Author: Rahul M

Drugs worth Rs 7.7 crore were seized and 19 people, including 14 foreign nationals, were arrested in a series of recent raids in Bengaluru, the police said in a statement on Wednesday. The seized drugs included hydro ganja and MDMA. In one of the more significant raids, the police said they received information that a Kenyan woman, who had arrived last year on a tourist visa and was working as a hairdresser in Kammanahalli, was involved in selling drugs. The Central Crime Branch’s anti-narcotics wing arrested her in a raid in Varthur, seizing 2.04 kg of MDMA worth Rs 4.08…

The Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana that saw Rs 10,000 being deposited as first instalment in the accounts of 1.5 crore women in Bihar during the polls is being seen as one of the reasons for the NDA’s election sweep. A large part of the credit, say NDA leaders, goes to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.Sarma, who will face Assembly elections in Assam soon, told The Indian Express he sent his bureaucrats about five months ago to Bihar on the request of the Nitish Kumar government. They made a presentation before then Bihar Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena, and then…

Trump’s chip tariff plan likely postponed: report Washington, Nov 19 (IANS) Officials of US President Donald Trump’s administration have said privately that they might not impose semiconductor tariffs soon, potentially postponing a plan to roll out the sector-specific duty, a report said on Thursday. Reuters reported, citing multiple unnamed people, that the officials recently delivered the message to government and private-industry stakeholders, amid concerns that additional tariffs could provoke China and heighten worries about consumer prices, reports Yonhap news agency. Citing two people, the news agency said that aides to Trump are taking their time on the tariffs as they…

From the All India Congress Committee (AICC)’s Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru’s “non-political” style of working to the “failure” of Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra to woo voters, to the nomination of “outsiders” and the party’s weak organisational structure. These are some of the reasons the Congress’s leaders and losing candidates have listed for the party’s disastrous performance in the Bihar Assembly elections.While the incumbent NDA swept the elections, bagging 202 seats of 243 as against the Mahagathbandhan’s 35, the Congress, a key constituent of the Opposition alliance, could win just six…

The daily data put out by the Election Commission shows that half-way into the one-month enumeration phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), ongoing in nine states and three Union Territories, 99% of the 51 crore registered electors had received their forms as of Wednesday. However, only about 16% of the completed forms had been digitised, with reports coming in from states of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are responsible for the distribution, collection and digitisation of forms, complaining of pressure to meet the deadline.As per the schedule announced by the EC on October 27, the SIR process started on…

UN climate chief highlights progress at COP30, urges intensified efforts Belem (Brazil), Nov 20 (IANS) UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell has highlighted advances achieved under the COP30 Action Agenda on climate change and stressed the urgency of turning commitments into concrete actions. “The world is watching and willing climate cooperation to hold firm in a fractured world,” Stiell said at the Global Climate Action High-Level Closing Event on Wednesday (local time), which was held on November 11-19 during the COP30, stressing the importance of the agenda as a driver of change. In his remarks, Stiell, the executive secretary…

Donald Trump’s son to visit Taj Mahal today along with 126 special guests from 40 countries New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS) US President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., is set to visit Agra to see the Taj Mahal on Thursday. He will arrive at Kheria Airport by a special aircraft, after which he will proceed to the iconic monument. Trump Jr., along with 126 special guests from 40 countries, is scheduled to tour the Taj Mahal. In 2020, US President Trump visited the monument with his wife, Melania Trump, but this will be Donald Trump Jr.’s first visit. The…

EU praises Brazil’s efforts to drive COP30 climate negotiations Belem (Brazil), Nov 20 (IANS) The European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, Wopke Hoekstra, praised Brazil’s presidency and efforts in driving the climate negotiations underway at the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30). The EU climate commissioner made the remarks at a press conference with the European Union delegation at the Hangar convention centre in Belem on Wednesday (local time), where the COP30 is being held. The conference opened on November 10 and will run through November 21, with climate negotiations currently in the final stage, reports…

Iran’s FM says not to accept zero uranium enrichment Tehran, Nov 20 (IANS) Iran will not accept any agreement that would lead to zero uranium enrichment in the country as it is considered a “betrayal,” Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has said. “We will in no way accept zero (uranium) enrichment as the issue has turned into (a matter of) national glory and pride,” he said in an interview with Iran’s Khabar Online news agency published on Wednesday (local time), adding the country has paid numerous costs and made many sacrifices to retain its uranium enrichment. Commenting on Iran’s interaction…

New York, Nov 20 (IANS) US President Donald Trump may be aiming for the Nobel Peace Prize, but he is also sending mixed signals about a conflict that could escalate to a war with Venezuela. As he ratchets up the confrontation with Venezuela’s Russia and Cuba-aligned President Nicolas Maduro, he is co-opting it into his war on drugs, rather than framing it as regime change in a country that is an outpost of anti-US radicalism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called Maduro the boss of Cartel de los Soles, which the US has designated as a narco-terrorist organisation, anointing…