HT Rajasthan
US pushes for coalition to free Hormuz as oil hits 4-year high
The US is pushing for other countries to form an international coalition to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a State Department cable seen by Reuters, as oil prices surged to their highest in more than four years on...
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Record 89.99% turnout in West Bengal phase-11
The second phase of assembly polls in West Bengal has seen a huge 89.99% per cent turnout till 5 pm, according to Election Commission data. Purba Bardhaman district continued to maintain the lead with a whopping turnout of 92.46%, followed by Hooghly...
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WB ph-2 polling today: Mamata, Suvendu among key candidates
When West Bengal votes in the second and final phase of the assembly elections on Wednesday, it will not only be choosing 142 MLAs across the state’s political heartland, but also will be deciding whether the TMC still holds its southern fortress or...
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Iran offers to reopen Hormuz if US lifts blockade, ends war
Iran has offered to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the US lifting its blockade on the country and an end to the war, while proposing that discussions on the larger question of its nuclear programme would come in a later...
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Trump safe after shots fired at WH Correspondents’ dinner
A man armed with guns and knives stormed the lobby outside the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner attended by President Donald Trump on Saturday night, charging toward the ballroom in a chaotic encounter with Secret Service agents as guests...
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Phase-1 turnout signals ‘end of TMC jungle raj’, says Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sharpened the BJP’s pitch for regime change in West Bengal, claiming that the first phase of polling has sealed a “wave of change” in the state and signalled the beginning of the end of the TMC’s “maha jungle...
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Record turnout in Bengal, TN
West Bengal recorded a massive turnout of 89.93% in the first phase of polling for 152 seats in the state on Thursday with several districts crossing the 90% mark, according to Election Commission data. Dakshin Dinajpur recoded the maximum turnout in...
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Trump extends truce as Iran hits ships in Hormuz
WASHINGTON/DUBAI: US President Donald Trump called off attacks on Iran indefinitely, though the Strait of Hormuz remained blocked on Wednesday with three ships reportedly hit by gunfire, and neither side showed up for peace talks in Pakistan. Trump...
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US, Iran signal new talks in Pak as truce nears end
Two regional officials said Tuesday that the United States and Iran have signalled they will hold a new round of ceasefire talks in Islamabad as a fragile two-week truce was due to expire. Neither the US nor Iran has publicly confirmed the timing of...
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Ceasefire at risk after US seizes Iranian ship
Pakistan moved ahead on Monday with preparations for a new round of talks between the United States and Iran two days before a tenuous ceasefire is set to expire, even as renewed conflict around the Strait of Hormuz raised questions about whether the...
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Trump says talks to resume as Iran keeps Hormuz shut
Trump said US negotiators will be in Pakistan on Monday for talks with Iran, resuming negotiations after Iran reversed its decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the U.S....
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Women’s reservation Bill fails Lok Sabha test
The bill to fast-track the implementation of women’s reservation and carry out delimitation without conducting a fresh Census was defeated in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The Constitution Amendment Bill failed to get the mandatory two-thirds majority in...
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South or North, there will be no bias: Modi on delimitation
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday assured lawmakers that the amendments to expedite the roll-out of the women’s reservation in legislative bodies by 2029, including the proposal to increase the seats in the Lok Sabha by 50% and delimitation...
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Cong chief says Oppn to vote against delimitation
Several opposition parties have decided to unitedly vote against the delimitation provisions in the Constitution amendment bill in Parliament, while asserting that they are not against womens’ reservation but opposed to the manner in which the bill is...
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Samrat set to be new Bihar CM, Nitish quits
Samrat Choudhary was unanimously elected leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislature party on Tuesday, clearing his path to become the party’s first-ever chief minister of Bihar. Lawmakers of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA)...
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Iran threatens Gulf ports after US Hormuz threat
The US military said it will begin a blockade of ships leaving Iran’s ports on Monday, and Tehran threatened to retaliate against ports of its Gulf neighbours, after weekend talks failed to reach a deal to end the war, leaving a ceasefire in...
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US, Iran talks end without deal, leaves fragile ceasefire in doubt
The United States and Iran ended face-to-face talks on Sunday without an agreement, leaving a fragile two-week ceasefire in doubt. U.S. officials said the negotiations collapsed over what they described as Iran’s refusal to commit to abandoning a path...
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Fighting in Lebanon, shut Strait test truce
The Strait of Hormuz remained shut on Friday and Israel traded fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which the United States and Iran each described as violations of their ceasefire deal on the eve of their first peace talks of the war. The two-day-old...
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77-89% turnout in Kerala, Assam and Puducherrry
NEW DELHI: Voters across Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry turned out in massive numbers on Thursday for high-stakes assembly elections. According to the Election Commission’s data at 5pm, the participation rate of Puducherry leads with 89.20%, followed...
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US-Israel and Iran agree to 2-week ceasefire Stocks surge, crude oil prices drop below $100
TEHRAN: Iran, the United States and Israel agreed to a two-week ceasefire, an 11th-hour deal that headed off U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash a bombing campaign that would destroy Iranian civilization. But hours after the announcement,...
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Whole civilisation will die, if no deal: Trump
US President Donald Trump warned that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Tehran does not meet his latest deadline for the Islamic Republic to agree to a deal that includes reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, airstrikes hit two...
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Attacks across Gulf as new peace plan shared
Israel and the United States carried out a wave of attacks on Iran on Monday, killing more than 25 people and hitting the South Pars natural gas field, and Iran responded with missile fire on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors. U.S. President Donald...
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US rescues F-15 crew member, Tehran continues Gulf strikes
The United States said Sunday it rescued a service member missing behind enemy lines since Iran downed a fighter jet, as President Donald Trump escalated pressure on Tehran with a new looming deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran showed no...
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WH seeks $1.5tn for war as Iran hits Kuwait infra
The White House sent a spending proposal to lawmakers Friday calling for a massive $1.5 trillion US defense budget next year as it faces increased costs due to the war in Iran. President Donald Trump has threatened to extend attacks on civilian...
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SC hauls up Bengal govt after judicial officers held hostage
The Supreme Court on Thursday deprecated the “complete failure of civil and police administration” in West Bengal, taking suo motu cognisance of the hostage-taking of seven judicial officers in Malda district and describing it as a “deplorable” and...
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Trump says will be out of Iran ‘pretty quickly’
The United States will be “out of Iran pretty quickly” and could return for “spot hits” if needed, President Donald Trump told Reuters on Wednesday, hours before he was scheduled to make a primetime address to the nation. Trump also said he would...
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US warns Iran to make a deal
JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday the next few days in the war against Iran would be decisive and warned Tehran that the conflict would intensify if it did not make a deal. Hegseth issued his warning hours after...
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Trump issues Kharg hit threat if no deal reached
US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure if a deal to end the war with Tehran is not reached soon. In a social media post, Trump said “great progress is being made”...
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Modi says BJP Kerala’s ‘A’ team, tears into LDF, UDF
PALAKKAD (KERALA): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched an all-out attack against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF), accusing them of “looting” the state for decades by allegedly sharing the spoils. He...
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Excise duty on fuels cut by ₹10
The government on Friday cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by ₹10 per litre each and imposed levies on diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) exports, in a dual measure aimed at easing the financial strain on state-run oil retailers while keeping...
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Trump urges Iran to act quickly on ceasefire plan
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN: President Donald Trump threatened Iran with intensified military action, seeking to pressure the country to ramp up negotiations on an end to the war even amid uncertainty over the status of those discussions. “They better get...
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Use PNG, if available or lose LPG supply: Govt
The government has mandated that cooking gas LPG supply to households will be discontinued if consumers fail to switch to piped natural gas where such connectivity is available, under a new order aimed at accelerating gas network expansion and reducing...
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W Asia crisis will test India’s resolve: Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday sought to assure the nation that the government is taking all measures to blunt the impact of the ongoing conflict in West Asia on supply of crude oil, gas, fertilizers and other essentials, but cautioned that...
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Trump lifts Iran threat after ‘very good’ talks on conflict
President Donald Trump said Monday the United States and Iran had held “very good” talks towards ending the three-week Middle East war, putting threatened US attacks on Iran’s power plants on hold in a stunning about-turn. In a social media post that...
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US, Iran threaten power targets as war escalates
US President Donald Trump and Iran threatened to escalate their war by attacking energy facilities in the Gulf, a potential widening of hostilities which could deepen a regional crisis and add to concerns in global markets. Air raid sirens sounded...
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Prices of premium petrol, industrial diesel increase
The price of premium or higher-grade petrol price on Friday was increased by ₹2 per litre while the rate of bulk diesel sold to industrial users was hiked by about ₹22 a litre, reflecting the spike in global oil prices amid conflict in the...
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Key energy sites hit as Iran, Israel trade blows
Iranian aerial attacks since Wednesday have caused extensive damage to the world’s largest gas plant in Qatar, targeted a refinery in Saudi Arabia, forced the UAE to shut gas facilities and set off fires at two Kuwaiti refineries. Tehran’s retaliation...
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Nine of a family killed in blaze at multi-storey building in NW Delhi
Nine members of a family, including a 70-year-old woman and three of her granddaughters, one just three years old, were killed after a massive fire tore through a multi-storey residential building in southwest Delhi’s Palam area on Wednesday morning,...
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400 dead in Pak hit on Afghan hospital
At least 400 people were killed and 250 injured in an air strike by Pakistan on a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul, a spokesman of the Afghan Taliban government said on Tuesday, a sharp escalation in the conflict between the neighbours. Pakistan...
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At least 10 killed in Odisha hospital fire
At least 10 patients died after a fire broke out in the Trauma Care Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Cuttack’s SCB Medical College and Hospital, the biggest state government healthcare facility, early on Monday, in one of the deadliest hospital fire...
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Poll schedule for 4 states, 1 UT out; results on May 4
The Election Commission of India has announced the schedule for Assembly polls for Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. As per the announcement, the assembly elections will commence from April 9. Polling in Assam, Kerala and Puducherry will be...
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Tehran witnesses massive rally amid war
Two Indian nationals were killed in a drone strike in an industrial area in Oman. A large explosion rocked an area of Iran’s capital where thousands were gathered on Friday for the annual Quds Day to support the Palestinians. The United States and...
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Iran war creating biggest oil supply shock in history: IEA
DUBAI: Iran’s unrelenting attacks on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf pushed oil back above $100 a barrel on Thursday, with the International Energy Agency saying that the Iran war is creating the biggest oil supply...
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32-yr-old gets SC nod for passive euthanasia
Invoking the timeless Shakespearean dilemma of “to be or not to be” in India’s first judicially sanctioned case of passive euthanasia, the Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted the withdrawal of life-sustaining medical treatment for a 32-yearold man who...
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Trump hints at end to war, oil curbs waiver
President Donald Trump said he would waive oilrelated sanctions, have the US Navy escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz and predicted on Monday that the war with Iran would resolve “very soon” as he confronted mounting economic and political...
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Iran names Khamenei’s son to succeed him; oil prices surge
Iran named the hard-line Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his late father as supreme leader on Monday, signalling no let-up in the war launched by the United States and Israel. Oil prices surged as Iran attacked regional energy infrastructure and...
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Modi launches projects worth ₹33,500cr in Delhi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the pace of all-round development in Delhi has accelerated since the BJP government was formed a year ago and alleged that under AAP’s rule, works were stalled due to excuses and projects “died in...
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K’taka, Andhra to ban social media for young teens
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh on Friday announced ban on use of social media for young children, becoming the first in India to join global calls for more scrutiny of minors’ digital usage. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced the...
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Nitish files nomination for RS
Nitish Kumar, 75, on Thursday announced his candidature for the Rajya Sabha as a Janata Dal (United) nominee, triggering speculation over who will replace him as the Bihar chief minister months after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) swept back to...
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Israel hits Hezbollah sites in Beirut
Explosions tore through Tehran and Beirut on Tuesday and financial markets around the world slid at the prospect of a prolonged disruption to global energy supplies from the US-Israeli air war against Iran. A day after President Donald Trump and Prime...
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Iran’s Khamenei killed in US-Israel strike
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader since 1989, was killed in the opening salvo of a massive US and Israeli attack, sparking a new wave of retaliatory missile strikes from Tehran on Sunday. Iranian state television confirmed Khamenei’s death...
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Delhi court junks liquor policy case against Kejriwal, 22 others
A Delhi court on Friday discharged former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others in the politically charged liquor policy case, pulling up the CBI by saying its case was wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny...
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‘Deep-rooted conspiracy’: SC blasts NCERT textbook
The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the immediate seizure of all physical copies of the controversial Class 8 Social Science textbook carrying a section on “corruption in the judiciary”, directed a complete takedown of its digital versions, and issued...
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Trump hails ‘golden age of America’ in State of Union
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump boasted in his State of the Union address on Tuesday that he had ushered in “the golden age of America,” seeking to project an aura of success despite sagging approval ratings and deepening voter frustration ahead...
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Bengal polls: SC invokes Art 142 in directive to EC
The Supreme Court on Tuesday invoked its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution and directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to continue publishing supplementary voter lists even after the final electoral roll is notified on...
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56.7 million voters in final Tamil Nadu list
The Election Commission on Monday released the final electoral roll for Tamil Nadu in which 7.4 million names of voters were deleted under various categories, leaving the number of electors in the southern state at 56.7 million. Addressing a press...
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Modi tears into Cong for ‘dirty politics’ at AI meet
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday came down heavily on the Congress over its “shirtless” protest at the Artificial Intelligence Summit in Delhi, alleging that the party had turned an international event hosted by the country into an arena for its...
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SC steps in, orders judicial officers to help with WB SIR
In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court on Friday decided to depute judicial officers in West Bengal to adjudicate claims of voters listed under the “logical discrepancy” category in the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) exercise,...
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Providing Access to Opportunity
From helping job seekers prep for interviews in local languages to developing critical AI safety benchmarks, our partners, Entri and CeRAI are using Google AI to ensure technology empowers every Indian, safely, responsibly and in their own language.
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RS polls on Mar 16, BJP holds the edge
The BJP is set to gain strength in the Rajya Sabha when 37 seats go for biennial polls on March 16 as it has governments or is an alliance partner in six of the 10 states where seats are falling vacant. The 37 seats fall vacant on April 2 and...
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India, France elevate ties to global strategic partnership
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: India and France on Tuesday elevated their ties to a “special global strategic partnership” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron vowing to significantly ramp up bilateral cooperation in areas of...
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AI Impact Summit kicks off with packed halls
The world’s largest artificial intelligence summit opened to packed halls and long queues on Monday, as tech moguls, industry leaders, policymakers, founders, and technologists thronged the venue for the conference, where India is set to push for...
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Budget 2026 was a ‘we are ready moment’: PM
This year’s Budget was not a ‘now or never moment’ born out of compulsion but a ‘we are ready’ moment born out of preparation and inspiration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday, asserting that it reflects India’s “yearning” to become a...
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BNP registers landslide win in Bangladesh polls
Bangladesh’s opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won a landslide parliamentary election on Friday, returning to power after nearly two decades and positioning party leader Tarique Rahman to become prime minister as the country emerges from...
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Govt clears proposal to buy 114 Rafale jets
The defence ministry on Thursday cleared a longpending proposal to procure 114 Rafale fighter jets under a government-to-government framework from France, nearly 13 years after a similar acquisition was almost firmed up. In total, capital acquisition...
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‘You’ve sold India’: Rahul slams govt on trade deal
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked the government over the India-US trade deal and the 2026-27 Union Budget, and accused it of compromising national interests, triggering protests in Lok Sabha and warning of a privilege notice from...
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Oppn submits no-trust motion against Speaker
The opposition on Tuesday submitted a notice for moving a resolution to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla from office for disallowing Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders from speaking in the House on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s...
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Govt, Oppn lock horns in Parl over LoP speech
The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Monday amid a stand-off between the government and the opposition over Rahul Gandhi’s demand that he be allowed to speak before the discussion on the Union Budget begins. The Opposition is now considering...
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India, Malaysia explore deeper AI, defence ties
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim held wide-ranging talks in Putrajaya on Sunday aimed at deepening the India-Malaysia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with a strong focus on cooperation in artificial...
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31 dead in Pakistan suicide bomb attack
A suicide bomber blew himself up at a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in Pakistan’s capital, killing at least 31 people and injuring nearly 170 others, officials said. The powerful explosion took place at Khadijatul Kubra mosque-cum-imambargah in...
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Cong nurses hatred for me: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Congress, saying the Opposition party is unable to digest its successive electoral defeats and will never be able to dig his grave despite nursing deep hatred towards...
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New Manipur CM takes oath as Prez rule revoked
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8 MPs suspended as Parl tussle intensifies
The governmentopposition tussle escalated on Tuesday with seven Congress members and one CPI-M MP being suspended from the Lok Sabha for the rest of the Budget session for ‘unruly behaviour’ after they tore papers and threw them at the Chair. Their...
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Rahul’s bid to quote from Naravane ‘book’ rocks LS
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s repeated attempts on Monday to refer to a magazine report based on a manuscript to question the government’s handling of the 2020 China border clash sparked a row in the Lok Sabha, as Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit...
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Reforms Express takes Kartavya Path
In 2025-26, the government threw the kitchen sink at reviving growth and mass sentiment via a big boost to disposable incomes through an income tax reduction in the last Budget followed by a mid-year Goods and Services Tax (GST) cut. These decisions...
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6mn infiltrators entered Assam in Cong rule: Shah
DHEMAJI (ASSAM): Claiming that the demography of Assam changed during Congress rule, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the BJP-led government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working to reverse the trend. Addressing the closing...
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