The New Indian Express News

NEW DELHI: Bangladesh on Saturday summoned Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma to convey its concerns over what it described as anti-election activities linked to fugitive political figures, including former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who are currently staying in India. Soon after, New Delhi rejected the allegations and reiterated that India has never permitted its territory to be used for activities inimical to the interests of the friendly people of Bangladesh. The interim government expr

NEW DELHI: Indian Railways (IR), giving top priority to passenger safety, has set a record in the manufacturing of LHB coaches over the past decade. During the current financial year 202526 alone, up to November 2025, more than 4,224 LHB coaches have been produced to ensure passenger safety during journeys. Sharing details with the media on Sunday, the Ministry of Railways said that between 2014 and 2025, Indian Railways manufactured more than 42,600 LHB coaches, marking nearly an 18-fold increa

NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Sunday alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed the Election Commission on vote theft claims with trembling hands while speaking in Parliament. Referring to a recent altercation between the two during a Lok Sabha debate on electoral reforms, the Congress MP said Shah appeared nervous while responding to the allegations. Addressing the party's 'Vote Chor Gaddi Chhod' rally at the Ramlila Maidan, Rahul Gandhi further clai

NEW DELHI: The BJP Parliamentary Board on Sunday appointed Bihar cabinet minister Nitin Nabin as the partys working national president, making him one of the youngest leaders to hold the post. An official statement issued by BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh said the decision was approved by the partys Parliamentary Board. The BJP Parliamentary Board has appointed Shri Nitin Nabin, Minister, Government of Bihar, as the National Executive President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the state

NEW DELHI: The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill , 2025, which seeks to replace the UGC, AICTE and NCTE with an apex umbrella body, is expected to be introduced in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament this week. The Bill proposes the creation of the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan , which will have three councils to streamline governance and oversight in Indias higher education sector. The legislation, earlier known as the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, is aligned wit

BHOPAL: Already facing a criminal case over his sister of terrorists remark about Indian Army officer Colonel Sophia Qureshi, BJP-ruled Madhya Pradeshs senior cabinet minister Kunwar Vijay Shah has sparked fresh controversy with comments on the beneficiaries of the CM Ladli Behna Scheme, the financial support program for women, which proved to be a key factor in the saffron partys success in the 2023 assembly elections. Shah, chairing the district development advisory committee meeting in Ratl

CHANDIGARH: In a targeted attack, two Indian-origin youths from Punjab were shot dead in southeast Edmonton, Canada, by unidentified assailants. The deceased have been identified as Gurdeep Singh from Bareh village and Ranbir Singh from Uddat Saidewala village near Budhlada in Mansa, Punjab. According to information received by Gurdeeps family from his friend Arshdeep, the two were on their way to celebrate a friends birthday when they were allegedly fired upon in the early hours of Friday. Both

KOLKATA: Sports promoter and organiser Shatadru Dutta, who had prominently claimed that bringing G.O.A.T Lionel Messi to India was his initiative, was denied bail and remanded to 14 days of police custody on Sunday. Shatadru was arrested by West Bengal Police on Saturday afternoon while he was attempting to board the chartered flight carrying the Argentine football star to Hyderabad. An FIR was filed against him on Saturday at the Bidhannagar South Police Station following suo motu cases initiat

A day after spectators went on a rampage during Argentine football icon Lionel Messis event at Kolkatas Salt Lake Stadium, members of a Bengal government-appointed inquiry committee visited the venue on Sunday to assess the damage, officials said. The three-member team examined broken plastic chairs, twisted metal barricades and littered galleries during its on-ground inspection of the stadium, one of Indias largest football arenas, they said. Led by retired Calcutta High Court judge Justice Ash

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Congress party's Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod rally against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) at Ramlila Maidan today, the BJP alleged that the party was holding the event to protect infiltrators from being removed from the electoral rolls. The ruling BJP said that the Congress will not succeed in its design of misleading people as well as insulting and defaming constitutional institutions, because the entire world knows that India's democracy is very robust. The Congress pa

GUWAHATI: Sixteen years after six members of a family were hacked to death in their house in Jogdal village in Assam's Kamrup Metropolitan district, a local organisation has approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for justice for the victims. It has urged the NHRC to take cognisance of human rights violations in the case and intervene to ensure a fair, independent and time-bound investigation. On the night of December 12, 2009, unidentified assailants had brutally killed Harakanta

SRINAGAR: Several places in the higher reaches of the Kashmir region experienced snowfall overnight, leading to night temperatures rising above the freezing point for the first time this month, officials said here on Sunday. Snowfall was reported at Zojila Pass, Minamarg and Baltal along the Srinagar-Drass axis in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir. Officials said snowfall was also reported from Tulail in the Gurez valley of Bandipora district. For the first time this December, Srinagar, th

MUMBAI: Even as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar skipped the visit to RSS founder KB Hedgewar's memorial in Nagpur on Sunday, his party NCP stressed that it joined the Mahayuti alliance for the state's development. The National Congress Party's ideology is based on the progressive thoughts of (social reformers) Shahu, Phule and Ambedkar, NCP spokesperson Anand Paranjpe said, noting that it was not the first time that Pawar skipped the visit to Hedgewar's memorial. While Chief Ministe

DUBAI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has met with his counterparts from Europe, the UK and Egypt on the sidelines of a high-level international summit in the United Arab Emirates, where leaders and policymakers gathered to discuss key geopolitical and security challenges. In a social media post on Saturday, Jaishankar said it was great to be with Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel, Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski,

GUWAHATI: Two persons, including a woman, have been granted Indian citizenship under the CAA, taking the count of people receiving it under the Act to five in Assam, their lawyer said. For the first time, a woman was granted citizenship under the Act in the northeastern state, senior advocate Dharmananda Deb, who had also been a member of the Foreigners' Tribunal in Silchar, said. The 40-year-old woman had entered India from Bangladesh in 2007 and had been living in Sribhumi, while the 61-year-o

NEW DELHI: The Himalayan Institute of Alternatives (HIAL), founded by Ladakh educator and activist Sonam Wangchuk, is doing exemplary work and should be granted recognition by the University Grants Commission, a Parliamentary panel has noted. In its report tabled in Parliament earlier this week, the committee headed by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh expressed its concern over pending recognition of HIAL by UGC. The panel also recommended that the Ministry of Education closely study the HIAL model a

NEW DELHI: The CBI has filed a chargesheet against 17 people, including four Chinese nationals, and 58 companies for their alleged roles in a transnational cyber fraud network that siphoned off over Rs 1,000 crore through a sprawling web of shell entities and digital scams, officials said on Sunday. After busting the racket in October, investigators unravelled a single, tightly coordinated syndicate that relied on an elaborate digital and financial infrastructure to run a range of frauds. These

GUWAHATI: A recent survey found that LGBTQIA+ children and adolescents face the highest levels of discrimination and bullying in their own homes, schools and neighbourhoods, with activists and stakeholders urging for concerted efforts to address these issues to help them get equal opportunities. A recent survey of over 900 LGBTQ+ individuals by a Kolkata-based organisation, 'Bridge', which works for the rights of the community across Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha, Jharkhand

NEW DELHI: In a decade-long crackdown the security agencies have widely disrupted Naxalite operations, confiscating assets totalling Rs 92 crore, the central government said on Saturday. The Centre has effectively choked the Naxal financing by forming a dedicated anti-Naxal vertical in the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has seized Rs 40 crore; state authorities have seized an additional Rs 40 crore, while the Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth Rs 12 crore, the statemen

NEW DELHI: Three Democratic lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have introduced a resolution seeking to terminate tariffs of up to 50% imposed by President Donald Trump on imports from India, calling the measures illegal and harmful to the US economy and bilateral relations. Representatives Deborah Ross, Marc Veasey and Raja Krishnamoorthi tabled the resolution on Friday. If at all the resolution is adopted, it would end the national emergency declared on August 6, 2025, under which the

The BJP MP from Mandi and Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut recently skipped a massive party rally held at the Zorawar Stadium in Dharamshala, targeting the Congress governments three-year rule of corruption, lies, and administrative collapse. While all the other party MPs, such as Dr Rajeev Bhardwaj, Indu Goswami, and Sikandar Kumar, attended the event, Kangana was conspicuous by her absence. Also present were thousands of BJP supporters from across the state and party leaders, including state p

HYDERABAD: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday affirmed that his party continues to be part of the INDIA bloc. His statement assumes significance as Uttar Pradesh is set to go to the Assembly polls in less than two years. He was speaking to the media after attending the VISION INDIA: Plan, Develop & Ascent summit here in the city. He underlined the need to anchor artificial intelligence (AI) policy in the constitutional values of equality and social justice, arguing that te

KOLKATA: All for a glimpse of Messi. For a Messi fan, its all that matters. As soon as I reached the gates of the Salt Lake Stadium at 8.30 am, fatigue from overnight journey just disappeared. The stadium was draped in Argentina colours, with people in jerseys with Messi written on their backs. There were giant cutouts and paintings of him as well. Fans from across the country were there. My ticket allowed me to one part of the stands. More than 60,000 fans would have gathered inside by 10.30 am

The has never played any competitive match in this part of the world except for one friendly against Venezuela at Kolkata in 2011. Argentina is in the other hemisphere of the globe and, in an Indian context, it is on the other side of the planet, almost diametrically. One may not have seen that piece of land of that country but everyone would have heard about it. It is because of two men. One Diego Armando Maradona. The other, of course, is LIONEL MESSI. If any footballer can manage to stir up e

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court recently directed the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) to file within four weeks a comprehensive report with regard to the steps taken by the Union, State governments and other stakeholders to effectively address the multiple factors that contribute to the persistent distress including farmers suicide faced by farmers across the country. We need to have a response from the Centre and states on the issue and after receiving the reply, we will hear the case later,

NEW DELHI: With the Civil Aviation Ministry giving IndiGo an exemption till February 10, 2026, to implement the revised crew rostering rules, will it be possible for the airline to adhere to it by then? The two-month deadline appears impossible to meet and chaos will return to the skies, caution experts. The 10% temporary cut affected in operations to help tide the current chaos too would be restored adding to its curtailed fleet. According to a submission made by IndiGo to the DGCA, it presentl

SRINAGAR: Uncertainty has enveloped the 850 MW Ratle power project in Jammu and Kashmir after Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), the executing company, accused a local BJP MLA of interference and threatened to halt work on the project indefinitely. Harpal Singh, Joint Chief Operating Officer of MEIL, told this newspaper that the local MLA, Shagun Parihar, has been pressuring the company to remove workers who did not vote for her during last years assembly polls

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday criticised the Union government over the Cabinets approval of a Bill to rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), alleging that the move reflects an attempt to erase Mahatma Gandhis legacy and mask what it described as the Centres neglect of the rural employment scheme. Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal said the renaming was aimed at claiming credit for a programme th

PATNA: The multi-crore fodder scam has once again come into focus after Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and State Home Minister Samrat Chaudhary announced on Saturday that government schools would be opened in buildings previously confiscated from the accused. Chaudhary told the media that action would be initiated against those involved in the Rs 950-crore Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) scam, better known as the fodder scam, and that government schools would be set up in confiscated properties.

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand is set to transform its pilgrimage and tourism landscape with a major push for ropeway infrastructure, as nearly 50 proposals are under consideration and the state government has identified six priority projects following a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Anand Vardhan on Friday. The meeting of the Steering Committee for Ropeway Development marked a decisive step towards streamlining approvals and fast-tracking construction. All proposed ropeway projects in th

NEW DELHI: Senior Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat on Saturday wrote to President Droupadi Murmu seeking her intervention against the permission granted to withdraw charges in the 2015 lynching of Dadri resident Mohammad Akhlaq. In her letter, Karat described the Uttar Pradesh governments decision as a wholly illegal and unjust attempt to subvert the processes of justice, noting that the main witness had already given evidence in the case. Sh

JAIPUR: In a major step to tackle the mounting backlog of cases, the Rajasthan High Court will now hold proceedings on two Saturdays every month, making it the first high court in the country to officially increase its number of working days to expedite the disposal of pending cases. The decision follows an initiative by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Surya Kant, who recently wrote to all high courts urging them to consider increasing working days to reduce case backlogs. Sources said the

LUCKNOW: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Lucknow Zone unit has issued a final summons to Shubham Jaiswal, identified as the kingpin of a codeine cough syrup smuggling racket, warning him that failure to appear on Monday will prompt the agency to seek a non-bailable warrant (NBW) and initiate proceedings for a Red Corner Notice against him through Interpol. Notably, Jaiswal has already been served two summons by the ED but has so far failed to appear to record his statements in connection with t

BHOPAL: Coming back to his home city Indore reportedly to fill up his Special Intensive Revision (SIR) voter enumeration form recently, a hardened inter-state criminal landed in the Madhya Pradesh polices net. Identified as Abdul Rashid, alias Talwar Singh (54), the criminal is accused in around 100 cases, including robbery, theft and murder in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states. He had recently returned to Indore after many years just to fill up the SIR enumeration form. On December 3

PATNA: A 40-year-old man was lynched to death by a mob after ascertaining his religious identity in Bihars Nawada district, raising questions over the law-and-order situation prevailing in the state under the leadership of new Home Minister Samrat Chaudhary. The victim, Mohammad Athar Hussain, died on Friday night while undergoing treatment for injuries sustained during the mob attack on December 5 under Roh police station limits in Nawada district. He was a native of Gagan Dih village under Lah

NEW DELHI: The services of the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force were joined by more than 700 officers, men and women on Saturday following the Passing Out Parades held at their respective academies. The Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, resonated with pride, tradition and military splendour as the 157th Passing Out Parade (POP) was conducted at the historic Drill Square, while the Combined Graduation Parade (CGP) took place at the Air Force Academy (AFA), Dundigal, Hyderabad, on the s

BHOPAL: Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhans open-to-all official residence, Mama Ka Ghar, in the Madhya Pradesh capital has now turned into a heavily barricaded fortress following an increased security threat perception. A large number of metallic barricades have been erected outside the B-8B-9 combined bungalow in the high-security 74 Bungalows area of Bhopal. The bungalow, which has been Chouhans official residence since January 2024, was named Mama Ka Ghar after he shifted there

RAIPUR: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday affirming that the country will eliminate outlawed Maoism by March 2026, pledged to make the Bastar region in south Chhattisgarh as the most developed tribal division in India. Addressing the closing ceremony of the Bastar Olympics in Jagdalpur, Shah said that the country stands on the verge of completely wiping out the red terror and the Bastar Olympics next year will be organised in a Naxal-free Chhattisgarh. Previous year 1.65 lakh players par

MEHSANA: A couple from Gujarat's Mehsana district and their three-year-old daughter were allegedly taken hostage in Libya for a ransom of Rs 2 crore while trying to immigrate to Portugal, officials said on Saturday. Kismatsinh Chavda, his wife Heenaben and daughter Devanshi were kidnapped in the North African nation, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, en route to Portugal, where the man's brother is settled, Mehsana Superintendent of Police Himanshu Solanki said. He said that the family from Badal

DEHRADUN: Indian scientists are delving deep into the frozen continent of Antarctica, not just for knowledge but as a critical defense strategy against the looming threat of rising sea levels that could inundate India's coastal states. Researchers from the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), based in Goa, have uncovered 7,000-year-old black carbon embedded in a remote Antarctic lake. They are now urgently studying how this ancient pollutant accelerates the melting of polar ice.

NEW DELHI: Senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat on Saturday wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, demanding her intervention in the Uttar Pradesh government's move to withdraw charges against the accused in the 2015 mob lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq. In a letter to the President, Karat called it a politically motivated step by the government, and also questioned the role of the governor. I write to draw your urgent attention to the role of the Uttar Pradesh governor in the matter of the mob lynching cas

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Tuesday laid foundation stones for development works worth over Rs 600 crore at Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, where he launched multiple projects of the Surat Municipal Corporation and Surat Urban Development Authority. Patel took an indirect swipe at corruption and said, Congratulations to the corporation for taking only the amount of tax that belongs to the corporation. We will not get anything else except tax!, he added. Looking out

KOLKATA: Both ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition BJP lashed out at the organisers of an event featuring Lionel Messi in Salt Lake stadium on Saturday, which ended in chaos as irate spectators went on a vandalisation spree for not having a proper view of the football icon. Demanding action against the organisers, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said in a statement that the overzealousness of the organisers and people close to them to crowd Messi and take selfies with him prevented the spectato

KOLKATA: What was meant to be a once in lifetime moment turned into a day of heartbreak for thousands of football fans who thronged the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, hoping to catch a glimpse of Argentine football legend Lionel Messi Messi was not clearly visible, as he was surrounded by organizers and security personnel. The expected penalty shootout did not take place, leaving fans angry and emotionally drained. We travelled all the way from Malaysia to get a glimpse of the GOAT, but we ended

CHANDIGARH: Taking a dig at his political rivals, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday remarked that both senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and former Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu are alike as they want to be elected Prime Minister and Chief Minister respectively without first doing something for the people. Addressing a press conference here, Mann said, They have the same problem, both want to become Prime Minister and Chief Minister before performing. Rahul Gandhi

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat BJP has once again come under the spotlight as a verbal duel has erupted between two of its members, Rajpipla MLA Dr Darshana Deshmukh and Bharuch MP Mansukh Vasava. On December 7, BJP MP Mansukh Vasava, during a press conference, alleged large-scale corruption in the political leadership and administrative system of Narmada district. While the charge was sweeping, Vasava did not name any individual. Dr Darshana Deshmukh, while addressing the media on Friday, accused the M

GUWAHATI: A retired Indian Air Force (IAF) officer was arrested in Assam for his alleged links with Pakistani operatives, while Arunachal Police arrested four Kashmiri residents over the past few days in an alleged espionage case. Retired Junior Warrant Officer Kulendra Sarma, a resident of the Patia locality of Tezpur in northern Assams Sonitpur district, was arrested late Friday night. Preliminary investigation revealed he had shared sensitive documents and information with Pakistani operative

NEW DELHI: IndiGo is all set to operate over 2,050 flights by the end of Saturday. This will mark the second consecutive day that it will be crossing 2,000 flights in operations. There were two last minute cancellations recorded yesterday (Friday) due to technical reasons. In an official release, the airline said, Demonstrating continuous operational normalisation and stability consecutively for the last five days, IndiGo is set to operate over 2,050 flights today, as per its revised schedule, s

NEW DELHI: Since 2019, a total of 1,106 LWEs (Left Wing Extremists) have been neutralised, 7,311 arrested, and 5,571 have surrendered across the country, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Rajya Sabha recently. In 2025 alone (till December 1), security forces neutralised 335 LWEs, arrested 942, and facilitated the surrender of 2,167 LWE cadres. To prevent resurgence of CPI (Maoist) activity in areas now freed from Left Wing Extremism, the ministry has designated 27 districts as Lega

The Union Government on Saturday announced it has so far seized assets worth Rs 92 crore through a multi-agency coordinated action against Naxalite movements across the country. In a statement, the BJP-led Centre said it had inflicted severe moral and psychological damage on what it described as urban naxals by tightening control over their information networks. To meet the firm target of making the country completely Naxal-free by March 2026, the government has created a dedicated vertical in t