London: Former British prime minister Keir Starmer Tuesday announced plans to step down as a member of Parliament from London to focus on "international affairs". Starmer, who resigned as Labour leader and PM to be succeeded at 10 Downing Street by Andy Burnham last month, had previously indicated plans to carry on as an MP to support the government from...

Mumbai: India's current account deficit widened to USD 4.2 billion, or 0.5 per cent of GDP, in the first quarter of the fiscal year from USD 3.4 billion a year ago, as the merchandise trade deficit rose sharply amid the West Asia conflict. According to the Reserve Bank's data on India's Balance of Payments, the merchandise trade...

New Delhi: In a historic milestone for the Indian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Shakti Sharma has become the first woman officer (non-medical) in the country's armed forces to attain the rank of air vice marshal or equivalent, officials said Tuesday. She assumed the appointment of assistant chief of the air staff (education) at the Air Headquarters...

Los Angeles: Hollywood actress Gal Gadot has hinted that she would not likely return as Wonder Woman if ever there’s a third movie in the franchise. The actress also defended her choice of working in a film fully mounted using AI. The actress recently appeared on the ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast to promote her upcoming action film...

New Delhi: Centre Tuesday further tightened the stock holding limit for sugar dealers, cutting it from 4,000 quintals to 2,000 quintals, effective from September 15 to November 30, as it looked to rein in high retail prices of the sweetener. The stock holding limit of 4,000 quintals, first imposed August 1, will, however, remain unchanged for Kolkata...

New Delhi: The last date for submission of applications by selected meritorious students for National Means cum Merit Scholarship Scheme (NMMSS) for 2026-27 has been extended to September 30, the Ministry of Education announced Tuesday. The earlier deadline was August 31. So far, 79,398 fresh and 1,87,208 renewal applications have been submitted for 2026-27. The National Scholarship...

Malkangiri: A 22-year-old man died by suicide in Malkangiri district Tuesday after a village ‘kangaroo court’ allegedly imposed a Rs 45,000 fine over his relationship with a married woman, his family alleged. The deceased has been identified as Sagar Sarkar of MV-92 village. He had reportedly brought the woman to the village after the two allegedly developed...

Bishkek: India on Tuesday highlighted several key outcomes from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, including measures to strengthen security cooperation and tackle transnational threats such as terrorism and extremism. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) listed 13 outcomes, one of which was the approval of regulations for a "Universal Centre for Countering Challenges and Threats to...

Brahmapur: Former BJD MLA Bikram Kumar Panda was released from Brahmapur jail Tuesday, a day after the Orissa High Court granted him bail in the murder case of advocate and former Odisha State Bar Council member Pitabash Panda. Pitabash Panda was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants while returning home from his chambers October 6, 2025. He...

New Delhi: Union Minister Chirag Paswan, a Z-category protectee, Tuesday received threat messages claiming that he will be "killed by terrorists", according to his office, which sought enhanced security for him. The office of Paswan, who is the supremo of Lok Janshakti Party (R), has asked the Home Ministry for a thorough probe into the matter. Paswan...