Chandigarh: Two back-to-back explosions near security establishments shook Punjab Tuesday night, triggering panic and drawing condemnation from opposition parties, which called them efforts to destabilise the state. The first explosion happened around 8 pm in Jalandhar outside the headquarters of the Border Security Force's Punjab Frontier, while the second blast occurred at around 11 pm near the...

Kolkata: West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya Wednesday announced that the oath-taking ceremony of the new government in the state will be held May 9. Bhattacharya told reporters that the swearing-in ceremony will take place at Brigade Parade Ground in central Kolkata from 10 am. The new BJP government will take oath May 9 at 10 am,...

New Delhi: India's services sector growth climbed to a five-month high of 58.8 in April with new orders and output expanding at quicker rates, as firms indicated a shift from international to domestic suppliers amid the West Asia crisis, a monthly survey said Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose from 57.5...

Chennai: The Congress party, a long-time ally of the DMK, Wednesday announced support to actor-politician Vijay's TVK to form the government in Tamil Nadu and severed ties with the Dravidian major. The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) have decided to extend its full support to the TVK to form the government, AICC...

New Delhi: India and Vietnam Wednesday elevated their relations to enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership and vowed to significantly expand economic and defence ties following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnamese President To Lam. Modi said the two countries have a common outlook for the Indo-Pacific and both sides will continue to contribute to the rule...

New Delhi: The Sports Ministry Wednesday said the blanket ban on bilateral sporting ties with Pakistan that was imposed last year will remain in force, but athletes from across the border will not be stopped from coming here for multi-lateral events. The ministry also reiterated its commitment to simplify the visa process for sportspersons, team officials, technical...

Mumbai: Hindi film actress and politician Kangana Ranaut is all set to return to the big screen with her next Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata. Adding to the hype, the makers announced Wednesday that the project will reach the cinema halls 12th June this year. Set against the backdrop of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata chronicles the...

New Delhi: India and the European Union have deepened their clean energy partnership with the launch of a third coordinated call for proposals on recycling electric vehicle (EV) batteries, under the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC). The initiative, part of Working Group 2 on Green and Clean Energy Technologies, sets a submission deadline of September 15,...

New Delhi: Ahmedabad will host the IPL final for a second successive season May 31, replacing the "originally designated" Bengaluru, the BCCI announced Wednesday while allotting Qualifier 1 to Dharamsala and two other playoff games to New Chandigarh. Bengaluru was to host the final going by convention as Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the defending champions. Apart from...

Kyiv: Russia fired dozens of drones at Ukraine in nighttime attacks, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday, disregarding a unilateral ceasefire announced by Kyiv that began at midnight. The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that Ukraine hadn't abided by its own ceasefire, saying that air defences shot down 53 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula and...