Author: Rahul M

In a move that created ripples in political circles, Haryana Chief Minister and BJP leader Nayab Singh Saini visited Punjab’s Sunam to pay tributes to Shaheed Udham Singh on his 86th martyrdom day on Thursday, hours before Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and the AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal reached the legendary freedom fighter’s native town in Sangrur district.The Haryana CM’s surprise visit to the martyr’s memorial not only took place before the Punjab government’s function but was also marked with political symbolism. Sporting a saffron turban, Saini paid homage at the Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial, built over nearly 2 acre…

In a sequence that defies probability and borders on the bizarre, Team India scripted an unprecedented low in international cricket by losing their 15th consecutive toss across all formats. The latest blow came at the Oval in London, where England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope won the toss and elected to bowl first in the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. India’s Test captain Shubman Gill, who has now lost five tosses in a row in this series alone, seemed unflustered on the surface but couldn’t escape the growing scrutiny around this strange streak. The odds of losing 15…

PuneAug 1, 2025 08:56 IST First published on: Aug 1, 2025 at 08:56 IST Share Originally floated by freedom fighter V D Savarkar in 1904 to carry out an armed struggle against the British and revived in post-Independence India, the Abhinav Bharat hit the headlines almost two decades ago after some of its members, including Lt Col Prasad Purohit, were accused of masterminding the 2008 Malegaon blasts. On Thursday, as a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court acquitted all the accused in the case, Milind Joshirao, a Pune resident who claims to be the organisation’s head, said false allegations had…

A Class 8 student was allegedly kidnapped and brutally murdered by unknown assailants, with his severely mutilated and burnt body discovered on the outskirts of Bengaluru Thursday night. The Bengaluru police said the 13-year-old victim — identified as the son of an Arekere resident who works as a lecturer — left home on his bicycle at 5 pm on July 30 to attend tuition classes. When he failed to return by 8 pm, his parents contacted the tuition teacher, who told them that the boy left at 7.30 pm. A desperate search by the family led to the discovery of…

At the time, the Congress-led Opposition staged a walkout, with then Congress president and Leader of Opposition Sonia Gandhi opposing the bill for its “anti-democratic” provisions.Shah then alleged that in 2004, the Congress government “weakened” India’s fight against terrorism by repealing POTA. “POTA was against the terrorists, but the Opposition wanted to save the terrorists by stopping POTA for vote bank politics,” he said.Anti-terror laws in India have historically been introduced in response to terrorist attacks. POTA was India’s response to the 1999 IC-814 hijack and the terror attack on Parliament in December 2001. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967,…

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday announced to raise the honorarium for cooks, night watchmen, and physical education and health instructors.  The honorarium for cooks working under the mid-day meal programme in the Education Department will be increased from Rs 1,650 to Rs 3,300.  Similarly, night watchmen working in secondary/higher education schools will have their honorarium doubled from 5,000 rupees to 10,000 rupees, Kumar said further.  नवम्बर 2005 में सरकार बनने के बाद से ही हमलोग शिक्षा व्यवस्था में सुधार के लिए लगातार काम कर रहे हैं। वर्ष 2005 में शिक्षा का कुल बजट 4366 करोड़ रूपए था…

The sudden announcement of President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on Indian goods from August 1, with an additional but unspecified “penalty” for its defence and energy imports from Russia has put a lot of stress on the Narendra Modi government.This move, coming just ahead of an impending trade agreement, could pull down the economy and cast a shadow on India-US ties, experts say. Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who has served as Finance minister for four terms and was also the Commerce and Industry minister, talks to The Indian Express of the tightrope that India must…

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The party of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele approved constitutional changes in the country’s National Assembly on Thursday that will allow indefinite presidential reelection and extend presidential terms to six years.Lawmaker Ana Figueroa from the New Ideas party had proposed the changes to five articles of the constitution. The proposal also included eliminating the second round of the election where the two top vote-getters from the first round face off.New Ideas and its allies in the National Assembly quickly approved the proposals with the supermajority they hold. The vote passed with 57 in favor…

The crucial Malegaon verdict on Thursday has wide-ranging repercussions politically.The acquittal of all the accused, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, in the 2008 Malegaon blast case by a special court has given the BJP fresh ammunition to target the Congress, which has been groping in the dark against the ruling party’s charge against it of being a “pro-Muslim” and – by extension – an “anti-Hindu” party. The Congress has often fallen between two stools in navigating this territory since the BJP’s rise in the 1980s and, on Thursday, the central leadership maintained a…

With a minority of the 7.23 crore applicants submitting documents to prove their eligibility so far, and Bihar’s draft electoral roll set to go live Friday, the Election Commission (EC) is weighing a new plan — deploying its own machinery to help issue the necessary papers as the next phase of the Bihar SIR (Special Intensive Revision) begins, The Indian Express has learnt.The poll watchdog has asked District Magistrates, who are also District Election Officers (DEOs), to have Assistant Electoral Registration Officers — usually Block Development Officers acting as AEROs — use existing government databases to verify eligibility and issue…