NEW DELHI: The Congress top brass headed by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge held a review meeting on Thursday on the party's shock defeat in the Haryana assembly polls and discussed the possible reasons for the unexpected results. Congress president Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary organisation KC Venugopal, AICC senior observers for the polls Ashok Gehlot and Ajay Maken, as well as AICC secretaries for the state, participated in the review meeting. AICC in-charge o

NEW DELHI: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday described Ratan Tata as a stalwart of the Indian industry and said he had the courage to speak truth to those in power. In his condolence letter to Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran, Singh said Tata was much more than a business icon. Deeply saddened by the demise of Shri Ratan Tata ji , a stalwart of Indian Industry. He was much more than a business icon, his vision and humanity demonstrated in the work of several charities founded a

NEW DELHI: Industry leaders mourned the death of Ratan Tata on Thursday, saying that with his demise, India has lost a visionary who shaped its industrial and philanthropic landscape. TVS Motor Co Chairman Emeritus, Venu Srinivasan, said in a statement: Mr Tata was a truly remarkable business leader, the likes of whom nations get only once in a century. He added that Tata placed the country before business interests, and his vision was transformational for both the country and its people. Simila

NEW DELHI: Ratan Tata will always be remembered as a leader who left a lasting mark on the evolution of the Tata Group and his unfortunate passing marks the end of an era, SP Group Chairman Shapoorji Mistry said on Thursday. In his condolence message, Mistry said, Mr Tata's unfortunate passing marks the end of an era. He will always be remembered as a leader who left a lasting mark on the evolution of the Tata Group. He further said, The Mistry family has had a long standing relationship with th

NEW DELHI: In the newly-elected 90-member Haryana Assembly, 86 MLAs (96 percent) are crorepatis, while 12 (13 percent) have criminal cases against them, according to an analysis by poll rights body ADR. An analysis of the affidavits of all the 90 winning candidates by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Haryana Election Watch show a slight rise in the number of crorepati MLAs, from 93 percent in 2019 to 96 percent this time. Of the 90 MLAs, 44 percent possess assets worth over Rs 10

MUMBAI: Maharashtra cabinet on Thursday passed a resolution urging the central government to confer 'Bharat Ratna', the country's highest civilian award, on legendary industrialist late Ratan Tata. The cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde paid homage to the industry icon, who died in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday night. A motion of condolence was passed during the meeting, a statement from the Chief Minister's Office said. The cabinet also passed a resolution urging the Centr

MUMBAI: Legendary industrialist Ratan Tata' s body was on Thursday morning taken from his house in a hearse, decked with white flowers, to the NCPA in south Mumbai where it would be kept for people to pay their last respects. Before the hearse started from Tata's home, located a couple of kilometres away from the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), the Mumbai Police band played a tune as a mark of respect to him. As the news of Tata's demise spread, people from different walks of life ga

VIENTIANE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday arrived in Laos on a two-day visit to attend the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits to further deepen engagement with countries in the groupings. Modi is visiting Lao PDR on the invitation of Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone. Laos is the current chair of the ASEAN. During the visit, Modi will participate in the 21st ASEAN-India and the 19th East Asia summits. In his departure statement, Modi noted that India is marking a decade of Act East poli

AMBIKAPUR: Two men were killed when a portion of earth caved in while they were digging soil in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district, police said on Thursday. The incident took place on Wednesday near Jamdara village under Kunni police chowki when the victims were digging white clay (chhui mitti), a police official said. As per preliminary information, the victims, identified as Hiraman Yadav and Shiva Yadav, along with some other villagers were digging soil, when a portion of earth caved in due to w

LUCKNOW: Self-styled godman Surajpal alias 'Bhole Baba' on Thursday appeared before a judicial commission here probing the July 2 stampede at his congregation in Hathras which had claimed 121 lives. Surajpal, also known as Narayan Sakar Hari, is n ot mentioned as an accused in the FIR that was lodged after the stampede at Fulrai village in Sikandra Rao area of Hathras district. He is slated to record his statement before the commission. On July 3, the Uttar Pradesh government had formed a three-

PUNE: The Maharashtra government has terminated the services of two members of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) here in connection with bail given to a juvenile accused in the Pune Porsche crash case, officials said on Thursday. A probe panel of the state Women and Child Development (WCD) Department had recommended action against the two members - L N Danwade and Kavita Thorat - for alleged procedural lapses, misconduct and non-compliance with norms. WCD Department Commissioner Prashant Narnavar

NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has released draft guidelines for the Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programme (AEDP) to enhance the employability of the students pursuing undergraduate-level degree programmes. Speaking with this paper, UGC Chairman Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar said the draft guidelines are a significant step towards enhancing the employability of our youth. Students acquire experiential learning alongside theoretical knowledge by formally embedding apprenticeships

MUMBAI: Following Congress's recent defeat in Haryana, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has launched a scathing attack on the party, asserting that Congress has a tendency to turn potential victories into defeats In its editorial in the mouthpiece Saamana , Shiv Sena (UBT) criticised Congress for its overconfidence, which it claims led to the party's failure in the state elections, despite a favorable atmosphere. The editorial highlighted that while the INDIA alliance celebrated victorie

KOLKATA: The junior doctors, agitating over the rape and murder of their colleague at the RG Kar hospital, continued their fast unto death for the fifth day on Thursday amid the Durga Puja festivities across West Bengal. At 9.30 am, the fast by the nine junior doctors of various medical colleges entered its 108th hour. The junior doctors began the fast unto death on Saturday evening at the Dorina Crossing in Dharmatala in the heart of Kolkata after ending the total cease work that had crippled h

ITANAGAR: A 37-year-old man who allegedly molested multiple school and college girls was arrested in Itanagar, police said on Thursday. The accused, a native of Nuna Camp village in Dirang in West Kameng district, was apprehended after a complaint was lodged at the Itanagar women police station, Superintendent of Police Rohit Rajbir Singh said. The arrest was made after a 14-year-old girl was molested on September 7. The accused offered her a lift on his scooter while she was going to school. Th

CHANDIGARH: When retired IAS officer Chander Prakash, contesting on Congress ticket, defeated Bhavya Bishnoi, grandson of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal, by a margin of 1,268 votes on Tuesday, it marked the end of the 56-year-old political hold of the Bishnoi family in Adampur assembly segment in Haryana. Adampur segment was among the key bastions in state politics due to the long-standing influence of the Bishnoi family, especially the three-time chief minister Bhajan Lal. Bhajan Lal

Imagine Bhagwan Mahaveer Award for promoting vegetarianism is given to a butchera Jain by accident of birth who says the Bhagwan is a hoax. By a jury that has no reverence for the Bhagwan. And the apostate butcher proudly accepts the award in the name of the apostle. How humiliated his Jain devotees will be? Apologies to Jains for taking the Bhagwans name for a fictional analogy. Similarly, devotees of Carnatic music to whom it is not just an art but divine and sacred, have been hurt and humilia

NEW DELHI: The ambitious India-Myanmar-Thailand highway project will come up for discussion at the ASEAN-India Summit for which PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Vientiane (Laos) on October 10 and 11. Myanmar will attend the upcoming Summit and there will be talk of all issues in the region. There will be talks on the trilateral highway project and how it can be taken forward, Jaydeep Mazumdar, Secretary (East) in the MEA, said on Wednesday. However, Indias key infrastructural project in My

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that a plea of juvenility can be filed even after the judgment, order of conviction, and sentence granted against a person have attained finality. A two-judge bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kostiswar Singh acquitted the accused in a murder case who had filed a plea for juvenility after the order of conviction and sentence was passed against him. The accused No. 1 had preferred and filed a miscellaneous application before the SC claiming the p

NEW DELHI: Two labourers, who were asked to remove garbage from a gutter in southwest Delhi, died due to the possible inhalation of toxic fumes inside, while another person who went inside to save them is currently hospitalised, an official said on Wednesday. The deceased were identified as Babundra Kumar Singh (29), a resident of Gopal Ganj in Bihar, and Ramasre (41), a resident of Hamirpur district in Himachal Pradesh. According to DCP (southwest) Surender Choudhary, cops at Sarojini Nagar pol

MP CM proves lucky for BJP on 4 Haryana seats A record third-time victory of the ruling BJP in Haryana Assembly elections has come as a personal achievement for Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. Four assembly segments where Yadav campaigned have gone in favour of the BJP. The four assembly segments are Dadri, Bhiwani and Bawani Khera-SC seats (where he addressed rallies on September 26) and Tosham (where he held a roadshow on October 3). The party also won Jammu and Kashmirs Samba seat,

SRINAGAR: The BJP, which emerged as the second largest party in J&K Assembly polls by winning 29 seats, won all the seven seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) in Jammu region but could not win a single seat reserved for tribal communities (STs) despite granting of reservation to the Paharis and three other communities. After the delimitation of constituencies in J&K, 16 Assembly seats in the region were reserved for SCs and STs. Of the 16 seats, 9 seats were reserved for STs and seven for S

SRINAGAR: The National Conference (NC) is set to hold a meeting of newly elected legislators in Srinagar on Thursday. Omar Abdullah, who is tipped to take over as the first chief minister of J&K UT, stated that the new cabinets first order of business would be to pass a resolution seeking restoration of statehood. Meanwhile, J&K Congress chief Tariq Hamid Karra has rushed to Delhi to consult party leaders on government formation. The NC legislative party meeting will be held tomorrow, followed b

KOLKATA: At least 15 senior doctors from various state-run hospitals tendered their resignation on Wednesday in solidarity with their juniors movement, seeking justice for the rape-murder victim of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Around 50 senior doctors, including department heads, had quit on Tuesday. Senior doctors on Wednesday said that their colleagues in other prominent hospitals might follow suit. Meanwhile, junior doctors on Wednesday held protest rallies in different parts of Kolka

NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH : With the BJP set to form government for the third time in Haryana, all the three Independent MLAsSavitri Jindal, Devender Kadyan and Rajesh Joon on Wednesday extended support to the saffron party, taking its tally from 48 to 51 in the assembly. Savitri Jindal, the Independent candidate from Hisar and richest woman of the country, said that for the development she has decided to support the BJP government. She met Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Delhi. Haryana BJP chie

CHANDIGARH: With Delhi assembly elections expected within four months, the Aam Aadmi Party wants to clean up its act in Punjab and present it as a model of good governance. That perhaps is why it is purging Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Manns trusted core in a hurry. The buzz in the corridors of power is that AAP heavyweight Bibhav Kumar, who was party convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals trusted lieutenant, could be planted in the Punjab Chief Ministers Office as Manns chi

NEW DELHI: The never-ending political tussle between Delhis AAP government and the Lieutenant Governor has a new flashpoint: the Delhi chief ministers official residence. Delhi Chief Minister Atishis office on Wednesday alleged that her official residence at 6, Flagstaff Road was forcibly vacated by Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V K Saxena on orders from the BJP. For the first time in the history of the country, the Chief Ministers residence was vacated. On the instructions of the BJP, L-G forcibly

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday came under fire from its INDIA bloc allies who squarely blamed the grand old party for the poll debacle in Haryana, with several leaders accusing it of being arrogant, overconfident and entitled and giving less space to its regional allies. Launching a scathing attack, the Shiv Sena (UBT) attributed the Congresss poor show to the overconfidence and arrogance of the partys state leadership. In an editorial of Senas mouthpiece Saamana, it asked the Congress lea

NEW DELHI: A day after the drubbing in the Haryana assembly polls, a Congress delegation met the Election Commission on Wednesday and submitted complaints citing serious discrepancies with the counting process and the functioning of the EVMs. The party urged the EC to take urgent measures and order an inquiry into the discrepancies. The delegation included senior party leaders K C Venugopal, Ashok Gehlot, Bhupinder Hooda, Ajay Maken, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Jairam Ramesh. The memorandum said s

NEW DELHI: In a major go ahead towards adding heft to the underwater combat capability of the Indian Navy, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on Wednesday green flagged construction of nuclear-powered attack submarines or the SSNs. The project to procure 31 armed MQ 9B Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) also got a go ahead. The plans are to manufacture indigenously, initially, two 6,000-tonne boats with each costing around Rs 15,000 crore, at the Ship Building Centre (SBC) Visakhapatnam. It was

LUCKNOW: In an 11-year-old case of the brutal lynching of a police officer in the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police in Kunda assembly segment of Pratapgarh, the special CBI court of Lucknow awarded life sentence to 10 persons who were held guilty on October 4. While delivering the quantum of punishment, Special CBI judge Dhirendra Kumar slapped the penalty of Rs 19,500 on each convict. Thus the total Rs 1.95 lakh penalty amount would be collected and half of it would be given to the widow

NEW DELHI: There are some people who are cheating innocent people in the name of Ayurveda, spreading misleading information and making false claims, which not only harm the money and health of the public but also defame this traditional medical system, said President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday. Speaking at the eighth foundation day of All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) here, she said that people associated with different systems of medicine often claim that their system is the best. It is g

LUCKNOW: A day after the Haryana poll outcome, a prominent member of the INDIA bloc -- Samajwadi Party rushed with the announcement of party candidates for six of the 10 seats going to bypoll in the state later this year. Interestingly, the SP leadership announced the candidates for those seats which were being demanded by ally Congress. The SP move puts the prospects of the Congress party of contesting on five of the 10 seats in alliance with SP in limbo. Meanwhile, the Congress party was take

WASHINGTON: Republican White House candidate Donald Trump praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a otal killer Wednesday as he discussed foreign leaders during a media blitz for the final stretch of the election campaign. He's great. He's a friend of mine, Trump told a podcast with millions of subscribers hosted by stand-up comedian Andrew Schultz. On the outside he looks like he's your father. He's the nicest. Total killer. Trump and Modi enjoy warm relations and the former US president has a

PATNA: A Dalit youth was brutally assaulted, urinated upon and spat on the face by a group of men for demanding his wages in Bihars Muzaffarpur district. The victim, who is undergoing treatment in a hospital, on Wednesday lodged a complaint against the offenders. The police swung into action after a video showing the entire incident went viral on social media. The police registered a case against three personsRamesh Patel, brother Arun Patel and his son Gaurav Pateland launched raids to arrest t

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a number of schemes relating to free mass distribution of fortified rice scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) with a cost of Rs 17,082 crore, construction of a road network in the border areas of Rajasthan and Punjab with an outlay of Rs 4,406 crore and building a National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal in Gujarat, which will be completed in two phases. Information & Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

LUCKNOW: The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP), the body controlling all 13 Akharas (seer orders), on Wednesday, proposed banning non-Sanatanis from setting up food stalls and renaming Urdu terms among other measures to maintain religious sanctity of upcoming Mahakumbh Mela -2025 on the banks of the confluence of river Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati in Prayagraj. On the proposal to ban non-Sanatanis from setting up food stalls, the seer's body said it would pass a resolution after Diw

RANCHI: A three-member JMM team on Wednesday met Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar in Ranchi seeking permission to launch the JMM Samman Yojana under which, women will be given financial assistance of Rs 30,000 every year. Apparently, JMM Samman Yojana is to counter BJPs Gogo Didi Yojana promising Rs 2100 to every woman on the 11th of every month, if the party is voted to power. The memorandum handed over to the CEO also stated that if the forms issued by the BJP under Gogo Didi Yojana

NEW DELHI: In a letter written to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, the Election Commission of India on Wednesday strongly refuted the party's allegations of tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the Haryana assembly elections. Addressing a press conference here after the results of the Haryana assembly elections were announced, Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said some candidates had noticed that on EVMs that had 99 percent battery charge, the p

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday demanded a thorough probe into discrepancies found in some Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the counting of votes in the Haryana assembly polls and demanded that such EVMs should be sealed and secured pending the inquiry. A delegation of top Congress leaders comprising former chief ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Ashok Gehlot and AICC leaders KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Ajay Maken and Pawan Khera, besides Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan, met wit

PATNA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 21.38 crore of former Bihar RJD MLA Arun Yadav, wife and RJD MLA Kiran Devi and his family members in connection with a money laundering case. These include immovable properties including land parcels, flats and palatial residence worth around Rs 19.32 crore and the available balances of nearly Rs 2.05 crore in bank accounts. The central agency also attached properties of Yadav's sons Rajesh Kumar, Dip

CHANDIGARH: Infighting, over-reliance on sitting MLAs and rebel trouble appeared to be some of the contributing factors for the Congress failing to make a comeback in Haryana after a decade. The party appeared confident of dislodging the BJP dispensation, which was in power for 10 years and facing anti-incumbency. However, the BJP with 48 seats halted the Congress's comeback attempt and also proved several exit polls wrong , which had predicted a comfortable win for the grand old party in Haryan

MUMBAI: A dayafter the BJPs victory in Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday virtually inaugurated the infrastructure and development projects and made a scathing attack against the opposition's front Maha Vikas Aghadi. He said MVA will weaken Maharashtra, people should not allow it to happen and in upcoming state assembly elections, like Haryana, it should be rejected. PM Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the upgradation of Dr BR Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur pro

NEW DELHI: After the Congress' shock defeat in Haryana , the opposition INDIA bloc parties flexed their muscles on Wednesday, accusing the grand old party of ignoring them. They said this attitude should not be repeated in the future polls. Shiv Sena (UBT) turned out to be the biggest critic of the Congress, accusing it of ignoring other parties that resulted in the poll debacle. Leaders of the TMC, AAP, CPI(M), CPI and other parties also blamed the Congress for working alone , which led to the

NEW DELHI: The NHRC sought a compliance report from the Chief Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal, and others to submit a detailed report on the implementation of recommendations made by the NHRC survey for women. The survey dealt with work, rehabilitation, poverty eradication, and employment generation for women in Kolkata and its surrounding, North-24 Parganas and South-24 Parganas districts. The NHRC while monitoring a case on the plight and sufferings of the Asias largest red-light area passed t

NEW DELHI: A company linked to AAP MP from Punjab Sanjeev Arora and some other entities caused loss to the state government and generated huge proceeds of crime by misusing industrial lands for residential projects, the ED alleged Wednesday. The federal agency had raided the premises of Arora, also a businessman, that of a company promoted by him -- Hampton Sky Reality (erstwhile Ritesh Properties Industries Limited or RPIL) -- and others like Hemant Sood and Chander Shekhar Aggarwal on October

AHMEDABAD: A minor girl was raped by three men in Borsaran village of Mangrol taluka, Surat district in Gujarat. The three accused attacked and chased away a minor girl's friend and raped the 17-year-old girl. Second such occurrence in a week, the incident is similar to the recent gang rape which happened in Vadodara. Villagers, alerted by the victim's friend, rushed the semi-naked and injured minor to the hospital. The attackers also stole the mobile phones of both the victim and her friend. Po

KOLKATA: The mass resignation of senior doctors at different medical colleges and hospitals in West Bengal to express solidarity with their junior counterparts did not hamper healthcare services at these medical establishments, an official of the state health department claimed on Wednesday. Patient inflow at the out-patient department was considerably low due to the ongoing Durga Puja festivities across the state, though senior and junior doctors, RMOs and assistant professors were present in t

CHANDIGARH: In a major breakthrough against trans-border narcotic smuggling networks that use drones to transport drugs across the border, Amritsar Commissionerate Police has arrested three drug smugglers after recovering 5 kg heroin and Rs 3.95 lakh drug money from their possession. Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said here today those arrested have been identified as Gurpreet Singh, a resident of village Roranwali in Amritsar, Harpreet Singh alias Happy, a resident of Village Ro

CHANDIGARH: With the BJP set to form its government for the third time in Haryana after winning the polls, two Independent MLAsDevender Kadyan and Rajesh Joonon Wednesday decided to extend support to the BJP government once it is sworn in. While Joon was a Congress rebel, Kadyan fought as an Independent after the BJP denied him ticket. Kadyan fought from the Ganaur constituency in Sonipat and defeated his nearest Congress rival Kuldeep Sharma by a margin of 35,209 votes. Joon won from the Bahadu