Chandigarh, Jul 2 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday claimed that several Akali workers who were going to Mohali to express solidarity with party leader Bikram Singh Majithia, who has been arrested in a disproportionate assets case, have been detained by police. According to the party, many of its workers in Amritsar, Beas and other places have been "detained" at their residences. Majithia will be produced in a Mohali court on Wednesday as his seven-day vigilance ...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 2 (PTI) In the wake of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah linking heart-related deaths in Hassan district to Covid vaccine, the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday said extensive studies by ICMR and AIIMS have conclusively established no linkages between coronavirus vaccines and sudden deaths. Siddaramaiah had on Tuesday said "hasty approval and distribution" of the Covid vaccine to the public could also be a reason for these deaths. He urged everyone to visit the nearest heal...Read More
Mumbai, Jul 2 (PTI) Truckers in Maharashtra went on an indefinite strike on Wednesday to protest against the e-challan system and press for other long-pending demands, disrupting goods transport services across the state, transporters' representative said. The transporters have complained the recovery process by authorities has become aggressive and is disrupting business operations, besides mounting fines of e-challans. The Vahatukdar Bachao Kruti Sanghatana, an action committee of transporte...Read More
Mumbai: The rupee traded in a narrow range and depreciated 4 paise to 85.63 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, as market awaits the conclusion of India-US trade deal, which is at its final stage. Forex traders said the dollar index continued to remain under pressure against major peers as traders considered the dovish hints from FED chair Jerome Powell. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 85.59 against the greenback. In initial trade, it witnessed a l...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 2 (PTI) Delhi on Wednesday recorded a minimum temperature of 27.6 degrees Celsius, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The relative humidity was recorded at 74 per cent at 8.30 am. The IMD has forecast thunderstorms with rain during the day. The maximum temperature is expected to settle at 35 degrees Celsius. Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 85, in the 'satisfactory' category, at 9 am, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. An AQI between zero an...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 2 (PTI) With Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarking on a visit to Ghana, the Congress on Wednesday recalled the very warm relationship between former Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah and India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Modi embarked on a five-nation visit to Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia from July 2 to 9, this morning. Ghana will be his first port of call. In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh...Read More
Sangareddy (Telangana), Jul 2 (PTI) The removal of debris at Sigachi Industries' pharma plant here that suffered an explosion two days ago was almost over and the number of fatalities from the blast remains at 36, a top district police official said on Wednesday. Further, the unit does not have a No Objection Certificate (NoC) from the Fire Department to operate, another official said. "As per the NDRF team, the debris removal work is almost over. As per their version, no more bodies were foun...Read More
Imphal, Jul 2 (PTI) Security forces arrested four militants including a a top leader of a proscribed outfit from Imphal West and East district, police said on Wednesday. Namgaklung Kamei @ November (42), a self-styled deputy chief of Zeliangrong United Front (J), a faction of ZUF underground outfit, was arrested from the vicinity of Kekrupat in Imphal West district on Tuesday. One 9mm pistol along with a magazine was recovered from his possession, they said. One active cadre of KYKL (SOREPA) w...Read More
Dehradun, Jul 2 (PTI) The Uttarakhand government has made it mandatory for eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route to prominently display their food licenses or registration certificates. Owners of hotels, dhabas, food carts and stalls along the pilgrimage route will have to display a clean copy of their license or registration certificate prominently so that consumers can easily see it, Health Secretary and Commissioner Food Safety and Drug Administration R Rajesh Kumar said. Small traders and foo...Read More
Mumbai, Jul 2 (PTI) Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said the NCP will launch a statewide tour after the legislature's monsoon session ends to strengthen the party ahead of the civic and local body polls, likely to be held later this year. The outreach programme would begin from Nandurbar, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief said on Tuesday at an event here. The tour would focus on strengthening the party ahead of the local body elections and ensuring greater participati...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 2 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India is committed to BRICS as a vital platform for cooperation among emerging economies as he left on a week-long visit to five countries, including Brazil where he will attend the bloc's meeting. "Together, we strive for a more peaceful, equitable, just, democratic and balanced multipolar world order," he said in his departure statement. During the week-long travel, the PM will visit Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, ...Read More
Jammu, July 2 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday flagged off the first batch of Amarnath pilgrims numbering over 5,880 amid multi-tier security cover, marking the beginning of this year's pilgrimage from here. The 38-day pilgrimage to the 3,880-metre high shrine will commence on July 3 from the Valley via the twin tracks -- the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the 14-km shorter but steeper Baltal route in Ganderbal district. A b...Read More
New Delhi: The foreign ministers of the Quad countries - the United States, India, Australia, and Japan - have issued a joint statement strongly condemning the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, and demanding immediate justice for those responsible. Meeting in Washington, D.C. on July 1, the Quad unequivocally condemned all acts of terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism, and renewed their commitment to counterterror...Read More
Kolkata: Luxmi Group, owner of the iconic Makaibari Tea Estate, has acquired a majority stake in UK-based Brew Tea Co. Brew Tea deals exclusively with orthodox tea and has both an online and offline presence in the UK.Luxmi Group acquired an 80% stake in the company, while the remaining 20% remains with the existing promoters. After Tetley and Typhoo, this acquisition marks another British tea company being acquired by an Indian corporate, though it may not be of the same magnitude.Brew Tea Co w...Read More
New Delhi: After a dramatic all-night session and a nail-biting 50-50 Senate split, President Donald Trump's signature "One Big Beautiful Bill Act", a sweeping package of tax breaks and spending cuts, has cleared the Senate thanks to Vice President JD Vance's tie-breaking vote. The bill, which now heads back to the House, represents the biggest overhaul of tax and social spending policy in years. Here's a detailed look at what will change if the legislation becomes law. The bill makes Trump's ...Read More
Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson and general secretary of the trade union 'Chandni Chowk Nagrik Manch', Praveen Shankar Kapoor, on Tuesday wrote to Delhi Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh complaining about the "poor condition" of the historic town and "lack of action by the MLAs and councillors" and seeking directions for its restoration. "The root issue in and around Chandni Chowk is that all MLAs and councillors are from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), under whose political patronage encroachments...Read More
Kolkata, Jul 1 (PTI) A city court on Monday extended the police custody of the three accused in the alleged gang-rape of a first-year student at a law college in Kolkata's Kasba area by eight days till July 8. The accused include the prime suspect Monojit Mishra, a former student and temporary staffer of the college, and two current students - Zaib Ahmed and Pramit Mukherjee. The trio was arrested on Thursday and produced before the court the following day, which initially remanded them to fou...Read More
Jammu, Jul 1 (PTI) The eyes of the world are on this Amarnath Yatra and no threats can deter the spirit of people undertaking the pilgrimage to the cave shrine in the South Kashmir Himalayas, said Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday. Attending the 'Tawi Aarti' at the Tawi Riverfront in Jammu, he asserted that this year's Amarnath Yatra will be even more historic than the previous ones, and for him, it was an opportunity to restore the ancient glory of Jammu and Kashmir....Read More
Hyderabad, Jul 1 (PTI) Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday said the state government would consistently pursue and "mount pressure" on the Centre to safeguard its rights in river waters, even as he alleged that the BJP is indirectly trying to revive the BRS to marginalise the Congress. Speaking at a power-point presentation made to ruling Congress MLAs, and other leaders on the Godavari-Banakacharla river-linking proposed by neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, he said the Union Environ...Read More
Aizawl, Jul 1 (PTI) The Mizoram Merchant Association (MIMA), an umbrella body of traders of the state, on Tuesday urged Home Minister K Sapdanga to strictly enforce rules to prevent violation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) in view of the potential influx after the inauguration of the new Bairabi- Sairang railway line. ILP is an official travel document issued to Indian citizens for entry into a few states including Mizoram. Leaders of MIMA met Sapdanga in Aizawl on Tuesday and urged him to str...Read More
Bengaluru, Jul 1 (PTI) In the wake of recent cases of deaths due to heart attacks in Hassan, Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that "hasty approval and distribution" of the Covid vaccine to the public could also be a reason for these deaths. He urged everyone to visit the nearest health center immediately for a check-up if they have symptoms such as chest pain or difficulty breathing, and not to ignore these signs. The chief minister said that more than twenty people have ...Read More
Mumbai, Jul 1 (PTI) Lakhs of trucks and other goods carriage vehicles in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra will go on indefinite strike to oppose the e-challan system for traffic violations, and other demands from Tuesday midnight, transporters said. The operators of buses, including those involved in ferrying school children, however, announced they would postpone their participation in the strike at the request of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who said the warkaris (Lord Vitthal devot...Read More
Balasore/Jajpur/ Baripada, Jul 1 (PTI) The flood situation in Odisha's Balasore remained critical on Tuesday, as people of around 100 villages in northern parts of the district grapple with inundated roads and fields, officials said. Though the water level in all the major rivers in north Odisha was on a receding trend, villages remained inundated, and the administration has intensified rescue and relief operations in the districts of Balasore, Mayurbhanj and Jajpur, Revenue and Disaster Manage...Read More
Chandigarh, Jul 1 (PTI) The Punjab Vigilance Bureau on Tuesday arrested a head constable while accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh, officials said. The head constable, Raj Kumar, was posted as personal security officer (PSO) with Bhucho DSP in Bathinda district, they said. An official spokesperson said Raj Kumar has been arrested following a complaint filed by a resident of Kalyan Sukha village in Nathana tehsil. The complainant approached the Bureau alleging that due to a dispute over agricultura...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 1 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday set aside the decision refusing the premature release of the convict serving life term for the rape and murder of law student Priyadarshini Mattoo in 1996, saying the convict's reformative conduct was not considered. The high court said it found an element of reformation in convict Santosh Kumar Singh and referred the matter back to the sentence review board (SRB) to consider afresh his plea for premature release. "No effort was made to ev...Read More
Pune, Jul 1 (PTI) Police probing the case of sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl and robbery in Pune's Daund on Tuesday found that the assailants on a motorcycle allegedly threw red chilli powder into the car occupants' eyes to impair their vision before committing the other crimes. The teenage girl was sexually assaulted and three women were robbed of gold ornaments by two motorbike-borne unidentified persons when the victims were travelling in a car in the wee hours of Monday on a highway in...Read More
Kannur (Kerala), Jul 1 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday warned that taking isolated issues out of context could unfairly tarnish the state's hard-earned reputation for having one of India's best public health systems. His comments followed recent remarks by Dr Haris Chirakkal, a senior government surgeon at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, who flagged shortages of surgical equipment and delays in critical procedures. The doctor's revelations had sparked debate...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 1 (PTI) Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla is conducting scientific experiments on board the International Space Station (ISS) to understand muscle loss under microgravity conditions, a study that could lead to medicines to treat immobility among a section of the elderly. Shukla is part of the Axiom-4 private space mission to the ISS as part of a joint ISRO-NASA initiative and docked at the orbital laboratory on Thursday last week along with three other astronauts. "Shux (Shukla's call...Read More
New Delhi, Jul 1 (PTI) Municipal Corporation of Delhi Councillor Suman Tinku Rajora rejoined AAP on Tuesday, months after she crossed over to the BJP, a move she now describes as the "biggest mistake" of her life. The councillor, who represents Ward 50B in Mangolpuri, joined the BJP earlier this year. Last month, she was expelled by the BJP for six years for alleged "anti-party" activities. She returned to AAP along with her husband. Tinku Rajora, on Tuesday. Welcoming her back to the fold, A...Read More
Vijayawada, July 1 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh achieved its 'highest-ever' net GST collection of Rs 8,860 crore in the first quarter (Q1) of the current financial year, reflecting a growth rate of 3.40 percent, officials said on Tuesday. A Babu, Chief Commissioner (state taxes), Commercial Taxes Department, said the total tax revenue for Q1 stood at Rs 13,361 crore, indicating a growth of over 2 percent. For three consecutive months-April, May, and June 2025-the state has recorded the highest-ever ne...Read More