Kendrapada: Two farmers allegedly consumed poison during a public grievance hearing in Odisha's Kendrapada district Monday, protesting what they claimed was official inaction over crop losses caused by illegal prawn farming, police said. The incident took place when district collector Raghuram R Iyer was hearing grievances of residents of Rajnagar tehsil. The farmers, identified as Ganesh Chandra...

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Monday passed a bill, which seeks to replace a British-era legislation, paving the way for inclusion of digital and virtual records as admissible evidence in the court of law, in sync with the digital dependence of the banking system. The Bankers' Books Evidence Bill, 2026, already passed by the Lok Sabha on August...

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Monday approved the promotion of two 1994-batch IPS officers -- Sanjeeb Panda and Yeshwant Kumar Jethwa -- to the rank of Director General, ahead of the selection of a new state police chief, official sources said. A communication from the Chief Minister's Office said, "Sanjeeb Panda and Yeshwant Kumar Jethwa...

New Delhi: Meta-backed WhatsApp users reported issues with the messaging platform Monday with the disruption appearing to affect the sharing of photos, videos, stickers, GIFs and other media files across several countries. According to outage-tracking platform Downdetector, users began registering reports early Monday morning. Among the reported issues, 41 per cent were related to messaging, 40 per...

New Delhi: The Income Tax department is currently in the process of framing rules to implement the 2026-27 Budget provision that allows taxpayers to electronically apply for lower or nil TDS certificates electronically, Parliament was informed Monday. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said Section 395(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 provides for the issuance of...

New Delhi: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju Monday said the government is ready for a debate in the Lok Sabha on the student protests as well as police action, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will reply to the debate but the Opposition should give an assurance that they will not run away from it and listen...

New Delhi: The government introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha Monday to amend the regulations for mines and minerals, whereby states will be restricted from levying additional tax on mineral rights. With the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, the Centre also seeks to take under its control the regulation of mineral-bearing lands...

Dhaka: Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi Monday called on Prime Minister Tarique Rahman amid fresh strains in ties between the two countries over former premier Sheikh Hasina's virtual media interaction in New Delhi last week. The meeting lasted around half an hour and was expected to help further strengthen bilateral ties and engagements between the...

Eugene: National senior record holder high jumper Pooja Singh failed to live up to the expectations, finishing seventh in the final, as India ended their World Athletics U20 Championships campaign with three medals in Eugene. The 19-year-old Pooja could only clear 1.84m, way below her national senior record height of 1.93m. She failed to sail over 1.87m...

Kyiv: A Ukrainian drone attack Monday on the Russian city of Nizhnekamsk killed 12 people and wounded 39 others, authorities in the Tatarstan region said. Ukraine has targeted Russian oil facilities with long-range drones almost daily in recent months. The barrage has caused fuel shortages in Russia, eaten into Russian refining capacity, and unsettled the Russian public....