Browsing: India

Scientists Patent Herbal Coating Vadodara: Every year, India celebrates record harvests. Warehouses overflow with wheat, pulses and seeds, and procurement agencies speak of bumper production. Yet far away from the headlines on food security, another battle quietly unfolds inside storage bins, seed godowns and grain warehouses — a battle against insects, fungal infestation and time itself.Scientists estimate that India loses nearly two million tonnes of pulses annually after harvest because of poor storage conditions and pest attacks. The losses are staggering: enough food to nutritionally support nearly 11 crore people annually. For farmers and seed handlers, the damage is not…

Varanasi: Mugalsarai police of Chandauli district on Wednesday arrested four individuals aged between 19 and 21 years, accused of allegedly looting a man of Rs 1.34 lakh on May 21 near Chaurhat.The police identified the accused as Aryan Shrivastava, Shivang Pandey, Mohammad Tariq Ansari, and Dev Sarkar alias Dayal.According to police, the accused looted Mehtab Ahmed, cashier of a firm, while he was returning to his office after collecting dues in cash worth Rs 1.34 lakhs from the shopkeepers in Padav market on May 21.Police registered an FIR based on the victim’s complaint and examined footage of nearly 70 CCTC…

PWD action plan for project completion soon: Minister Thiruvananthapuram: State govt will prepare an action plan to complete projects in a timely manner and will take up new bridge beautification work, said PWD minister P K Basheer.Speaking with the media after a review meeting with senior officials on Wednesday, Basheer said there are many roads and bridges that have been under construction for years without completion.“Priority will be given to completing such projects, which have been delayed due to various reasons,” he said.He urged officials to adopt a practical approach and resolve technical obstacles to complete the projects.Basheer announced new…

Swarupnagar: The queue of Bangladeshis looking to return to their homeland has been steadily increasing at the Bithari-Hakimpur border checkpost in North 24 Parganas, with dozens adding to the numbers even on Wednesday. Such has been the rush that three holding centres have been set up in Swarupnagar’s Tetulia, Charghat and Media, said sources. Many have been moved to these centres, for detailed verification of papers and background.Sitting at the border with his family and luggage, a dejected Bachchu Munshi said SIR ended his stay in India, where had come from Khulna with his parents at the age of 10.…

Image used for representative purposes Hamas’s armed wing on Wednesday confirmed that its military chief, Mohammed Odeh, was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza a day earlier, after Israel had announced his death on Tuesday.In a statement identifying him as the “Chief of Staff of the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades”, Hamas’s armed wing said Odeh died “on Tuesday evening… in a cowardly assassination operation that resulted in the martyrdom of him, his wife and his children”, as quoted by AFP.Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that the Israeli military had…

When Dapurmal village’s rainwater source dries up each summer, women and girls trek 8km through steep terrain to collect their pots of water Shahapur: The hilltop village of Dapurmal — a remote adivasi hamlet of around 325 people perched above Upper Vaitarna dam in Thane district’s Shahapur taluka, around 120km from Mumbai — will finally be connected to the world via a motorable road.For decades, villagers would trek for hours on the hilly terrain into neighbouring villages for household supplies, medical aid, higher education, water and even work.After TOI’s May 11 report highlighting the plight of women and little girls…

New Delhi: Police have initiated an inquiry after a video went viral in which a teenager was seen being taken to Sarai Rohilla police station in North Delhi and was allegedly manhandled. It is being ascertained if a juvenile welfare officer was present as per the rules.According to police, the teenager was allegedly involved in a case of accident registered on March 27. “The parents were not cooperating despite repeated notices,” police said. On May 9, the teenager was apprehended and handed over to his father after he gave an undertaking to produce him before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB)…

Most companies have been fighting demands through court petitions. Little or no tax has actually been paid yet. That changes now. For many, the only path left is voluntary liquidation. Bengaluru/Chennai: The Supreme Court delivered two rulings on Wednesday that together could wipe out what remains of the online fantasy gaming sector in India. First, it upheld a retrospective 28% GST on online fantasy gaming and betting companies. Then, it ruled that states can criminalise online games played for money.The bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan settled a question the industry had fought for years. Can skill-based games…

Hyderabad: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) of South Central Railway has seized ₹1.22 crore in unaccounted cash from a passenger travelling on Devagiri Express and also cracked an inter-state narcotics network, recovering marijuana worth ₹41.5 lakh in separate operations.The cash seizure was made under Operation Satark, after personnel from the crime prevention and detection squad (CPDS) noticed suspicious behaviour and unusual body language of a passenger during routine checks aboard the train.On inspection, officials recovered two bags containing ₹1.22 crore. Preliminary investigation indicated that the money was allegedly being transported from Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar to Secunderabad.The passenger and the seized…

Chennai: Long desk hours, irregular sleep, lack of exercise and growing dependence on processed food are triggering a surge in fatty liver disease among Chennai’s young corporate employees. Many patients in their late 20s and early 30s showing significant liver fat accumulation despite having no symptoms, obesity or alcohol history.Doctors say the biggest concern is that fatty liver often develops silently, with patients remaining symptom-free until the condition is picked up during routine scans. “Most young IT professionals come for a health check-up feeling perfectly normal and are shocked when scans reveal Grade 1 or even Grade 2 fatty liver,”…