Author: Rahul M

A month after the deadly stampede at his rally in Karur, actor-turned-politician Vijay moved to steady his fledgling party and shut down talk of a pre-poll alliance. Senior leaders of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) said they will stand alone – neither with the BJP nor the DMK.“Our stand on alliances remains unchanged,” TVK’s second-rung leaders reiterated after the party’s executive committee met for more than two hours at its Panaiyur headquarters on Wednesday. The message echoed the actor’s sharp pre-stampede declaration in Karur that his party would “contest on its own by projecting him as the chief ministerial candidate”.…

The Karnataka Cabinet Thursday cleared Rs 2,296.57 crore for various development works related to Bengaluru, including funds for asphalting primary and tertiary roads in the five city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA). Of the amount, Rs 1,241.57 crore was for a special scheme to provide infrastructure facilities for the recently formed corporations under GBA. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil informed that an action plan to improve road infrastructure in the corporations received administrative approval from the Cabinet. The funds will be utilised to asphalt roads, he said. The remaining Rs 1,055 crore would be used…

Lakhisarai: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday launched a sharp attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during an election rally in Bihar’s Lakhisarai, accusing him of insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ‘Chhathi Maiya’ by allegedly calling Chhath Puja celebrations a “drama.”Addressing a massive gathering, Amit Shah stated that Rahul Gandhi’s remarks reflected a lack of understanding of the deep faith associated with the festival of Chhath, which holds immense spiritual significance for millions across the country. “Yesterday, Rahul Baba came and used some words to insult PM Modi. But by insulting PM Modi, he also insulted Chhathi Maiya.…

Muzaffarpur: Citing the misgovernance of the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress party in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday described their rule in five words, stating “Katta, Kroorta, Katuta, Kushasan and Corruption.”Explaining the meaning, the Prime Minister said the word “katta” refers to a place where cruelty prevails and law and order break down. “RJD-Congress can be identified by five things. What have the RJD-Congress done? I will tell you about these five words- Katta, Kroorta, Katuta, Kushasan, and Corruption… Where there is ‘katta’, where cruelty reigns, there the law breaks down,” PM Modi said while addressing a…

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — It’s an unprecedented space streak: 25 years of people living off-planet without even a moment’s pause.The International Space Station marks a quarter-century of continuous occupancy this weekend, boasting a guest list of nearly 300 — mostly professional astronauts but also the occasional space tourist and movie director. The first full-time residents opened the hatch on Nov. 2, 2000.With only five years left at the scientific outpost, NASA is counting on private companies to launch their own orbiting stations with an even bigger and wider clientele.Here’s a look at what has been and what is ahead:The…

The narrow lanes of the Muslim colony in Gopalpur in Siwan’s Raghunathpur constituency are thrumming with excitement. As Osama Shahab’s SUV comes to a halt, a sea of young men surge forward, their phones raised high. The candidate barely waves before being surrounded. Sitting beside him is Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) sitting MLA Harishankar Yadav, who tells the crowd: “Vote for this young man and help form the government of another young man.”Osama, the son of the late Mohammad Shahabuddin, says little. His father’s name, though, says everything. Raghunathpur is the gamble, a seat chosen not for Osama’s charisma but…

Somewhere over the Arctic reaches of North America, a nuclear bomber flies in a squadron, awaiting its orders. When a secret code appears on a machine in the cockpit, the crew looks at each other, stunned. The code is instructing them to attack. Ripping open a sealed envelope marked “Top Secret,” the pilot reads the name of their target: MOSCOW. They set their course. The end of the world has begun.Or so they think. It’s actually all a big mistake—the result of a computer glitch at a military base that sent the attack code to the bomber by accident. This…

A number of viral infections, including flu, COVID-19 and shingles, are linked to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, a new study affirmed.The risk of a heart attack triples within the first few weeks after a COVID infection, the study suggested, and quadruples in the month after a flu infection. The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, was a large review and analysis of existing research. “It endorses a general idea that we’ve been thinking about and talking about for the past several years — that infections are generally not benign,” said Dr.…

Carlene Comrie hasn’t heard from her family in Montego Bay, Jamaica, since the Category 5 Hurricane Melissa rocked the Caribbean island Tuesday. Her sister, brother, nieces and nephews all live in the area, said Comrie, who moved to the U.S. alone in 1998 and co-owns the Taste of the Caribbean restaurant in Seattle’s Central District. Her family lost power during the storm, and she has no idea what the damage is to their home, or if they are all right.On her “logical side,” Comrie is telling herself everything is OK. But in her heart, she said this is “the most anxious…

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Thousands of mainly young people in Serbia embarked on a two-day march from Belgrade on Thursday, aiming to join a major rally in the country’s north this weekend that will mark the anniversary of a deadly train station disaster. The concrete canopy collapse at the central train station in Novi Sad killed 16 people on Nov. 1. The tragedy has unleashed a youth-led protest movement against autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic.Protesters believe the victims died because government corruption led to sloppy renovation work at the station. They have been demanding accountability for the disaster, and an early…