Author: newshens

Congress alleged that the seating arrangements for senior party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi at the Republic Day parade violate protocol. The Opposition’s objection to seating arrangements at the Republic Day parade have sparked political sparring multiple times, and this year may be no different. Congress MP and general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala on Monday flagged the seating of Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge at the annual Republic Day parade on Kartavya Path. He shared an image of the two leaders seated in the third row and alleged a lack of protocol…

Actor Nadeem Khan was apprehended after the 41-year-old woman, who worked as his housemaid, approached the Versova police. Actor Nadeem Khan, last seen in the blockbuster Hindi movie Dhurandhar, was arrested last week for allegedly raping his housemaid on the pretext of marriage for the last 10 years, officials said. Nadeem Khan, who played the role of Akshaye Khanna’s character Rehman Dakait’s cook, was apprehended after the 41-year-old woman approached the Versova police as the actor refused to marry her. They had been allegedly engaging in a physical relationship for nearly a decade. Charges against Nadeem Khan Nadeem Khan has…

Congress on X reminded of Prof Kamakoti’s past remarks that cow urine has “anti-bacterial” and “anti-fungal” properties, and can heal a variety of illnesses. Technology company Zoho’s founder Sridhar Vembu reacted sharply to the Congress party’s dig at IIT-Madras director V Kamakoti, who has been selected for the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award. “Professor Kamakoti works in deep tech: micro-processor design. He is the Director of IIT-Madras, the best technological institution in India… He richly deserves the honour,” Vembu posted on X. He was responding to the Congress Kerala unit’s apparently sarcastic post: “Congratulations to V Kamakoti on…

Legal scrubbing of FTA text is underway; endeavour will be to complete processes and sign pact at an early date, commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal said. India and the European Union (EU) have successfully concluded negotiations for the proposed Free Trade Agreement, commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Monday. He said the deal, to be announced formally on January 27, is “balanced and forward-looking,” which will help improve India’s economic integration with the EU. “The deal will come into force sometime next year. Legal scrubbing of the text will take 5-6 months; formal signing will be done post that,” Agrawal was…

“Just to be clear again, the Russian oil goes into India, the refined products come out, and the Europeans buy the refined products,” Scott Bessent said. Just as India and the European Union (EU) finalised their Free Trade Agreement in a big move to counter Donald Trump’s tariff-driven trade policy, the US has doubled down on allegations that India’s oil trade with Russia finances the war in EU-backed Ukraine. “We have put 25 per cent tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India,” US treasury secretary Scott Bessent…

Inderjit Sidhu retired as the DIG of Punjab Police in 1996. Three decades later, he’s cleans up his neighbourhood in Chandigarh’s Sector 49. Ex-IPS officer Inderjit Singh Sidhu continues with public service years after retirement, and in a way that many may judge as an odd choice. He has picked up the broom to keep the streets of Chandigarh, protecting its tag of ‘City Beautiful’. At 88 years of age, he has been chosen as one of the 45 Padma Shri awardees in the “unsung heroes” category ahead of the 2026 Republic Day. Sidhu retired as a deputy inspector general…

The deceased, identified as Alok Kumar Singh, worked as a mathematics professor at Narsee Monjee College of Commerce & Economics in Vile Parle. A 33-year-old professor at a private college in Mumbai was stabbed to death on a local train at Malad railway station on Saturday. According to the police statement on Sunday, the accused man has been arrested within 12 hours. The deceased, identified as Alok Kumar Singh, was a resident of Kandivali. He worked as a mathematics professor at Narsee Monjee College of Commerce & Economics in Vile Parle. According to the police, he began his role at…

For decades, his calm and distinctive voice was familiar to audiences in Britain and across the world; born in Kolkata, he was fluent in Hindi, local culture. The renowned broadcaster and journalist Mark Tully, known as the BBC’s “voice of India”, died at the age of 90 on Sunday. For decades, his calm and distinctive voice was familiar to audiences in Britain, India, and across the world. He was widely respected for his deep reporting and thoughtful commentary on India. During a long career with the BBC, Tully reported on some of India’s most turbulent moments. He covered wars, famine,…

Bangladesh’s foreign ministry said Sheikh’s allowing Hasina to make the speech set “a dangerous precedent” that could “seriously impair bilateral relations”. Bangladesh said on Sunday it was “surprised” and “shocked” that India had allowed former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to make a public address in New Delhi. 78-year-old Sheikh Hasina has been in India since August 2024, following a student-led protest that ended her 15-year rule. She made her first public speech since then in an audio address to a packed press club in Delhi on Friday. She was found guilty in absentia by a Dhaka court in November of…

Kerala got eight total awards; three Padma Vibhushan awardees from the state are ex-judge KT Thomas, RSS veteran P Narayanan, and the late ex-CM Achuthanandhan. The list of Padma awardees on the eve of Republic Day 2026 had, in terms of regions, robust representation from the southern states, particularly Tamil Nadu and Kerala. An analysis of the lists reveals the state-wise pattern in the distribution of the 131 Padma awards for 2026. Which state got the most Padma awards? Maharashtra leads the nation in total awards, with 15 recipients across levels: one Padma Vibhushan (actor Dharmendra Singh Deol), three Padma…