NEW DELHI: India’s room air-conditioner market is heading into the summer season under clear price pressure, even as companies remain bullish on long-term growth. Manufacturers including Blue Star have indicated further price hikes, driven by rising commodity costs, tighter energy-efficiency labelling norms that came into effect in Jan 2026 and current global headwinds. “The increase…
NEW DELHI: Highway construction and awards for new works fell to a seven-year low in 2025-26, official data show. While overall construction stood at less than 10,000 km, a first since 2019-20, barely 7,000 km of works were awarded in FY26.The reasons for the fall in performance on these two key parameters in the highway…
NEW DELHI: In a debate over faith and belief vs fundamental rights emerging from the striking down of the customary ban on the entry of menstruating women into Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala, Justice B V Nagarathna on Tuesday criticised the past social practice of treating women as ‘untouchables’ for three days every month.Part of…
PATNA: Trains rolled in. Platforms swelled. Migrant families from Bihar stepped down at Patna Junction with bedding, steel containers, plastic sacks – returning from cities where cooking has become unaffordable. Faces carried fatigue and a decision driven by empty cylinders and the search for a flame that costs less than a day’s wage. LPG shortage…
KOLKATA: “Motab Shaikh and Motab Herul are the same person,” the appellate tribunal ruled on April 5 in its first SIR appeal, accepting the Congress Farakka candidate’s Aadhaar card as proof of identity after the Election Commission provided no reason for his exclusion.Retired judge TS Sivagnanam, while adjudicating Motab’s appeal, said the tribunal sought the…
CHENNAI: In the last two months, PM Narendra Modi has visited Tamil Nadu thrice, campaigning for BJP and its allies, and is scheduled to visit the state again on April 15 and seek votes for the NDA candidates at Nagercoil. In sharp contrast, Congress’s Rahul Gandhi has not campaigned even once in the state so…
New Delhi: The ministry of information and broadcasting has extended its directive to suspend television rating points (TRPs) for news channels by another four weeks, citing concerns over sensationalizing West Asia conflict.In an order issued on March 31, the ministry said the step was necessary in public interest, as the conflict “still largely prevails at…
KOLKATA: “Motab Shaikh and Motab Herul are the same person,” the appellate tribunal ruled on April 5 in its first SIR appeal, accepting the Congress Farakka candidate’s Aadhaar card as proof of identity after the Election Commission provided no reason for his exclusion.Retired judge TS Sivagnanam, while adjudicating Motab’s appeal, said the tribunal sought the…
GUWAHATI: An Assam Police team searched Tuesday the New Delhi residence of Congress neta Pawan Khera in connection with a case filed by CM Himanta Biswa Sarma‘s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, escalating a political clash over alleged multiple passports and foreign assets.Khera was not found at his Nizamuddin residence during the search carried out with…
KANNUR/T’PURAM/KOTTAYAM: Political rhetoric across state lines has intensified this election, with a sharp exchange of words taking place between Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy on the last day of campaigning for the April 9 elections.At a news conference in Kannur on Tuesday, while responding to a query over Reddy’s…
