New Delhi: Manuscripts of the epic Mahabharata, Kalhana’s 12th-century historical chronicle Rajatarangini, and Kautilya’s Arthashastra, a work on governance and statecraft, have been inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register, officials said Thursday. PIB Culture made the announcement on X and shared photos of UNESCO certificates. “A moment of immense pride for India! The...

New Delhi: In a significant judgment, the Supreme Court Thursday ruled that the 24-hour constitutional deadline for producing an arrested person before a magistrate begins from the moment of detention, not from the time the police formally make the arrest. Holding that there can be no artificial distinction between ‘arrest’ and ‘detention’ for the purpose of Article...

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court Thursday provided relief to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, refusing to overturn a Varanasi court order rejecting an application for an FIR against him over his alleged remarks on Sikhs during his US visit in 2024. The court of CJM, Varanasi October 17, 2025 rejected the application of petitioner Nageshwar Mishra to register...

Pottangi: Amid heightened tensions and heavy police deployment along the disputed Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border, residents of Odisha’s Kotia cluster of villages in Koraput district voted in Andhra Pradesh’s three-tier panchayat elections Thursday. The polling booths had been shifted away from the disputed territory following objections from the Odisha administration. The polling had triggered a fresh face-off between...

Bhubaneswar: The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Eastern Zone Bench, Kolkata, has directed the Odisha Chief Secretary to personally review the implementation of measures to curb illegal sand mining across the state at least once every quarter, while ordering a series of stringent steps to strengthen monitoring and enforcement against mineral mafias. Disposing of original application no. 140/2024/EZ...

Bhubaneswar: A 21-year-old man has been shot dead in Bhubaneswar, with police suspecting that a business rivalry could be the reason behind the killing. Eight people, including prime accused Bishnuprasad Samanataraya alias Pikun, were arrested for their alleged involvement in the murder. During preliminary investigation, the police learned that Tapan Nayak alias Tapu and two others were...

New Delhi: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully conducted the flight test of the indigenously developed, surface-to-surface 'Pralay' Missile, marking another achievement in India's defence capabilities. The announcement was made by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Thursday. "DRDO successfully conducted the flight test of the indigenously developed Pralay Missile off the coast of Odisha today...

Bhubaneswar/Phulbani: Five more bodies were recovered from a landslide-affected hilltop village in Odisha's Ganjam district Thursday, taking the toll there to seven, while six more people are still missing, an official said. These people were victims of Cyclone Arnab that hit the state October 28. Kandhamal District Collector Vedbhushan said two bodies were recovered earlier in the...

Kathmandu: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri Thursday called on Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah in Kathmandu ahead of Shah’s forthcoming visit to India, and also conveyed greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian Embassy in Nepal said. “Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri called on the Rt. Hon’ble Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr. Balendra Shah, in Kathmandu today and...

Paris: Hundreds of thousands of trade union members joined nationwide strikes and demonstrations Thursday to demand higher wages and support the high school protest movement, piling fresh pressure on the beleaguered government. After more than a month of large, recurring protests across France, major rallies took place again in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and elsewhere. An official close...