AMBALA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi sharpened his attack on the Congress on Saturday and said it was his dhakad (strong) government that brought down the wall of Article 370 and as a result, Kashmir is now moving ahead on the path of development. Modi said the history of the Congress has been of betraying India's forces and soldiers as he referred to the Jeep scandal, the first scam during the grand old party's rule. Could a weak government have changed the situation in Jammu and Kashmir? Modi

SRINAGAR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Kashmir to issue directions to the administration, the BJP and its proxies on defeating the National Conference, party leader Omar Abdullah alleged on Saturday. Shah on Friday wrapped up his brief visit to the Kashmir Valley during which he interacted with several delegations, including local Sikhs, Paharis, and those from the BJP, officials said. Though his visit in the midst of Lok Sabha elections led to speculation of his meetings with some Kash

NEW DELHI: The extreme heat crippling large parts of northwest India will continue for another five days, with Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh predicted to bear the maximum impact. Swathes of north India stewed in brutal heat on Friday, with maximum temperatures soaring to a scorching 47.4 degrees Celsius in west Delhi's Najafgarh, the highest this season in the country so far. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday predicted severe heat wave over the plains of

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday asked why Narendra Modi has roken his promise of giving legal sanctity to a minimum support price for crops and why he prioritises his politics over the country's daughters, as the prime minister hits the campaign trail in Haryana. Referring to the protest by women wrestlers from Haryana, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the prime minister did not take action against his party's MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of molestation by the wome

DEHRADUN: Amidst the controversy surrounding the Uttarakhand High Court's order to shift from Nainital, lawyers have petitioned the Supreme Court to challenge the decision. Meanwhile, former Chief Minister and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari requested the incumbent Chief Minister to intervene in the matter, supporting Kumaon lawyers who are opposing the High Court relocation issue. A special leave petition has been filed in the Supreme Court by lawyers hailing from various districts of Kumaon, in

MALEGAON: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday hit out at the Congress over its alleged proposal to introduce inheritance, and said Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's soul has crept into the grand old party. He said the inheritance tax is like the 'jizya' tax imposed by Aurangzeb. Addressing a rally in Malegaon town in Maharashtra's Nashik district, he said the BJP is contesting elections not merely for power but to build a developed India. There should be no doubt that Narendra Modi

After physical assault against Swati Maliwal by Kejriwal's personal secretary Bibhav Kumar, AAP has released a fresh CCTV footage of her in a bid to 'expose her.' In the fresh footage shared by AAP, the party Rajya Sabha MP could be seen engaged in an argument with the security personnel who escorted her out of the house, even as she was walking out of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence. The party shared the video clip on the platform X with a caption in Hindi reading, This video exposes

IMPHAL: A 30-year-old man was shot at in Manipur's Imphal West district on Saturday morning, police said. The incident happened near Khumbong primary health centre in the Patsoi police station area, they said. The man, identified as Laishram Kumarjit -- a designer by profession, was shot in his left calf, they added. He was rushed to a hospital in Imphal for treatment. The gunmen are yet to be identified, police said, stating that the motive behind the shooting is yet to be established.

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Saturday arrested Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's close aide Bibhav Kumar in connection with Swati Maliwal assault case. Kumar was apprehended from the residence of CM Kejriwal. Delhi Police had registered a case of molestation and attempt to culpable homicide against Kumar for physically assaulting AAP Rajya Sabha MP, Maliwal at the CM's residence on May 13. The police had lodged an FIR under sections 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide), 341 (wrongful restraint

WASHINGTON: Six individuals, including four Indian nationals, were on Friday indicted by a federal court for staging armed robberies in Chicago and the suburbs so that the victims could apply for immigration visas reserved for certain crime victims in the United States. According to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Chicago, the four individuals Bhikhabhai Patel, Nilesh Patel, Ravinaben Patel and Rajni Kumar Patel, arranged with Parth Nayi and Kewong Young to be victims of the staged ro

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has restrained various entities from using actor Jackie Shroff's name, including sobriquets Jackie and Jaggu Dadda, voice and images for commercial purposes without permission. Justice Sanjeev Narula, in an interim order dated May 15, said the entities selling wallpapers, T-shirts and posters, etc. on e-commerce websites and operating an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot platform were prima facie acting in violation of the actor's personality and publicity righ

MUMBAI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of inciting people and dividing society through his election speeches. Kharge was addressing a press conference of the INDIA bloc, where NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray and other leaders were present. The opposition alliance held an election rally in the city on Friday. No prime minister before Modi has ever indulged in inciting people like he has been doing. He

NEW DELHI: AAP leader Atishi on Saturday claimed party MP Swati Maliwal, who has accused Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar of assaulting her, is facing arrest in an illegal recruitment case and she was lackmailed by the BJP to become part of the conspiracy against the Chief Minister. Talking to PTI-Video, Atishi, who is also a cabinet minister in the Delhi government, alleged that Maliwal went to the chief minister's official residence on Monday without an appointment. Fight gets nasty as Mal

BHUBANESWAR/CUTTACK: A double-engine government by BJP is crucial for acceleration of development in Odisha, said Bollywood's dream girl and BJP leader Hema Malini on Friday. The star campaigner of BJP in her first election campaign in the state targeted the BJD government accusing it of failing to secure Odisha's progress on many fronts. Hema, who attended BJP's Ashirvad Samabesh at Salia Sahi, the state capital's biggest slum, to canvass for party's Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha candidate Aparajita Sa

CUTTACK: The Railway Board has sanctioned a final location survey for a new line between Angul and Nayagarh Town via Narasinghpur, Kantilo and Khandapada and a chord line between Khurda Town and Kaipadar Road. Addressing a Vijay Sankalp Samabesh at Sri Ram Bazaar in Narasinghpur, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw showed the sanction order and said the new line is poised to bring significant economic and infrastructural benefits to the region, enhancing connectivity and fostering growth. The Rail

CHENNAI: DMK President and Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of picking up a cheap strategy of stoking confrontation between states as his propaganda of communal hatred did not help. Stalin slammed what he called Modi's imaginary tales and bags of lies by alleging that leaders of southern states including Tamil Nadu (INDIA bloc constituents) were speaking in a derogatory manner, against the people of Uttar Pradesh. Days ago, PM Modi had alleged in a poll

BHUBANESWAR: As campaign has reached a peak ahead of the second phase elections in Odisha on May 20, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday came down heavily on the Union ministers, CMs from other states and others leaders for resorting to what he termed derogatory and abusive language in their campaign meetings and rallies. With the Opposition, particularly the BJP pressing all its might in the state to win the polls by bringing in top ministers, its CMs and top leaders, the chief minister sai

SAMBALPUR/ANGUL: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday visited Sambalpur, Angul and Dhenkanal districts urging people to exercise their franchise in favour of BJD candidates from the areas during the polls. In Sambalpur, the chief minister, bolstering his support for BJD organisational secretary and MP candidate from Sambalpur seat Pranab Prakash Das along with MLA candidates from Sambalpur and Rengali, Rohit Pujari and Sudarshan Haripal, appealed to the people to vote for Jodi Sankha. Address

NEW DELHI: India on Saturday asked its students in Bishkek to stay indoors after the Kyrgyz capital city reported fights between some locals and foreigners. The Indian embassy in the Central Asian country said it is in touch with the Indian students and the situation is calm now. The mission asked Indian students in the city to stay indoors. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar advised the Indian students to stay in regular touch with the Indian embassy. Monitoring the welfare of Indian studen

NEW DELHI: Congress leader and partys candidate for the Lok Sabha elections from the Northeast Delhi constituency, Kanhaiya Kumar, was slapped by some unidentified people while he was campaigning in his constituency on Friday. According to the police, apart from Kanhaiya, an AAP councillor named Chhaya Sharma was also assaulted in the incident. Sharing details, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said information regarding the incident was received at 6.53 pm, the caller stating

BHUBANESWAR: A day after ordering deployment of 20 companies of CAPF in Ganjam in view of pre-poll violence in Khallikote, chief electoral officer (CEO) Nikunja Bihari Dhal on Friday held talks with political parties seeking their cooperation in ensuring peaceful voting in the next three phases of elections. During the meeting, attended by leaders of major political parties, the CEO reiterated there is no place for violence in democracy and no law and order situation will be tolerated during the

ROURKELA: Union Home Minister Amit Shah once again launched a scathing attack on the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government, dubbing it the Jhola Sarkar over issues related to the Public Distribution System (PDS) rice scheme. Addressing a massive election rally in Rourkela, Shah sought votes for BJPs Sundargarh Lok Sabha candidate Jual Oram and the partys Assembly candidates for Rourkela, RN Pali, and Birmitrapur. Shah questioned the competence of the BJD government, raising concerns about the admini

HYDERABAD: Though there is still over a fortnight left for the votes cast for the Lok Sabha elections to be counted, supporters of some candidates in Telangana are expressing confidence that their leaders would not only win, but also bag a berth in the Union Cabinet. With votes in four of the seven phases of elections now cast, both the NDA and INDIA blocs are claiming that they are ahead and would form the government at the Centre. In the state, candidates fielded by the Congress and BJP are co

A distance of 335 km between two places can change many things. Two different geographies could mean different lives, livelihood, dialects, climate, cultural practices, food and a lot more. But, between Hinjili and Kantabanji, there are dissimilarities and equally, a common ground. Hinjili, for all the attention it garnered over the last two decades and a half, is like a reluctant celebrity. A quaint little semi-urban place, it has grown over the years into a municipal area with modern amenities

HYDERABAD: With the Telangana phase of the Lok Sabha elections ending, a swarm of Congress leaders from the state have landed in Uttar Pradeshs Rae Bareli to campaign for former AICC president Rahul Gandhi. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is also planning to campaign for Rahul in Rae Bareli. Minister for Panchayat Raj, Women and Child Welfare Danasari Anasuya, alias Seethakka, confirmed that she was in Rae Bareli campaigning. She said that the Congress leaders are campaigning with the slogan Ab K

GURUGRAM: At least nine people were burnt alive and 15 injured when a moving bus caught fire near Tauru in Haryana's Nuh district in the early hours of Saturday, police said. The incident occurred around 2 am on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway. The bus was carrying around 60 people, all residents of Punjab's Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana, who were returning from pilgrim towns of Mathura and Vrindavan. All of them are relatives, police said. Nine people -- six women and three men -- were kil

NEW DELHI: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast severe heatwave over plains of northwest, Bihar, east and central India in the next five days. The forecast indicates that northwestern India, including the National Capital Territory of Delhi, will experience a period of intense heat for five days. It will include unusually warm night time temperatures, which can intensify the risk of heat-related illness and death, IMD said in its forecast on Thursday. In its advisory, the weath

RANCHI: For the first time in Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat, two candidates of backward caste (OBC) have locked horns against each other making the contest interesting besides making it unpredictable also. Hazaribagh LS seat, a BJP stronghold with former Union Ministers Yashwant Sinha and his son Jayant Sinha winning the seat on BJP ticket for the last three terms, has become difficult for the party this time as the contest is primarily between the two backward (OBC) candidates Hazaribagh (Sadar) M

PATNA: The five Bihar seats going to polls in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls on May 20 will witness new candidates on four seats, and a turncoat trying his luck from the remaining one. In Hajipur (SC) and Saran, RJD chief Lalu Prasads daughter Rohini Acharya and Ram Vilas Paswans son Chirag Paswan face the challenges of protecting their fathers pocket boroughs, respectively. Altogether 80 candidates, including 35 Independents, are in the fray, with three contestants being doctors. In high-pr

LUCKNOW: Confronting the claim of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra that Raebareli Union Home Minister Amit Shah said it was not a seat of any family but that of the people. She (Priyanka Gandhi) says that Rae Bareli and Amethi are the seats of my family. I say that this seat does not belong to any family. This is the seat of poor youth of both the districts. Whoever the people of Rae Bareli and Amethi want will go to the Parliament. This is democracy, family has no seat, he asserted. Shah m

SRINAGAR: After Srinagar recorded highest voter turnout of 37.99% in three decades, all eyes are now on the poll percentage on two other Valley seats and it remains to be seen whether the voter turnout crosses the 50% mark in any of the two or both parliamentary seats. The poll enthusiasm has returned to the Valley after over three decades of militancy. The political parties and candidates are holding poll rallies, roadshows and corner meetings in Baramulla parliamentary seat in north Kashmir, w

AHMEDABAD: After the Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat, three MLAs of the ruling BJP have voiced their concerns regarding the working of the state government and registered their protests against officials. Kishor Kanani, the MLA from Varachha, has criticised arrangements for obtaining income and caste certificates at the Surat collectors office. Sanjay Koradia, the MLA from Junagadh, has written to the Chief Minister, questioning the slow progress in beautification of Narsingh Lake. Sanjaysinh Vij

BHOPAL: With the four-phase Lok Sabha polls over in Madhya Pradesh, there is strong buzz now about a mini expansion of the council of ministers being on the cards in the state. According to sources in the ruling BJP circles, there is strong possibility of a cabinet reshuffle happening in the state after the LS polls results and before the next session of the Vidhan Sabha in June-July. Importantly, the present council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav is 31-strong, which means fou

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally of the opposition INDIA bloc in Mumbai which was also addressed by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Thackeray said on June 4, when Lok Sabha election results will be declared, Modi will be out as PM. On June 4 there will be de-Modiisation of India. This is the first election where PM Narendra Modi is not finding direction

LUCKNOW: The political heartland of India will witness voting on 14 seats, including a couple of high-profile constituencies and fate of five Union ministers, in the fifth phase on May 20. The 14 seats comprise not only Congress citadels Rae Bareli and Amethi but also Ayodhya, the nerve centre of BJPs Hindutva plank. In fact, this phase will decide the tone and tenor of the sixth and seventh rounds, which will be concentrated across 27 seats of Purvanchal. Moreover, four constituencies of Bund

MUMBAI: Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha constituency, home to several celebrities and spread across many posh areas including Bandra and Vile Parle, is witnessing a close contest between renowned lawyer Ujjwal Nikam of the BJP and Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad. Interestingly, neither Nikam nor Gaikwad was the first choice of their respective parties. The BJP denied ticket to sitting MP Poonam Mahajan and wanted to field its Mumbai city president Ashish Shelar, who declined to contest s

AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal claims that the INDIA bloc will win 300 seats and form the government after June 4. He tells Preetha Nair that all the constitutional bodies have been compromised under the BJP government and also accuses the Election Commission of being biased against Opposition parties. Excerpts: After the four phases, the INDIA alliance has been exuding confidence that the tide is in your favour. What is your assessment? We are confident that the INDIA allia

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh, the political heartland of India, will witness voting in 14 seats in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20, with the fate of five Union ministers at stake. The 14 seats which will vote in the upcoming phase comprise not only the Congress citadels of Rae Bareli and Amethi but also Ayodhya, the nerve centre of the BJPs Hindutva plank. In fact, the fifth phase will decide the tone and tenor of the remaining sixth and seventh phases of the ensuing election whic

LUCKNOW: Claiming that the opposition alliance, especially the Congress, had the intention of reversing the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram temple, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that if they come to power they would get the temple bulldozed. Addressing a poll rally in Zaidpur in Barabanki on Friday, PM Modi advised the INDIA bloc to learn from CM Yogi Adityanath where to run bulldozers. A senior SP leader had said on Ram Navami that the Ram temple is useless. At the same time, the Congress

NEW DELHI: The return of the eighth Indian naval veteran, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, from Doha depends on his completion of some formalities, said the MEA. Commander Tiwari is currently under a travel ban and cannot leave Qatar. There are certain formalities that Commander Tiwari has to complete and he has to do it on his own. Once he clears it, he will be back. You may recall that he is a free man (like the other seven naval veterans) and is living in Doha, Ministry of External Affairs spokesma

ANANTAPUR: Videos of police personnel destroying CCTV cameras and furniture at the residence of YSRC party's Tadipatri MLA Ketireddy Pedda Reddy has surfaced on Friday, creating a fresh row as a sequel to the election-related violence in Andhra Pradesh. As soon as the videos emerged, the YSRC held the police responsible for the post-poll violence that erupted in the politically sensitive Tadipatri. The videos were dated May 15, two days after the state went to polls on May 13. According to polic

India's fiscal policy seems to have the virtues of both a Swabian housewife and the Japanese Mrs Watanabe. If the government's fiscal prudence, even in the face of a once-in-a-century pandemic, is symptomatic of Southern Germany's Swabian housewives known for their pragmatic ways of handling money, the decisive increase in capital expenditure over the past five years illustrates the financial acuity of Mrs Watanabe -- an archetypal housewife, who raked in substantial profits from currency tradin

NEW DELHI: AAP MP Swati Maliwal on Friday attacked her party for dismissing as baseless her assault allegations against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar, and said the AAP has given in under a goon's pressure and is now questioning her character. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), she said, has taken a U-turn two days after it accepted that Kumar had misbehaved with her. Her reaction came after AAP leader Atishi at a press conference said that the assault case is a BJP conspiracy to fra

NEW DELHI: A brutal heat wave swept swathes of northwest India on Friday, with maximum temperatures soaring to a scorching 47.4 degrees Celsius in west Delhi's Najafgarh, making it the warmest place in the country. The mercury breached 45 degrees Celsius at 19 places in Rajasthan, 18 in Haryana, eight in Delhi and two in Punjab. Conditions are expected to turn worse with the severe heat wave over the northwest Indian plains predicted to continue during the next five days. The threshold for a hea

GUWAHATI: A peoples rights group in Manipur alleged rice given for free to the poor under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) is not reaching the beneficiaries in two tribal districts due to black marketing. The Movement for Peoples Rights Forum, Manipur, alleged a nexus between some officials of the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and a few transport contractors who has reportedly paralysed the monthly rice distribution system in Noney and Tamenglong districts. I

NEW DELHI: The Swati Maliwal assault case is a BJP conspiracy to frame Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and she is the face of this, the AAP alleged on Friday, terming allegations levelled by her against Kejriwal's aide aseless. The remarks of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) come a day after the Delhi Police registered an FIR against Bibhav Kumar, the personal assistant of Kejriwal, for allegedly assaulting Maliwal, the party's member in Rajya Sabha, at the chief minister's official residence.

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea filed by Campaign Against Hate Speech (CAHS)challenging an order passed by the Karnataka High Court which stayed the investigation against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya in a hate speech case. A two-judge bench of the top court led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna and also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta refused to entertain the plea filed by the petitioner. Sorry, we are not inclined to entertain your plea. If you want to withdraw your plea, then y

RAEBARELI: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said on Friday that she is giving her son to the people of Rae Bareli and Rahul will not disappoint you. She also thanked the people for giving her an opportunity to serve them as an MP for 20 years. My everything is all given by you. So, brothers and sisters, I am giving you my son. You consider me yours, she said. Striking an emotional chord with the voters, Sonia asked the people to consider Rahul Gandhi too as their own. Rahul for Rae Bareli in Gandhi

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday denounced the campaign speeches by his counterparts from other states and union ministers terming them as derogatory and abusive, and claimed that those political tourists have no impact on people of his state. In the last few days, a number of BJP CMs and union ministers campaigned in the state, and altogether 14 rallies were addressed by them on Friday at various places across the state. Some chief ministers and union ministers come a

NEW DELHI: Four days after Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal was allegedly assaulted at the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a purported video of the incident went viral on social media in which Maliwal could be seen arguing with the security staff present at the CM's residence. In the 52-second video, doing rounds on social media, Maliwal is seen seated on a couch and shouting at the security staff when they were asking her to leave the premises. A video of AAP MP #SwatiMaliwal from Delh