Author: Rahul M

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has made his strongest bid yet to include the Kurubas—the shepherding community he belongs to—in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category, further stirring up the already complex caste dynamics in the state. The current recommendations are for the inclusion of the Kuruba community from places like Bidar, Kalaburagi and Yadgir. The government is trying to examine the similarities between them and Gonds, who are already on the ST list. But members of other communities already under the ST category fear this would be the beginning of the push to bring all Kurubas into this fold that…

With an eye on the Bihar Assembly elections which are just round the corner, the Congress is going to hold a meeting of the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) in Patna on September 24.The agenda of this meeting of the CWC, the Congress’s top decision-making body, will be deliberations on the Bihar poll campaign and issues like alleged “vote chori” and the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar electoral rolls. Besides Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, the extended CWC huddle will be attended by the body’s…

SrinagarSeptember 18, 2025 07:39 AM IST First published on: Sep 18, 2025 at 04:45 AM IST Former Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat, a strong proponent of dialogue for the resolution of the Kashmir issue, died Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 90. A founding member of the separatist conglomerate, Bhat never shied away from striking the middle ground even if meant flouting the constitution of the Hurriyat Conference. This often landed him in controversies and led to calls for his expulsion from the separatist camp. Born in 1935 in Botengoo village of Sopore, Bhat completed his Bachelors from the…

RIO DE JANEIRO — Doctors for former President Jair Bolsonaro said Wednesday that they detected early-stage cancer in skin lesions removed from the 70-year-old politician following his conviction last week on attempted coup charges.Bolsonaro, under house arrest in Brasilia until his sentence is finalized, has been to hospital twice since Thursday’s court verdict. He went to the DF Star hospital Sunday to have eight lesions removed for testing, and again on Tuesday because of vomiting and low blood pressure before being released Wednesday.Results showed early-stage skin cancer in two of the lesions, doctors said in a statement Wednesday, adding that…

Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images James Arness had every right to be proud of “Gunsmoke.” The long-lived western boasts one of the lengthiest runs on American television at twenty seasons and was once even the primetime series with the most episodes. But when fans asked if Arness — who played central gunslinger Marshal Matt Dillon — was upset that the ensemble wasn’t always focused on him, he admitted it was never a concern.  “Often we get letters that say, ‘Why can’t we see more of Matt?’ or ‘Give us more of Kitty.’ That’s…

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday signed a defense pact pledging that any attack on either nation would be considered an attack on both.The pact comes after rising tensions in the region following the Sept. 9 Israeli airstrike targeting Hamas in Qatar’s capital killed six people. The agreement, called the “Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement,” was signed during Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to the kingdom, according to a joint statement issued after his talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.The agreement states that “any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both,”…

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday hit out at what he described as Delhi’s dominance, asserting that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) would continue to emphasise the term “union government” to underline that states are the foundation of the nation. Addressing the DMK’s Mupperum Vizha, Stalin launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led Centre over several issues, including the alleged push for Hindi, the refusal to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET, non-disbursement of education funds, “concealing” the antiquity of the Keeladi excavations, and “usurping” voting rights in the name of electoral roll revisions, news agency PTI reported.…

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — A United Nations armored personnel carrier in the Central African Republic crashed and rolled into a river outside the capital of Bangui, killing five U.N. police officers, a spokesperson for the MINUSCA peacekeeping mission said Wednesday.The vehicle that was part of a five-car MINUSCA convoy plunged into the Ombella M’poko River before crossing a bridge, according to MINUSCA spokesperson Florence Marshall. The convoy was returning to another town after gathering supplies in Bangui.All five officers killed in Tuesday’s crash were from the Republic of the Congo.A search and rescue operation is now underway to…

Rolls-Royce, a global leader in power systems specialising in aerospace and defence engines, has inaugurated a 700-seater global capability and innovation centre (GCC) in Bengaluru, its largest and most advanced facility worldwide. Karnataka Large and Medium Industries Minister M B Patil inaugurated the centre, located at Manyata Embassy Business Park, on Tuesday. “The talented team in Bengaluru will now be powering Rolls-Royce’s global businesses. Initiatives like this have helped Bengaluru emerge as one of the top three cities globally for aerospace investment. Rolls-Royce has been contributing to the state’s aerospace industry from the very beginning, and this new GCC marks…

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has called the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru a “feudal”, blaming his socialist policies for the “backwardness suffered by the country till the economic reforms of 1991”. Naidu, the president of TDP, the second largest constituent in the Narendra Modi-led NDA at the Centre, made the remarks on the second day of the collector’s conference held at the AP Secretariat, Amaravati, Tuesday. At the same time, Naidu lauded Modi’s leadership since 2014, saying, “…under which India has risen from 11th position to the world’s fourth largest economy now,” adding that the nation is…