorists and enemies of the country. Nikam was the special public prosecutor in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case. Apart from Nikam, former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Kerala BJP leader C Sadanandan Master and Delhi-based historian Meenakshi Jain have also been nomin...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has convened a meeting of top party leaders on July 15 to finalise strategy for the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament, which is expected to be stormy with the opposition raring to raise several issues like EC's special intensive revision in Bihar and Operation Sindoor. Sources said the Parliamentary strategy group meeting would be attended by the Leaders of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kha...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) It will be too premature to draw conclusions on the role of pilots from the preliminary investigation report into the fatal crash of Air India plane last month and the final report will mention about the most probable cause for the accident, former AAIB chief Aurobindo Handa said on Sunday. A day after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report into the crash that killed 260 people, he said, "We should allow AAIB to complete the inv...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) BITS Pilani, an Institution of Eminence, will invest over Rs 2,200 crore on expansion, including an 'AI+ Campus' at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, its Chancellor and industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla said on Sunday. The investment will be made over a period of five years. In his address at the 2025 convocation of the institution, Birla reaffirmed BITS Pilani's "commitment to nation-building with three transformative initiatives", as "India aspires to become a 10 trillion...Read More
Kolkata, Jul 13 (PTI) The Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta on Sunday said it is actively engaging with students and taking necessary steps to address their concerns in the wake of the alleged sexual assault of a woman on its campus. The woman was allegedly raped by a student of IIM-Calcutta inside a hostel on the campus, police had said on Saturday. The accused student was arrested on Saturday on the basis of an FIR lodged by the woman, he said. A court here has remanded the student to ...Read More
Chennai, Jul 13 (PTI) A moving goods train carrying diesel caught fire on Sunday at Tiruvallur in northern Tamil Nadu affecting train services in the arterial Chennai-Arakkonam route, the Southern Railway said. No casualties were reported. Passengers were, however, stranded and state transport corporation operated special buses to cater to the needs of the travelling public. According to the Southern Railway's official release, few intermediate wagons of the goods train, carrying diesel caught...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) With the government exempting about 78 cent per cent of coal-fired plants from installing key anti-polluting systems, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said the Environment Ministry's rationale for the policy is based on "faulty premises". He asserted that the government's policymaking will continue to be driven by "flawed metrics" in the absence of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) revision. The former environment minister attacked the government...Read More
Chandigarh, Jul 13 (PTI) Newly appointed Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma on Sunday hit out at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for his remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign visits, saying the kind of language used by him does not behove the post he holds. Addressing a gathering of party leaders and workers after taking over the charge, Sharma said, if the chief minister speaks "street language" then he will get a reply in the same coin. "We know how to speak in a courteous ...Read More