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NEW DELHI: Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday undertook a strong defence of the newly implemented Labour Codes . In a statement posted on X, he issued a point by point rebuttal of the charges levied against the codes earlier in the day by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The opposition parties today staged a protest in the Parliament House complex demanding the immediate withdrawal of the codes.Billing the labour codes anti-labour, anti-worker and pro-croni

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has accounted for 35% of the total arrests nationwide under the UAPA in four years period after 2019 as a total of 3662 persons in the Union Territory were arrested and booked under stringent anti terror law from 2019 to 2023. According to the data placed in Rajya Sabha by Union MoS Home Nityanand Rai in response to a question by Congress MP Shafi Parambil, a total of 3662 persons have been arrested under UAPA in Jammu and Kashmir in four years from 2019 to 2023. The

BHOPAL: Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhans home state, Madhya Pradesh, is contributing the maximum to parali burning (paddy residue/stubble burning) in the country, data showed. As per the recent statistics pertaining to monitoring paddy residue burning in the country via satellite remote sensing, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said as many as 33,028 active burning events in six study states. The six study states included Punjab, Haryana, UP, Delhi, Rajasthan,

NEW DELHI: India recorded nearly 8.5 lakh out-of-school children (OoSC) in 2025-26, of whom 3.7 lakh were girls, the Centre informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. In a written reply, Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Savitri Thakur, said that in 2024-25, the provisional figure for total OoSC was 11,76,894, of whom 5,09,499 were girls. She said the key reasons for children dropping out of school included migration, the socio-economic condition of families, the imposition of domes

NEW DELHI: Minister of State for Education, Sukanta Mazumdar, informed the Rajya Sabha that the number of faculty vacancies in Central Universities stood at 25.44%in 2025. In a written response submitted in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday to a query from MPAnil Kumar Yadav Mandadi, Mazumdar said, There has been a substantial increase in the sanctioned faculty posts to 18,951 in 2025 from 16,324 in 2014. Despite the 16% increase in total sanctioned faculty posts, the faculty vacancies reduced to 25.

NEW DELHI: Indias largest pilot association, The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has come out with a slew of charges against Indigo airlines for the spate of cancellations and delays on Wednesday and Tuesday. It plans to raise these points with the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Aviation Ministry. The FIP has a membership of nearly 6,000 aviation professionals, employed in India and abroad. In a strongly-worded release to the media, Captain CS Randhawa,

JAIPUR: Just before the much-hyped Pravasi Rajasthan programme, the High Court has delivered an embarrassing jolt to the Rajasthan government. The court has sharply criticised the state for failing to prepare a clear roadmap for repairing dilapidated school buildings. The HC has also questioned why funds are being spent on grand events and beautification drives while unsafe schools continue to endanger school children. During the hearing, the Rajasthan High Court expressed strong displeasure ove

RANCHI: The Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking a CBI investigation into the alleged paper leak of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission's Combined Graduate Level Examination (JSSC-CGL). On November 3, after hearing arguments from all parties, a division bench of the High Court Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Rajesh Shankar had reserved the order. The court has also directed the JSSC to declare results and initiate the recruitment process. The court,

NEW DELHI: A Maharashtra-based Trust, under scanner of the MHA for alleged FCRA violation, and its trustees aided a Yemeni couple to overstay in India after the expiry of their visas and also got them Aadhaar, PAN and birth certificates, the ED said on Wednesday. The federal probe agency conducted multiple searches on December 1 after registering a money laundering case against Nandurbar-based Jamia Ismalia Ishatul Uloom (JIIU) Trust and some others. The raids were undertaken in the northwestern

NEW DELHI: A total of 1,232 flights were cancelled by Indigo in November with 755 of them cancelled due to crew and Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) constraints, said an official release from the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The regulator is investigating the present situation with the airline and is working with it to reduce cancellations and delays. An official release from the regulator said that 92 of these cancellations were an outcome of Air Traff

NEW DELHI: The national capital is all set to roll out the red carpet as Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives from Moscow on Thursday for a tightly packed two-day state visit laced with high-level diplomacy, economic negotiations and ceremonial grandeur. His first India trip in four years, the visit is designed to inject fresh momentum into the IndiaRussia partnership at a time of shifting geopolitical alignments. Putin touches down in the capital on Thursday evening, followed by a private d

NEW DELHI: Expressing its strongest displeasure the way the Maharashtra Prison offcials repeatedly failed to produce an undertrial accused before the trial court on a majority of hearing dates, the Supreme Court criticised the jail staff and said it was shocked at the conduct of the State authorities. We are shocked at the conduct of the State authorities. The production of an accused before the Court is not only to ensure speedy trial but more importantly, as a safeguard so that the prisoner is

RANCHI: In a significant development, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has formally taken over the Jharkhand liquor scam probe from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), launching its own investigation into the case. ED sources confirmed that the agency has adopted ACB case 9/2025 and registered a parallel Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) numbered 10/2025 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Following the registration of the ECIR, the ED moved the Special PMLA Court in Ranc

BHOPAL: A peaceful march marking the 41st anniversary of the 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy on Wednesday was marred by a noisy confrontation between the RSS-BJP workers and members of organisations working for the survivors of the worst industrial tragedy. The noisy encounter was triggered by an effigy, which the BJP and RSS workers claimed portrayed a RSS Swayamsevak, and consequently hurt the religious and organisational sentiments. The representatives of the organisations working for the gas tragedy

MUMBAI: The Pune Polices Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Wednesday arrested Sheetal Tejwani in connection with an alleged 1,800-crore, 40-acre land scam in Pune, in which deputy chief minister Ajit Pawars elder son, Parth Pawar, has also been named in allegations. It is alleged that Tejwani acted as an agent and falsified a power of attorney in favour of Amadea Enterprises LLP, a firm in which Parth Pawar is a major partner. According to the allegations, the 40 acres of landvalued at around 1,80

NEW DELHI: BJP Rajya Sabha MP Medha Vishram Kulkarni on Wednesday sought immediate withdrawal of halal certification for non-meat products, saying it is against the Constitution. She also said that private bodies should not be allowed to issue such certification on products that are sold outside the country, only the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has the right to issue food certification. Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Upper House, Kulkarni said that the concept

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses of the Centre, CBI, ED and the Chhattisgarh government on a plea of former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, arrested in liquor scam cases, seeking protection from further coercive action in as many as 11 FIRs registered by multiple investigating agencies. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Ujjal Bhuyan and N K Singh took note of the submissions of lawyers, Arshdeep Singh Khurana and Malak Bhatt, on behalf of the former IAS

PATNA: Bihar NDA government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday tabled second supplementary budget of Rs 91,717 crore for financial year 2025-26. The budget presented by state finance minister Vijendra Prasad Yadav will be put up for debate in the House and subsequent approval on Friday, the final day of the five-day Winter Session of the state legislature. A sum of Rs 51,253 crore has been earmarked for the annual expenditure on schemes, while Rs 40,462 crore is meant for establishm

NEW DELHI: Indigo airlines cancelled over 200 flights, and delayed countless others due to a crew shortage across airports in the country on Wednesday. This is the second consecutive day that Indigo is unable to operate a large number of flights. Sources said, the shortage is due to a massive recruitment drive by international airline Emirates at Delhi and Mumbai this week. However, Indigo attributed the significant disruption to multiple reasons including unforeseen operational challenges. Sour

KOLKATA: A Division Bench of the Calcutta HC rejected the verdict of (now retired) Justice Ganguly on cancelling the appointment of 32,000 primary teachers in State-run and State-aided primary schools across West Bengal. The Division Bench of Justice Tapobrata Chakraborty and Justice Reetobroto Kumar Mitra pronounced the verdict this afternoon. With todays verdict, the Mamata Banerjee government in the State heaved a sigh of relief. It comes at a crucial time when the Supreme Court invalidated a

The police on Wednesday arrested a middle-aged woman for allegedly murdering four children, including three girls and her own son in Haryana's Panipat. According to multiple media reports citing the police, the woman allegedly murdered the girls, including her niece, out of jealousy as she thought the children were prettier than her. The woman, identified as Poonam, also killed her son to avoid suspicion of killing the girls. The investigation into the killings began after the recent death of Po

HARIDWAR: The ashes of legendary Bollywood actor Dharmendra, a titan of Indian cinema who won the hearts of millions for decades, were consigned to the sacred waters of the River Ganga on Wednesday. The solemn ceremony, attended by his close family, marked the final rites for the actor affectionately known as the 'He-Man' of Hindi cinema. Dharmendras sons, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, performed the rituals according to tradition at a private ghat in Shravan Nath Nagar, Haridwar. The entire family,

RANCHI: In a major relief to Chief Minister Hemant Soren, the Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday exempted him from physical appearance in the MP-MLA Court in a case related to disobeying summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The case was heard on merits by Justice Anil Chaudhary, who disposed of the petition. Earlier, on November 25, Soren had been asked to appear personally after the Jharkhand High Court vacated an interim order issued on December 4, 2024, which had exempted him fr

DEHRADUN: Commuters are set to witness a dramatic reduction in travel time between the National Capital Region and Uttarakhands capital, as the trial run for the ambitious DelhiSaharanpurDehradun Expressway commenced late Sunday night. The 210-kilometre project, whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 4, 2021, is now operational on a trial basis following the removal of barricades near Geeta Colony, signalling the imminent opening of this high-speed corridor.

CHANDIGARH: A Hisar resident who emerged as the successful bidder with a Rs 1.17 crore offer for the fancy vehicle number HR-88-B-8888 in an online auction held in Charkhi Dadris Badhra subdivision is now under investigation after failing to pay by the deadline. Haryana Transport Minister Anil Vij on Thursday termed bidding in auctions a responsibility, not a hobby and directed transport officials to examine the bidders financial capacity and income sources. The Income Tax Department has also be

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a petition seeking a court-monitored committee to supervise all stages of trial in the Red Fort blast case. The high court said the trial in the case has not started yet and the issue raised in the petition was only on apprehension and it cannot be assumed that there will be a delay in the trial. Petitioner Dr Pankaj Pushkar sought a day-to-day trial in the case and a direction to the probe agency to file monthly status reports be

BIJAPUR: Five Naxalites and a jawan of the police's District Reserve Guard (DRG) were killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district on Wednesday, officials said. Another jawan suffered injuries in the gunfight, they said, adding that the operation was still underway. The gun battle took place in a forest of the Gangaloor area adjoining Dantewada district when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation, a police official said. Personnel belonging to the DRG

KOLKATA: In an apparent attempt to retain the Trinamool Congress' Muslim vote bank for ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday claimed that the BJP made the Waqf Act, not her party. We wont follow the Act and have opposed it in the state legislative assembly. The state government has filed a case in the Supreme Court. The case is still on and I wont allow anybody to touch the Waqf properties, Mamata said while addressing a party rally at Gazole i

KOLKATA: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday set aside a single bench order that annulled appointments of 32,000 primary school teachers in West Bengal. These teachers were recruited through the Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) of 2014. The bench, presided by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty, said it is not inclined to uphold the single bench order as irregularities have not been proven in all the recruitments. The court maintained that the termination of employment after nine

MALDA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah was 'behind the ploy' of implementing the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, months before the assembly polls. Banerjee, addressing a rally here, called the SIR a 'politically-driven exercise' aimed at unsettling voters. Amit Shah is behind this ploy of implementing the SIR in Bengal just before the elections, she claimed. He wants to capture Bengal at any cost, but

SRINAGAR: The Jammu & Kashmir cabinet on Wednesday discussed key changes to the Union Territorys reservation policy, with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the government has attempted to fulfil its promise to rationalise quotas without causing injustice to any community. The meeting, chaired by the CM at his Jammu residence, examined the Cabinet Sub Committees report proposing an increase in the Open Merit (OM) quota, currently a little over 30%. The recommendations were deliberated for more th

HYDERABAD: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday extended an invitation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the forthcoming Telangana Rising2047 Global Summit, being held to mark the completion of two years of Congress government in the state. Revanth Reddy called on the Prime Minister in Parliament along with Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka. Revanth Reddy also extended invites to Opposition leader in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, several Union Ministers and Congress lead

Amid privacy concerns over the Sanchar Saathi app , Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday asserted that snooping is neither possible nor will it happen with the app. Depending on the feedback, the ministry is ready to make changes to the order regarding the installation of the app in devices, he told Lok Sabha. Sanchar Saathi app se a snooping sambhav hai, no snooping hoga, he said in response to Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda's supplementary question regarding snoopi

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday called for a conciliatory approach to resolve the issue of tree felling in Nashik city for Kumbh Mela, saying that maintaining environmental balance is as important as development. Civil society members are up in arms against the Nashik civic body's reported plan to cut down more than 1700 trees in the Tapovan area to build a 'Sadhu Gram' for the visiting religious leaders ahead of Kumbh Mela which will begin in October 2026. Acto

NEW DELHI: Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that since coming to power, the Modi government has displayed a particularly venal streak of cynicism in relation to environmental protection, while alleging that it has now early signed a death warrant for Aravalli hills. She demanded that the government must withdraw the amendments it ulldozed through Parliament in the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 as well as the Forest Conservation Rules (2022). Gandhi s

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed on humanitarian grounds the entry of a pregnant woman and her eight-year-old child into India, months after they were pushed into Bangladesh. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked the West Bengal government to take care of the minor and directed the chief medical officer of Birbhum district to provide all possible medical assistance to the pregnant woman Sunali Khatun. The bench noted the submission of Solicitor Ge

Check-in systems at various airports faced issues on Wednesday morning due to a system outage, according to a source. The source added that some flights have been delayed due to the issues. Microsoft Windows reports major service outages globally. IT services/ check in systems at airports are impacted, as per a message for the passengers at the Varanasi airport. According to the message, airlines have implemented manual check-in and boarding procedures. At least four airlines -- IndiGo, SpiceJet

CHANDIGARH: Groundwater extraction in the country is the highest in Punjab, followed by Rajasthan and Haryana, according to the latest National Compilation of Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India, 2025 report of the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB). The findings show that 25 per cent of the 6,762 total blocks in India have been categorised as over-exploited, critical or semi-critical, a situation concentrated in nine states, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,

Parliament proceedings began without disruptions on Wednesday, the third day of the Winter Session, after two days of protests and ruckus. The calm followed the resolution of the logjam over the Oppositions demand for a discussion on SIR a day earlier. On Tuesday, floor leaders agreed that the Lok Sabha will take up the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram on December 8, and hold discussions on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and on electoral reforms on December 9. The schedule w

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India this week for a summit focused on strengthening economic, defence and energy ties , a trip that will also test New Delhis effort to balance its relations with Moscow and Washington as the war in Ukraine continues. Putin is due to arrive on Thursday and hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, with both sides expected to review bilateral cooperation, discuss key regional issues and sign a series of government and commercial agreemen

RAIPUR: A Railway Protection Force (RPF) head constable shot his colleague dead inside the RPF post during the early hours of Wednesday at Raigarh, around 220 km east of Raipur, a police officer said. According to eyewitnesses, RPF personnel S Lader had an altercation with his batchmate P K Mishra, also a head constable. As the argument escalated, Lader allegedly pulled out his service revolver and opened fire. A RPF jawan shot dead his colleague, both of them head constable, allegedly with his

RAIGARH: A head constable of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) was shot dead allegedly by a colleague at their outpost in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district early on Wednesday, officials said. The incident occurred at around 4 am at the RPF outpost at Raigarh Railway Station, they said. According to preliminary information, Head Constable KS Lader allegedly fired four rounds from his service pistol at Head Constable PK Mishra, following an argument over an unknown issue. Mishra died on the spot, S

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over repeated claims by the US that President Donald Trump brokered peace between India and Pakistan, saying o wonder the Modi-Trump huglomacy is in deep freeze. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump has brokered several peace deals , including the very dangerous ones like India and Pakistan, and deserves remendous credit for reshaping America's foreign policy. Congress general secretary in charge of

NABADWIP: In the hours before dawn, when most of this river town in West Bengal's Nadia district lies silent under a winter sky, a newborn baby was left alone on the cold ground outside a bathroom in a railway workers' colony. The infant was only a few hours old, still marked with blood from birth, with no blanket, no note, and no one nearby. But the baby was not entirely alone. What followed is now whispered with the disbelief reserved for miracles-a pack of strays, the very dogs people chase a

NEW DELHI: In what ties classroom comfort to prison inmate rehabilitation, the Delhi Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, has cleared a proposal to procure 10,000 dual desks from the Tihar Central Jail Factory for the citys government schools. Gupta said the decision hits two goals with one stepeasing the furniture crunch in schools while expanding opportunities for inmates to learn skills and earn wages. This will not only improve the learning environment in schools, but also create empl

NEW DELHI: The long-delayed national population census, which will include caste enumeration for the first time, will be conducted in two phases starting April 2026, the Centre informed Parliament on Tuesday. Responding to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said Phase I (House Listing and Housing Census) will take place between April and September 2026, while Phase II (Population Enumeration) is scheduled for February 2027, with March

NEW DELHI: In a major relief to former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa, the Supreme Court on Tuesday in its order stayed the trial proceedings against him in a sexual harassment case filed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Issue notice. Meanwhile, trial proceedings shall remain stayed, a two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, said. The top court added that the notice was being issued primarily to consider

VARANASI: In a veiled dig at Chief Minister MK Stalin, Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday said a few friends in Tamil Nadu want to create a division based on language due to their parochial political interests. Speaking at the Kashi Tamil Sangamam (KTS) 4.0 in Varanasi, inaugurated by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Pradhan, without naming Stalin, said, With utmost politeness, every year I write to the honourable CM of Tamil Nadu to come here for the inauguration of th

NEW DELHI: The confrontation between the government and the opposition in the Rajya Sabha showed no sign of easing on Tuesday, with the treasury benches making it clear that a debate on Vande Mataram would be taken up before any discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijijus refusal to reorder the agenda triggered fresh disruptions, forcing adjournments and eventually prompting an opposition walkout. When the House reconvened p

NEW DELHI: The political row over the Sanchar Saathi App issue escalated on Tuesday with Congress terming it BJPs yet another attempt to strangulate the peoples voice. Likening the move to dictatorship, the opposition party called it a snooping app, and demanded its immediate rollback. Sharpening the attack, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the government initiated this move without consulting any political parties or stake holders. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has directed