Browsing: India

Umar Raina Srinagar, May 31: Amid the dense forests and high-altitude meadows of Kashmir, traditional Kothas, the seasonal mud, stone and wooden dwellings of the Gujjar community continue to stand as enduring symbols of a centuries-old way of life. While modernity has transformed lifestyles across much of the Valley, these humble structures remain central to the culture, traditions and seasonal migration patterns of the Gujjar pastoral community. Every year, with the arrival of summer in June and July, thousands of Gujjar families from different parts of Kashmir begin their annual migration towards the upper reaches of the mountains. Accompanied by…

NEW DELHI: Nepal PM Balendra Shah backed dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the border dispute with India but, in remarks unlikely to go down well with New Delhi, he also urged the UK to take interest in addressing the issue, saying his govt had already discussed it with London and China. Responding to questions in Parliament on Sunday, Shah said both India and Nepal had encroached on each other’s territory.The border dispute had seen a flare-up early May – just over a month after Shah was sworn in – after Kathmandu protested the decision by India to resume with support…

Mumbai: Weeks after Asha Bhosle passed away April 12, India lost another stalwart singer Suman Kalyanpur at age 89 on Sunday. Her voice bore such striking similarity to that of melody queen Lata Mangeshkar that common listeners sometimes mistook one for the other.Born Suman Hemmady on January 28, 1937, in Dhaka (undivided India), she went on to make a glorious career as a playback singer in Hindi and Marathi apart from a few other Indian languages. Her non-film songs span bhajans, ghazals and Marathi abhang and bhavgeet.After completing school from St Columba, Mumbai, an artistic Suman enrolled in the JJ…

New Delhi: Anguish turned to outrage at the site of the tragedy as grieving families, students and locals alleged vital delays and a slow rescue effort cost precious lives.They claimed that rescuers arrived late, lacked several vital pieces of equipment like cutters, and ignored specific pointers to where victims lay trapped. The grieving families also alleged that the lack of proper monitoring of rampant construction activities inside the building was directly responsible for the tragedy.“They only had one cutter when the rescue began. When we raised a hue and cry, additional cutters were procured,” alleged Prateek Yadav, who was among…

Hyderabad: The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has set a record by providing free accident insurance benefits to its employees, with Rs 41 crore already distributed to the families over the past two years.Under the scheme, each eligible family receives an insurance payout of Rs 1 crore. As part of employee welfare initiatives, the SCCL has also decided to implement an accident insurance scheme providing coverage up to Rs 1.25 crore. Singareni became the first organisation to launch the scheme in 2024.Officials said that the family members of SCCL employee Nagula Santosh, who died in a road accident, received the…

Chennai: India should focus on its current strengths and aim for global leadership on design, outsourced semiconductor assembly and testing (OSAT), advanced packaging, and critical semiconductor materials, including wide bandgap and advanced packaging materials, rather than chasing the wafer race, according to a NITI Aayog report released on Friday.The report argued that it should prioritise capital allocation and talent based on strategic importance and global value chain integration, contrasting with the govt’ rhetoric and stated goal of ISM 2.0, announced in February, which included a roadmap for advanced manufacturing of 3 and 2 nanometre technology nodes.NITI Aayog recommends pivoting away…

Ahmedabad: A 20-year-old worker at a perfume shop in the city lost Rs 1.34 lakh after downloading a fraudulent application while trying to track a parcel sent to Kashmir via India Post.According to a complaint lodged with Dariapur police on Saturday, Fiyyan Shaikh, a resident of Dhalgarwad, was assisting his employer in tracking a perfume consignment that had not reached its destination.Police said the parcel had been dispatched from the Mirzapur post office on March 16. When the customer reported that the package had not been delivered, Shaikh and his colleagues sought to trace its status. Acting on information purportedly…

Prayagraj: Upholding the directions issued by the competent authorities assigning census duties to employees of the Life Insurance Corporation, the Allahabad high court has dismissed a writ petition filed by the North Central Zone Insurance Employees Association, stating that the authorised authority and zonal officers had committed no error or illegality in directing LIC employees to serve as enumerators and supervisors for the census drive.Delivering the verdict on May 29, Justice Dinesh Pathak said, “The writ petition contains only a vague prayer seeking quashing of the decision to engage employees of the LIC for census work and no specific challenge…

Gurgaon: In a push to strengthen higher education, directorate of higher education has approved a fresh expansion of courses and seats in govt colleges across Haryana for the academic session 2026-27, with the city emerging as a key focus district.Some new courses at Gurgaon colleges include: electronics, biotechnology and remote sensing and geographical information systems. The move comes after a similar rollout on May 8 and reflects the rising demand for quality, job-oriented education in the region. Officials said that earlier in the session, morning courses were introduced and seats were increased in multiple subjects, and this latest expansion further…

Imphal: Two Naga villagers from Konsakhul suffered bullet injuries in an alleged ambush on Sunday morning.The incident occurred when four youths went to inspect and restore a water supply line that had reportedly been blocked, disrupting the village’s access to water.Konsakhul village authority publicity cell accused armed cadres of the Kuki National Front-P (KNF-P) and individuals from neighbouring Leilon Vaiphei Kuki village of carrying out the attack.According to a statement issued by the Konsakhul village authority, tensions had been building in recent days over suspected attempts to contaminate the village’s water source. Villagers claimed they became suspicious after noticing unusual…