VIENTIANE: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday called on Laos Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and raised the issue of trafficking of Indian nationals through cyber scam centres in the Southeast Asian country and discussed development partnership and cooperation in areas like defence and energy. Jaishankar is in the capital of the Laos People's Democratic Republic to participate in the meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He called on Siphandone, along

MUMBAI: A four-storey building collapsed in Navi Mumbai's Belapur area early on Saturday, and two persons were rescued, while a search operation is underway to find another one feared trapped under the rubble, an NDRF official said. The incident occurred around 5 am in Shahbaz village, he said. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation's fire brigade personnel rescued two persons after the building collapse and efforts are on to safely bring out anothe

UP to be in focus at RSS meet The UP debacle has triggered a series of meetings and confabulations not only in the BJP but in its parent organisation, the RSS. RSS also seems to be equally worried about the future poll course of the party. The issue is set to figure prominently at the much-awaited RSS coordination meeting in Kerala between July 31 and August 2. The meeting, to be held in Palakkad district, assumes significance amid the buzz of a rift between the BJP and its ideological fountainh

NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha witnessed a ruckus on Friday with the Opposition demanding a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) and Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accusing the Congress of doing politics in the name of farmers. The trouble began during the Question Hour, when Chouhan listed steps taken by the government for the welfare of farmers and spoke about the committee looking into strengthening the MSP system but did not mention a legal guarantee for MSP. Congress

RS kills bill to make guvs accountable A private member bill seeking to make Governors constitutionally bound by the advice of the council of ministers of states was defeated in Rajya Sabha on Friday, with treasury benches voting against the Bill brought by Kerala MP John Brittas. The two sides clashed at the introduction of the Bill, with the Opposition MPs saying Governors in non-BJP ruled states were acting against the elected governments. Deputy Chairman Harivansh put the motion for the intr

NEW DELHI: The faceoff between the government and Opposition continued in the Lok Sabha on Friday over the alleged discrimination against non-BJP states in the Union Budget. The House was adjourned briefly after TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee raised the issue of division of West Bengal. While Speaker Om Birla did not heed to Banerjees demand, TMC MPs entered the well in protest. The Speaker adjourned the House amid sloganeering by treasury benches against the corruption charges against the Karnataka gov

NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi may soon be allotted bungalow no 5 on Sunehri Bagh Road. The House Committee has reportedly offered him the property. However, the Congress leader is yet to accept the accommodation. Congress general secretary and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited the house on Friday. Since he became a member of the Lok Sabha, Rahul had been staying at property number 12 in Tughlaq Lane till his disqualification from the House last year. The fo

NEW DELHI: A political slugfest erupted on Friday over Prime Minister Narendra Modis remarks on the Agniveer scheme as the Opposition parties launched a broadside against him. It is unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing petty politics even on occasions like paying tribute to martyrs on Kargil Vijay Diwas. No Prime Minister has ever done this before, Kharge said. Modi, in his speech, lashed out at the Opposition for politicising the Agnipath Scheme and misleading the youth. He sa

NEW DELHI: The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday released the final results for the NEET-UG, following a Supreme Court directive. Seventeen candidates share the top rank, down from 61 in the revised results. Forty-four of the 67 candidates, who were initially declared toppers, had scored full marks due to the marks awarded for a specific physics question. The number of toppers was later reduced to 61 after the agency withdrew grace marks given to six candidates to compensate for lost time

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor administration on Friday liberalised industrial land allotment policy to encourage large-scale investments from big industrialists in the union territory, officials said. The Administrative Council, which met in Srinagar on Friday under chairmanship of LtGovernor Manoj Sinha, approved amendments in J&K Industrial Land Allotment Policy 2021-30. An official spokesman said the amendments have been made in the policy to encourage large investments having s

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Friday said he will not refrain from visiting the states border districts, even if Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann feels bad. The governor, who has been at loggerheads with the CM over various issues, also asked Mann not to be afraid of him and stressed that there was no reason for the CM to be upset. Mann had hit out at Purohit, saying he should refrain from creating an atmosphere of conflict. He said the Governor holds a constitutional post and sh

RANCHI: Hearing a Public Interest Litigation seeking a ban on the conversion of tribals in the state through Changai Sabha, the Jharkhand High Court on Thursday sought a detailed report on the districts where the conversion of tribals is taking place and the actions taken to check conversions by the central and state governments. The HC asked both governments to file a reply by August 27. The petitioners advocate, Rohit Ranjan Sinha, argued that the government should form an investigation commit

NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI : Moidams the mound-burial system of the Ahom Dynasty from Assam have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The announcement was made on Friday during the ongoing session of the World Heritage Committee in Delhi. With Moidams entering the coveted list, India now has 43 heritage properties bearing the prestigious tag. It is the first culture site from Assam to be bestowed the inscription. Earlier, Kaziranga National Park and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary were inscribed

PATNA: The Bihar government could spend only 77.95% of the total budget during the financial year 202223 as the state surrendered an amount of Rs 20,526.71 crore. It was revealed in the state finances audit report of the CAG for the financial year ending March 31, 2023, presented in the state legislature on Thursday. According to the report, the state could spend a sum of only Rs 2,35,176.84 crore, whereas the total budget of the state was Rs 3,01,686.46 crore for the financial year 202223. The

NEW DELHI: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will participate in the ninth meeting of the NITI Aayog governing council on Saturday for some time if she is allowed to speak, as will her Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren, amid a boycott by other chief ministers of opposition-ruled states. The meeting will discuss a range of issues, including a Viksit Bharat@2047 document. If they allow me to record our voice, I will do so. Else, I will leave in protest. I will try to speak on behalf of o

BHOPAL: In a statement that is likely to stoke a fresh controversy, a Hindu in Seer has made a provocative call urging every Hindu woman to have four sons in order to change the country from Bharat (India) to Hindustan. At the ongoing Srimad Bhagwat Katha event in Ujjain district, Madhya Pradesh, Swami Premanand Maharaj, the Mahamandaleshwar of Panchayati Niranjani Akhara, urged every Hindu woman to give birth to four sons to shift the country from Bharat to Hindustan. Speaking on the fifth day

PUNE: Police have filed a chargesheet against seven accused in connection with the Porsche car accident case, including the parents of a minor boy who was allegedly behind the wheel, in a Pune court, more than two months after the fatal crash, an official said on Friday. The 900-page chargesheet, submitted on Thursday in a sessions court, has excluded the 17-year-old boy, whose case is being handled separately by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), while the seven accused have been charged under I

PATNA: Senior BJP leader Dilip Kumar Jaiswal has been appointed as the new president of the party's Bihar unit replacing Samrat Choudhary who served as state chief of the party for nearly 16 months. Jaiswal is from the OBC Vaishya community and may help consolidate its members behind the BJP ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls next year. The state revenue and land reforms minister, he has been picked for the top party post in the state by the BJP high command in view of his vast experience in the

SRINAGAR: Opposition leaders of Jammu and Kashmir would be meeting in Jammu, the winter capital of J&K, on August 7 to discuss the recent amendments to the Transaction of Business of Government of Jammu and Kashmir Rules 2019 by the Ministry of Home Affairs giving more powers to Lt Governor of the J&K Union Territory. CPI(M) leader and former MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami told The New Indian Express that the recent amendments to the Transaction of Business of Government of Jammu and Kashmir Rules

PATNA: The Ethics Committee of the Bihar Legislative Council on Friday expelled Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLC Sunil Singh for making derogatory comments against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the House. The disciplinary action was initiated against Singh, a close aide of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, for issuing personal comments and mimicking Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the floor of the House during the budget session held in February this year. Acting Chairman of the Bihar Legislative Council A

RANCHI: In a significant development in the NEET-UG paper leak case, the CBI team on Friday recovered a sack full of mobile phones from a pond in Sugamdih, approximately 20 km from the district headquarters in Dhanbad. The CBI team arrived in Dhanbad on Friday morning, and searched the pond following the input of a suspect, Pawan Kumar, who had been earlier detained from the Combined Building area under the Sadar police station in Dhanbad. After taking Pawan Kumar into custody, the CBI team ques

LUCKNOW: Congress MP from Rae Bareli and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi appeared in the local court of Sultanpur on Friday in connection with a defamation case pertaining to his alleged controversial comments on Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The Sultanpur court has posted the matter for the next hearing on August 12. Gandhi, who appeared before Special Judge Shubham Verma, stated during his appearance that he never made any statement against anyone that could lead to a defamation case,

The Rashtrapati Bhavan has announced an online auction of selected gifts handed over to the President and ex-Presidents over the years. The auction will happen on the E-Upahaar portal, launched by President Droupadi Murmu on July 25, 2024. Two hundred and fifty gifts will be put up for auction from August 5 to August 26, 2024 in the first phase. At the end of bidding period, the items will be delivered to the successful bidders. Those interested can place their bid on upahaar.rashtrapatibhavan.g

NEW DELHI: India and the United States of America (USA) on Friday signed the first ever Cultural Property Agreement to prevent and curb the illicit trade of antiquities and simplify the process by which stolen and smuggled culture objects are returned to their country of origin. The accord marks the culmination of nearly two-year-long bilateral discussions, negotiations held on the sidelines of the G20 Culture Working Group meetings and efforts made by experts from both countries. The Secretary

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested 43 accused, who have allegedly been found involved in a sophisticated cyber enabled financial crimes network operating against several countries in the world, as part of its ongoing Operation CHAKRA-III, officials said on Friday. The officials said the crime network was being run under a company named Innonet Technologies (OPC) Pvt Ltd and the same was being operated across multiple countries since 2022. The Operation CHAKRA-III w

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday emphasized that Pakistan has lost its relevance and resorts to proxy wars to stay significant. He asserted that India has steadfastly followed the path of truth. In Kargil, we not only won the war but also set an extraordinary example of 'truth, restraint, and strength, Prime Minister Modi remarked. He highlighted Pakistans deceit during a time when India was making every effort to maintain peace. Falsehood and terror were brought down to their k

NEW DELHI: For India, ASEAN is the cornerstone of its Act East Policy and India attaches importance to it said External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar on Friday in Lao PDR. ``The priority that India attaches to ASEAN and EAS platforms is evident from Prime Minister Modi visiting Jakarta last year on the very eve of our own G20 Summit. He had announced a 12-point plan that has been largely acted upon. For India, ASEAN is the cornerstone of its Act East Policy and the Indo-Pacific vision that w

NEW DELHI: India on Friday assumed the Chair of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) with a promise that the country will play a global and regional leadership role in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), officials in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said. The officials said that India has taken over as the ADPC Chair as China's tenure comes to an end. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is playing a global and regional leadership role in the field of Disaster Risk

NEW DELHI: In a relief to SpiceJet , the Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea of Kalanithi Maran and Kal Airways against the Delhi High Court order that had set aside an arbitral award asking the low-cost carrier to refund Rs 579 crore with interest to the media baron and his firm. A single judge bench of the Delhi High Court had on July 31, 2023 upheld the arbitral award asking Spicejet promoter Ajay Singh to refund Rs 579 crore plus interest to Maran and his company Kal Airways.

NEW DELHI: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has officially released the re-revised results for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-UG 2024, following a directive from the Supreme Court of India. The NEET (UG) 2024 toppers' data reveals a competitive and diverse group of high achievers from across India. The top scorers achieved a perfect 720 marks with a percentile of 99.9992714, representing both male and female candidates from regions such as Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Mah

NEW DELHI: The National Testing Agency on Friday announced the final results of the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam NEET-UG, officials said. The results were declared following directive from the Supreme Court after taking into account marks of a physics question, which the NTA had said has two correct answers. The re-revised score cards are live now, a senior NTA official said. Forty-four out of the 67 candidates who were earlier declared toppers had scored full marks because of the ma

NEW DELHI: National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, is in Myanmar for the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) meeting of NSA. Doval is leading the Indian delegation at the 4th annual meeting of BIMSTEC Security Chiefs, held on Friday in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Earlier, he met with Myanmars NSA Admiral Moe Aung, and the BIMSTEC Security Chiefs called on Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. This visit happens at a time when there is conflict

NEW DELHI: In Delhi to attend a NITI Aayog meeting on July 27, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said the public policy think tank brought by the Modi government should be scrapped and the Planning Commission should be brought back. Banerjee, who is set to attend the NITI Aayog meeting even as most INDIA bloc chief ministers have decided to give it a miss, said she felt their voices should be raised on a common platform. They (BJP) have formed the government but they don't hav

NEW DELHI: The newly enacted criminal laws have provisions to protect medical professionals against violence, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Friday. In a written reply, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said the newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) have adequate provisions to protect medical professionals against violence. He was responding to a question from Congress MP Shashi Tharoor about whether the government proposes to introduce

DEHRADUN: A cloud burst on Thursday night unleashed flash floods, causing the Yamuna River to surge dramatically and inflicting widespread damage to properties due to the powerful water currents. The water level rose alarmingly, reaching the parking area in Jankichatti, and resulting in the collapse of embankments in Yamunotri Dham and the security wall of the bridge leading to the revered Yamunotri temple. According to government sources, three ponies and a motorcycle were swept away in Jankich

NEW DELHI: The Opposition parties slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday over his claims concerning the Agnipath scheme while paying tribute to martyrs on Kargil Vijay Diwas and demanded a review of the scheme. Modi said the Agnipath recruitment scheme was an example of necessary reforms undertaken by the Army and accused the opposition of playing politics over the recruitment process aimed at keeping the average age in the armed forces low. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and othe

NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is set to get a new residence with the House Committee offering him Bungalow No 5, Sunehri Bagh Road, sources said. The buzz around the residence he is set to get gained traction after his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Bungalow No 5, Sunehri Bagh Road. Parliamentary sources said that Gandhi has been offered the bungalow and a response is awaited from his end. Since Gandhi became an MP, his residence had been 12, Tughlaq Lane. D

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee confirmed on Friday that she would participate in the central think-tank NITI Aayog meeting scheduled on July 27 in Delhi. Banerjee's statement came amid speculations of uncertainty on whether she, too, would skip the meet like most other CMs of the INDIA bloc. Talking to reporters at the Kolkata airport before leaving for Delhi, Banerjee said she would join the meeting and use the opportunity to register her protest against a discriminatory bu

A Dalit teacher was killed and his father injured ater being attacked by a person at Adwas village in Salumber district of Rajasthan. The deceased has been identified as Shankar Meghwal (40). He was working in a government school. His father Dalchand Meghwal (60) has been seriously injured. The assailant has been identified as Fateh Singh. The reason behind the attack has not yet been ascertained. According to TOI , soon after the incident, people from the Meghwal community gathered outside the

GUWAHATI: The Charaideo Maidam (also Moidam) in Assam has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage list under the category of cultural property. This is Northeasts first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the cultural category and Indias 43rd World Heritage Site, joining Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park which are listed under the natural category. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was ecstatic. THIS IS HUGE. The Moidams make it to the UNESCO World Heritage list under the category Cu

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday in its order reiterated that shops andeateries in the Kanwar Yatra route, would not be forced to display owner or employee names, or their numbers, but anyone voluntarily doing so can, do it and extended its earlier order of stay on the Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh govt's order of doing so. The top court's two-judge bench, headed by Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice S V N Bhatti, extended its earlier interim order of July 22, which said Fo

NAGPUR: Timely intervention by a loco pilot and locals saved the lives of 40 students after the school bus they were travelling on got stuck on railway tracks at a level crossing in Nagpur, an official said on Friday. The incident occurred at the Khaperkheda around 4 pm on Thursday when the school bus driver did not stop even after seeing the red signal at the level crossing, the police official said. When the bus was on the tracks, both gates of the level crossing closed as a train was to pass

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre andAdditional Chief Secretary to the respective Governors and asked them to file a detailed reply within three weeks after hearing a plea filed by Kerala and West Bengal governments challenging theGovernors' decisions to keep several bills pending for months, either refusing to assent them or reserving them for President's consideration. A three-judge bench of the apex court, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B

LUCKNOW: Mayawati on Friday hit out at the BJP over a party MP seeking the Bharat Ratna for Kanshi Ram, saying the saffron party, should either award the highest civilian honour to the BSP founder or stop misleading Dalits. BJP MP from Shahjahanpur, Arun Kumar Sagar, on Thursday demanded in the Lok Sabha that Kanshi Ram be conferred with the Bharat Ratna. Hailing Kanshi Ram as a 'Bahujan Nayak', Sagar said the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder was an ace politician and a social reformer who dedi

DRASS: In his address on Kargil Vijay Diwas here to mark the 25th anniversary of victory in the Kargil war, prime minister Narendra Modi said some people were playing politics over a sensitive issue related to national security and rubbished claims that the Agnipath scheme was launched to save pension money. Agnipath aims to make the forces young. This scheme will keep the armies continuously fit for war. Unfortunately, such a sensitive issue related to national security has been made a subject

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the city police to respond to TMC Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra's plea seeking quashing of an FIR against her over a derogatory social media remark on NCW chief Rekha Sharma. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna issued a notice to the Delhi Police on the petition and asked it to file a status report within four weeks. The high court listed the matter for arguments on the legality and validity of the FIR, as challenged in the petition, on November 6. The police

NEW TEHRI: Heavy overnight rain flooded the Balganga river in the Boodha Kedar area of Uttarakhand's Tehri Garhwal district on Friday with the river water gushing into homes, inundating fields and damaging roads and bridges. Heavy rain lashed the Jakhana, Toli and Genwali areas around midnight, causing a flash flood in the Balganga, which inundated roadside fields and homes, District Magistrate Mayur Dikshit said. Some shops in villages were also damaged by the floodwater, he said. However, ther

LUCKNOW: A Samvidhan Manastambh will be established for keeping a copy of the Constitution at the Samajwadi Party headquarters in Lucknow, party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Friday. - : 26 - - pic.twitter.com/MBmpVIVKdb Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) July 26, 2024 In a post in Hindi on X, Yadav said, The Samajwadi Party has taken a humble decision to celebrate 'Reservation Day' as the 'Foundation Day' of 'Constitution Manastambh' because, on this day, Shrim

KANKER: The engine of an empty passenger train was derailed after hitting a giant tree that had fallen on the track in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district on Friday causing minor injuries to the loco pilot. Officials said that the incident took place in the early hours between Bhanupratappur and Gudum villages when the empty DEMU passenger train was heading to Antagarh (Kanker district) from Dallirajhara (Balod district). The locomotive hit a huge banyan tree that had fallen on the track due to inces

MUMBAI: All 14 crew members of a tugboat that had drifted in the Arabian Sea off the Alibag coast in Maharashtra's Raigad district have been rescued, a police official said on Friday. Police said that the tugboat went adrift after its engine stopped functioning near the Kolaba fort off the Alibag coast on Thursday. The rescue operation of the crew from the small carrier operated by JSW group was launched with the help of the Coast Guard, he said. A chopper of the Coast Guard was engaged in the o