Author: Rahul M

Momodu Mansaray/Getty Images In the 1990s, there were few bigger sitcom stars than Tim Allen, who led the wildly popular “Home Improvement” for more than a decade. He was a once-raunchy stand-up comic embroiled in controversy who made the successful transition to TV superstar, and in 1995, he went to the big screen, voicing Buzz Lightyear in “Toy Story.” But if the chips had fallen differently, he might have also led a truly bizarre kids’ movie that sounds like it might have been a borderline fright-fest: A scary retelling of…

Show Quick Read Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom The first phase of the Bihar assembly elections concluding with high enthusiasm, recording “highest-ever” voter turnout. Nearly 65 per cent of 3.75 crore voters turned up to seal the fate of 1,314 candidates including high-profile candidates like Tejashwi Yadav and Samrat Choudhary.  The Election Commission of India issued a statement saying the first phase of the polls concluded peacefully “in a festive mood with the highest-ever voter turnout of 64.66 per cent in the history of Bihar”. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said women participated in large…

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia is concentrating its firepower and troops on the small, battered city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, apparently pushing its forces close to capturing what has become a gateway to the war’s most fiercely contested region. After more than a year of fighting, Pokrovsk, a railroad hub in the Donetsk region, has been turned largely into rubble, its prewar population of 60,000 now reduced to fewer than 1,300 residents. Ukrainian soldiers defending the city report intense combat. Nearly one-third of all the battles along the front line, which stretches almost 750 miles, are in Pokrovsk, and half…

Karnataka Wildlife Board okays NH-75 Kushalanagar–Mysuru highway and Sharavathi road works; projects await national wildlife clearanceThe Karnataka State Wildlife Board has granted preliminary clearance to two major infrastructure proposals involving ecologically sensitive areas. The first is the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) greenfield NH-75 project, a 100-kilometre highway connecting Kushalanagar to Mysuru. This road will be developed in four phases and is expected to enhance regional connectivity and reduce travel time between the two cities.To execute the project, NHAI has sought approximately 54 hectares of land falling within the eco-sensitive zone of the Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary and the buffer…

Show Quick Read Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom Bettiah, Bihar: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying he should be ashamed of “seeking to know about the caste and religion of army jawans”. Addressing back-to-back election rallies in Madhubani, West Champaran and Motihari districts, he also said illegal Bangladeshi immigrants snatch jobs and pose security threats to the country, while asserting that the Bihar assembly elections are for making the state “infiltrator-free”. “Rahul Gandhi should be ashamed of seeking to know about the caste and religion of army jawans.…

A top organizer of the Miss Universe pageant apologized Wednesday after his tirade against Miss Mexico prompted several contestants to briefly walk out in protest, weeks before the main competition.Nawat Itsaragrisil, a Thai businessperson who co-owns the Miss Universe Organization, was seen on the livestream Tuesday, scolding Fátima Bosch, Miss Mexico, for not taking part in some promotional activities.“I’m here representing my country, and it’s not my fault that you have problems with my organization,” Bosch responded, after Nawat accused Mexico’s representatives of sabotaging promotional content.Other contestants, dressed in their sashes and gowns, were seen listening silently for several minutes…

Sarah Enticknap/Peacock Do not go pick up your kid from a playdate if you haven’t watched all of “All Her Fault” — spoilers ahead! This article contains discussions of addiction. Based on Andrea Mara’s 2021 novel of the same name, “All Her Fault” — a new miniseries from Peacock — brings “Succession” star and Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Sarah Snook back to the small screen for the first time since 2023. The show, which casts Snook as Marissa Irvine, a suburban working mom to her only child Milo (Duke…

Amid intense protests by farmers in parts of North Karnataka over the fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday announced a meeting with farmer groups and sugar companies on Friday. Stating that the Central Government fixes the FRP, he also said he would seek an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urge him to hike the price. Briefing reporters after a Cabinet meeting, which discussed the protests, Siddaramaiah said the FRP was fixed in May at Rs 3,550 per tonne for sugarcane that has a sugar recovery rate of 10.25 per cent. For sugarcane…

Show Quick Read Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom Two polling booths in Patna district recorded zero voting during the first phase of the Bihar polls as villagers boycotted the polling over land dispute. No voter turned up at two polling booths, Nos. 165 and 166, set up at the primary school in Nizampur village under the Fatuha Assembly constituency in Patna district. Voting took place across 121 seats in 18 districts, but these two booths stood out for complete voter boycott. Despite polling officials and security personnel arriving at the site as early as 5 a.m., no…

The Karnataka Cabinet Thursday approved the ‘Karnataka Startup Policy 2025-2030’, which aims to establish 25,000 startups over the next five years, of which 10,000 startups will be located in clusters outside Bengaluru. The financial outflow for the policy is set at Rs 518.27 crore. Apart from increasing focus on existing initiatives for the startup sector in the state, the policy also moots fresh programs to increase the startup footprint. Among the initiatives is ‘Elevate NxT’, which aims to support startups across the state focusing on DeepTech in sectors such as AI, Biotechnology, Quantum Computing, Climate tech, Space tech and others,…