NEW DELHI: Hundreds of thousands of workers across India went on a nationwide strike on Wednesday in opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modis efforts to privatize state-run companies and other economic reforms, partially disrupting public services and manufacturing. A coalition of 10 major trade unions that represent laborers and several other groups that speak for farmers and rural workers called for the one-day industrial action, dubbing it Bharat Bandh, Hindi for Shut Down India. The strik

CHANDIGARH: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at eleven locations across Punjab and Haryana as part of an ongoing money-laundering investigation into a 'dunki route' case involving illegal immigrants who were deported by the United States earlier this year. Sources said that the Jalandhar zonal office of the apex agency carried out search operations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala, and Moga in Punjab, and Ambala, Ku

AHMEDABAD: Yet another bridge collapse in Gujarat has jolted the state, exposing deep-rooted negligence and crumbling infrastructure. The 40 year-old Gambhira Bridge in Vadodara district fell apart early Wednesday, dragging multiple vehicles into the Mahisagar River. While the government rushes to give reassurances, a haunting question persistshow many tragedies will it take before accountability replaces apathy? Gambhira Bridge Collapse: 9 Dead, 9 Rescued The Gambhira Bridge, connecting Central

CHANDIGARH: A cache of arms including two AK-47 rifles with 16 live cartridges, two magazines, and two P-86 (high explosive) hand grenades, was found on Tuesday in the forests of Gurdaspur district in Punjab. The consignment is believed to have been meant for associates of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), as the Punjab Police foiled a major terror plot allegedly orchestrated by Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Rinda. Acting on intelligence inputs, the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of Punja

A Jaguar fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed near Churu district in Rajasthan on Wednesday afternoon, news agency ANI reported. The cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained. While the IAF is yet to release an official statement, visuals from the crash site showed thick smoke rising from the debris as local authorities rushed to the scene. Rescue operations are currently underway. According to initial reports, two bodies were recovered from the crash site. One of them is bel

A Jaguar fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed near Churu district in Rajasthan on Wednesday afternoon, news agency ANI reported. The cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained. While the IAF has not issued a formal statement yet, unconfirmed reports suggest that two people may have been injured in the incident. It is unclear whether the two individuals are civilians or related to the aircrafts crew. Visuals from the site showed smoke billowing from the crash spot and local aut

The Supreme Court of India has registered a suo motu cognisance (criminal) in response to the summoning of advocates who provide legal advice or represent clients during the course of investigations. A bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, is expected to hear the matter on Monday, July 14, as the Court reopens following a 50-day summer vacation. It is pertinent to note that the power of suo motu cognisance (SMC) is derived from Articles 32 and 226 of the Constitutio

RANCHI: Home Minister Amit Shah will be coming to Ranchi on Wednesday evening to attend the Eastern Zonal Council meeting on July 10. A total of 68 representatives from four eastern states Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal will attend the meeting. The meeting will be chaired by Amit Shah, scheduled to be held at 11 am at Radisson Blu Hotel in Ranchi on Thursday. Chief Minister Hemant Soren will also be present during the meeting along with the Odisha Chief Minister Mohancharan Manjhi,

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday in its order declined urgent listing and refused to stay the release of the movie Udaipur Files which is based on the life of tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teli's murder in Udaipur. The top court's two-judgevacation bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi refused to pass any order on Mohammed Javed's plea.Mohammed Javed is one of the accused in the brutal 2022 Udaipur-based tailor murder case. Mention before the court concerned after the summer vaca

JALANDHAR: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted searches in multiple cities of Punjab and Haryana as part of a money laundering investigation into a 'donkey route' case related to illegal Indian immigrants who were deported by the US this year , official sources said. Offices and houses of suspects and agents in at least 11 cities in the two states , Amritsar, Sangrur, Patiala and Moga in Punjab and Ambala, Kurukshetra and Karnal in Haryana are being raided under the Prevention of

DEHRADUN: In a surprising twist of perception, Uttarakhand's leopards, long associated with cunning tactics and frequent attacks in residential areas, are now often seen as less aggressive than the region's tigers. This public sentiment, however, is starkly contradicted by official human-wildlife conflict data spanning the last decade, which reveals leopards are responsible for significantly more human deaths and injuries. According to internal records from the Forest Department, the period betw

CHANDIGARH: The torrential rains and the harsh weather have impacted the apple industry of the state as a severe fungal disease has hit the apple plants, causing apple leaves to turn yellow and fall prematurely, leading to a sharp decline in yield. It is estimated that around 35 to 40 per cent of apple trees in each orchard are affected. The size and quality of the fruit are likely to be impacted. After Kashmir, the hill state is the second largest producer of apples in the country, with a subst

PATNA: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday led a Mahagathbandhan march to the Election Commission's office in Patna to protest the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls before the Bihar assembly polls. The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, who arrived in the state capital in the morning, was accompanied by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI general secretary D Raja and senior leaders of other opposition partie

AHMEDABAD: In a heart wrenching tragedy in Gujarat, the Gambhira Bridge collapsed without warning sending five vehicles plunging into the raging Mahisagar River below. Six lives were brutally claimed by the waters, while eight miraculously escaped. But not everyone was so lucky. Among the chaos, a woman stood on the riverbank, trembling, her screams cutting through the air. Her world had collapsed with that bridge. My husband my son..., she wailed, her voice raw with agony. Her tears werent just

PATNA: A Delhi-bound IndiGo flight carrying around 175 passengers returned to Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport in Patna after takeoff on Wednesday morning as one of its engines developed a technical snag due to a bird hit, airport officials said. All the 175 passengers and crew were safe, they said. IGO5009 Patna to Delhi reported bird hit after takeoff at 0842 IST, one dead bird in pieces found on runway during inspection. The same was advised to the aircraft through the Approach Contr

PRAYAGRAJ: Four children drowned after falling into a water-filled pit in Bedouli village here, police said on Wednesday. Assistant Commissioner of Police (Meja) SP Upadhyay said police received information around 7 pm on Tuesday that the four children, aged between three and five years, were missing. The children, who belonged to a tribe, were playing outside their homes when they went missing. A search operation was launched but the children could not be located. The search resumed on Wednesda

Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad, aligned with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shindes faction, is once again at the center of controversy after a video emerged showing him punching a canteen worker at the Akashvani MLA hostel in Mumbai. The incident occurred Tuesday night during the ongoing monsoon session of the Maharashtra Legislature. In the video, Gaikwad is seen storming into the canteen, scolding the manager, forcing him to smell stale dal and rice, and striking the staff member seated at the bi

VADODARA: At least four vehicles fell into a river after a portion of a bridge collapsed in Gujarat's Vadodara district on Wednesday morning, police said. Four persons were rescued so far and the operation was still on, Padra police inspector Vijay Charan said. The Gambhira bridge located on the Mahisagar river along a state highway collapsed at around 7.30 am, the official said. Around four vehicles fell into the river after a portion of the bridge on the Mahisagar river collapsed around 7.30 a

NEW DELHI: The Congress party on Tuesday took a swipe at the recent decision by Pakistan and Israel to nominate U.S. President Donald Trump for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, calling it a reflection of the increasingly izarre choices seen over the awards history. Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, highlighted the peculiar nature of some past Nobel Peace Prize selections and underscored notable exclusions, particularly those of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru

WASHINGTON : US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that under President Donald Trump's leadership, America prevented and ended a war between India and Pakistan. Just going through a list here Mr President and all these achievements that have happened domestically. Under your leadership, we've prevented and ended a war between India and Pakistan, Rubio said, sitting next to Trump, during remarks at a Cabinet meeting at the White House Tuesday. Rubio also listed the peace deal between the Democra

NEW DELHI: The CBI successfully extradited alleged economic offender Monika Kapoor from the United States on Wednesday, bringing an end to her more than 25-year flight from justice, officials said. Kapoor, who had an Interpol Red Notice against her, was taken into custody in the US by a CBI team which has boarded an American Airlines flight AA 292 expected to land here Wednesday night, they said. This marks the second major success for the agency in recent days, following the arrest of Nehal Mod

NEW DELHI: The CBI is bringing back alleged economic offender Monika Kapoor from the USA after her , ending her more than 25-year-long run from the law, officials said Wednesday. The central agency has taken Kapoor's custody in the USA and boarded an American Airlines flight to India, which is likely to land on Wednesday night, they said. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York had cleared her extradition under the bilateral extradition treaty between India and the

NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has directed higher education institutions to monitor any informal WhatsApp groups created to harass juniors, saying it will be treated as ragging and attract strict action under anti-ragging rules, according to officials. The UGC receives dozens of complaints every year from freshers alleging harassment by seniors. In several cases, seniors form informal WhatsApp groups, contact juniors and subject them to mental harassment. This too amounts to

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is learnt to have worked out a plan with intelligence and cybersecurity agencies to bring in a tougher mechanism against those who upload provocative anti-India content on online platforms and which go viral in no time, sources said on Monday. They said that the agencies have moved in this direction as terror outfits frequently use online platforms for radicalisation. Of late online videos of Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, gangster

NEW DELHI: Services across the country are likely to be partially affected, as ten major trade unions, led by the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), have announced a nationwide general strike for Wednesday. The strike is being held to protest against four labour codes, among other issues. AITUC general secretary Amarjeet Kaur told this newspaper, We expect nearly 25 crore people to take part across sectors and states. Workers from banks, insurance companies, coal and steel industries, farm,

MUMBAI: Hundreds took part in a protest march led by the MNS and other groups to defend the Marathi asmita (pride) in Mira Bhayandar area in Thane near Mumbai on Tuesday amid rising political heat following the attack on a shopkeeper for refusal to speak Marathi. The march witnessed detention of several activists by the police with leaders and workers of opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) also joining the protest. Shiv Sena minister Pratap Sarnaik was heckled and driven away by angry demons

RANCHI: A wild elephant delivered a calf near Hazaribagh-Barkakana railway line under Ramgarh Forest Division, during which, train operations were kept suspended for over two hours on the route. Thanks to the quick coordination between forest and railway officials that the situation was handled safely, ensuring the well-being of both the elephant and its newborn. Though the incident, which took place early in the morning on June 25, it went unreported until Ramgarh Divisional Forest Officer (DFO

JAIPUR: Congress leader and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot blew hot and cold against the Bhajanlal Sharma-led BJP government on Tuesday, describing him as suitable, while launching a stinging critique against him. It has been one and a half years now. Complete your full five-year term. Who is stopping you? Pandit Bhajanlal suits us. We want you to govern well, Gehlot said. He added that he had met Sharma twice. He came to meet me and said he has been travelling across Rajasthan for

SRINAGAR: Raising serious environmental concerns in Jammu and Kashmir, authorities have felled over 5.84 lakh trees along the Jhelum River in the last five years as part of their attempt to remove encroachments from the banks. The office of the Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Kashmir, revealed in response to an RTI query that 6,32,924 Lakh trees were identified as encroachments on the riverbanks, and 5,84,153 of them were cut. Srinagar-based RTI activist and environmenta

PATNA: Nanhaki Manjhi, a resident of Bishunpur Basant alias Subhai village in Bihars Vaishali district, has doubts that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state will be completed on time. Even if the exercise is completed within timeframe, the final list of eligible voters will be full of errors, he said. Manjhi, who is in his early 30s, said, The ECs exercise is not going to benefit people anyway. Rather it has left people in the lurch. People are busy in collecting

Mineral and agriculture-rich Chhattisgarh looks to be the new bastion of technological innovation and strategic industries. Under its new industrial development policy for 2024-30, the state has taken momentous decisions to attract investment in strategic sectors, including defence, aerospace, and space technology. These decisions include state GST reimbursement of up to 100%, as well as substantial subsidies and other facilities. The Cabinet has announced a separate industrial incentive package

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Education has come up with some disturbing revelations about the proficiency of students in basic Mathematics in government and private schools across the country. It assessed the Maths and Linguistic proficiency of 21.15 lakh students across 74,229 schools in 36 states and union territories last year. The survey was conducted by PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 for 21,15,022 students across three different grades: Grade 3 (5,99,026), Grade 6 (6,63,195), and Grade 9 (8

NEW DELHI: With the US government sending letters to over a dozen countries informing them of the reciprocal tariff they are likely to attract on exports to the US, the suspense over the trade deal with India continues. Even as President Donald Trump on Monday hinted that the US is hours away from announcing a deal with India, back home the government is in a wait-and-watch mode. The ball is in the US court, we negotiated with the US officials, now it is up to them, said an official, who refused

NEW DELHI: Mohammed Javed, one of the accused in the 2022 murder of Udaipur-based tailor Kanhaiya Lal Teli , has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking a fair trial and stay on the release of the film The Udaipur Files: Kanhaiyalal Tailor Murder, scheduled to be released on 11 July 2025. Javed -- 8th accused in the murder case -- in his petition argued that the film is communally provocative and could prejudice ongoing judicial proceedings. Releasing such a movie at this juncture, po

MUMBAI: Indias push towards indigenising the production of capital warshipslarge, heavily armed vesselshas gained momentum, with all Project 17A Nilgiri-class stealth frigates progressing on schedule. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Additional General Manager Jay Varghese told The New Indian Express on Tuesday that the last of the class, Mahendragiri , will be delivered to the Indian Navy by February 2026. We have the Mahendragiri ship, which is the fourth and final vessel of the P-17 Alpha class of s

BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has denied anticipatory bail to an Indore-based cartoonist Hemant Malviya who was booked by police on May 21 for allegedly posting objectionable content about the RSS, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Lord Shiva. Dismissing Malviyas anticipatory bail plea, Justice Subodh Abhyankar said, The applicant ought to have used his discretion, while drawing the aforesaid caricature, and he had clearly overstepped the threshold of freedom of speech and expression, an

BHOPAL: Speaking at the Congress' Nyaya Satyagraha to protest against the registration of a criminal case against state party president Jitu Patwari, Gwalior-Rural MLA Sahab Singh Gurjar made a controversial remark likening members of the RSS to 'hijre' (eunuchs). Gurjar said, Sathiyon, jo mard they voh jung mein aaye, aur jo hijrey they voh sangh mein gaye. Samajh gaye aap ishaaraa hi kaafi hai. (Those who were men went to the battlefield, those who were eunuchs joined the Sangh. You understoo

NEW DELHI: The FSSAI on Tuesday warned all e-commerce platforms to ensure stringent food safety and hygiene protocols or face action. The warning was issued at a meeting chaired by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) G Kamala Vardhana Rao. The meeting, which was held to strengthen food safety and hygiene practices throughout the e-commerce food supply chain, was attended by more than 70 representatives of leading e-commerce platforms. Emphasising th

GUWAHATI: The Manipur High Court has directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to file a progress report in connection with the November 11, 2024 killings of three women and three children -- all members of the Meitei community -- in Jiribam. A division bench, comprising Chief Justice K Somashekar and Justice Ahanthem Bimol Singh, issued the direction during the hearing of a public interest litigation on Monday. The petitioner, Soram Tekendrajit, had sought justice for the victims. The co

NEW DELHI: In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a man who murdered his friend in 2006 following a financial dispute, after noting that the circumstances in the case proved the guilt of the accused. Each of the circumstances so proved must form a complete chain without any break and clearly point to the guilt of the accused, the bench noted in its order. The bench further stated that, Merely because there is no evidence of any witness seeing the gun being carrie

KOLKATA: The BJP's four-member fact finding committee on the alleged gang rape incident at South Calcutta Law College submitted its report to National party president J P Nadda and stated that here is complete failure and collapse of law and order in the state. Alleging that criminals and anti-social elements are being sheltered by the state administration and the police, the committee recommended that a high-level independent inquiry led by persons of repute or a central agency be launched to

NEW DELHI: A deeper forensic lab analysis has revealed that Pakistan made a concerted online attempt to spread false narratives against India during Operation Sindoor , with most of the social media handles found to be Pakistan-based and apparently linked to the countrys armed forces and the ISI, officials said on Tuesday. The forensic report was shared with central agencies, leading to a ban on several social media accounts belonging to Pakistan-based celebrities and some foreign nationals, the

NEW DELHI: Global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has raised concerns over the misuse of e-commerce platforms and online payment services by terrorist organisations, citing examples from India, including the 2019 Pulwama attack and the 2022 Gorakhnath Temple incident. In its report titled Comprehensive Update on Terrorist Financing Risks , the FATF also highlighted the issue of state sponsorship of terrorism , stating that certain terrorist organisations have been an

CHANDIGARH: As heavy rains continue to lash Himachal Pradesh, the local meteorological department on Tuesday issued a warning stating that there is a risk of low to moderate flash floods in the next twenty four hours in parts of seven districts including Chamba, Kangra, Mandi, Kullu, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur. A 'yellow' alert warning of heavy rains in isolated places across the state till next Monday has also been issued. The state has received 203.2 mm of rain against the normal of 152.6 mm fr

DEHRADUN: A devastating cloudburst in Chamoli district's Nandanagar block triggered massive flash floods in the wee hours of Tuesday, causing widespread destruction. One cowshed was destroyed and 11 residential buildings have been left on the brink of collapse as their foundations have been compromised. Agricultural crops in the area have also suffered extensive damage. It all happened so fast. One moment we were in our homes, the next we were running for our lives, recounted Vijay Singh, a terr

NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar asserted that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar electoral rolls is an 'inclusive' exercise and that it is inevitable for strengthening democracy, while responding to the opposition. Pure electoral rolls are inevitable for strengthening democracy, Kumar said. However, opposition parties have firmly stated that the exercise would deprive crores of voters their right to vote. Notably, the Supreme Court had on Monday agreed to he

Indian nurse Nimisha Priya, who was handed a death penalty in Yemen, will reportedly be executed on July 16. The 37-year-old nurse from Kerala had been convicted for allegedly murdering a Yemeni national in June 2018 and the local court handed out a death sentence to her. We have been closely following the matter since then. We have been in regular touch with local authorities and her family members and rendered all possible assistance. We continue to closely follow the matter, sources told TNIE

NEW DELHI: With Manipur gripped by ethnic violence since May 2023, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) says its volunteers have been working to ease tensions by facilitating dialogue between the states two warring communities, the Kukis and the Meiteis. The Sangh, which is the BJPs ideological mentor, has also begun shaping internal conversations around the partys next national president and the long-delayed organisational overhaul. On Monday, the RSS released a statement highlighting its effo

MUMBAI: Amending the basic structure of the Indian Constitution means rewriting the Constitution, and that is against the core idea of democracy, said Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan Gavai on Tuesday. Gavai was speaking at the felicitation ceremony that the Maharashtra state legislative assembly and council had organised for the newly appointed CJI at the central hall of Vidhan Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, DCM Eknath Shinde and DCM Ajit Pawar and other elected

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is learnt to have collaborated with intelligence and cyber security agencies to formulate tougher mechanisms to take action against anti-Indian content on online platforms, sources said on Monday. Sources said that the decision to tighten control over online content was made following increasing reports of terror outfits using social media platforms for radicalisation. Recently, online videos of Khalistani separationist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, g