India

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday launched a veiled attack on a Tamil Nadu law that wrested control of appointment of ‘archakas (priests)’ to temples, saying Supreme Court in the past had wrongly classified appointment of ‘archakas’ as a “secular act” when it was purely a religious decision.Solicitor general Tushar Mehta made a strong pitch…

Representative image (PTI) HYDERABAD: Several residents of Hyderabad’s old city Tuesday contacted a booth-level officer (BLO) of the Election Commission to help them identify their names on the 2002 electoral rolls as part of the pre-SIR mapping exercise. To their shock, instead of someone who knew the rulebook, they were approached by a sanitation worker…

CHENNAI: Ahead of the April 23 election for the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly, the Election Commission of India on Wednesday replaced the state’s chief secretary, N Muruganandam, with senior bureaucrat M Sai Kumar and DGP (armed police, vigilance and anti-corruption) S Davidson Devasirvatham with Sandeep Mittal, a 1995-batch IPS officer, a decision that drew an…

NEW DELHI: Acknowledging rampant misuse of public interest litigation for ulterior motives or for pursuing pet agendas, SC on Wednesday said it would have dismissed a PIL petition if it had been filed by a lawyers’ body presently challenging the Sabarimala custom of barring entry of women of menstruating age.This remark came from a bench…

The Pakistan-brokered temporary ceasefire – after 6 weeks of a brutal war in the West Asia region – was welcomed by India in an official statement in which the government also expressed hope that the truce will lead to a lasting peace in the region. Stressing that the conflict had already caused immense suffering to…

NEW DELHI: A day before polling in Assam, Congress candidate for the Udalguri seat, Suren Daimari, on Wednesday announced he has quit the party and “surrendered” his candidature. The Congress, however, said that he was yet to submit his resignation letter to the party.A senior election commission official, when contacted, said Daimari’s name will remain…

New Delhi: The Indian Army has issued its first comprehensive technology roadmap for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and loitering munitions, towards providing long-term visibility of the force’s requirements in the field of UAS. The nearly 50-page document ‘Indian Army’s Technology Roadmap for Unmanned Aerial Systems and Loitering Munitions’, which was released by Lt Gen Rahul…

New Delhi: India ranks third globally in renewable energy installed capacity, having surpassed Brazil in global rankings, Union minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday.The minister for new and renewable energy said India had added a record 55.3 GW of non-fossil power capacity in 2025-26, taking the total to 283.5 GW. “This is the highest increase…

New Delhi: In a bid to provide some reprieve to airlines badly affected by the US-Iran war, the aviation ministry has directed 34 major airports to reduce their landing and parking charges by 25% for three months, for domestic flights. Accordingly, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) on Tuesday issued an order directing the operators…

Himanta Biswa Sarma, Atul Bora (left); Gaurav Gogoi, Lurin Jyoti Gogoi, Akhil Gogoi (Right) NEW DELHI: As the people of the “tea state” prepare to elect a new government on April 9, “Asomiya jatiyotabad” (Assamese nationalism) remains a core issue for Assam. For decades, the state has wrestled with anxieties over protecting its cultural and…