NEW DELHI: AS MANY as three lakh paramilitary personnel along with over 20 lakh State Police officials and Home Guards were deployed for the seven-phase Lok Sabha election in the country, officials said on Monday. The Home Ministry officials said deployment of such a large number of security personnel in the 2019 general election was the highest ever in India. For the current parliamentary election, the Home Ministry has mobilised 3,000 companies of paramilitary forces comprising more than ..

 PALGHAR:  So far, 51,174 farmers from 333 villages in Palghar have been paid Rs 21.09 crore towards compensation for the scarcity situation in the district MORE than 51,000 farmers in Palghar district of Maharashtra have been provided drought assistance worth Rs 21.09 crore, an official said on Monday. Due to the deficient monsoon last year, reservoirs in the district have only about 22 per cent water stock of their total storage capacity, Collector Prashant Narnavre said in a statement. ..

 Our Correspondents: NANDURA/Buldana   IN a ghastly road mishap, total 13 persons were killed while three were injured seriously in the head-on collision of a Tata Max vehicle and a truck in front of Rasoya Company near Dharangaon in Malkapur tehsil of Buldana district on National Highway no 6 around 2.30 pm on Monday. As per reports, the truck (MH-40/BG-9112) heading towards Nagpur from Mumbai collided with Tata Max vehicle (MH-46/X-7925) heading towards Anurabad from Malkapur ..

BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav met here on Monday after exit polls indicated gains for their alliance in the politically important state of Uttar Pradesh. Yadav, who had formed a coalition with the BSP and the RLD to take on the BJP, drove to the residence of Mayawati and the closed door talks lasted for almost an hour...

AMID criticism over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kedarnath and Badrinath temples in Uttarakhand, Janata Dal (United) leader K C Tyagi asserted that he does not see anything wrong in it. Speaking to ANI, Tyagi said:..

 CANNES (France),Seasoned Cannes celebrity, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, owned the red carpet at the French Riveria in a metallic hued dual-toned fish-cut ensemble. The former Miss World’s gold gown, designed by Jean-Louis Sabaji, sported a long train. and came with a sweetheart neckline and a small slit. For her hairdo, she kept it simple with straight locks with a side-part. Aishwarya rocked it with elegant minimalistic makeup with contoured makeup and nude lipstick.  The former ..

  PATNA:  BIHAR Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar Sunday questioned the long drawn polling in intense heat conditions and suggested general election should be held in two or three phases. He said February-March or October-November would be ideal weather condition for the polling in the country. He also disfavoured gap between voting days. He stressed on a constitutional provision for conduct of election at above-mentioned suitable time and said in the capacity of ..

  WASHINGTON NATIONAL Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has found evidence for a unique mixture of methanol, water ice, and organic molecules on Ultima Thule’s surface -- the farthest world ever explored by mankind. The US space agency has published the first profile of Ultima Thule -- an ancient relic from the era of planet formation -- revealing details about the complex space object.  Analysing just the first sets of data gathered during the New Horizons spacecraft..

MOST exit polls on Sunday forecast another term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with some of them projecting that BJP-led NDA will get more than 300 seats to comfortably cross the majority mark of 272 in the Lok Sabha. Exit polls were, however, divided in their prediction for the politically most crucial State of Uttar Pradesh ..

PRE-MONSOON rainfall from March to May, a phenomenon vital to agriculture in several parts of the country, has recorded a deficiency of 22 per cent, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data...

 NEW DELHI;  PRIME Minister Narendra Modi addressed 142 rallies during his marathon election campaign, devoting 40 per cent of these in the politically-crucial Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha which have a combined seat strength of 143 Lok Sabha seats. During the high-pitch campaign that began from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh and concluded in Khargone in Madhya Pradesh, Modi also held four roadshows and finally appeared at a press conference where he did not answer any questions, attracting ..

 NEW DELHI:  WITH a smile as bright as her neon-coloured outfit, actor Deepika Padukone has yet again stunned her fans on day two of the Cannes Film Festival. The 33-year-old opted for a neon green Giambattista Valli gown with a long trail. She paired the gown, consisting of elaborate ruffled detailing, with a pink headband, and completed the look with nude coloured stilettoes. Similar to her earlier outfits, this one, too, comes with a bow, although smaller than the others.  The ..

 KEDARNATH (Uttarakhand): PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a meeting with Chief Secretary of the Uttarakhand, Utpal Kumar over re-development projects in Kedarnath. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi also inspected the ongoing work at the site of the redevelopment project and was briefed by officials. The Kedarnath temple complex is currently the focus of major development and reconstruction effort, following the severe flood and landslide that affected the region in 2013.  In ..

THE seven-phase Lok Sabha elections, one of the most bitterly fought in recent memory, will come to a close on Sunday when polling will be held in 59 constituencies including in Varanasi where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to retain the seat. Polling will be held in all 13 seats in Punjab and an equal number of seats in..

A DAY before the last phase of polling, leaders of Opposition parties have stepped up efforts to cobble up a coalition for formation of the next Government, with TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu meeting Congress, CPI, NCP..

SHIMLASENIOR Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday appeared to have made a u-turn saying his party must be given a chance if a stable Government is needed at the Centre, in remarks that came a day after he had said that Congress was only keen on defeating NDA and the Prime Minister’s post was not its primary concern.   “No, it is not true that Congress will not claim the Prime Minister’s post. We are the biggest and the oldest political party. If the Government ..

CHANDIGARH IT is religion and not nationalism, unlike in most parts of the country, which is dominating the political discourse in Punjab. However, issues of drug abuse, farmers stress and unemployment also have resonance on the ground.While the Congress is raking up incidents of sacrilege of the holy book of Sikhs that took place in 2015 in its campaign, for the Shiromani Akali Dal, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and Operation Bluestar are some issues on which it is relying to revive its fortune. ..

“The groundswell in favour of Modi has become consolidated as the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha elections approaches to a closure,” said Jaitley.NEW DELHI THE “frightening and scary scenario” that the Opposition promises as an alternative will be responsible for its rout in this year’s Lok Sabha elections, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday.  “The positive reasons for the Prime Minister’s acceptability has been his decisiveness, ..

NEW DELHI ADDRESSING the first press conference of his tenure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the Lok Sabha elections “spectacular” and expressed confidence of coming to power again. In a surprised move, Modi showed up on the dais for a scheduled press conference by BJP President Amit Shah, who gave a detailed report card of the campaigning as well as performance of the NDA Government.   “In my opinion, our full majority Government will return to power. ..

 By Kunal Dutt: VARANASI Narendra Modi: Ek Sakaratmak Soch” is an unusual book as it is shaped like a cut-out put up during election rallies. People are lapping it up for its quirky design.  AMID election fever in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity in this holy city can be seen from streets to stands, with booksellers saying titles written on him are flying off the shelf ahead of the polls in his constituency.  Among the books doing well are ..

 MUMBAI: The issue will be discussed in the State Cabinet meeting today  Promulgation of ordinance will pave the way for admissions to PG medical courses under the Maratha quota  THE Maharashtra Government has received permission from the Election Commission (EC) to promulgate an ordinance for Maratha reservation in Post-Graduate medical courses. Sources said the issue would be discussed in the State Cabinet meeting to be held on Friday. Promulgation of ordinance will pave ..

 NEW DELHI: THE CBI on Thursday triggered curiosity when it withdrew its application from a Delhi court seeking permission to pursue its probe into the Bofors payoff case, but asserted later that the investigation would continue in the high-profile matter. The CBI had moved the application on February 1, 2018 seeking further investigation in the case in view of “fresh evidence” in the case, which had once led to the fall of the Rajiv Gandhi Government.  However, on Thursday ..

SIX militants, including a top Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) commander, as well as a soldier and a civilian were killed and four others injured in three gunfights between security forces and militants across the Kashmir ..

 SRINAGAR: AMID calls of hanging of rapist as students continue to clash with the police, the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday shut down most educational institutions in the Valley. Fearing further spurts in violence as the protests took centre-stage after two consecutive rape incidents were reported in Bandipora and Ganderbal districts, colleges in Srinagar city, Baramulla, Sopore, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Anantnag, Kupwara, Badgam and other districts were ordered to remain shut. ..

 KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: BHARATIYA Janata Party youth wing activist Priyanka Sharma, who walked out of jail on Wednesday after being arrested for posting a morphed picture of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Facebook, said jail authorities pressured her and extracted an apology for the post. Sharma, however, asserted she had no regrets for sharing the post for which she had to spend five days behind bars. She claimed she was “mentally tortured” in jail and was not even ..

 LUCKNOW: WHEN she walked in for polling duties in Lucknow carrying an EVM, earlier this month, her svelte figure and canary yellow sari made heads turn. One of her colleagues clicked her photograph and posted it on the social media.  Within no time, her photograph went viral and people began making inquiries. The ‘internet sensation in yellow’, as she was called, is Reena Dwiwedi, a Lucknow resident. Hailing from Deoria district, Reena has worked as an assistant officer ..

 NEW DELHI: May 15 Shah blames Mamata Banerjee for violence State Police was a mute spectator to the violence, says Shah   A POLITICAL slugfest has erupted over the violence that marred on Tuesday the roadshow of BJP chief Amit Shah, who said here on Wednesday that he managed to escape safely only because of the personnel of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Talking to media persons here, Shah blamed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the violence, which was allegedly “unl..

ACE Special Forces operative and Sri Lanka war veteran Major General AK Dhingra has been appointed as the first head of country’s first Tri-Services Special Operations Division comprising commandos from all three Services...

 BALLIA (UP): PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday threw an open challenge to the Opposition to prove if he had amassed any assets or kept money in any foreign bank. Addressing an election meeting here, Modi said: “I throw an open challenge challenge to these ‘mahamilavati’ (highly-adulterated) people to show if I have any benami property, farmhouse, shopping complex or money in any foreign bank, or whether I have purchased any property abroad or bought a luxury car.” ..

CALLING himself a ‘Kashi vaasi’- resident of Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is seeking re-election from the Lok Sabha seat, issued an emotional message for people of the constituency and sought their blessings for victory. ..

 CHENNAI: TELANGANA Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrashekhar Rao’s bid to rope in DMK in his proposed alternative front appeared to be a non-starter with the Dravidian party chief M K Stalin urging the Telangana CM to extend TRS’s support to the Congress.  Continuing his efforts to bring together regional parties, Rao called on Stalin at his residence here and discussed with him his proposal for a federal front, DMK sources said. In the meeting that went beyond an hour, Stalin ..

 NEW DELHI:  Post Balakot airstrikes, the air defence units will be deployed closer to the border to enable the Army to tackle any possible aerial strike from enemy side and thwart it close to the border itself  AFTER a deep internal review of the recent conflict with Pakistan, the Indian Army is planning to deploy a number of its air defence units close to the border to thwart aerial threats emanating from Pakistan. “Some of the fighting formations including air defence ..

THE Central Government on Tuesday extended for five more years the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a terror group that was behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi...

 By Quaid Najmi: MUMBAI CAPTAIN Aarohi Pandit, a 23-year-old pilot from Mumbai became the world’s first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo in a Light Sports Aircraft (LSA), thrilling her family, friends and aviation circles here. She achieved the feat around midnight Monday-Tuesday (May 13-14) when she landed her tiny aircraft at Iqaluit Airport in Canada, after a gruelling 3,000 km long flight, under adverse and extreme weather conditions following take-off from Wick, Scotland ..

 SOLAN (HP): Modi accused the previous UPA dispensation of delaying the purchase of bullet-proof jackets for the Armed Forces for six years  PRIME Minister Narendra Modi accused the previous Congress Governments of using defence deals as automated teller machines (ATM). Addressing a rally in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district, Modi claimed that had the previous UPA Government maintained the growth rate achieved during former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s term, ..

 NEW DELHI: IF Pakistan continues to support cross-border terrorism, India will have no option but to take the “hard” decision of stopping its share of water of three common rivers, Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari has said, in a warning to the neighbouring country. He told IANS in an interview that India is starting a study and a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of all the three rivers over which it has complete right under the Indus Water Treaty and has taken up two projects ..

 LONDON: ARTIFICIAL Intelligence-based systems can predict death and heart attack in patients suffering from chest pain with greater accuracy than humans, says a new study. Doctors use risk scores to make treatment decisions, but these scores are based on just a handful of variables and often have modest accuracy in individual patients.  Through repetition and adjustment, machine learning, the bedrock of AI, could exploit large amounts of data and identify complex patterns that might ..

FORTY-SEVEN security personnel were injured in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district when stone pelting mobs went on the rampage following the rape of a three-year-old in Bandipora. At least one officer was in critical condition...

FACING a mounting attack from the BJP, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday again rebuked his party’s overseas unit chief Sam Pitroda, saying he should be “ashamed” for his “totally wrong” remarks on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and should seek apology from the country. Gandhi’s remarks came at his first poll rally..

ODISHA Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has demanded special category status from Centre for his disaster-prone State, saying it faces natural calamities almost every year. In his first interview since cyclone Fani that ravaged the coastal districts killing 41 people, he said special category status is the need of the hour due to the massive loss to infrastructure which may stall growth of the State. “In fact, this is one of the our main demands before the Union Government. Odisha faces natural ..

  The tusker, Thechikottukavu Ramachandran, has killed seven people in the past and is considered a tough elephant to handleTHE opening of the famed Thrissur Pooram festival here on Sunday was attended by more than 10,000 people after an order disallowing a 54-year-old controversial tusker from taking part in the festivities was reversed on Saturday.  The tusker, Thechikottukavu Ramachandran, was brought to the Vadakkumnathan temple here in a vehicle at around 10.30 AM and he symbolical..

BJP candidate Bharati Ghosh attacked in WB when she tried to take a BJP agent inside a polling boothBharatiya Janata party (BJP) candidate Bharati Ghosh was attacked in West Bengal and a poll officer was allegedly beaten up by a BJP MLA in Uttar Pradesh during the Lok Sabha poll’s sixth and penultimate phase on Sunday in which over 63 per cent turnout was recorded in 59 seats across six States and the national capital.  Elections were held in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 10 seats in ..

 GANGTOK;  AMID escalating trade war between Beijing and Washington, China’s ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui has called for relaxation in trade hours and increase in number of business days along the Nathu La corridor, giving an impetus to Sino-Indian economic ties.  According to an official release issued by State’s Information and Public Relations Department, the two dignitaries talked about the common areas of concern, which, if addressed, could improve border trade ..

Sujata Khan, Saumitra Khan  By Amitava Roy: BISHNUPUR (WB) A SCHOOL teacher by profession, little did Sujata Khan know that she would have to move out of her cushy world among children and get airdropped into the grinding heat and dust of electioneering. She actively campaigned for her husband, the BJP candidate from Bishnupur Lok Sabha seat Saumitra Khan. Saumitra is probably the only candidate in the country who cannot enter his constituency to campaign, having barred by ..

THE fate of several Union Ministers including Radha Mohan Singh, Harshvardhan and Maneka Gandhi, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leaders Digvijay Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia will be decided on Sunday in the sixth and penultimate phase of Lok Sabha polls to be held in 59 constituencies in six States and Delhi. Elections will be held in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 10 seats in Haryana, eights constituencies each in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, seven seats in Delhi and four in Jharkhand...

US AEROSPACE major Boeing has handed over first of the 22 Apache Guardian attack helicopters to the Indian Air Force, nearly three-and-half years after a multi-billion dollar deal for the choppers was sealed...

NOTED industry leader and ITC Chairman Y C Deveshwar, who transformed the cigarette major into a diversified player with interests in FMCG, hospitality, IT and other sectors, passed away on Saturday morning after a brief illness. Deveshwar (72), who stepped down from executive role as Chairman and CEO in 2017..

 TIRUPATI: THE Sri Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala here owns 9,259 kg of gold deposited with various banks and in its treasury, a senior temple official said on Monday. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the country’s richest temple, has 5,387 kg of gold with the State Bank of India and 1,938 kg of gold with the Indian Overseas Bank under gold deposit schemes.  TTD Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal said Punjab National Bank (PNB) returned 1,381 ..

 NEW DELHI: THE Supreme Court constituted three-member mediation committee, tasked with exploring the possibility of an amicable settlement in the decades-old, politically sensitive, Ayodhya’s Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case, has submitted its interim report in a sealed cover. “Sources aware of the development said the interim report was filed with the apex court Registry on May 6, and the matter has been listed for hearing on Friday. “The apex court on March ..

   NEW DELHI: THE Supreme Court on Thursday disposed of a plea of the kin of those killed along with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, challenging the Tamil Nadu Government’s 2014 decision to release seven convicts in the assassination case. A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna said that all relevant issues raised in the petition were decided by the 2015 constitution bench verdict of the apex court.  “Having ..

REJECTING the Government’s objections, the Supreme Court Collegium has reiterated its recommendation to elevate Justices Aniruddha Bose and A S Bopanna to the apex court, observing that nothing adverse has been found..

TO MAKE water management in the state more efficient, Maharashtra is updating its decades-old agricultural maps with the help of aerial survey carried out by Terra Drone India, a subsidiary of Japan-based Terra Drone Corp. Terra Drone India on Thursday said it has completed the aerial survey of 4,200 sq km of agricultural land for the Water Resources Department of the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corp (MKVDC) in India...

A CACHE of ancient Indian antiques and valuable artefacts, seized by the US Immigration and Customs Department from arrested art smuggler Subhash Kapoor, have been identified by Indian archaeologists and could soon be returned to the country. In a statement on Wednesday, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) announced that finding over 300 antiqu..

 NEW DELHI: PRIYANKA Gandhi Vadra is wasting her time in campaigning in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal here on Wednesday, while accusing her of not going to places where the BJP is in a direct fight. “She (Priyanka Gandhi) is wasting her time. Why doesn’t she campaign in Rajasthan and MP? She is doing rallies in UP against SP-BSP.  She is doing rallies in Delhi against AAP. Both the brother and the sister are not going to those places ..

FATEHABAD (Haryana): Those who have looted the country “will have to pay back”, said the Prime Minister while addressing gathering  PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said if the NDA Government comes back to power, he will put the ‘shahenshah’ who looted farmers behind bars within the next five years. “Whenever there was Congress’ government in Centre and Haryana, they took away the land of farmers at low rates. With your blessings, this ‘Chow..

THE airstrike by the Indian Air Force at the terror training camp at Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26 killed between 130 to 170 JeM terrorists, according to an Italian freelance journalist. Quoting local sources, Francesca Marino wrote on ‘Stringerasia’ that after the IAF strike at around 3.30 am, a Pakistan Army unit arrived at their location from their camp..

CONGRESS President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday tendered unconditional apology in the Supreme Court for wrongfully attributing his “chowkidar chor hai” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the apex court in the Rafale verdict. Gandhi, who filed an additional affidavit, said he holds the apex court in the “highest ..

 GURDASPUR (Punjab):  “People keep asking me this question (on rivals dubbing him an outsider) and I say, I am not here to reply to what all is being said. I have come here to work and serve the people,” said Sunny.  BOLLYWOOD actor and BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate, Sunny Deol says he is focused on the task ahead and is not affected by his opponents dubbing him an “outsider”. The BJP has pitted the 62-year-old actor against sitting MP and Punjab Congress ..

 SRINAGAR: NOBODY from the village of Burhan Wani, the poster boy of terror group Hizbul Mujahideen, voted on Monday, while just 15 from the native place of Pulwama suicide bomber, who nearly brought India and Pakistan to a war, cast the ballots, officials said. Also, zero polling was witnessed from the villages of other top militant commanders in south Kashmir, the hotbed of militancy in the valley, they said. Wani’s Shareefabad village in the Tral area decided to give a miss to the ..

RAIPUR:  The specially-raised squad, christened ‘Danteshwari Ladake’, or fighters of Goddess Danteshwari comprises of 30 women  THE Chhattisgarh police for the first time has inducted women commandos in the District Reserve Guard, its frontline anti-Naxal force. A senior official said these women commandos were part of the security forces’ “short action teams” that eliminated three Naxal “commanders” in the past one month. The specially-raised ..

GIRLS outshone boys in the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Class 10 and 12 examination, with two students scoring 100 per cent marks. This is the first time that students have scored 100 per cent ..

  NEW DELHI: FINANCE Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday wondered why Congress President Rahul Gandhi gets disturbed when integrity issues of his late father Rajiv Gandhi-led Government are raised and the ‘Q’ connection in the Bofors gun-deal is questioned. In a series of tweets, Jaitley said that Rahul Gandhi thinks that “dynast” does not have to answer any question even though he can attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- a man of utmost integrity.  Responding ..

  TAMLUK (WB): PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of pursuing “cheap politics” over cyclone Fani, claiming that she did not speak to him when he tried to contact her to talk about the calamity. Modi also criticised Banerjee for not hailing the designation of Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist” by the UN as she is “afraid that it might affect her vote bank politics”. “I am just back from ..

 District Correspondent: BULDANA Total seven persons including six of a family from Khamgaon were killed in a car mishap that took place at Velamma near Bengaluru on Monday afternoon. The family had gone to Bengaluru on vacation. As per details, Milind Narayan Deshmukh who hailed from Khamgaon, was Railway Protection Force constable working at DRM Office, Bhusawal. His brother Rajesh Deshmukh was working in a company at Havsar in Bengaluru.   The members of Deshmukh family ..

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday conducted an aerial survey of cyclone-ravaged areas of Odisha and announced an additional central assistance of Rs 1000 crore for relief works in the State. Lauding..

THE Centre has released Rs 7.69 crore each as incentive to 10 States which have succeeded in implementing police reforms like filling up of vacancies, use of technology in tackling crime and welfare of police personnel...

  HARIDWAR: SWAMI Aatmabodhanand broke his 194 days fast to save River Ganga after receiving written assurances from the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). The seer was on a fast in Haridwar for the past 194 days with an aim to save the holy river.  He was made to break his fast by having juice in the presence of Haridwar Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Kusum Chouhan and other officials. “NMCG Director General Rajeev Ranjan met me on April 25 and gave it in writing ..

 NEW DELHI: A PHALANX of Bollywood and other celebrities on Sunday came together and threw their weight behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking one more term for him. The event - Celebrities with NaMo for building a new India - was held at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters here. Some of the important celebrities who attended the meeting included Boney Kapoor, Jaya Prada, Dalip Singh Rana aka The Great Khali, famous Haryanavi dancer Sapna Chaudhary, and Poonam Dhillon. External ..

   NEW DELHI: IN THE run-up to Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, actor Vivek Oberoi on Sunday campaigned on behalf of the BJP in the capital, urging the people to vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The actor, who plays Modi in the biopic “PM Narendra Modi”, asked Delhiites to vote for the Prime Minister on all seven seats in the city. After almost three hours of wait, Oberoi arrived at the Constitution Club of India for the event, titled ‘Saaton seetein Modi ko’ ..

  NEW DELHI: PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the Indian airstrike on a terrorist camp in Pakistan’s Balakot would have been ranked “among one of the major military operations of the world”, had it not been for “politics”. In an interview to India TV’s Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma in front of nearly 2,500 people at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Modi was asked what had prompted the early release of captured Indian Air Force ..

EVEN after two days of cyclone ‘Fani’ hitting the Odisha coast, the State Government is struggling to provide basic amenities to people in the affected areas. The office of Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) said massive relief and ..

  By Aditi Khanna  LONDON:  The aircraft carrier will be built along the lines of Britain’s HMS Queen Elizabeth as part of the ongoing ‘Make in India’ negotiations. The 65,000-tonne warship will be named INS Vishal in 2022   THE UK is in talks with the Indian Government on building a new state-of-the-art aircraft carrier along the lines of Britain’s HMS Queen Elizabeth as part of the ongoing ‘Make in India’ negotiations, according ..

 NEW DELHI: DELHI Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was slapped by a man during a roadshow in Moti Nagar in the New Delhi constituency, prompting a strong reaction from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which alleged the BJP was behind the “cowardly act”. Police said the man has been taken into the custody and an investigation into the matter is underway.  Kejriwal was on an open jeep when a man wearing a red t-shirt jumped onto the vehicle and slapped the Chief Minister before he ..

 PRATAPGARH (UP): INTENSIFYING his attack on the Opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the ‘mahagathbandhan’ (Grand Alliance) will give rise to ‘mahabhrashtachar’ (grand corruption)’. Modi said the Congress has been reduced to the status of ‘vote katwa’ party and it will soon witness its “downfall”. “See its (Congress) downfall,” he said, as he made a no-holds barred attack against party President Rahul ..

 By Sanjeev Chopra: JAGDISHPUR (Amethi) FIVE years after Congress President Rahul Gandhi adopted Amethi’s Jagdishpur village under the ‘Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana’ (SAGY), residents say they have been waiting for him to visit and get the development work started. The last time Gandhi visited Jagdishpur was in December 2014, when he adopted the village. “Rahul Gandhi visited only once in 2014. At that time, every tree, pole and road was measured with a view to ..

CAMPAIGNING ended on Saturday evening for elections to 51 Lok Sabha seats in six northern and eastern states besides the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh in the fifth phase on May 6 with Union Ministers Rajnath Singh..

THE Centre on Saturday filed a fresh affidavit in Rafale deal in the Supreme Court seeking the application of review of the deal “ought to be dismissed with exemplary costs” as it signifies “complete misuse and abuse of the legal process”. The Centre expressed its commitment to provide the top court any document..

Modi attended 200 programmes, political as well as official, held across 27 States and Union Territories in last 125 days There is no part of the country that he did not visit during these days as he crisscrossed from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Jamnagar to SilcharNEW DELHIIN THE last few months of his tenure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended 200 programmes, political as well as official, held across 27 States and Union Territories, “touching base with almost every Indian” in 125 days, ..

NEW DELHITHE Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear next week a review plea filed by 21 Opposition leaders seeking further increase in random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs in the ongoing general elections. The apex court had on April 8 directed the Election Commission to increase random matching of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in five polling booths per assembly segment from one booth.  The top court, however, had not agreed ..

Congress leaders were confusing video games with surgical strikes Congress first ignored the strikes carried out under his Government and then opposed them. “Now it’s me too, me too,” Modi said using the English termSIKAR/HINDAUN/BIKANER (Rajasthan)PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday mocked the “me too” Congress claim that its Government had also conducted surgical strikes across the Line of Control and accused the party of telling lies. Addressing a rally in Sikar, ..

Winds reaching speeds of up to 175 kilometers per hour uprooted trees and thatched structures Telecommunication lines, mobile towers damaged and power supply disconnected in many places Nearly 12 lakh people from about 10,000 villages and 52 urban agglomerations evacuated and shifted to safer locationsBHUBANESHWAR/KOLKATACYCLONE ‘Fani’ barrelled through Odisha on Friday, unleashing copious rain and windstorm that gusted up to 175 kmph, killing at least eight people, blowing away thatched ..

  SIMDEGA (Jharkhand); CONGRESS President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said if voted to power, Rs 72,000 would be deposited in bank accounts of 5 crore people of the country within one year under NYAY scheme. The amount will be given under the NYAY scheme till a family earns Rs 12,000 per month on its own, he said. Addressing an election rally in Simdega, which is a part of Khunti Lok Sabha constituency where voting will take place on May 6, the Congress chief made a blistering attack at ..

  Our Correspondent: DANTEWADA IN a major success to security forces, a dreaded ultra the mastermind behind the Neelaway ambush which claimed life of Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Legislative Assembly Bhima Mandavi on April 9, 2019, was gunned down during a pitched gunbattle between the security personnel and outlaws in restive Dantewada district on Thursday. Confirming this, Dantewada Superintendent of Police Dr Abhishek Pallava informed that the slain outlaw, identified as ..

  NEW DELHI: BHARATIYA Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah said when Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Government gave a befitting reply to terrorists in Pakistan after the ghastly Pulwama attack, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were crying as if their cousins were killed in the neighboring country.  “On the 13th day of Pulwama attack, Narendra Modi instructed the Indian Air Force to conduct an operation. Our jawans entered Pakistan ..

ALL modules of India’s second moon mission “Chandrayaan-2”, scheduled for launch in July, are getting ready and the lander is expected to touch down on the lunar surface in early September, the ISRO said on Wednesday...

DESCRIBING the UN designating JeM chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist as a great diplomatic victory for India, the BJP on Thursday said Opposition parties are reluctant to celebrate the achievement because they feel they may have to pay political price for it. The UN Sanctions Committee on Wednesday designated ..

  AHMEDABAD: A COURT in Ahmedabad on Wednesday issued summons to Congress President Rahul Gandhi in response to a criminal defamation suit filed by a BJP worker for calling BJP chief Amit Shah a “murder accused”. Additional chief metropolitan magistrate D S Dabhi issued a summons, returnable on July 6, holding that prima facie (on the face of it) there was a case of criminal defamation against Gandhi under section 500 of the IPC.  Krishnavadan Brahmbhatt, a local BJP ..

  AMBEDKAR NAGAR (Uttar Pradesh); In last 5 years 1.5 crore poor have been given houses, 4 crore poor got free electricity connection and 7 crore poor got LPG connection UP CM Yogi Aditynath said  ADDRESSING a political rally here on Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath alleged that speeches made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi causes his Pakistani counterpart to sweat across the border. “Today when Prime Minister Modi makes a speech anywhere in India, ..

  KALYANI: STEPPING up its attack on Mamata Banerjee, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Wednesday said the West Bengal Chief Minister has extended her support to those who wish to separate Kashmir from India. Addressing a rally here in Bongaon Lok Sabha constituency, Shah said the BJP will continue its fight to ensure that Kashmir remains an integral part of India, no matter who is in power at the Centre.  “Today we are in power, Narendra Modi is the Prime ..

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the UN decision to declare Masood Azhar as a global terrorist is a big success for India’s efforts to root out terrorism and proved that the country’s voice can no longer be ignored on the global stage...

SRI Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday asked Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to “leave my country alone” after the dreaded Islamic State leader claimed the massive suicide bombings in the island nation was a revenge attack for the fall of the Syrian town of Baghuz, the terror group’s final bastion. Sirisena also warned it may be possible Islamic State had launched a “new strategy” by targeting smaller countries, Sky News Wednesday quoted him as saying...

  NEW DELHI: THE Election Commission on Tuesday gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his speech in Wardha in which he had slammed Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for contesting from Wayanad and had “indicated” that the Kerala constituency had more voters from the minority community.  “The matter has been examined in detail in accordance to the extant guidelines/provisions of the Model Code of Conduct, the Representation of the People Act and the report ..

  NEW DELHI: THE Election Commission said it has seized unaccounted money, illicit liquor, drugs and other inducements worth a total of Rs 3,274 crore in the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections on Monday. “Total cash seizure is Rs 785.26 crore, liquor (Rs 249.038 crore), narcotics (Rs 1214.46 crore), Gold and precious materials (Rs 972.253 crore) and other freebies (Rs 53.167 crore), which makes the grand total of Rs 3,274.18 crore,” said an official statement ..

  NEW DELHI: MONTHS ahead of the India-Pakistan war broke out in 1971, it was just another day at work for the five young pilots at IAF’s 22 squadron in Kalaikunda as they moved around camouflaged nets and concrete blast pens in their black overalls and bikes, preserving themselves for the action. Realising the similarities in their appearances and the Jawa bikes, they decided to capture the moment in the camera. The five Gnat pilots happily posed for a photograph with one hand ..

CONGRESS President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday drew flak from the Supreme Court over his fresh affidavit in which he did not directly admit his mistake for incorrectly attributing the allegedly contemptuous “chowkidar chor hai” ..

IN A move that comes in the middle of the Lok Sabha polls, the Centre issued a notice to Congress President Rahul Gandhi seeking the “factual position” of his citizenship within a fortnight following a complaint by a BJP MP..

 MUMBAI: Polling is being held in Nandurbar, Dhule, Dindori, Nashik (North Maharashtra), Palghar, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Thane, Mumbai-North, Mumbai-North West, Mumbai-North Central, Mumbai-North East, Mumbai-South and Mumbai-South Central in the Mumbai region, Maval and Shirur in Pune district, and Shirdi in Ahmednagar district.  SEVERAL Bollywood stars, including Rekha, Madhuri Dixit, Aamir Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor Khan, cast their vote as Mumbai went to polls in the ..

   BISHKEK: DEFENCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a bilateral meeting with her Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, (SCO) Defence Ministers’ Meet at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan on Monday. She reached Bishkek on Sunday on a three-day visit. The SCO Defence Ministers will explore ways to further boost defence and security cooperation among the member countries in the wake of evolving security challenges in the region. India is also keen ..

 NEW DELHI: Two associations representing pilots and engineers seek to raise Rs 3,000 cr from outside investors  AS uncertainty continues over the fate of the shuttered Jet Airways, an employees’ consortium has proposed to take over the airline with at least Rs 3,000 crore expected from outside investors for the bid, according to two staff unions. This is the first time that employees have come together with a proposal to run the more than 25-year-old Jet Airways, which temporaril..

THE SBI on Monday filed recovery suit against Prashant and Ravi Ruia, before the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Ahmedabad. The Essar Steel Lenders led by SBI are saddled with dues of over Rs 63,000 crore,..