CHENNAI: It seems Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Bajrang Punia will be in India for now. His proposal for a training stint in Dagestan, Russia, apparently has been put on hold initially after there was a whereabouts failure confusion in the first half of April and later after he was served with notice of provisional suspension for refusing to give his urine sample during selection trials. What seemed interesting was that in a late April Mission Olympic Cell meeting, wherein it was minut

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday said that Muslims cannot claim rights in a live-in relationship when they have a living spouse, as such a relationship is not permitted under the tenets of Islam. A bench of justices AR Masoodi and AK Srivastava-I made the observations while hearing a writ petition by Sneha Devi and Mohd Shadab Khan, who were seeking protection from police action after the woman's parents filed a kidnapping case against Khan, and directed that S

CHENNAI: A meeting of two ideologies. A more classical way of approaching T20s vs. the more vibey have-fun-with-the-bat and whatever happens, happens, way. Wicket preservation vs. going hard early doors. KL Rahul vs. Travis Head. This sort of matches can be great fun because of the contrasting forces at work. This was also, in a way, a fixture between Pat Cummins' Hyderabad against Justin Langer's Lucknow; two figures who won't necessarily be in the same elevator (the falling out goes back to th

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday allowed a second post-mortem examination of Anuj Kumar, who died in police custody following his arrest in a case related to the firing outside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's residence in Mumbai. The direction came on a petition filed by Anuj Kumar's mother Reeta Devi, who sought a fresh examination. The court of Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj asked the petitioner to hand over the body to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College in Faridkot on

CHENNAI: After undergoing a gruelling training session, Parveen Hooda seems to be in good spirits. Two sessions on the day and the boxer is satisfied with the quality of her training. One of the four pugilists from the country to have secured a quota for the Paris Olympics, her objective is crystal clear. And she's taking it one day at a time. It's the process that matters. I take it one day at a time. Every day is the Olympics. I don't think too far ahead. Today (Wednesday), I had two sessions

NEW DELHI: Amid a diplomatic standoff, Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer on Wednesday arrived in New Delhi on an official visit to India to discuss bilateral ties between the two countries. During his visit, the two sides will discuss bilateral and regional issues and seek ways to provide impetus to our multifaceted relationship. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also shared details of his arrival on X saying. Warm welcome to FM @MoosaZameer of Maldives on his official visit to India. Disc

JAIPUR: Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his insinuating that Rahul Gandhi had taken money for not taking names of industrialists in his election speeches, saying Modi with his remark had conceded that Adani-Ambani had amassed black money. Gehlot said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been struggling for the truth for a long time and truth will win eventually. Modi in an election rally had asked why Rahul stopped taking the names of Adani

HYDERABAD: Blazing fifties by Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma powered Sunrisers Hyderabad to a 10-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants here on Wednesday. Head (89 not out, 30b) and Abhishek (75 not out, 28b) pummelled the LSG bowlers as they raced past the target of 166 in just 9.4 overs. Earlier, Ayush Badoni's unbeaten fifty carried LSG to 165 for four on a slow pitch. For the Super Giants, Badoni (55 not out) and Pooran (48 not out) played handy knocks. Pooran and Badoni added 99 runs for

JERUSALEM: An Israeli official said visiting CIA Director Bill Burns and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed Wednesday he possibility of suspending military operations in Gaza's Rafah in exchange for Hamas freeing hostages. Netanyahu and the US spy chief, who has been involved in mediation efforts in the Israel-Hamas war, met in Jerusalem as part of Washington's latest efforts to secure a truce in the Gaza Strip. The two discussed the possibility of Israel pausing the operation in Rafah

KUPWARA: National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said Jammu and Kashmir has changed post-2019 after the abrogation of Article 370 as there is destruction everywhere. Speaking to reporters after addressing a public meeting in Kupwara in north Kashmir as part of his election campaign from the Baramulla parliamentary constituency, Abdullah said the areas which were made militancy-free have been witnessing resurgence of the guns. There are areas which we had made militancy-free

RAE BARELI: For Dinesh Pratap Singh, the Congress turncoat ready to take on Rahul Gandhi as the BJP candidate in Rae Bareli, time is an everchanging entity. Confident of his victory over the Gandhi scion in his citadel, Singh, hailing from a well-known political family of Rae Bareli, feels it is a thing of the past when the seat was considered a Congress stronghold. Now the time has changed and so has Rae Bareli. It has turned into a citadel of PM Modi, he asserts. At present an MLC and minister

CHENNAI: Ayush Badoni's valuable 55 not out and Nicholas Pooran's quickfire 48 not out came in handy for Lucknow Super Giants to post 165 for 4 in 20 overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday. The duo added 99 runs for the unbeaten fifth wicket partnership. Opting to bat, Lucknow had a disastrous start as they lost Quinton de Kock cheaply after the South African pulled a length ball from Bhuvneshwar to backward square leg. The ball seemed to be soaring over the ropes, but Nitish Kumar Reddy

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a probe by the CBI or ED into whether businessmen Adani and Ambani sent black money to his party and taunted if Modi was speaking from his personal experience that they send their money in a tempo. He also asked Modi if he was scared. Gandhi's strong retort to PM Modi came after the latter attacked him at an election rally, saying why he had stopped abusing Adani and Ambani in his attacks and whether

PATHANAMTHITTA: Believers Eastern Church Metropolitan Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan, also known as KP Yohannan, who was critically injured in a car accident in the US, passed away due to a sudden cardiac arrest, official church spokesperson said on Wednesday. He passed away due to sudden cardiac arrest in a hospital in Dallas, Texas, where he had been receiving treatment since his accident, a Church official said. He was 74. He was under intensive care at a hospital in Dallas, Texas following the a

NEW DELHI: Days after AstraZeneca admitted for the first time in court documents that their Covid-19 vaccine can cause a rare and dangerous side effect, the British pharma giant announced that they are withdrawing it globally . The global pharma giant, in collaboration with The University of Oxford, developed the AZD1222 vaccine after the Coronavirus outbreak in 2020. It said that they are 'incredibly proud' of the vaccine, but it had made a commercial decision to withdraw it. In India and other

CHENNAI: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), with 16 points, are at the top of the points table. KKR chief coach Chandrakant Pandit is pleased with the way things have gone so far and insists that his team has no time to relax and should play with the same momentum and become the first team to make it to the playoffs. Very happy with the way the boys have performed (to top the table). The team environment is excellent. The dressing room is fantastic and everybody's happy for each other. But still, ther

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on the West Bengal government's suit alleging that the CBI is pressing ahead with investigation into post-poll violence cases in the state, without securing its prior nod as per the law. A two-judge bench of the top court, led by Justice B R Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta, reserved its verdict after hearing detailed arguments from WB government and Centre. The Centre, through its senior lawyer, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, told

MUMBAI: Police have arrested two vendors following the death of a 19-year-old man after eating 'chicken shawarma' bought from their stall in Mumbai, an official said. The deceased, identified as Prathamesh Bhokse, bought the food item from the stall of the accused in Trombay area on May 3, the official said on Tuesday. On May 4, Bhokse suffered from stomach ache and vomiting and went to a municipal hospital nearby to get medical treatment. He later again felt unwell following which his family me

GUWAHATI: Four chief ministers of the Northeastern states slammed Sam Pitroda, chief of the Indian Overseas Congress, on Wednesday for his alleged racist remarks. Pitroda while describing Indias diversity stated that people in different regions of the country look like Africans, Chinese, Arab and whites. Criticizing the Congress leader, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X, Sam bhai, I am from the North East and I look like an Indian. We are a diverse country - we may look different but we ar

Uttar Pradesh. Of the 23 crore population in India's largest state, nearly 70% or more are estimated to be living in rural areas. By simple logic, the socio-political sentiment in UP's villages then should have a defining impact on the election results here. Building on that argument, since farming is increasingly considered unviable and unprofitable, since rural incomes, rural consumption and expenditure are going down, and since migration to cities is unabated, the results should have gone aga

BERLIN: A prominent Berlin politician was violently assaulted and suffered injuries to her head and neck, police said Wednesday, in the latest attack on elected officials that raises concern over rising political violence in Germany. Franziska Giffey, the citys top economic official, a former mayor and an ex-federal minister, was attacked at an event in a Berlin library on Tuesday by a man who approached her from behind and hit her with a bag containing a hard device, police said. Giffey was tak

BENGALURU: JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna is facing allegations in the world's biggest sexual abuse case, the ruling Congress in Karnataka alleged on Wednesday and claimed that attempts are on to cover up the scandal by diverting attention towards the release of explicit videos and those behind it. The claims were made by four ministers of the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's cabinet at the Congress party office here to defend the government and its leadership following allegations from JD(S) second-in-c

HONG KONG: Hong Kong demanded Wednesday a protest song popular during pro-democracy demonstrations be removed from the internet after a court banned it, judging it was a weapon to incite violent protests in 2019. The case has been closely watched for how it would affect tech firms and internet platform operators -- a concern that has been raised internationally over the free flow of information in Hong Kong. Wednesday's ban comes after a campaign by the city's authorities against the song, which

Sam Pitroda resigned from his position as the chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has accepted his decision, announced party general secretary Jairam Ramesh. Ramesh posted on 'X', Mr. Sam Pitroda has decided to step down as Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress of his own accord. The Congress President has accepted his decision. Mr. Sam Pitroda has decided to step down as Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress of his o

FRANKFURT: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday accused the AfD of etraying Germany, as the far-right party battles a string of scandals ahead of European Parliament elections. The Alternative for Germany was rocked last month when a parliamentary aide of its leading candidate for next month's EU polls was arrested on suspicion of spying for China. The candidate,Maximilian Krah, had also previously been caught up in Russian propaganda allegations. The AfD's ehaviour

AMSTERDAM: Campus protests by pro-Palestinian activists spread across Europe on Tuesday as some called for a break in academic ties with Israel over the war in Gaza, while schools increasingly faced the question under debate in the US: Allow or intervene? German police broke up a protest by several hundred pro-Palestinian activists who had occupied a courtyard at Berlins Free University. Protesters occupied a university building in Amsterdam hours after police detained 169 people at a different

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Wednesday that it has reopened its Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza after days of closure, but the U.N. said no humanitarian aid has yet entered and there is no one to receive it on the Palestinian side after workers fled during Israel's military incursion in the area. The Kerem Shalom crossing between Gaza and Israel was closed over the weekend after a Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers nearby, and on Tuesday, an Israeli tank brigade seized the

NEW DELHI: Social media platform 'X' has taken down an animated video shared by the Karnataka unit of the BJP related to the row over reservation for the Muslim community after an Election Commission direction. The poll panel on Tuesday directed the microblogging site to immediately take down the video. In a letter to the nodal officer of 'X', the EC took exception to the non-compliance of the directive of the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer to the social media platform for taking down the vid

WASHINGTON: Police began to clear a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at George Washington University early Wednesday and arrested 33 protesters, hours after dozens left the site and marched to President Ellen Granberg's home. Officials at the university in Washington, D.C., had warned of possible suspensions for students engaging in protest activities on University Yard. While the university is committed to protecting students' rights to free expression, the encampment had evolved into an unlawfu

SRINAGAR: National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to create divisions between Hindus and Muslims for the sake of votes and urged the public to send him out of power. Addressing a public meeting in the Eidgah locality here in support of party candidate Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, Abdullah said, They are spreading hatred among Muslims and Hindus. It does not behove the prime minister of India to do such things. When he goes outside t

LONDON: Britain's ruling Conservatives on Wednesday suffered their second defection to the main opposition Labour party in as many weeks, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Natalie Elphicke crossed the floor in the House of Commons just moments before Sunak's weekly grilling by lawmakers, adding to his woes after heavy losses for the Tories in English local elections last week. Elphicke is MP for Dover, on the south coast of England, which is heavily affected by the small boat crossi

MALE: Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer on Wednesday left for India on his very first bilateral official visit, the maiden high-level visit from Male since bilateral ties came under severe strain after President Mohamed Muizzu, a pro-China leader, assumed office six months ago. During his visit from May 8 to 10, Zameer will meet with Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar and hold discussions on deepening and expanding the longstanding partnership between the Maldives and India, the fore

BENGALURU: Karnataka Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara on Wednesday turned down former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's demand for a CBI probe into the sexual harassment case against JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna. He said the state government's CID is competent enough to investigate the case. Kumaraswamy had raised over 100 questions. I cannot answer all of them. He had asked for the CBI probe, which we will not do. The SIT is competent. I have said that we will get a proper investigation done, the Hom

BHUBANESWAR: In a significant development ahead of elections, nine members (including two women) of the banned party outfit CPI (Maoist) surrendered before Odisha Police on Wednesday. The members hailed from Chhattisgarh. A Naxal surrendered before Kandhamal Police on Tuesday and nine did the same before Boudh Police a day later. Apart from the state government's effective rehabilitation policy, the continuous anti-Naxal operations has led to the recent surrenders, said ADG (Operations), Dev Dat

RAJAMPET: Slamming Congress' divisive mindset, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday slammed its leader Sam Pitroda's controversial remarks, and asked if a key ally of the national party, the DMK will snap ties with it for Tamil culture and pride. Addressing an election rally here, he alleged Congress was cut off from its roots, wants to divide the country for power and wondered what has befallen the national party. A big leader has displayed the divisive mindset of Congress. What the man ve

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said cloud seeding or depending on rain god is not the answer to the raging forest fires in Uttarakhand and that authorities will have to take preventive measures to tackle the problem. The Uttarakhand government apprised the apex court about the steps taken to control the forest fires and said 0.1 per cent of the wildlife cover in the state was on fire due to such incidents. The state government told a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta that

BENGALURU: A classy, fully air-conditioned Community Hall for the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) has been readied at the Silk Board junction by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL). This is in exchange for the land taken from the Police for its Outer Ring Road line. The procurement of furniture and interior designing is presently on with a plan to inaugurate the Samudhaya Bhavan by August 15. Venkatraman Associates has designed the nearly Rs 25-crore swanky hall on behalf

BENGALURU: Bengaluru Police has summoned BJP President J P Nadda and the party's IT cell head Amit Malviya in connection with a social media post allegedly intimidating members of SC and ST community not to vote for a particular candidate, officials said on Wednesday. They have been asked to join the probe at the High Grounds police station here. For the purpose of investigation of the said case, you are hereby directed to appear before the undersigned investigation officer at 11 am at High grou

AHMEDABAD: According to the latest figures from the Election Commission, Gujarat recorded a voter turnout of around 59.51 percent on Tuesday. This marks the lowest turnout in the past two Lok Sabha elections in the state. The decreasing voter turnout in Gujarat over the past decade has sparked curiosity and concern among both the ruling BJP and the Congress. According to data from the Election Commission of India (ECI) released on Tuesday night, voter turnout across Gujarat's 25 Lok Sabha consti

AHMEDABAD: A tremor of 3.7 magnitude hit Talala, a town in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district, on Wednesday afternoon, which was soon followed by another tremor of 3.4 magnitude, the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR) said. The 3.7 magnitude tremor was recorded with its epicentre around 13 kilometres from north-northeast (NNE) from Talala in Saurashtra region of the state at 3.14 pm, the ISR said in its report. At 3.18 pm, another tremor of 3.4 magnitude hit with its epicentre 12 km NNE from

PALAKKAD: In a shocking incident, a cameraman of a leading Malayalam news channel was killed in a wild elephant attack while reporting in this north Kerala district on Wednesday. A V Mukesh (34), working with Mathrubhumi News, was seriously injured in the elephant attack when he and the reporter were capturing visuals of the movement of the strayed elephant herd, channel sources said. The tragedy struck the hapless cameraman when he was shooting the visuals of jumbos crossing a river in a place

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A success rate of 99.69% was recorded in the SSLC (Class X) exam 2024, the results of which were announced here on Wednesday. The pass percentage this year was 0.01% lower than the all-time high success rate of 99.7% recorded last year. Of the 4,26,892 students who appeared for the exam this year, 4,25,565 became eligible for higher studies, General Education Minister V Sivankutty said while announcing the results. The number of A+ holders in all subjects this year was 71,831

MADIKERI: The much-delayed project of Bhagamandala flyover finally witnesses completion. The flyover, among the first one in Kodagu district, will likely be inaugurated after the withdrawal of the election code of conduct. With an aim to end the monsoon woes across the temple town of Bhagamandala, a flyover cum bridge was sanctioned in 2018. Rs 28 crore was released for the project that promised completion in 2020. However, after much delays and protests, the flyover has now recorded completion

BENGALURU: Karnataka JD(S) MLA and former Minister H D Revanna, who is facing kidnapping charges, was remanded to judicial custody till May 14 by a Magisterial court here on Wednesday. Also, his bail petition before a sessions court has been posted for Thursday. After the completion of four days of police custody, the 66-year-old Revanna, son of JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, was produced before an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. Zero tolerance for Prajwal Re

Mayawati killed two birds with one stone by axing political heir Akash Anand

AHMEDABAD: Vijay Bhabhor, the son of a BJP leader and party member, reportedly took control of a polling booth in Dahod, Gujarat, and live streamed the incident on social media before deleting it. Allegations suggest that he verbally abused officials and participated in alleged bogus voting with others. In the viral video, the accused claims ownership of the EVM and other equipment, stating that they belong to his father. After the booth capturing incident, Dahod's Congress candidate, Dr. Prabha

Sam Pitroda has once again shot himself in the foot. His racist comment, the second after the elections commenced, has left the Congress party red-faced. While the party distanced itself from Pitroda's remarks, the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi excoriated him and the Congress for his statement made during an interview. In an exclusive interview with The Statesman , the Indian Overseas Congress chief, Pitroda described India as a ... diverse country... where people on East look like Chi

WARANGAL: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attacked the Congress over its party leader Sam Pitroda's alleged comments over skin colour and asserted that the countrymen would not tolerate insult on the basis of skin colour. Hitting out at top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Modi said he has now understood that the national party sought to defeat President Droupadi Murmu in the presidential poll as her skin colour is dark. As Pitroda's reported comments kicked up a row, Modi asked, will the

IMPHAL: Soon after Congress leader Sam Pitroda courted a new controversy by tagging people residing in various regions of India with a certain facial feature, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said he is weighing in legal options to book the former. How can he make such a racist comment? I highly condemn this type of racist words used by him. I will consult the legal expert if we can sue against the remark given by the Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress..., Biren Singh told ANI. This is ver