National / The New Indian Express
JHABUA: Nine persons were killed and two others injured after a cement-laden trailer truck overturned on a van in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua district in the wee hours of Wednesday, police said. The accident took place at around 2.30 am when the victims, belonging to the same family, were returning from a marriage function, they said. The truck was crossing an under-construction rail over-bridge (ROB) through a temporary road near Sanjeli railway crossing under Meghnagar tehsil area when it lost bal
NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said that India can talk to Islamabad if it takes significant action against terror infrastructure that is visible in the country. Tharoor, who is leading an all-party parliamentary delegation to Brazil, said the problem in holding talks with Pakistan is not the language but finding a common vision for decency and peace, He said that his team successfully conveyed Indias message against terrorism to Latin American countries, including to those who may ha
NEW DELHI: The Modi government is expected to move an impeachment motion against Justice Yashwant Varma of the Allahabad High Courts during the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, scheduled to begin between late June and mid-July. According to sources, senior BJP leaders have held several meetings in preparations for the proceedings against Justice Varma, in connection with a cash recovery case. On Tuesday, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda met with Vice-President J
NEW DELHI: The Finance Ministry is likely to approve a 12% hike in the outlay of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for five years, as demanded by the Ministry of Rural Development, sources said. Recent media reports have said that the MoRD has sought an outlay of Rs 5.23 lakh crore for MGNREGS for five years until 2029-30 in its proposal to the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC). EFC is responsible for appraising and approving schemes with significant budge
NEW DELHI: Airspace must never be weaponised in conflicts, and civilian aircraft should never become casualtiesdeliberate or accidentalof military operations, said Nick Careen, Senior Vice President of Operations & Security at the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Speaking at the IATA Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, Careen said that governments worldwide are working together to enhance coordination and establish clear global protocols to protect civil aviation in conflict zones.
NEW DELHI: New Delhi is set to host a meeting of the foreign ministers from Quad nationsIndia, Australia, Japan, and the USbetween late June and early July, sources said. The meeting will be attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Australias Foreign Minister Penny Wong Japans Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The dates are on the works for the meet of foreign ministers of Quad. The window is between late June end and first week of July, sources sa
SRINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 272 km-long Kashmir Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail project, connecting the land-locked Valley with the countrys rail network, on June 6. This marks his first visit to Jammu & Kashmir after Operation Sindoor. History in the making Just 3 days to go! The mighty #ChenabBridge, the worlds highest railway bridge, stands tall in #JammuandKashmir. Part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL). Built to withstand natures toughes
When Lok Sabha MP from Jorhat Gaurav Gogoi took charge as the Assam Congress president on Tuesday, he couldnt help but take a not-so-subtle dig at CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has been lobbing one attack after another at him. Gogoi quipped, Had the Chief Minister not been so busy with me in the last two to three years, my party would not have entrusted me with this responsibility. His appointment as the partys state unit chief comes in the backdrop of serious allegations made by Sarma that Gogois
NOIDA: In a shocking incident of street violence, two brothers were allegedly attacked by a mob of young men in Noidas Sector 53 on Monday, reportedly over an argument that began on social media platform Instagram. Videos circulating on social media show one of the victims narrowly escaping as a speeding Thar SUV tried to run him over. Another video shows a blood-soaked man trying to protect himself as bricks are hurled at him. He can be seen staggering, barely able to stand, while a group of on
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has rejected a 2012 contempt plea filed by sociologist and former Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar and others, who claimed that the enactment of the Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Armed Police Force Act, 2011 to curb Maoist activity was in contempt of the courts landmark verdict against vigilante group Salwa Judum that year. Every State Legislature has plenary powers to pass an enactment and so long as the said enactment has not been declared to be ultra vires the C
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the worlds highest railway bridgethe Chenab Bridgein Jammu and Kashmir on June 6, marking a historic moment for Indias infrastructure. Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister in charge of the Prime Ministers Office, confirmed the development on Tuesday and said, PM Modi will inaugurate the Chenab Bridge on June 6, which [is] billed to be a proud moment for India and Jammu and Kashmir. The Chenab railway bridge, built across the River Chenab, is part of
NEW DELHI: The National Board of Examinations (NBE) has approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to reschedule the NEET PG 2025 exam to August 3, citing logistical challenges in conducting the exam earlier. Originally, the exam was set for June 15, but the Supreme Court had, on June 2, ordered that it must be held in a single shift, rather than two. Following the order, the NBE postponed the exam and has now submitted that holding the test before August 3 is not possible due to operationa
PATNA: Asaduddin Owaisis AIMIM, often criticised by the Congress and RJD as the B-team of the BJP, is now making active efforts to join hands with the INDIA bloc for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, scheduled for October-November this year. AIMIMs Bihar chief and MLA Akhtarul Iman told reporters on Tuesday that his party had reached out to RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav through some MLAs with a proposal to contest the elections together, especially in the Muslim-dominated Seemanchal regi
LONDON: UK MP Bob Blackman on Tuesday raised critical concerns over Pakistan's use of international aid money during a meeting with the all-party delegation led by BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad in London, questioning whether funds meant for the country's development were being diverted to purchase Chinese weapons for terrorism against India. The BJP MP-led all-party delegation earlier held a meeting with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)-India in London, where UK MPs affirmed the country's s
JAIPUR: A senior government official in Rajasthan has been arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan, in a case that has sent shockwaves through the state. Shakoor Khan, an Assistant Administrative Officer (AAO) posted in the Jaisalmer District Employment Office, was arrested under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, after weeks of surveillance and intelligence monitoring. Khan had earlier worked as a personal assistant to former Congress minister Saleh Mohammad, making the case politically sensiti
BHOPAL: Demanding that 'lame horses' in the Madhya Pradesh Congress retire, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi launched the Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan (Organisation Rejuvenation Campaign) on Tuesday to rebuild the party in the BJP-ruled state. Congress has no dearth of talent who can defeat the BJP, but their hands are tied, particularly as their voices arent heard properly in the party organization. Weve an army to fight and die for the Congresss cause. But some leaders keep on ma
DEHRADUN: In a major policy shift, the Uttarakhand higher education department has introduced a new directive linking the academic performance of students directly to the evaluation of their teachers and principals. Under this new measure, teachers and principals of schools where students perform poorly in board examinations will receive adverse entries in their service records a move that could significantly affect their professional growth and promotions. This bold initiative is designed to e
Unity in diversity - that was DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhis response when asked what Indias national language is. Kanimozhi, who is leading a multi-party delegation to Spain as part of Indias outreach programme following Operation Sindoor, said that this was the core message her delegation aimed to share with the world. The national language of India is unity in diversity. That is the message this delegation brings to the world, and that is the most important thing today, she said speaking to me
NEW DELHI: The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday released the provisional answer keys for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2025 exam held on May 4. An official release said that the candidates who appeared for the exam, which decides admissions in undergraduate courses in medical and allied streams, can download these answer keys from the official NTA website ( neet.nta.nic.in ).The scanned copies of the response sheets submitted by the candidate too are avail
NEW DELHI: The centre has directed central government hospitals, including Safdarjung and Dr RML Hospitals, to not allow medical representatives inside the hospital premises.This is not the first time the centre has issued such a stern messagebarring pharma companies from influencing doctors. In an order issued on May 28, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Dr Sunita Sharma, said, This is in reference to the earlier instructions regarding not permitting entry of medical representa
PATNA: A court in Madhubani district on Tuesday awarded death sentence to two men Sushil Kumar Rai and Om Prakash Jha in a gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old dalit girl. Syed Mohammad Fazlul Bari, judicial magistrate, POCSO court, Madhubani ,delivered the verdict after hearing the case from both the prosecution and the defence. The court also slapped a fine of Rs.1.20 lakh each on the accused. The court, in its order, said that the amount realised from the two convicts as fine would be gi
PATNA: Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor may land in legal trouble as senior JD (U) leader and Bihar minister Ashok Choudhary on Tuesday filed a defamation suit against him for alleging that he had bribed Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) (RV) chief Chirag Paswan to secure a Lok Sabha ticket for his daughter. Choudharys daughter Shambhavi Choudhary is a Lok Sabha member who won on an LJP (RV) ticket. On her electoral debut in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, she emerged victorio
LUCKNOW: In a major ruling, Allahabad High Court declared that the arrest of Anwar Dhebar, a Chhattisgarh-based businessman and brother of former Raipur mayor and former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, both accused in a money laundering case of Rs 2000 crore Chhattisgarh liquor scam, as illegal. A division bench, comprising Justice Siddharth Varma and Justice Madan Pal Singh, granted bail to Dhebar in connection with the FIR lodged against him in Meerut. The bench noted that the arrest memos did not ha
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday issued a notification introducing a new reservation and domicile policy for the Union Territory of Ladakh. According to the notification, 85 percent of jobs will be reserved for locals and one-third of the seats in the Autonomous Hill Development Councils allotted to women. The notification, issued by the Union Ministry of Law & Justice, came following several rounds of talks between representatives from Ladakh and a high-powered committee of the Union Ministry o
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to waive loans amounting Rs 68 crore taken by over 4,000 Dalit families from the Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said. At a cabinet meeting chaired by Mann in Chandigarh, it was decided that loans disbursed till March 31, 2020 will be waived. Addressing the media after the meeting, the chief minister said the state government will waive the debt incurred due to loans taken by Dal
CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring expressed his reservations against the land pooling policy of the Aam Aadmi Party government, highlighting that it will lead to the destruction of the State's agrarian economy. Warring defended the re-induction of party leaders into the Congress, saying there were no differences over the issue and everybody was 'welcomed' into the party. In an informal conversation with the media after addressing a meeting of the constituency coor
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having surrendered after a call with US President Donald Trump, amid Washingtons claim of brokering a truce between India and Pakistan following Operation Sindoor . Addressing the Congress Workers Convention in Bhopal, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, A call came from Trump and Narendra ji immediately surrendered; history is witness to this. This is the character of BJP-RSS; they always bow down. Rahul
AHMEDABAD: A school in Ahmedabad received a chilling blast threat via email, prompting immediate action. The institution swiftly alerted the police and the District Education Officers (DEO) office, raising alarms. An email dated June 3, 2025, sent to a school in Ahmedabad, sharply accused police of negligence in a rape and dowry case. Investigators believe the threat was a calculated move to gain attention to an ongoing rape case. The message claimed authorities were 'sleeping' over the investig
RANCHI: Amid the ongoing tussle between and Centre and the State Government over the extension of DGP Anurag Guptas service period, his salary slip has been stopped after April 30. According to the sources in the office of Principal Accountant General (PAG) in Jharkhand, considering that the DGP retired on April 30 itself, the department has issued a zero-salary slip to him, which means he will not get his salary after April 2025. The AG office maintained that it received no official communicati
LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday announced 20% reservation for Agniveers in the direct recruitment process for various positions in government jobs including police constable, mounted police, fireman, and PAC constable. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet, presided over by UP CM Yogi Adityanath here. The Agniveers, after completing their stint in the Indian Army, will also get a relaxation of three years in age while applying for these jobs. However, only tho
AHMEDABAD: A nationwide scam involving the online sale of traders' GST data has come to light, with Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Noida identified as hotspots of a gang called Data Solution. The Surat Chartered Accountants Association, in a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, revealed that sensitive GST data is being sold in packagesGSTR-1 for Rs 8,000 Rs 10,000 and 2B, 3B, and e-Way Bill data bundled at Rs 15,000 for three months. The expos has triggered alarm over serious lapses in the GST
NEW DELHI: India's active COVID-19 cases have crossed the 4,000 mark, with Kerala remaining the most affected state followed by Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Delhi, according to the Union Health Ministry data released on Tuesday. There are 4,026 active cases in India and five fresh deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours. Since January this year, 37 deaths have been reported in the country. There were 257 active patients in the country on May 22. The figure rose to 3,395 by May 31 and subsequ
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Tuesday said it is introducing a streamlined, technology-driven system to provide timely updates on approximate voter turnout percentage data which significantly reduces the time lag associated with the earlier manual reporting methods. Under the initiative, the presiding officer (PRO) of each polling station will now be directly entering voter turnout on the new ECINET application every two hours on polling day to reduce the time lag in the updation of the
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday said India not being invited at the G7 meeting in Canada is yet another big diplomatic bungle after the lunder of allowing the US to mediate between India and Pakistan. Canada is hosting the summit from June 15 to 17 that is expected to deliberate on pressing challenges facing the globe including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the situation in West Asia. For the first time in six years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to attend the upcoming G7 summit
RANCHI: As many as thirteen students from government schools getting free coaching at State Level Akansha Programme in Ranchi, have cleared IIT-JEE Advance this year. After clearing JEE Advanced Examination, these students are now eligible for admission in prestigious IITs located across the country. Despite the challenging level of the question paper this year, the success of the students of the Aakanksha program is being seen as a landmark. It all became possible due to the regular classes bei
NEW DELHI: Bombay Lawyers Association has written to Chief Justice of India BR Gavai seeking sanction to prosecute high court judge Yashwant Varma over the discovery of huge cash from his official residence when he was in Delhi. The judge was transferred to Allahabad High Court amidst the raging controversy. Former CJI Sanjiv Khanna had recently written to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, besides sharing with them the report of the apex court-appointed committee reporte
CHANDIGARH: A row has erupted after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann made a controversial remark on Operation Sindoor, while accusing the BJP of politicizing it for electoral gains. After the Punjab cabinet meeting on Tuesday, CM Mann alleged that BJP workers are distributing sindoor (vermillion) to households following the success of Operation Sindoor. This is very sad. Sindoor is being mocked. Didn't you see? BJP is seeking votes in the name of Operation Sindoor. They are sending sindoor to
KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday granted permission for filing petitions challenging the rules and notification for recruitment of more than 44,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-run and -aided schools by the state's School Service Commission (SSC). The petitioners, who claim to be candidates, stated before the vacation court that the rules and notification are not in conformity with the directives of the Supreme Court, which had in a judgment annulled over
PUNE: Professional militaries are not affected by temporary losses as the overall outcomes are much more important than such setbacks, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said on Tuesday. The top military commander said that Pakistan has been following an approach of bleeding India by thousand cuts but New Delhi drew a completely new redline against cross-border terrorism by conducting the Operation Sindoor . In an address at the Savitribai Phule Pune University, Gen Chauhan appeared to reje
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday denied interim bail to social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli, who was arrested on May 30 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments in a video related to Operation Sindoor. The court also directed the West Bengal government to produce the case diary in connection with Panoli's arrest on June 5, when her interim bail prayer will be heard again. The vacation bench of Justice Partha Sarathi Mukherjee directed that the Garden Reach police station case in connec
BHOPAL: Controversy erupted in Madhya Pradesh after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi offered floral tributes to the statue and portrait of former Prime Minister and his grandmother, Indira Gandhi, at Congress HQ in Bhopal without taking off his shoes. The incident took place just before the Leader of Opposition chaired series of meetings to launch the Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan to rebuild the grand old Congress party in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh. Two ruling BJP leaders, including Madhya Pradesh CM Dr M
NEW DELHI: A coalition of Indias 29 leading public health and consumer organisations on Tuesday urged the centre to mandate front-of-pack warning labels on pre-packaged food and beverage products high in sugar, salt, and saturated fat (HFSS). The leading public health leaders gave the call for warning labels, responding to the mounting evidence of health risks posed by HFSS and ultra-processed food (UPF) products. Prof. K. Srinath Reddy, Honorary Distinguished Professor and Goodwill Ambassador o
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took a swipe at public sector LIC's Rs 5,000 crore investment in the Adani group while highlighting that public funds are being used for benefitting private entities. Money, policy, premium are yours; Security, convenience, benefit for Adani! Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India's largest integrated transport utility, had last week said it has raised Rs 5,000 crore in its largest-ever dome
DEHRADUN: In a decisive move, the Pushkar Singh Dhami government has launched a major crackdown on a significant land scam in Uttarakhand's Haridwar district, suspending a total of 12 individuals, including two IAS officers and one PCS officer. The sweeping action has implicated high-ranking officials, including the District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, and a former Municipal Commissioner. The case has now been handed over to the Vigilance Department for thorough investigation. Accordi
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday sacked three government employees, including a policeman and a teacher, for alleged anti-national activities by invoking Article 311 of the Constitution of India. The sacked employees have been identified as Malik Ishfaq Naseer S/o Malik Naseer Ahmad, R/o Malikpora, Anantnag (Sg. Constable in Jammu and Kashmir Police), Waseem Ahmad Khan son of Lt Ghulam Mohammad Khan R/o New Colony, Batamaloo Srinagar (Junior Assistant in Hea
SRINAGAR: The President of India has promulgated the Union Territory of Ladakh Reservation (Amendment) Regulation, 2025 and reserved 85 percent jobs in the region. A gazetted notification stated that, In exercise of the powers conferred by article 240 of the Constitution read with sub-section (2) of section 58 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the President is pleased to promulgate the following Regulation made by her. This Regulation may be called the Union territory of Ladakh
SRINAGAR: During the High Powered Committee (HPC) meeting chaired by Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, the Centre introduced a domicile policy for the Union Territory of Ladakh, setting a 15-year residency requirement. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) which is an amalgam of various political, social, trade and religious groups of Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh UT, in New Delhi on May 27
NEW DELHI: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has seized more than 5 lakh copies of pirated NCERT textbooks. A record 29 FIRs have been registered against printers, warehouse owners and retailers of these books. Printing paper and machinery worth over Rs 20 crore were also seized in the last 14 months from UP and Haryana. Among the numerous steps taken to curb piracy was the sale of NCERT books without delivery charges on e-commerce sites. An official release said
SAMBHAL: District Magistrate Rajender Pensiya on Tuesday announced that sacrificial slaughter in public places will not be permitted here during Bakrid and assured strict action against anyone attempting to disturb public order. A peace committee meeting, which included representatives from areas where Eid prayers will be conducted, was held to discuss the arrangements. All stakeholders were consulted. Sacrifices will be allowed only at 19 pre-identified sites. No public or open space will be us
CHANDIGARH: A man hailing from Punjab's Tarn Taran district was arrested for allegedly sharing with Pakistani intelligence operatives sensitive information about troop deployment and strategic locations during Operation Sindoor, police said on Tuesday. He was also allegedly in contact with Pakistan-based pro-Khalistan leader Gopal Singh Chawla. Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said the accused has been identified as Gagandeep Singh alias Gagan, a resident of Mohalla Rodupur, Gali N