Author: Indmedia

Government is likely to permit banks and payment service providers to levy a merchant discount rate of between 0.25% and 0.4% on UPI transactions exceeding Rs 2,000. In a step closer to possibly introducing Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI transactions, the Lok Sabha on Thursday approved a Bill amending the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.This empowers the government to allow banks and other payment service providers to impose charges on transactions conducted through the unified payments interface (UPI) and other electronic payment modes that may be notified.The amendment, cleared by the House without any discussion amid repeated disruptions,…

A woman votes during the second phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections at a polling station in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan, August 2, 2026. | Photo Credit: Reuters Pakistan’s ruling party has taken a commanding lead in elections for the legislative assembly in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, results from the first two phases of voting showed on Wednesday (August 5, 2026), despite weeks of protests and calls for a boycott by a banned political group.Candidates backed by twice-elected former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N party have won 24 of the 34 seats decided in the first two…

Anurag Tiwari (left), a senior designer at Bridgestone Select–Tyres World in Whitefield, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday. BENGALURU: A quiet night at the Sipani Bliss apartment complex in Bengaluru’s upscale Anekal area turned chaotic after a drunken corporate employee allegedly opened fire with an airgun from his balcony, damaging a parked SUV and pointing the weapon at security guards and residents who tried to stop him. No one was injured.The accused, Anurag Tiwari (37), a senior designer at Bridgestone Select–Tyres World in Whitefield, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday following the nearly 40-minute shooting spree…

Mumbai: CM Devendra Fadnavis said the state govt will comply with the Bombay high court order on the registration of homeopaths.Speaking to the media in Mumbai on Thursday, Fadnavis said the govt considers “all pathy equally”. He said it was not proper for doctors to go on strike.“The orders of the high court are binding on us and accordingly, we opened the registration process. The matter is once again being heard by the high court. Instead of taking sides, we will act as per the court’s directions,” he said.“I think holding a protest is not appropriate either. What is the…

Puneet Chandok, president of Microsoft India and South Asia Bengaluru: Microsoft on Thursday launched its fourth cloud region in India, in Hyderabad, as the technology major steps up investments to meet surging demand for AI and cloud services from enterprises and regulated sectors.The new India South Central region will allow customers to run Microsoft Cloud services and workloads from Hyderabad while meeting data residency, security and compliance requirements. The company said the facility is designed to support mission-critical applications and AI workloads.With the launch, Microsoft now operates cloud regions in Pune, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad, giving it the largest hyperscale…

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Mahesh Kumar Goud on Thursday dismissed reports of differences with chief minister A Revanth Reddy, stating that there is proper coordination between the party and govt.Speaking to the media at Gandhi Bhavan, Goud said Congress and govt were not separate entities and asserted that he shared a good working relationship with the chief minister.“There is no gap between the CM and me. We speak on the phone every day,” he said, adding that both leaders discuss issues openly.Rejecting reports about alleged internal disagreements, Goud said there was no culture in Congress of making…

‘Anbe Diana’ incorporates Bengaluru slang to make characters more authentic For decades, Tamil cinema relied on polished, literary Tamil or region-specific dialects to establish identity. Madurai had its earthy expressions, Chennai had its ‘Madras bashai,’ and Coimbatore had its Kongu flavour. Today, however, filmmakers are borrowing slang from across India — and social media — to make conversations sound contemporary. The latest entrant is Bengaluru slang, heard prominently in the recently released ‘Anbe Diana’, where characters slip into expressions commonly associated with the city’s multilingual youth culture.It marks an interesting shift in Tamil cinema, where slang is no longer restricted…

Cuttack: A 25-year-old newlywed woman was allegedly hacked to death with an axe by her husband just 25 days after their marriage in Nemala area of Cuttack district late on Wednesday night. The deceased’s family charged the accused of murdering her over dowry-related harassment.Police said, “The incident took place at Sahadevpur village under Nemala police station limits. The victim, Rozalin Mallik of Balisahi village in Kendrapara district, had married Shailendra Mallik on July 12 in a traditional Hindu ceremony.”According to police, the family had dinner and retired for the night when the accused Shailendra allegedly attacked Rozalin with an axe…

Coimbatore: Coimbatore-based farmers’ associations on Thursday said several announcements in the agriculture budget presented by minister R Vinoth were disappointing, alleging that they appeared to favour agricultural traders rather than cultivators. Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam stated that announcements relating to protective covers for mangoes and banana bunches, seed sales, wildlife repellents, agricultural tonics, growth promoters, micro-irrigation, subsidised fodder, nutritional inputs and processing centres would benefit businesses rather than farmers. Dr G Ranganathan, district secretary of the association, welcomed the measures announced in the agriculture budget, including a ₹63crore package to promote organic farming through the supply of green manure and cereals…

A farmer leads his cattle through floodwaters Guwahati: The Vantara Foundation has deployed specialised wildlife rescue teams and ambulances to assist flood-affected wildlife and livestock in Assam, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Thursday.The personnel and vehicles will operate under the command of the state forest department and support its ongoing rescue and rehabilitation efforts.Vantara, founded by Anant Ambani under the Reliance Foundation, is a wildlife rescue and conservation initiative based in Jamnagar, Gujarat. It operates veterinary facilities and animal ambulances and works with govt agencies on rescue, rehabilitation and conservation efforts.“One of the lesser discussed yet deeply distressing consequences…