Author: Indmedia

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma (Image credit: AFP) MUMBAI: India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah, ODI and Test skipper Shubman Gill and veteran allrounder Ravindra Jadeja are the only three players who will be given Grade A central contracts for 2025-26 by the BCCI, while former captains Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who play only the ODI format now, have been kept in the ‘B’ category, TOI has exclusively learnt. Kohli and Rohit are both modern-day legends and were in the A+ category earlier, but have been moved to the B category as they now play only one out of three…

The government has warned intermediaries, especially social media platforms on obscene, vulgar, pornographic, paedophilic and other forms of unlawful content, telling them to undertake an immediate review of their internal compliance frameworks, failing which they may face legal consequences. In a direction dated December 29 (Monday), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has asked all intermediaries including social media such as Meta (Facebook), Instagram, YouTube and X (twitter) to ensure strict and continuous adherence to the provisions of the IT Act and the IT Rules, 2021. “Intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, are reminded that they are statutorily obligated…

MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday announced Ghatkopar corporator Ritu Tawde as its mayoral candidate for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The announcement was made by Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam at the civic headquarters, in the presence of senior party leaders and corporators.Who is Ritu Tawde?Ritu Tawde is a two-time corporator from Ghatkopar.Tawde joined the BJP from the Congress in 2012.Tawde is a corporator from Ward 132.She is known as a senior corporator and an aggressive Marathi face of the party.She represents Mumbai’s eastern suburbs, a region the party is keen to give representation to.Tawde’s name figured…

NEW DELHI: A 6-bed intensive care unit dedicated to children with serious lung and breathing problems opened at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences & Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, offering specialised treatment that was not available earlier in Delhi’s govt hospitals.The ICU was inaugurated on Friday by hospital director Dr Ashok Kumar in the presence of medical superintendent Dr Vivek Diwan and senior doctors. Officials said this was the first time a Delhi govt hospital had a separate ICU focused only on paediatric lung diseases.Dr Dinesh Kumar, HOD Pediatrics, explained that children with genetic, congenital and severe respiratory…

Bengaluru: Amid growing safety concerns following a series of recent accidents involving sleeper buses, around 30 passengers had a narrow escape after a private semi-sleeper bus caught fire following an accident on the Bengaluru-Tumakuru stretch of National Highway-48 in the wee hours of Friday.Passengers escaped with minor bruises sustained during the accident. Fire and Emergency Services personnel rushed to the spot to douse the blaze. According to some passengers, as the driver lost control while attempting to overtake a truck, the bus mounted on the footpath and rammed an electric pole, before coming to an abrupt halt and tilting to…

New Delhi: In a sharp escalation over the long-pending defection cases in Telangana, Supreme Court on Friday issued a final warning to the state assembly speaker, making it clear that contempt proceedings will follow if he fails to decide the disqualification petitions against the remaining 2 of the 10 BRS MLAs who defected to the Congress within three weeks.A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and AG Masih, hearing a contempt plea filed by the BRS MLAs, expressed growing impatience with the repeated delays in adjudication. Addressing senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who appeared for the speaker, Justice Karol remarked, “We request…

Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Madurai has been rescheduled from February 28 to March 1. BJP leaders said he is likely to visit the Thiruparankundram temple during the visit.”A sense of anguish persists among people of the majority community that they were not able to light the sacred lamp at Tirupparankundram. As a result, there is public expectation that, after the Prime Minister’s visit, it may become possible to light the lamp there. Hence, there are chances of the Prime Minister going to the Tirupparankundram temple,” state BJP president Nainar Nagenthran said. Chennai: Avian Flu Advisory, I-T To…

Ahmedabad: Western Railway has sanctioned an artificial intelligence-based intrusion detection system (IDS) to monitor lion movement near tracks. The IDS will cover 115km of the Damnagar-Pipavav section in the Bhavnagar division.The information was shared in a written reply on Friday in the Rajya Sabha by the Union minister for railways, in reply to the question by Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani, who sought to know whether plans exist for constructing an elevated rail corridor through Gir forest to protect Asiatic lions.The minister said that “for the safety of wildlife in Gir forest, apart from the existing two underpasses for lion…

Odisha’s automobile market went through a striking transformation in 2025, driven not just by rising luxury car purchases but by the surging popularity of premium and mid-range SUVs in the year that went. From Bhubaneswar’s buzzing showrooms to growing demand in other key Odisha cities, the state witnessed a shift in consumer preferences that pushed four-wheeler registrations to 89,727 units, up from 80,323 in the previous year.What stood out was the way SUV culture reshaped the state’s buying patterns, turning Odisha into one of the most promising markets for carmakers targeting aspirational, feature-rich mobility.Across brands, SUVs continued to dominate the…

Udhagamandalam: Two leopards were found dead in the Kundha forest area near Ooty on Thursday night.A female leopard, aged about two years, and a male leopard, estimated to be six years, were found dead on a private estate at Manjakombai. The carcasses of the animals were cremated after conducting necropsy and sending vital organs for testing. “We suspect the leopards were mauled to death by wild dogs, as parts of its backs appeared to have been bitten off. We also found excrement of wild dogs nearby,” Kundha forest ranger Selvakumar said. He added that wild dogs had been frequenting the…