Akshita Kapoor

[ad_1] Supreme Court: UP nixing land allotment to Kamla Nehru Trust justified (Picture credit: ANI) NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation's decision to cancel allotment of 125 acres of land in Sultanpur to Kamla Nehru Memorial Trust (KNMT), named after Congress politician Rahul Gandhi's great grandmother, saying a huge tract of industrial land was allotted without evaluating benefits to the public.Dismissing KNMT's appeal, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said that though the land was allotted in 2003, the trust failed to make timely payment of the cost of the land and kept seeking "unwarranted concessions, including waiver of interest and rescheduling of dues". It also cancelled the subsequent allotment of the same land to Jagdishpur Paper Mills.Terming KNMT a chronic defaulter, the bench said, "UPSIDC's action in […]

[ad_1] US President Donald Trump speaks at US Steel Corporation's Mon Valley Works-Irvin plant, Friday, May 30, 2025, in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania (AP Photo) US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is doubling the tariff on steel imports to 50 percent, a big increase that could raise prices for steel, which is used in housing, cars, and other products."We're going to bring it from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, the tariffs on steel into the United States of America, which will even further secure the steel industry," Trump said.Trump said he had a "major announcement" as he spoke at US Steel’s Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, US state of Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, to talk about investments by Japan’s Nippon Steel."Nobody's going to get around that," he added during the speech in front of workers […]

[ad_1] Elon Musk attends a news conference with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo) US President Donald Trump said goodbye to billionaire Elon Musk in the Oval Office on Friday, marking the end of Musk’s time leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk will now focus more on his companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and X.As the richest person in the world stepped down from his position as the US government's lead cost-cutter, Trump praised Musk's "incredible service" and gave him a golden key to the White House."Today it's about a man named Elon," Trump said during a joint press conference with Musk, marking his last day leading the DOGE.Also read: Musk 'not really leaving,' says Trump - Key updates from joint press conference Trump praised Musk […]

[ad_1] File photo: PM Modi (Picture credit: PTI) NEW DELHI: In a span of just a month, PM Narendra Modi has twice taken top central government bureaucrats and state chief secretaries by surprise by flagging public grievances that had reached him directly, reports Dipak Dash.On April 30, secretaries and chief secretaries attending a meeting under Pragati - the performance audit PM holds periodically - were surprised when Modi raised shortcomings in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission, a scheme to reach piped water to all households.On Wednesday, he again left them amazed when, during a review of the functioning of real estate regulators, he shared feedback that files in RERA offices don't move unless "vyavastha", a popular Hindu euphemism for pleasing the authorities, has been made.Senior officials said the two meetings, apart from providing a peek into the PM's […]

[ad_1] Sidda-DKS rift casts shadow over stability of Karnataka govt (Picture credit: ANI) BENGALURU: Congress in Karnataka is heading into a critical phase as internal tensions between CM Siddaramaiah and deputy, DK Shivakumar, escalate, raising concerns about the stability of the govt and the party's long-term prospects, reports Manu Aiyappa Kanathanda.At the heart of the conflict is the unresolved issue of a change of guard. An unwritten understanding is believed to have been reached when Congress formed the government in May 2023 - that Siddaramaiah would serve as CM for two-and-a-half years, after which Shivakumar would take over. If honoured, this transition would take place in Nov.However, with no official word from party high command and no signs of preparation for a handover, the issue is becoming increasingly contentious. Both netas remain indispensable to Congress in Karnataka - Siddaramaiah with […]

[ad_1] This is an AI-generated image, used for representational purposes only. KALIMPONG/BHUBANESWAR/KENDRAPADA: One person was killed and eight tourists - including BJP's Odisha Mahila Morcha secretary Itishree Jena - went missing after their vehicle plummeted into the Teesta river in Sikkim on Thursday evening.The accident occurred on the stretch between Chungthang and Munshithang. Of the 11 people travelling in the vehicle, six were from Jena's family. One of Jena's sons and her nephew have been rescued, said Jajpur MP Rabindra Narayan Behera. Her other son is among those missing.Mangan SP Sonam Detchu Bhutia on Friday said six tourists from Odisha and four from Tripura, along with their driver, were travelling from Lachen to Lachung in North Sikkim when the vehicle skidded off the road and fell into the river. He said two boys - Swayam Supratim Nayak, 19, and Sairaj […]

[ad_1] 3 new judges take oath, SC reaches its full strength of 34 NEW DELHI: Chief Justice B R Gavai Friday administered oath of office to three new SC judges, Justices N V Anjaria, Vijay Bishnoi and A S Chandurkar. With this, SC reached its constitutionally sanctioned strength of 34 judges.On May 26, the collegium comprising CJI Gavai, and Justices Surya Kant, Vikram Nath, J K Maheshwari and B V Nagarathna, had recommended to Centre to appoint Karnataka HC CJ Anjaria, Gauhati HC CJ Bishnoi and Bombay HC's Justice Chandurkar as SC judges. Justice Anjaria and Chandurkar would have a little less than a five-year tenure each, while Justice Bishnoi would have less than four-year tenure in SC. Justice Anjaria was appointed as a judge of Gujarat HC on Nov 21, 2011, and took oath as CJ of Karnataka HC […]

[ad_1] Representative image (Picture credit: IANS) RAIPUR: At a time when all of Bastar is on high alert following the loot of 5,000kg explosives by Maoists in neighbouring Odisha, three villagers were grievously injured in an IED blast in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bijapur district Friday morning. This is the first attack on civilians since the encounter killing of CPI(Maoist) general secretary Basavaraju on May 21.Police identified the trio as Vivek Dhodi (17), Badde Sunil (20), and Gote Joga (45), of Erragufa Para in Madded region, around 470km from Raipur, close to the Maharashtra border. The blast occurred between 8.30am and 9 am when they were walking to nearby Bandepara village. All three were riddled with splinters in their legs and faces. Maoists indiscriminately plant IEDs, even on paths frequented by villagers. On March 31 this year, a tribal woman was killed […]

[ad_1] 'Pak's dangerous game of terror over': Defense minister Rajnath Singh (Picture credit: PTI) NEW DELHI: Pakistan needs to understand that the "dangerous game" of terrorism that it has been playing since 1947 is over, defence minister Rajnath Singh said Friday, demanding that Islamabad hand over terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar to India for justice.Stressing that PM Modi has made it clear that another terrorist act on Indian soil will be treated as "act of war", Singh said Operation Sindoor was India's "frontal assault" against terrorism and if Pakistan resorted to "anything evil or unethical" again, it would face the Indian Navy's "firepower and ire" this time."India will not hesitate. It will use every method to root out menace of terrorism. Even methods that Pakistan cannot think of," he said, addressing officers and sailors on board aircraft carrier […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: In a bid to cool down edible oil prices, the government on Friday lowered the basic customs tax on crude edible oils by 10 percentage points. The duty change, effective Friday, is aimed at lowering the prices of palm oil, soyoil and sunflower oil. The move, which will reduce the effective duty to 16.5%, came amid a spike in prices, estimated at 17.4% in the retail inflation data for April.Prices of edible oils have heated up globally, negating the impact of a bumper mustard harvest in India. Mustard oil prices on average are 25% higher at over Rs 170 a litre, according to official data. Compared with a year ago, the average retail price of palm oil soared 34% to Rs 134 a litre on May 28, while sunflower prices were 30% higher. Soyoil has seen the […]