The Hindu (Chennai)
PM launches ₹6,957crore Kaziranga corridor work
rime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday cited the outcome of the Bihar Assembly election and the Mumbai civic polls to claim that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has become the first choice of the people in the country. After laying the foundation...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Highest annual spike saw 44,000 start-ups added last year: Modi
Nearly 44,000 startups registered with the government in 2025, the highest annual addition since Startup India was launched, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday at an event commemorating the 10th anniversary of the scheme. Launched on January...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Iran signals at executions, trials amid Trump’s threat
The head of Iran’s judiciary defied a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump and signalled on Wednesday that there would be swift trials and executions ahead for those detained in nationwide protests. The comments from Iran’s judiciary chief...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
India, Germany agree to shore up defence cooperation
India and Germany will enhance defence trade with an eye on ‘coproduction and codevelopment,’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, as the two sides signed an agreement to strengthen bilateral defence industrial cooperation. Welcoming German...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Defying U.S. warning, Iran clamps down on protests
Protests sweeping across Iran neared the two-week mark on Saturday, with the country’s government acknowledging the ongoing demonstrations despite an intensifying crackdown and as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world. With...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Mamata, ED lock horns over search at consultancy firm
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Thursday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of removing evidence from two locations during a raid against the political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC) in Kolkata. The...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
EC says it has constitutional duty to bar foreigners from voter rolls
The Election Commission of India (EC) began its defence of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls before the Supreme Court on Tuesday by dismissing claims that it is conducting a “parallel” National Register of Citizens (NRC)...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Maduro pleads not guilty, says he is still President of his country
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty to charges of narcoterrorism in a New York court on Monday, two days after being snatched along with his wife, Cilia Flores, by U.S. forces from Caracas. “I'm the President of the Republic of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Venezuela V-P to take over as Maduro held in U.S. jail
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was held in a New York prison on Sunday to face criminal charges after being captured in a nighttime military operation done without approval from the U.S. Congress, even as the South American country’s top court...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
T.N. announces assured pension scheme for State govt. staff
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday announced the new Tamil Nadu Assured Pension Scheme (TAPS) for State government employees. Under the new arrangement, State government employees will be provided with an assured pension equal to 50% of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Centre’s tobacco tax rejig to take effect from Feb. 1
The Union Finance Ministry on Thursday issued a series of notifications that will give effect to the new taxation regime for tobacco products from February 1. The Central Excise (Amendment) Act, 2025, passed in the recently concluded Winter Session of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Vodafone-Idea gets relief on AGR dues
The Union Cabinet, at its meeting on Wednesday, approved the freezing of Vodafone Idea Ltd. (VIL)’s adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, amounting to ₹87,695 crore, for a period of five years. The relief, however, may be partial as a note from the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
EC gives one more week for U.P. SIR in another extension
he Election Commission of India (EC) on Tuesday revised the schedule for the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh yet again, extending it by a week. Now the draft list will be published on January 6, instead of December...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SC pauses its judgment on Aravalli, moots new panel
The Supreme Court on Monday kept in abeyance its November 20 judgment upholding a government expert panel definition restricting the world’s oldest surviving mountain system, the Aravalli Range, to hills sporting an elevation of 100 metres or above,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
EC conditionally halts voter hearing under SIR in Bengal
The Election Commission of India (EC), in a fresh set of instructions, has asked district election officials (DEOs) in West Bengal not to summon for hearings those voters identified as “unmapped”, but whose names or ancestral connections were present...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
10.56 lakh names cut on draft rolls in Assam
The names of 10.56 lakh voters have been deleted on the draft electoral rolls of Assam which were published on Saturday after a housetohouse verification of the voter lists during the special revision exercise conducted by the Election Commission in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
BNP leader calls for ‘secure’ Bangladesh at homecoming
Bangladesh should be a “secure” home for all communities cutting across religious and regional differences, said the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Tarique Rahman, on Thursday following his return home after nearly 18 years...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Dhaka braces for return of BNP leader ahead of polls
After nearly 18 years in exile in the United Kingdom, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) acting chairman Tarique Rahman will return to Dhaka on Thursday, formally marking the official launch of the party’s campaign for the February 12 general...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Bangladesh missions in India witness protests
Hundreds of supporters of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal gathered near the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi on Tuesday and demanded safety for the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. Protests were also held outside the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
India, New Zealand wind up FTA talks, set to boost trade
India and New Zealand on Monday concluded discussions on a free trade agreement (FTA) that will give India tarifffree access to the island nation’s markets, bring in $20 billion in investments over 15 years, and help double bilateral trade to $5...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Keeping a close watch on Bangladesh events: India
India on Sunday described the killing of a Hindu youth in Bangladesh as a “horrendous act”, and expressed “strong concern” about the safety of minority communities in the neighbouring country. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
U.S. wants India’s nuclear norms globally aligned
Two days after Parliament cleared the SHANTI Bill, which allows private participation in India’s nuclear sector and eases liability norms by capping operator liability for a nuclear incident to ₹3,000 crore, U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CM urges Modi to find a resolution to U.S. tariffs issue, citing impact on T.N.’s exports
Following up on his earlier representations, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reiterating his request for a resolution to the issue of the 50% tariffs imposed by the U.S. He went on to explain how Tamil Nadu...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
LS passes nuclear energy Bill allowing privatisation
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill, 2025, despite demands by several Opposition parliamentarians for referring the legislation to a parliamentary...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Sydney beach shooter was Indian citizen, say officials
Sajid Akram, one of the two Bondi Beach attackers who killed at least 16 people at a Jewish event in Australia on Sunday, was an Indian citizen from Hyderabad, government officials who ran a background check on the deceased told The Hindu. He last came...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
With new Bill, demand-led job scheme set to turn supply-driven
The Union government is set to introduce the Viksit Bharat — Guarantee For Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005 in the Lok Sabha. The move will mark a shift from...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
11 dead as gunmen fire on Jewish event in Sydney
t least 11 people were killed and 29 wounded when gunmen fired on a Jewish holiday event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday in what Australian police and officials described as a terrorist attack. One suspected gunman was killed and another was in a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Former BJP MLA, son named prime accused in Aland voter fraud
Former BJP MLA Subhash Guttedar and his son Harshananda Guttedar have been named as the prime accused in the chargesheet filed by the Karnataka police special investigation team (SIT) that is probing voter fraud in the Aland Assembly constituency ahead...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
EC extends deadline for SIR in five States, one U.T.
The Election Commission has extended the schedule of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in five States and one Union Territory: Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, and the Andaman and Nicobar...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Illegal immigrants will be detected, deported: Shah
The National Democratic Alliance government will “detect, delete and deport” illegal immigrants from the country, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday, as the Lok Sabha witnessed a faceoff during a discussion on electoral reforms, leading...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Citizenship under CAA only if claims verified: SC
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said conferment of rights associated with Indian citizenship to people claiming to be religious minorities who fled persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and protected under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Govt., Opposition spar in LS over Vande Mataram
The Centre and the Opposition on Monday sparred in the Lok Sabha over Vande Mataram, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi terming it the voice of the freedom movement that had been “fragmented” by the Congress in its “surrender before the Muslim...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
25 dead in fire in Goa nightclub; probe finds fireworks use; 4 held
Amassive fire erupted at a nightclub in north Goa just before midnight on Saturday, leaving 25 people dead and six injured. The initial police investigation found that the blaze was caused by a fire show with “electric firecrackers”, organised without...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
As crisis continues, govt. imposes cap on airfares
The Union government imposed caps on airfares, set a timeline for refunds, and announced special trains to help stranded passengers on Saturday, as IndiGo, the country’s largest domestic airline, began a slow return to normalcy. The airline has...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
India-Russia friendship remains steady like the pole star, says PM
Appreciating Russian President Vladimir Putin for taking the IndiaRussia relationship to “new heights” over the past quarter of a century, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid out an expansive canvas of energy and trade collaborations between the two...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SC tells States to replace distressed BLOs for SIR
The Supreme Court on Thursday put the onus entirely on State governments to substitute employees unable to bear the work pressure of a boothlevel officer (BLO), while refusing to let the reported distress of the workforce “hamper” a tightly wound...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Govt. withdraws order to install Sanchar Saathi app
The Department of Telecommunications on Wednesday walked back its directions to phone manufacturers ordering them to install a government app starting next year. The reversal caps a turbulent episode, in which the government first downplayed the nature...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DoT order to ‘pre-install’ govt. app triggers storm
The Union government’s mandate on Monday for smartphone makers to preinstall the Sanchar Saathi app sparked backlash from the Opposition and from digital rights activists. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on ◣ that...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SC gives CBI free hand to stop ‘digital arrest’ scams
The Supreme Court on Monday tasked the Central Bureau of Investigation with cracking down on ‘digital arrest’ scammers and their associates, giving the agency a “free hand” to launch an anticorruption probe into bankers involved in the opening of mule...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SIR form deadline extended to Dec. 11 amid BLO distress
Amid widespread reports of boothlevel officers (BLO) facing severe stress, the Election Commission on Sunday extended the schedule of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine States and three Union Territories by a...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Ditwahdriven rain floods south T.N., damages crops
Torrential downpour triggered by Cyclone Ditwah battered several south coastal and delta districts of Tamil Nadu since Friday night, inundating residential pockets, damaging standing crops and submerging salt pans even as the system continued to inch...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SC asks govt. to regulate user content on Internet
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to work on guidelines for usergenerated content to protect innocents from becoming victims of obscene, even perverse, “antinational” or personally damaging online...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
No problem in Kerala SIR, 99% forms given: EC to SC
The Election Commission (EC) expressed confidence that it can conduct the special intensive revision (SIR) of poll rolls in Kerala in the midst of local body elections, telling the Supreme Court on Wednesday that there is “no problem” whatsoever, and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Assam proposes jail term, heavy fines for polygamy
An antipolygamy Bill tabled by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the State Assembly on Tuesday prescribes imprisonment and heavy fines for people entering into, or hiding, a second marriage while the first continues to be valid. The Assam...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Goa tops in digitisation of SIR forms, Kerala lags
With 10 days remaining to complete the enumeration phase of the second round of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the Election Commission on Monday said more than 47% of the enumeration forms distributed across 12 States and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Mind your ‘administrative’ language, says SC report
Halalkhor, cycle sawar, dhobi, coolie, scavenger, masalchi, malan, basta bardhar, chowkidar, and bundle lifter are among the job titles a Supreme Court report wants the judiciary to get rid of. The report from the court’s Centre for Research and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Delhi blast toll hits 13; Pulwama doctor likely sole car occupant
As the death toll in the Red Fort blast rose to 13 on Tuesday, a doctor from Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir has emerged as the likely sole occupant of the car which exploded in the national capital on Monday, senior government officials told The...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
High-intensity explosion in capital kills at least 9
Ahighintensity explosion in a slowmoving car outside the Red Fort in central Delhi left at least nine people dead and more than 20 injured on Monday, sparking a nationwide alert and a probe involving multiple agencies. A person in whose name the car...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Doctor, two held in Gujarat over a ‘terror conspiracy’
The Gujarat AntiTerrorism Squad (ATS) arrested a Hyderabadbased doctor and two of his accomplices near Gandhinagar on Sunday over an alleged plot involving chemical weapons and connections with a global terror network. The accused were allegedly...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Centre rules out Kuki-Zo groups’ demand for U.T.
KukiZo insurgent groups in Manipur on Saturday said that they held talks with the Union Home Ministry this week, “focusing on the core demand for a Union Territory with a Legislative Assembly” for KukiZo areas, insisting that “coexistence” within the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Record 64.66% voting in first phase of Bihar polls
Bihar recorded its “highestever” voter turnout of 64.66% as the first phase of the Assembly election ended on Thursday. In this phase, 121 Assembly constituencies in 18 districts went to the polls with a total electorate of over 3.75 crore. The...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Rahul alleges ‘vote theft’ took place in Haryana with EC help
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday made another major allegation of “vote theft”, saying 25 lakh fake voters were added to the electoral rolls of Haryana ahead of the Assembly election in the State in 2024, which the Bharatiya Janata Party...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SIR second phase begins in nine States, three U.T.s
The Election Commission on Tuesday launched the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in nine States and three Union Territories, covering around 51 crore voters, with boothlevel officers distributing enumeration...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
19 dead as gravel truck ploughs into govt. bus near Hyderabad
Nineteen passengers, including a 40dayold infant, were killed and 14 injured when a gravelladen lorry rammed a State transport corporation bus at Chevella near Hyderabad on Monday morning, the police said. Around 7.10 a.m., the lorry driver, likely...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Indian women script history, clinch maiden World Cup title
Indian women created history before a packed D.Y. Patil Stadium here on Sunday, winning the Women’s ODI World Cup defeating South Africa by 52 runs. If the team’s astounding run to the final in 2017, slaying giant Australia en route, is often cited as...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Nine devotees killed, 15 injured in Srikakulam temple stampede
Nine devotees — eight women and one child — were killed and 15 injured in a stampede at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Kasibugga in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday morning. Thousands thronged the temple, managed by a private...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
India, U.S. sign pact to boost defence ties
India and the United States have unveiled a 10year defence framework, marking a new phase in their strategic cooperation aimed at “advancing peace, security, and stability in the IndoPacific”. The “Framework for the U.S.India Major Defence...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
India gets 6-month waiver for Iran port
India has received a waiver on the United States’ sanctions against Iran’s Chabahar port for six months, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal announced on Thursday. Officials said that the sanctions waiver had come into effect...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
U.S. is doing a trade deal with India, says Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Washington is “doing a trade deal with India”, and emphasised that he has “a great relationship” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as both sides continue negotiations on a proposed pact. “If you look at...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Cyclone Montha makes landfall; rain batters several parts of A.P.
35,000 people evacuated; crops on 43,000 hectares submerged Power infrastructure, including substations, suffer massive damage Twenty trains and more than 50 flights cancelled The severe cyclonic storm Montha began its landfall near Kakinada in Andhra...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SIR 2.0 to begin in 12 States, U.T.s, cover 51 crore voters
The Election Commission on Monday kicked off the second phase of the special intensive revision of voter lists in 12 States and Union Territories, including pollbound Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, and Puducherry. The revision will cover 51 crore...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
India-ASEAN ties making steady progress, says PM
India-ASEAN strategic partnership has continued to prosper despite the prevailing “era of uncertainties”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. Delivering his opening remarks virtually at the 22nd ASEAN-India summit being held in the Malaysian...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Cong. seeks probe into LIC’s Adani investment
The Congress on Saturday demanded an inquiry by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament into what it described as a “disturbing misuse” of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) funds to benefit the Adani Group. The party alleged that...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
19 passengers burnt to death as sleeper bus catches fire in A.P.
Nineteen people, including two children, were burnt to death, their bodies charred beyond recognition, after a HyderabadBengaluru sleeper coach bus caught fire following a collision with a motorcycle at Chinna Tekur village, on the outskirts of Kurnool...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
North T.N. likely to get intense rainfall from Oct. 26
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the voter fraud in Aland in Karnataka has now unearthed a money trail where a call centrelike firm in Kalaburagi was allegedly paid ₹80 to make each of the 5,994 forged Form 7 applications. It has...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Modi, Trump speak; U.S., India call accounts differ
Days ahead of a possible meeting in Kuala Lumpur, and amidst intense ongoing trade negotiations, U.S. President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to extend Deepavali greetings, the leaders said. However, the two sides differed...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
New H-1B visa fee will not apply for change of status: U.S. govt.
In a further relaxation of its rules relating to the new $100,000 fee on H1B visas, the United States government said on Monday that the fee will not apply to applications for a change of status or an extension of stay in the U.S. On September 19,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
In Doha, Pakistan and Afghanistan agree on ceasefire
Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and setting up of “mechanisms” to ensure lasting peace after days of violent clashes along the border that left several soldiers, civilians, and terrorists dead on both sides, officials...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Rain fury causes massive damage in Kerala’s Idukki
The highrange villages of Kerala’s Idukki district witnessed extremely heavy rainfall on Friday night and Saturday morning, causing widespread damage. The water level rose by nearly six feet in the Mullaperiyar dam in 24 hours, prompting Tamil Nadu to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
U.S. trade body moves court over Trump’s H-1B fee hike
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has filed a lawsuit challenging the Donald Trump administration’s $100,000 fee on new H1B visa applications, saying it overrides existing provisions in current laws that apply to the H1B programme. The fee hike on fresh...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Trump and MEA at odds over Russian oil imports
India and the United States continued to differ publicly over Russian oil as U.S. President Donald Trump said he had been assured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India will stop buying oil from Russia, while the Ministry of External Affairs...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Trade deficit widens 93% in Sept. as services slump
India’s trade deficit grew 93% in September due to imports outpacing exports during the month. However, the data shows that for the first half of the financial year — April to September 2025, the trade deficit shrank by 2.3%. Data released by the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SC questions if ED is overstepping in T.N. liquor-scam probe
Extending the stay on the Enforcement Directorate’s probe into money laundering cases registered against the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) in connection with an alleged liquor retail scam, the Supreme Court on Tuesday orally...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Gaza declaration inked as Hamas sets hostages free
U.S. President Donald Trump hailed a “tremendous day for the Middle East [West Asia]” as he and regional leaders signed a declaration on Monday meant to cement a ceasefire in Gaza, hours after Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Ready for talks with Pak., but options open: Muttaqi
Afghanistan is open to dialogue and diplomacy for a peaceful resolution of its conflict with Pakistan, but if the efforts do not succeed, it has “other means”, the acting Foreign Minister of the Taliban administration, Amir Khan Muttaqi, said here on...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Trump envoy meets PM, raising hopes of a thaw
In an effort to repair bilateral ties and fasttrack the IndiaU.S. trade agreement, U.S. Ambassadordesignate to India and President Donald Trump’s special envoy for South and Central Asian Affairs, Sergio Gor, arrived in Delhi on Saturday and met with...
Read Full Story (Page 1)