Browsing: India

With temperatures touching 44 degrees Celsius, city has seen a major spike in power demand Noida: With temperatures touching 44 degrees Celsius, Noida and Greater Noida have witnessed a major spike in power demand. In the past week, Noida’s consumption rose by 561 MW to settle at 2,609 MW, and Greater Noida’s increased by 115 MW to reach 852 MW.A superintending engineer (SE-Technical) of Pashchimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited, Vivek Kumar Patel, said the power demand has been climbing steadily since May 12 after the mercury breached the 40 degrees Celsius mark. “The peak demand is expected to cross 3,000…

A customised body of a bus on a heavy-duty chassis inside an automotive workshop, highlighting commercial vehicle manufacturing and coachbuilding in the transport industry Pune: Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has set up a portal and support cell for certification of bus body frame and interior makers who build interior and exterior of these vehicles over chassis.The research institute has also dropped the cost of comprehensive testing approval to Rs 14 lakh, 50% lower than the cost of the manufacturer from the unorganised sector. Additionally, time for ‘type approval’ can be fast-tracked to anywhere between 60 to 90 days,…

Panaji: Dug decades ago on a hillside in Rivona, septuagenarian farmer Pandurang Patil’s stepwell is hand-carved with tunnel systems known as surangam, built using an ancient engineering technique once practised in parts of South India.“In plains, underground aquifers spread water evenly in broad underground water tables. One person digs a well at 8m, and nearby wells will also find water around the same depth. In hills, however, water comes only as narrow streams of seepage moving through rock fissures,” he told TOI.This makes conventional square wells inefficient in hilly terrain, as only one side may actually bring water while the…

Barinderjit.salujaMohali: The Mohali police are probing a possible gangster angle in the firing incident targeting Advocate Gagandeep Jammu, former honorary secretary of the Punjab and Haryana high court bar association, who narrowly escaped an alleged assassination attempt near Kurali on May 19.According to police sources, unidentified assailants had allegedly opened fire at Jammu’s vehicle while he was travelling. He escaped unhurt in the attack. Police teams are investigating the motive behind the incident, with focus on earlier extortion threats allegedly received by the advocate.Advocate Gagandeep Jammu is the son of senior journalist and former Press Council of India member Balwinder…

Patna: State tourism minister Kedar Prasad Gupta on Wednesday directed officials to ensure effective implementation of the state’s tourism policy to attract maximum investment. He also asked the department to prepare action plans for the grand celebration of mythological fairs and festivals.The directives were issued during a departmental review meeting held at the tourism directorate auditorium in Patna. The meeting, chaired by Gupta, was his first after assuming charge.Tourism secretary Lokesh Kumar Singh welcomed the minister and gave a presentation on the department’s structure, functioning and ongoing schemes. He also briefed him on the latest status of state and central…

Porcupine quills found on tiger T-120, forest department monitoring movement Jaipur: Porcupine quills were found embedded in the body of tiger T-120, also known as Ganesh, during monitoring by the forest dept Tuesday. The tiger is under continuous observation and its movement is being closely tracked by field staff and wildlife veterinarians.DFO Ranthambore, Manas Singh, “Teams on the ground are regularly monitoring the tiger’s condition while keeping a close watch on its behaviour and movement. Preliminary observations have found the tiger moving normally, with no immediate signs of distress.”Wildlife officials said encounters between tigers and porcupines are not uncommon in…

Rajkot: Removing a name from an official website, which should have taken five minutes in this era of instant digital updates, has turned into months of hassles for a former resident medical officer (RMO) of Rajkot Civil Hospital.Despite him retiring as resident medical officer (RMO) of the hospital in Oct 31, 2025, Dr Mahendra Chavda continues to be officially listed as the RMO of Saurashtra’s largest govt hospital on multiple platforms, including the hospital website, PMJAY portal, CM dashboard and iRAD app.What should have been a peaceful retirement has turned into constant harassment for the senior doctor, who keeps receiving…

Chatra: The district administration on Wednesday carried out a vehicle-inspection drive at Simaria to enforce road safety by acting against traffic violators, particularly cases involving underage riders.District transport officer-cum- subdivisional officer Maheshwari Prasad led the drive, which was carried out near Rajya Samposhit Plus Two High School, where action was taken against riders without valid driving licence, without helmets and underage riders. During the campaign, challans were issued to 21 riders for not wearing helmets, and the authorities collected a total fine of Rs 21,000.Officials also seized five motorcycles being driven by minors under Section 199A of the Motor Vehicles…

Lab-grown diamondSurat: India’s polished lab-grown diamond exports have overtaken natural diamonds in volume for the first time, in FY 2025-26, marking a decisive shift in the global diamond trade driven by rapid manufacturing growth and rising affordability.Provisional data for FY 2025-26 shows India exported 18.8 million carats of polished lab-grown diamonds (LGD), compared to 16 million carats of cut and polished natural diamonds. Industry players say the gap is expected to widen further as LGD manufacturing capacity grows.A decade ago, the picture was starkly different. In 2015-16, India exported 33.51 million carats of cut and polished natural diamonds, while polished…

Vadodara: Dahod police’s crime branch seized Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) worth Rs 19.38 lakh after intercepting a Rajasthan-registered truck on the Zalod-Sanjeli road, with the consignment concealed under cement bags.Crime branch personnel were on patrol when they got intelligence about a truck bearing registration number RJ-09-GE-6721 transporting liquor through the district. Acting on the information, the team kept watch and intercepted the vehicle for a search.The search led to the recovery of 499 boxes containing 14,040 IMFL bottles and beer cans. The driver, Raju Keer, 29, a resident of Sakariya village in Nimbaheda taluka of Chittorgarh district in Rajasthan, was…