Tel Aviv: Israeli President Isaac Herzog has officially given opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form the next government. After the formal announcement Sunday evening, Eisenkot, who ran as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival, now has to launch complicated negotiations with potential coalition partners. He has six weeks to form a government. The October...

Bhubaneswar: Air quality in Bhubaneswar deteriorated sharply on Diwali Sunday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) crossing the 1,000 mark to reach 1,091 at 9 pm, according to data available on AQI.in. The platform categorised the city's air quality as “hazardous”. The alarming reading came as Delhi, which has been grappling with severe air pollution, recorded an...

New Delhi: Days of bustle and hectic shopping culminated in a resplendent Diwali evening on Sunday, with people decorating their houses with strings of lights, shopkeepers placing diyas to invoke blessings, and crackers going off intermittently to round off the celebrations in customary fashion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Diwali with security personnel in freshly Naxal-free Chhattisgarh's...

Al Amerat (Oman): Hamza Zahoor struck a classy unbeaten century, nullifying Arjun Rajput's attacking 107 as Pakistan defeated India by three wickets in a Group A match of the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in Oman Sunday. Zahoor, who milked 107 runs for a match-turning sixth wicket partnership, with Hasnain Dar (38) helped Pakistan go past the modest...

Chandigarh: Punjab Police, with the support of central agencies, has secured the deportation of wanted gangster Gurwinder alias Afridi from Ethiopia following a 10-month international manhunt. He was taken into custody during the intervening night of November 7-8 by the state police at the Delhi airport and is being brought to Punjab to face the law, officials...

Jagdalpur: Targeting political opponents, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday said armed Maoists have been eliminated, but "dimagi Naxals" have infiltrated several political parties and organisations and are instigating people against the Constitution and democracy. "We must identify and defeat such elements and secure the country," Modi said, while celebrating Diwali with security personnel at a CRPF camp...

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended marginally lower in the special Diwali Muhurat trading session Sunday amid profit-taking by investors after a seven-day rally. After starting the special trading session to mark the beginning of Hindu calendar Samvat 2083 on a bullish note, the 30-share BSE Sensex failed to sustain the rally. The barometer dipped 28.62...

Mansa: The mortal remains of slain anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota, whose murder 26 days ago triggered protests and a political row, were consigned to flames at his native place in Mansa Sunday. A large number of people had turned up when last rites were held after his body was brought here from Chandigarh, following a post-mortem...

Bhubaneswar: Neither Indonesia nor any other country has so far provided documentary evidence to establish ownership of five baby orangutans rescued from a forest in Odisha two months ago, state Forest Minister Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia said Sunday. Speaking to reporters, Khuntia said all five orangutans were doing well, and expressed the state's desire to retain them...

New Delhi: The Congress party's receipts from donations above Rs 20,000 plunged nearly 75 per cent to Rs 130.69 crore in 2025-26, the steepest annual fall in such contributions in a decade, an analysis of the party's filings with the Election Commission shows. The party had received Rs 517.39 crore in such contributions in 2024-25, according to...