Author: Rahul M

LONDON (AP) — Scarlet uniforms flashed against the riverbank. Wooden skiffs glided in formation. A young swan, gently lifted from the water, was measured, inspected and released.The annual five-day census of swans belonging to King Charles III – known as Swan Upping — began Monday on the River Thames to assess their health.One of the British monarch’s less-known titles is Seigneur of the Swans — Lord of the Swans — and according to ancient lore, he or she owns all members of the mute swan species found in Britain’s open waters.Every year, a team of carefully selected oarsmen — Swan…

Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya came down heavily on Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar Monday, criticising the proposed Tunnel Road project as an unscientific and elitist initiative that sidelines the needs of the common man. Addressing a press conference, Surya said the Congress-led state government was pushing through a vanity project that would serve only the wealthy residents of neighbourhoods like Sadashivanagar and Koramangala, instead of investing in robust public transport solutions that would benefit the majority of Bengalureans. “When the DCM himself says even God can’t solve Bengaluru’s traffic issues, he is only exposing his own failure to…

Bengaluru: The high court Monday ordered notice to the govt, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and police in response to a PIL seeking to ensure the city’s roads and footpaths are maintained properly without any obstructions and in compliance with requirements of Persons With Disability (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 2016.A division bench of acting Chief Justice V Kameshwar Rao and Justice CM Joshi directed them to submit their responses to the PIL filed by Letzkit Foundation, a Bengaluru-based NGO. The petitioner highlighted the kinds of encroachment visible across the city — fencing of footpaths to…

“Kappa, nimageke kodabeku kappa (Royalty, why should we pay the royalty)”, the iconic dialogue by actor B Saroja Devi, playing freedom fighter Kittur Chennamma in the 1961 film by the same name, established her as one of the leading female stars of Kannada cinema. Only 23-year-old then, the young actor went on to become a legend in not just Kannada, but also Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. The doe-eyed beauty with over 200 films to her credit was one of the first Kannada actors to act in other language movies opposite biggest stars of that time. Saroja Devi was always…

General Motors has just announced its latest and likely final piece in what now appears to be a three-pronged cell-chemistry strategy to power GM’s lineup of a dozen EVs through the end of the decade and beyond.GM has stated today it will build low-cost lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells in Spring Hill, Tennessee, starting in late 2027. Conversion of cell lines to produce that chemistry will begin later this year. The cell plant at the Spring Hill complex is owned and operated by Ultium Cells, GM’s joint-venture battery company with LG Energy Solution. A GM assembly plant in the…

At a time when the BJP is attempting to corner the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in Bengal over the issue of undocumented immigration from Bangladesh, accusing it of turning a blind eye to the alleged problem because of electoral compulsions, the Mamata Banerjee-led party has attempted to counter by raising the issue of alleged mistreatment of Bengali migrant labourers in other states such as Odisha, Delhi, and Assam.On Wednesday, Banerjee will lead a rally in Kolkata in protest against the “humiliation” of Bengali migrant workers. Her party believes the issue can have broad resonance, given the huge number of people…

On Saturday, 12th July, Uttar Pradesh‘s Shahjahanpur police arrested a man, Naveed alias Kasib Pathan, on charges of raping a Hindu girl and attacking several others in a shocking criminal plan. The arrest followed when a young woman from Shahjahanpur approached the Chauk Kotwali police station and complained against Naveed’s nefarious activities. Naveed befriended her on social media two years ago, pretending to be a Hindu named “Shiv Verma,” as per the victim. He gained her trust by wearing a tilak on his forehead and a Hindu sacred thread (kalava) on his wrist, and even taking an oath on Hindu…

Written by Bhoomika Roy Banerjee The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) on Monday sought a high-court monitored probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into a former sanitation worker’s claims that he had secretly buried bodies of sexual assault victims at Dharmasthala in Karnataka. The SDPI also sought the immediate suspension and investigation of officers at the Belthangady police station in Dakshina Kannada district, a public hearing allowing families of victims to come forward without fear, and compensation and protection for families that come forward with evidence or complaints regarding the deaths and burials. Story continues below this ad…

The Karnataka government Monday celebrated the landmark of issuing 500 crore free bus tickets for women under the ‘Shakti scheme’. In an event, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, flanked by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, handed out free tickets to women passengers aboard a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus. Speaking to reporters after the event, Siddaramaiah said that the Shakti scheme was implemented on June 11, 2023. Under the scheme, women from Karnataka were allowed to travel for free after producing identification documents in non-premium buses run by the four state-run transport corporations. Story continues below this ad Shakti scheme…

India’s initial findings into the crash of an Air India aircraft last month raise more questions, according to the airline’s chief executive officer, who defended the fitness of the cockpit crew and the company’s track record of inspecting its fleet.A preliminary report filed by the country’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau last week showed that two fuel switches in the cockpit that were moved to a cutoff position caused the Boeing 787 to crash 32 seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12.“Unsurprisingly, it provided both greater clarity and opened additional questions,” Air India CEO Campbell Wilson wrote to employees in…