India

Driving the newsThe MGNREGA – a flagship UPA-era program that guaranteed 100 days of wage employment to rural households – has been replaced by the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G Act.Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan framed it as a bold leap forward: “This is a far better scheme…

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Wednesday released rare onboard camera footage from its heaviest rocket, LVM3-M6, offering a rocket’s-eye view of the BlueBird Block-2 mission from liftoff to satellite separation.The footage shared by Isro on X features visuals captured by cameras onboard and documents each major phase of the ascent. The footage shows…

NEW DELHI: Addiction may not be just about choice or circumstance. A new study by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) suggests that a stress-linked genetic variation could significantly influence the risk of opioid addiction among Indians, pointing to a biological vulnerability behind dependence.Opioids are strong…

NEW DELHI: Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari flagged Delhi’s worsening air pollution, saying the capital’s toxic air was so severe that he fell ill after spending just two days in the city, while stressing that the transport sector was a major contributor to the problem.“I stay in Delhi for 2 days…

SRINAGAR: An avalanche warning was issued in five districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday in view of the recent heavy snowfall in the higher reaches of the Union territory, officials said.The low danger avalanche warning has been issued for Doda, Ganderbal, Kishtwar, Poonch and Ramban districts. The avalanche is likely to occur 2,800 metres…

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader and former Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday stepped up his attack on the Modi government over the Aravalli Hills, accusing the Centre of “misleading the public” and pushing through a “fatally flawed” redefinition of the ecologically sensitive range.In a post on X, Ramesh alleged that the Union ministry…

ISRO on Wednesday successfully launched a next-generation US communication satellite BlueBird Block-2 onboard its heaviest vehicle LVM3-M6. The mission, LVM3-M6, carried the BlueBird Block-2 satellite of US-based AST SpaceMobile under a dedicated commercial agreement.The 43.5-metre-tall LVM3 lifted off at 8.55 am from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra…

NEW DELHI: Violent protests over alleged illegal non tribal settlement in Assam’s constitutionally protected Karbi Anglong hill region entered the third day on Wednesday, leaving two people dead, dozens injured, and prompting the state government to impose curfew-like restrictions and suspend mobile internet services in two districts.The violence erupted in West Karbi Anglong and adjoining…

How do you see the political and economic ties between India and the Netherlands in the context of what’s happening in the rest of the world?n Ties have always been strong, for example in field of water and agriculture, but also the large companies of the Netherlands that have always been active here in India,…

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday ordered framing of charges against Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram and six others in connection with a visa scam, holding that prime facie, a case was made out against them for criminal conspiracy and illegal gratification. The court, however, discharged the eighth accused, Chetan Shrivastava, after concluding that…