New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju reiterated on Friday that all the devotees and followers of the Dalai Lama want that the Tibetan spiritual leader himself should decide on his successor. Rijiju, however, clarified that he was not making the remarks on behalf of the Indian government and neither was he commenting on a statement made by China, rejecting the Dalai Lama's succession plan. "There is no need for any confusion on the Dalai Lama issue. All the people acros...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) In a bid to promote Unified Pension Scheme, the government has made necessary changes to provide tax benefits to employees opting for UPS at par with those under National Pension System (NPS). The inclusion of UPS under the tax framework marks another step forward in the government's effort to strengthen retirement security for central government employees through transparent, flexible and tax-efficient options, the finance ministry said in a statement. "The government h...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) The makers of cinema icon Rajinikanth's new film "Coolie" have released the first look of superstar Aamir Khan from the upcoming action thriller. Filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj, known for "Kaithi", "Master", "Vikram" and "Leo", has directed the film, which is backed by production house Sun Pictures. Aamir, who is currently basking in the success of his latest release "Sitaare Zameen Par", will make a cameo appearance in "Coolie". Sun Pictures shared the 60-year-old actor's ...Read More
Chennai, Jul 4 (PTI) The AIADMK on Friday said the autopsy report of Ajith Kumar, the temple guard of Sivaganga district, who was allegedly beaten to death by police has brought to light several horrendous facts. The main opposition party listed the injuries quoting the post-mortem report of a state-run hospital and said those who inflicted such wounds were animals in the form of humans. The AIADMK wondered the necessity for the special police team in Sivaganga district to interrogate the susp...Read More
Guwahati, Jul 4 (PTI) Train services to Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and Assam's Barak Valley were restored on Friday, a day after disruptions due to a landslide in Dima Hasao district, an official statement said. A Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) release said services on the Lumding-Badarpur hill section were successfully restored in the morning. "Train operations through the section resumed this morning from about 09:42 hours. The first train to pass through the restored section was Train No 1...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) "Tum Hi Ho" singer Arijit Singh has edged past global pop stars Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran to emerge the most followed artist on music streaming platform Spotify with 151 million followers. American singer Swift, one of the biggest names in the pop music circuit, is in second place with 139.6 million followers and Britain's Sheeran, who came out with his India-set track "Sapphire" recently, is at number three with 121 million, according to the listing released by data tr...Read More
Bhubaneswar, Jul 4 (PTI) Ahead of Bahuda Yatra, opposition BJD on Friday demanded a judicial inquiry into alleged gross mismanagement during this year's Ratha Yatra, which resulted in the deaths of three devotees in a stampede near the Shree Gundicha Temple in Puri. Bahuda Yatra, scheduled for Saturday, marks the return journey of the deities to their original abode after the nine-day annual sojourn that began with Rath Yatra on June 27. Terming the developments surrounding the festival "deepl...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) The strategy was straightforward - aggressively buy select Bank Nifty index stocks in the morning and sell them just as forcefully later in the day, triggering a sharp drop in share prices. While this often resulted in losses on the stock trades, the firm profited heavily from large parallel short positions in index options, which gained value as the market declined. US trading firm Jane Street, which started its India operations in December 2020, is said to have made Rs ...Read More
Bengaluru, Jul 4 (PTI) Bengaluru-based Nova IVF on Friday announced the launch of its 100th clinic in Jammu, as part of its expansion into tier-2 and tier-3 regions. With this launch, the fertility facility chain has expanded its presence to 28 centres across 21 cities in northern India, with the rest of its centres located in south, central, and eastern India, the company said in a statement. "The growth and expansion of Nova IVF are in tandem with the growing need for fertility care in India...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) A total of 24 teams will vie for the top honours in the 134th edition of the Durand Cup, Asia's oldest football tournament, to be played across five states from July 23 till August 23. The 24 teams will be divided into six groups and the world's third oldest tournament will be played in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya and Assam. President Droupadi Murmu unveiled the trophies of the tournament, organised by the Indian Army, at a function at the Rashtrapati Bhav...Read More
Pune, July 4 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said India's armed forces and the leadership are committed to defend 'Swaraj' or sovereignty of the country, and it was demonstrated very well during Operation Sindoor. Speaking after the unveiling of an equestrian statue of Maratha statesman and general Peshwa Bajirao I at the National Defence Academy (NDA) here, the BJP leader also said whenever he is plagued by negative thoughts, he thinks of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Bajirao. ...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) India's upcoming white-ball tour of Bangladesh is likely to be postponed as the BCCI is "wary" of the security situation in the country which is in turmoil since last year's civil unrest that resulted in the overthrowing of the Sheikh Hasina-led government. India were to play three three T20 Internationals and three ODIs during the tour from August 17 to 31 in Chittagong and Dhaka. "Apparently BCCI is wary about the security situation in Bangladesh post the civil unrest,...Read More
Bengaluru, Jul 4 (PTI) Double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra is living a dream of competing in a javelin event that bears his name and believes that it is start of something significant in Indian athletics which now needs multiple world class events. The Neeraj Chopra Classic, which will feature top-class athletes, is set to take place at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Saturday. Chopra said he will try to upscale the event in the coming years. "I feel like I'm in a dream. Medals are a d...Read More
Srinagar, Jul 4 (PTI) Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday appealed to the general public to visit Jammu and Kashmir, the region recently hit by several terror killings. "I want to tell my citizens that the people here are waiting to welcome with their hearts filled with love and warmth. So, come here without fear and set a new example of love and brotherhood." Chouhan said, according to a press statement. The agriculture and rural development minister was speaking to reporters on th...Read More
Patna, Jul 4 (PTI) Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM has expressed its willingness to join the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, which currently includes the RJD, Congress and Left parties, ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. AIMIM's Bihar state president Akhtarul Iman, the party's lone MLA in the state, has written to RJD president Lalu Prasad, formally requesting inclusion in the grand alliance. In a letter dated July 2, which party leaders have shared on social media, Iman has said the inclusion of AI...Read More
Bengaluru, Jul 4 (PTI) Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist defender Varun Kumar is eyeing a comeback to the Indian men's hockey team with some good performances with the India 'A' squad in the upcoming tour of Europe. Varun, a potent defender, failed to make the Paris Olympics squad, and has been out of the the senior side for over a year. He was last seen in India colours during the friendly match against Germany in New Delhi in June last year. The dragflicker has set his sights on next month's A...Read More
Mumbai, Jul 4 (PTI) A PIL has been filed in the Bombay High Court against Italian fashion house Prada for its alleged unauthorised use of the Kolhapuri chappals, and sought compensation to be paid to Indian artisans for allegedly copying their design. Prada in its spring/summer collection showcased their 'toe-ring sandals', which the petition said are deceptively similar to the Kolhapur chappal. These sandals are priced at Rs 1 lakh per pair. "The Kolhapuri chappal is the cultural symbol of Ma...Read More
Mumbai, Jul 4 (PTI) BJP leader and Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane has taken exception to MNS supporters allegedly beating up a 'Hindu man' for not speaking in Marathi, and asked if "those who wear skull caps" speak the language well. He was reacting to a viral video showing workers of the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena thrashing a shop-keeper in Bhayandar area on the outskirts of the state capital for allegedly refusing to speak in Marathi. "A Hindu man was beaten up....Why are...Read More
Puri, Jul 4 (PTI) Thousands of devotees lined up in front of Shree Gundicha Temple here on Friday for 'Sandhya Darshan' on the auspicious occasion of 'Navami Tithi', the last day to offer obeisance to the sibling deities -- Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra and Lord Jagannath -- at their birthplace before 'Bahuda Yatra.' Bahuda Yatra, scheduled for Saturday, marks the return journey of the deities to their original abode after the nine-day annual sojourn that began with Rath Yatra on June 27. DGP ...Read More
Mysuru, Jul 4 (PTI) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday called on everyone in the party to work together, abiding by the advice and message given by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, as he refused to comment on whether he was still in the race to become the CM of the state. After offering prayers to Goddess Chamundeshwari at the top of Chamundi Hills here, he said, "Efforts may fail, but not prayers", and that he had made his wish before the Almighty. There has been s...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) The commerce ministry's arm DGTR has initiated an anti-dumping probe into the import of polyethylene from Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE following a complaint by Chemicals and Petrochemicals Association of India. The applicant has alleged that the industry is impacted due to the dumped imports of Linear-Density Polyethylene (LLDPE). It is primarily used in raw materials for the plastic processing industry to make a variety of products such as packag...Read More
Chennai, Jul 4 (PTI) Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK on Friday alleged that the BJP-led Centre is "lying" that funds provided to the state is more under its regime than during the Congress party's dispensation. The Dravidian party's official organ "Murasoli" in its editorial on the DMK's "Oraniyil Tamil Nadu" (Tamil Nadu as a single team) membership enrolment campaign said the party had always been reinventing itself and that is the reason for it being still young, though it has crossed the milestone o...Read More
Jammu, Jul 4 (PTI) A search operation by security forces to track down terrorists hiding in a forest area of Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir entered the third day on Friday, with additional deployment made in the area to reinforce the cordon, officials said. The operation follows an encounter that broke out between the terrorists and the security forces in the heavily forested Kanzal Mandu area of the Kuchal-Chatroo belt on Wednesday. The encounter broke out when police, assisted by Arm...Read More
Shimla, Jul 4 (PTI) Forty-three people have been killed and 37 gone missing in Himachal Pradesh due to the ravages of weather - cloudburst, flash floods, landslide - since the onset of monsoon last month, officials on Friday said. Monsoon hit the state on June 20 and has since then cost it Rs 5,000 crore in damages. Of the 43, 14 were killed in cloudbursts, eight in flash floods, and one in a landslide, while seven were drowned. The most deaths, 17, took place in Mandi district where ten inst...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea by HDFC Bank CEO and MD Sashidhar Jagdishan challenging an FIR of cheating and fraud registered against him on a complaint by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which runs the prominent Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai. A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan noted that the matter was already listed for hearing on July 14 before the Bombay High Court. "We are not inclined to entertain the matter. We wil...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) Actor Arjun Kapoor's sister Anshula Kapoor has announced her engagement with longtime boyfriend, writer Rohan Thakkar. Anshula, daughter of producer Boney Kapoor and the late Mona Shourie Kapoor, shared the news in a post on Instagram. The pair got engaged in New York City in front of the Belvedere Castle at Central Park. In the post, Anshula said she met Thakkar on a dating app three years ago. "Somehow, even back then, it felt like the beginning of something that matt...Read More
Hyderabad, Jul 4 (PTI) The death toll in the explosion at the Sigachi Industries' pharma plant in Sangareddy district rose to 39 following the death of a person who was undergoing treatment in a hospital, Superintendent of Police (SP) Paritosh Pankaj said on Friday. The deceased person suffered serious burns in the mishap, he told PTI. Twenty-two people were undergoing treatment in hospitals as of Friday morning. An official release on Thursday said 143 people were working in the plant at the...Read More
Aizawl, Jul 4 (PTI) Four organisations have met National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) executive director Virendra Kumar Jakhar and expressed concerns about the dilapidated condition of a portion of NH-6/306. NH-306 is the lifeline of Mizoram linking the state with Assam. A portion of the highway is called NH-6. All supplies that come from other states reach Mizoram through this highway. Functionaries of the Mizoram Transformation Movement (MTM), Centre f...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) Markets regulator Sebi has barred US-based Jane Street Group from the securities markets and directed the group to disgorge unlawful gains of Rs 4,843 crore for allegedly manipulating stock indices through positions taken in derivatives segment. This could be the highest disgorgement amount ever directed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). In its interim order, the regulator has debarred JSI Investments, JSI2 Investments Pvt Ltd, Jane Street Singapore P...Read More
Bengaluru, Jul 4 (PTI) BJP MP Lahar Singh Siroya on Friday accused Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of spreading fake news with his recent remarks linking Covid-19 vaccines with a spate of heart attack deaths in the state's Hassan district, saying there is no vaccine against "dissident" activities. The CM has suggested that the recent heart attack deaths in Hassan district may be linked to the vaccination drive. He also claimed the vaccines were "hastily" approved. Taking a dig at Siddara...Read More