LUCKNOW: Confronting the claim of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra that Raebareli Union Home Minister Amit Shah said it was not a seat of any family but that of the people. She (Priyanka Gandhi) says that Rae Bareli and Amethi are the seats of my family. I say that this seat does not belong to any family. This is the seat of poor youth of both the districts. Whoever the people of Rae Bareli and Amethi want will go to the Parliament. This is democracy, family has no seat, he asserted. Shah m

SRINAGAR: After Srinagar recorded highest voter turnout of 37.99% in three decades, all eyes are now on the poll percentage on two other Valley seats and it remains to be seen whether the voter turnout crosses the 50% mark in any of the two or both parliamentary seats. The poll enthusiasm has returned to the Valley after over three decades of militancy. The political parties and candidates are holding poll rallies, roadshows and corner meetings in Baramulla parliamentary seat in north Kashmir, w

AHMEDABAD: After the Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat, three MLAs of the ruling BJP have voiced their concerns regarding the working of the state government and registered their protests against officials. Kishor Kanani, the MLA from Varachha, has criticised arrangements for obtaining income and caste certificates at the Surat collectors office. Sanjay Koradia, the MLA from Junagadh, has written to the Chief Minister, questioning the slow progress in beautification of Narsingh Lake. Sanjaysinh Vij

BHOPAL: With the four-phase Lok Sabha polls over in Madhya Pradesh, there is strong buzz now about a mini expansion of the council of ministers being on the cards in the state. According to sources in the ruling BJP circles, there is strong possibility of a cabinet reshuffle happening in the state after the LS polls results and before the next session of the Vidhan Sabha in June-July. Importantly, the present council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is 31-strong, which means fou

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally of the opposition INDIA bloc in Mumbai which was also addressed by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Thackeray said on June 4, when Lok Sabha election results will be declared, Modi will be out as PM. On June 4 there will be de-Modiisation of India. This is the first election where PM Narendra Modi is not finding direction

LUCKNOW: The political heartland of India will witness voting on 14 seats, including a couple of high-profile constituencies and fate of five Union ministers, in the fifth phase on May 20. The 14 seats comprise not only Congress citadels Rae Bareli and Amethi but also Ayodhya, the nerve centre of BJPs Hindutva plank. In fact, this phase will decide the tone and tenor of the sixth and seventh rounds, which will be concentrated across 27 seats of Purvanchal. Moreover, four constituencies of Bund

MUMBAI: Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha constituency, home to several celebrities and spread across many posh areas including Bandra and Vile Parle, is witnessing a close contest between renowned lawyer Ujjwal Nikam of the BJP and Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad. Interestingly, neither Nikam nor Gaikwad was the first choice of their respective parties. The BJP denied ticket to sitting MP Poonam Mahajan and wanted to field its Mumbai city president Ashish Shelar, who declined to contest s

AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal claims that the INDIA bloc will win 300 seats and form the government after June 4. He tells Preetha Nair that all the constitutional bodies have been compromised under the BJP government and also accuses the Election Commission of being biased against Opposition parties. Excerpts: After the four phases, the INDIA alliance has been exuding confidence that the tide is in your favour. What is your assessment? We are confident that the INDIA allia

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh, the political heartland of India, will witness voting in 14 seats in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20, with the fate of five Union ministers at stake. The 14 seats which will vote in the upcoming phase comprise not only the Congress citadels of Rae Bareli and Amethi but also Ayodhya, the nerve centre of the BJPs Hindutva plank. In fact, the fifth phase will decide the tone and tenor of the remaining sixth and seventh phases of the ensuing election whic

LUCKNOW: Claiming that the opposition alliance, especially the Congress, had the intention of reversing the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram temple, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that if they come to power they would get the temple bulldozed. Addressing a poll rally in Zaidpur in Barabanki on Friday, PM Modi advised the INDIA bloc to learn from CM Yogi Adityanath where to run bulldozers. A senior SP leader had said on Ram Navami that the Ram temple is useless. At the same time, the Congress

MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he will on Wednesday announce the date on which Madrid will recognise a Palestinian state along with several EU partners. We are in the process of coordinating with other countries so that we can make a joint declaration, Sanchez said Friday in an interview with private Spanish television station La Sexta when asked if this step would be taken Tuesday as announced by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. I think on the 22nd of May...I shall be a

NEW DELHI: The return of the eighth Indian naval veteran, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, from Doha depends on his completion of some formalities, said the MEA. Commander Tiwari is currently under a travel ban and cannot leave Qatar. There are certain formalities that Commander Tiwari has to complete and he has to do it on his own. Once he clears it, he will be back. You may recall that he is a free man (like the other seven naval veterans) and is living in Doha, Ministry of External Affairs spokesma

ANANTAPUR: Videos of police personnel destroying CCTV cameras and furniture at the residence of YSRC party's Tadipatri MLA Ketireddy Pedda Reddy has surfaced on Friday, creating a fresh row as a sequel to the election-related violence in Andhra Pradesh. As soon as the videos emerged, the YSRC held the police responsible for the post-poll violence that erupted in the politically sensitive Tadipatri. The videos were dated May 15, two days after the state went to polls on May 13. According to polic

India's fiscal policy seems to have the virtues of both a Swabian housewife and the Japanese Mrs Watanabe. If the government's fiscal prudence, even in the face of a once-in-a-century pandemic, is symptomatic of Southern Germany's Swabian housewives known for their pragmatic ways of handling money, the decisive increase in capital expenditure over the past five years illustrates the financial acuity of Mrs Watanabe -- an archetypal housewife, who raked in substantial profits from currency tradin

NEW DELHI: AAP MP Swati Maliwal on Friday attacked her party for dismissing as baseless her assault allegations against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar, and said the AAP has given in under a goon's pressure and is now questioning her character. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), she said, has taken a U-turn two days after it accepted that Kumar had misbehaved with her. Her reaction came after AAP leader Atishi at a press conference said that the assault case is a BJP conspiracy to fra

JERUSALEM: The Israeli army told AFP on Friday that renewed fighting in Gaza's northern town of Jabalia was perhaps the fiercest in over seven months of war. The army had said in early January that it had completed the dismantling of Hamas's military framework in the northern Gaza Strip and vowed to focus its war efforts on central and southern areas of the Palestinian territory. But intense fighting resumed less than a week ago in Jabalia, the second-most populous town in northern Gaza. Hamas w

NEW DELHI: A brutal heat wave swept swathes of northwest India on Friday, with maximum temperatures soaring to a scorching 47.4 degrees Celsius in west Delhi's Najafgarh, making it the warmest place in the country. The mercury breached 45 degrees Celsius at 19 places in Rajasthan, 18 in Haryana, eight in Delhi and two in Punjab. Conditions are expected to turn worse with the severe heat wave over the northwest Indian plains predicted to continue during the next five days. The threshold for a hea

GUWAHATI: A peoples rights group in Manipur alleged rice given for free to the poor under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) is not reaching the beneficiaries in two tribal districts due to black marketing. The Movement for Peoples Rights Forum, Manipur, alleged a nexus between some officials of the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and a few transport contractors who has reportedly paralysed the monthly rice distribution system in Noney and Tamenglong districts. I

NEW DELHI: The Swati Maliwal assault case is a BJP conspiracy to frame Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and she is the face of this, the AAP alleged on Friday, terming allegations levelled by her against Kejriwal's aide aseless. The remarks of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) come a day after the Delhi Police registered an FIR against Bibhav Kumar, the personal assistant of Kejriwal, for allegedly assaulting Maliwal, the party's member in Rajya Sabha, at the chief minister's official residence.

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea filed by Campaign Against Hate Speech (CAHS)challenging an order passed by the Karnataka High Court which stayed the investigation against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya in a hate speech case. A two-judge bench of the top court led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna and also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta refused to entertain the plea filed by the petitioner. Sorry, we are not inclined to entertain your plea. If you want to withdraw your plea, then y

RAEBARELI: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said on Friday that she is giving her son to the people of Rae Bareli and Rahul will not disappoint you. She also thanked the people for giving her an opportunity to serve them as an MP for 20 years. My everything is all given by you. So, brothers and sisters, I am giving you my son. You consider me yours, she said. Striking an emotional chord with the voters, Sonia asked the people to consider Rahul Gandhi too as their own. Rahul for Rae Bareli in Gandhi

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday denounced the campaign speeches by his counterparts from other states and union ministers terming them as derogatory and abusive, and claimed that those political tourists have no impact on people of his state. In the last few days, a number of BJP CMs and union ministers campaigned in the state, and altogether 14 rallies were addressed by them on Friday at various places across the state. Some chief ministers and union ministers come a

NEW DELHI: Four days after Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal was allegedly assaulted at the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a purported video of the incident went viral on social media in which Maliwal could be seen arguing with the security staff present at the CM's residence. In the 52-second video, doing rounds on social media, Maliwal is seen seated on a couch and shouting at the security staff when they were asking her to leave the premises. A video of AAP MP #SwatiMaliwal from Delh

MUNICH: Thomas Tuchel says he is still leaving Bayern Munich after talks on extending his stay at the club fell through. Bayern said in February that Tuchel would leave at the end of the season but the coach said Friday that he held talks with the club on a 180-degree turn that would have seen him stay after all. We found no agreement on further cooperation so the agreement from February remains in force, he said. In the three months since Bayern said Tuchel was leaving, it has tried and failed

NEW DELHI: A time has come to start re-engineering the logistical map of the world, says External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar. The world is today paradoxically rebuilding itself even as it is being disrupted. As new production and consumption centres emerged in the last few decades, there is an accompanying compulsion to create commensurate logistical corridors. From an Indian perspective, the time has now come to start re-engineering the logistical map of the world. Some steps have alread

NEW DELHI/BENGALURU: As Sunil Chhetri sat contemplating how he would break his retirement plans to the world, he knew there was one man who would understand what exactly he was going through and Virat Kohli did not disappoint the iconic Indian football captain. The 39-year-old Chhetri, the most capped India footballer with 150 matches to his credit and the country's top-scorer with 94 goals, will hang up his boots after the World Cup qualifying match against Kuwait on June 6 in Kolkata. Chhetri'

NEW DELHI: A Delhi Police team accompanied by forensic experts reached Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence here Friday evening in connection with the alleged assault on party MP Swati Maliwal, officials said. The team is led by Additional DCP (north) Anjitha Chepyala and has three other police officers. They are also accompanied by five forensic experts. The officials reached there around 4. 45 pm, with sources saying they may collect evidence and CCTV footage from the CM house where Mali

BHUBANESWAR: After furore over murder of a BJP worker in Ganjam district, DGP Arun Kumar Sarangi on Friday ordered to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the sensitive case on a priority basis. The police have so far arrested nine miscreants in connection with the case. According to the Odisha Police, the SIT will make efforts for early arrest of all those involved in the crime, collect evidence (scientific/forensic/digital) and submit the chargesheet of the case within 30 days for

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Friday filed a charge sheet against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, and also named his Aam Aadmi Party as accused. The prosecution complaint has been filed before a special court here and the accused have been sought to be charged under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), sources said. The federal agency had arrested 55-year-old Kejriwal, also the nat

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Friday issued a show-cause notice to former high court judge and BJP Lok Sabha candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay for his improper, injudicious and undignified remarks against Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The poll panel acted on a complaint by the Trinamool Congress against Gangopadhyay for his remarks against Banerjee while addressing a public meeting held on May 15 in Haldia. Purported video clip of BJP nominee Abhijit Gangopadhyay's remark on Mamata

The Solar scam, that rocked Kerala politics about a decade ago, is back in the headlines after a senior journalist's revelation that CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) pulled out of its Secretariat siege in 2013 demanding the resignation of then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy for his alleged involvement in the scam, after reaching a deal with the ruling Congress party. It was John Brittas, Rajya Sabha MP, managing director of a pro-CPI (M) news channel and a close confidant of Pinarayi Vijaya

Ocean temperatures that have gone crazy haywire hot, especially in the Atlantic, are close to making the current global coral bleaching event the worst in history. Its so bad that scientists are hoping for a few hurricanes to cool things off. More than three-fifths 62.9% of the worlds coral reefs are badly hurting from a bleaching event that began last year and is continuing. Thats nearing the record of 65.7% in 2017, when from 2009 to 2017 about one-seventh of the worlds coral died, said Dere

HAMIRPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the SP and the Congress will use people's votes to come to power and then gift a part of their property to those who carry out vote jihad for them. Addressing a rally here, Modi cautioned people against the intentions of the two opposition allies in Uttar Pradesh. Today I have come to caution you against the SP and the Congress. They take your vote, but after coming to power, they will distribute these gifts to those who do vote jihad fo

THANE: A case has been registered against an unidentified person for allegedly raping a woman after rendering her unconscious onboard an express train in Maharashtra's Thane district, an official from the Government Railway Police (GRP) said on Friday. The Thane GRP on Thursday registered a case under sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code for the incident that took place in March, senior inspector Archana Dh

DEHRADUN: Pine needles, commonly referred to as pirul, have been a primary catalyst for forest fires in Uttarakhand and other mountainous regions of the country. However, an innovative low-budget machine developed by scientists at IIT Roorkee, will not only help curtail the spread of these fires but will also help transform the pine needles into a sustainable source of income for local communities. Speaking to The New Indian Express, Dr Vinay Sharma, a scientist and project leader at the Departm

LS polls: Lord Ram on my side, says SP candidate in Ayodhya fight

TIRUCHY: Several passengers at Tiruchy railway junction on Wednesday travelled back in time as they were greeted by the presence of several British-era weighing scales, bearing the Royal emblem, lined up at the parcel office. The scales, which were made more than a century ago by Liverpool-based Henry Pooley & Son Limited and put in use by Indian Railways parcel offices, were among the many that were waiting to be sent to stock houses at different locations. Gopinathan K, who travels frequently

Slapped, brutally dragged, kicked in chest...: FIR details Swati Maliwal's assault at Delhi CM Kejriwal's residence

BENGALURU: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Friday said efforts are on to bring Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna , who is facing charges of sexual abuse against women, back to India. He also asserted that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case was functioning efficiently. The 33-year-old Prajwal, who is the grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda, is facing charges of multiple instances of sexually abusing women. The scandal has raised a political storm with the

Kejriwal should apologise on Maliwal issue: Sitharaman

HOUSTON: Fast-moving thunderstorms pummeled southeastern Texas on Thursday for the second time this month, killing at least four people, blowing out windows in high-rise buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 900,000 homes and businesses in the Houston area. Officials urged residents to keep off roads, as many were impassable and traffic lights were expected to be out for much of the night. Stay at home tonight. Do not go to work tomorrow, unless you're an essential worker.

THE HAGUE: Israel lashed out Friday at South Africa's case before the UN's top court, describing it as otally divorced from reality, as Pretoria urges judges to order a ceasefire in Gaza. South Africa presents the court for the fourth time with a picture that is completely divorced from the facts and circumstances, top lawyer Gilad Noam told the International Court of Justice. Pretoria has urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to order a stop to the Israeli assault on the Gaza city of

COOCH BEHAR: A local TMC leader was shot at in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district, police said on Friday. Animesh Roy, the panchayat pradhan of Lalbazar in Sitalkuchi, was returning home along with an aide on Thursday night when he was attacked, they said. Armed men, who are yet to be identified, fired targetting him. Roy received a gunshot wound on his right thigh, they added. Roy's aide was also injured in the firing, a police officer said. An investigation was underway and efforts were on to

'Dictatorship' going on in country is unacceptable: Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to grant an urgent hearing on a plea by an NGO seeking a direction to the Election Commission to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of conclusion of polling for each phase of the Lok Sabha elections. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra asked the counsel appearing for the Election Commission (EC) to take instructions and said it will hear the matt

KYIV: A massive Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea early Friday caused power cutoffs in the city of Sevastopol and set a refinery ablaze in southern Russia, Russian authorities said. The drone raids marked Kyiv's attempt to strike back during Moscow's offensive in northeastern Ukraine, which has added to the pressure on outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces who are waiting for delayed deliveries of crucial weapons and ammunition from Western partners. The Russian Defense Ministry said air def

SEOUL: North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast on Friday, South Korea's military said, a day after South Korea and the U.S. flew powerful fighter jets for a joint drill that the North views as a major security threat. A statement from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff gave no further details about the North Korean launch, such as how far the weapon flew. North Korea in recent months has maintained an accelerated pace in weapons testing as it continues to expand its military ca

KOCHI: For customers, buying a Maruti Swift has been a no-brainer since its launch. Thats why its sales crossed 30 lakhs in India within just two decades. The premium hatchback segment to which the Swift belongs, witnesses very high competition, within it and with the small SUVs. With this in mind, Maruti Suzuki has now given a fourth-generation avatar to the Swift. I was part of the national media drive of the all-new upgraded model, carried out by Maruti Suzuki in Bengaluru. Let me share my ex

KOCHI: As you step inside the Durbar Gallery in Kochi, a palpable sense of eeriness fills the air. Each frame inside narrates tales of war and violence. Shades of historical conflicts, the global pandemic, and potential apocalyptic scenarios dominate the colourful frames -- dark and vibrant -- contrasting each other. Throughout the exhibition, in almost every frame, the bright-coloured floral backdrop persists, juxtaposing harsh realities with seemingly serene visuals. Set against a vibrant lemo

KOCHI: Its true whether you are looking to hang out with your friends or enjoy some private time, its very difficult to find a quiet spot in Kochi. Enter HiBye, wherein individuals can listen, read, watch movies, play games, and hold meetings, or should they so desire, find some quiet, in private cabrooms. We want our customers to have some fun; thats our priority, says Devika Sajeev, the 20-year-old manager of this novel venture. The facility, located at Elamkulam metro station on platform 2,