Author: Rahul M

The border is never too far away in Seemanchal, with Bangladesh through West Bengal and with Nepal. You see it in the Bengali on signboards, and hear it in the frequent use of the term “khela (game)” in conversations with voters who speak the “Surjapuri” dialect, a blend of Bengali, Hindi and Urdu. This region is also home to large Muslim populations — rising from Purnea’s 39 per cent to about 68 per cent in Kishanganj.Seemanchal’s four districts of Purnea, Kishanganj, Araria and Katihar have been seen to hold up Muslim support for the Congress and the RJD’s famed M-Y…

BANGKOK — The champion competitive eater stood on a table in front of dozens of people and methodically attacked the salmon.“We don’t encourage forcing them to compete,” the emcee said, in a 2-acre exhibition hall in Bangkok’s northern suburbs. “Let them be as normal as they can. We’re having fun here.”But Kimmon — a mixed-breed cat — seemed to know exactly what his mission was. He did not stop until he had devoured all 15 grams (1 tablespoon) of the salmon treat that his owner had furiously squeezed from the pouch into his mouth.His time: 49.42 seconds. His ranking: first.…

HBO Rustin “Rust” Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) is deeply gifted, but deeply pessimistic. Accused of being a serial killer when we meet him during Season 1 of “True Detective,” he recalls the last words of drug manufacturer Reggie Ledoux (Charles Halford), and philosophy enters the room in the form of Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of eternal recurrence. “Someone once told me time is a flat circle. Everything we’ve ever done, or will do, we’re gonna do over and over and over again. And that little boy and that little girl, they’re gonna be…

Fred Duval/Shutterstock Timothée Chalamet’s future as a Hollywood superstar is all but secure, with success in serious dramas like “Call Me By Your Name” and big-budget tentpole sci-fi franchise fare like “Dune.” In 2024, he starred as Bob Dylan in the music biopic “A Complete Unknown,” earning him his second Academy Award nomination. That success led NBA sports star Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves, to suggest that Chalamet should move behind the camera to become a director, and even offered to star in Chalamet’s first film. Surprisingly, Chalamet responded with an…

Karnataka RERA to enforce project closure checks by Nov 2025, ensuring full compliance before builders declare projects completeThe Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) is set to introduce a comprehensive project closure policy aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability in the real estate sector. Inspired by a similar initiative in Odisha, the new framework will require builders to complete all statutory and service-related compliances before a project can be officially closed.Currently, project closures are often based solely on declarations made by promoters, which has led to concerns over incomplete work and missing documentation. The new policy will shift the process…

Show Quick Read Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom Kishanganj: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday slammed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav for fielding former MLA Mujahid Alam on the Kochadhaman seat in the Kishanganj district of Bihar.Addressing an election rally in Kishanganj, Owaisi alleged that the RJD candidate, Alam, remained silent on several issues affecting the Muslim community. “Hear this out, Tejashwi. Neither Kochadhaman left Izhar Asfi, nor did Owaisi… Tejashwi (RJD) has given a ticket to such a person who did not say a word during triple talaq, CAA, during…

HBO Nobody was surprised when “The Sopranos,” a show on HBO about the Mafia, quickly began racking up a body count. The part that perhaps was a little shocking, however, was the series’ willingness to kill off just about any character no matter their importance. In the days before “Game of Thrones” and “The Walking Dead,” this type of “any character can die at any time” approach still felt novel for a television show — and “The Sopranos” reveled in the unease that its audience felt in knowing even their…

WASHINGTON — The last time Obamacare was at the center of a federal shutdown, with lawmakers seeking to use the leverage of a government funding deadline to get their way on the health insurance program, it did not end well for them. It was 2013, and conservative Republicans in the House and Senate pushed their leaders to block legislation to extend government spending unless it also repealed the Affordable Care Act. The result was a 16-day shutdown that produced no changes to the law. While some of the characters are the same, the dynamic of today’s shutdown is the complete…

Days after reducing the number of safaris at Bandipur and Nagarahole Tiger Reserves, citing increased man-animal conflict, Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre Sunday warned that safaris will be suspended completely if the conflict is not brought under control. Speaking at a coordination meeting of forest, revenue, and police officials at the Chamarajanagar Zilla Panchayat auditorium, the minister said that staff shortage cannot be an excuse for the increase in man-animal conflict in districts where the reserve forests are located. “If there aren’t enough personnel to manage conflict-prone areas, then staff deployed for safari duties must be reassigned,” he said. Highlighting…

By analyzing proteins from 2-million-year-old tooth enamel, researchers uncovered sex differences and unexpected genetic variation within P. robustus. These findings, some of the oldest molecular data retrieved from Africa, are reshaping ideas about early human ancestry. A Cousin with a Powerful Bite and Enduring Mystery Discovered in 1938 in South Africa, Paranthropus robustus has puzzled scientists for nearly a century. It walked upright, had a compact but muscular frame, and was equipped with an oversized jaw built for grinding hard foods. Its teeth, covered in thick enamel, stood out even among other early hominins. According to a detailed report published…