Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, promises to keep map-makers busy. He has not only picked up the pace in changing names of places in his State, but his colleagues in the BJP seem to be going through the atlas to identify cities elsewhere that could be re-designated …

The uproar overSarkar reveals a strong streak of political intolerance in Tamil Nadu Bullying film-makers into shelving projects or effecting cuts is not new in India. However, it is not often that a State government or the ruling party resorts to threat and intimidation against a commercial film. The AIADMK …

Despite the recent announcement suggesting that the Jaipur Zika virus strains cannot cause foetal microcephaly, all possible measures to control transmission and monitor pregnancies should be taken. To the best of our knowledge, there is not a specific Zika virus strain — or mutation — linked to microcephaly. All Zika …

The Opposition should see in the Karnataka byelection results a goad for united action Karnataka has done it a second time in a year, this year. The coming together of the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), post-poll in May 2018, and the inauguration of the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led coalition government was …

The conviction by the Delhi High Court of 16 personnel of the U.P. Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) for a massacre of Muslims committed 31 years ago was seen as bringing closure to one of India’s biggest custodial killings. Omar Rashid reports from Meerut and pieces together an account of the …

Big Ben, one of the world’s most famous bells, is to ring out on Sunday to mark the end of the centenary celebrations of the end of the First World War. The U.K. Parliament authorities said on Thursday that, despite ongoing essential conservation works, Big Ben, will strike on Sunday …

Anti-tobacco activists have expressed concern that comparing the ill-effects of air pollution to that of smoking will result in trivialising the catastrophic effects of smoking. They say that such comparisons also promote the theory that it is all right to smoke as the air that we breathe is equally harmful. …

India continues to have the highest burden of pneumonia and diarrhoea child deaths in the world, with 1,58,176 pneumonia and 1, 02,813 diarrhoea deaths in 2016. This was stated in the ‘Pneumonia and Diarrhoea Progress Report’ released on Friday by the International Vaccine Access Centre (IVAC) at the Johns Hopkins …

A copy of Stephen Hawking’s doctorate thesis signed in a shaky hand was the highlight of an auction of the British physicist’s personal items in London, which raised nearly £1.4 million. The copy, one of only five originals of the thesis entitled ‘Properties of expanding universes’, smashed pre-sale expectations four …

Chinese state broadcaster unveils world’s first AI anchor China’s state-controlled news broadcasters have long been considered somewhat robotic in their daily recitation of pro-government propaganda and a pair of new presenters will do little to dispel that view. Calling it a “world first”, Xinhua news agency this week debuted a …

Ethnic group has few qualms living in vicinity of corpses Martha Kande’s family lived with her greying, shrivelled corpse at their home in Indonesia for seven months, as they prepared an elaborate funeral that is central to the Toraja people’s centuries-old death rituals. “We keep the body in a coffin …

Tech giant moves to calm outrage that triggered a worldwide walkout of workers Google on Thursday outlined changes to its handling of sexual misconduct complaints, hoping to calm outrage that triggered a worldwide walkout of workers last week. “We recognize that we have not always gotten everything right in the …

A crucial meeting of Trade Ministers of RCEP member- countries, including India and China, will take place in Singapore on November 12-13 amid pressure being mounted on New Delhi to conclude talks for the proposed mega trade deal at the earliest, sources said. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a …

India’s plastics exports grew 31.6% to $4.59 billion during April to September 2018 (H1 2018-19) as against $3.48 billion in the same period last year. This is a faster pace of growth than the overall merchandise export growth from India, according to the Plastics Export Promotion Council (Plexconcil). During H1 …

Plans to increase production to 14 million tonnes by 2021 The Indian foundry industry expects nearly 14% growth in the next two years, from the 5% to 7% now, according to members of the Institute of Indian Foundrymen here. The Indian foundry industry, the third-largest castings producer globally, is looking …

The Indian National Shipowners’ Association (INSA) has disputed the reported claims of Union Shipping Secretary Gopal Krishna that the government’s move to relax cabotage had led to reduction in coastal shipping rates. The Shipping Ministry, had in May this year, relaxed cabotage for foreign-registered vessels to bring down logistics costs. …

The capital markets regulator’s revised guidelines effectively cap such bids to 50% of the issue size A small but important amendment to the listing and disclosure regulations will soon see public issues reporting realistic subscription numbers especially in the segment reserved for high net worth individuals (HNIs) that is known …

Demand from firms, NFBCs drive loan growth; however, deposits grow slower In what could be an indication of a pick-up in private investment, loan growth of commercial banks is at a five-year high on the back of strong demand, latest data released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed. According …

Jo Johnson hits out at direction of government negotiations, calls for second referendum The British government was thrown into a fresh round of turbulence on Friday as Jo Johnson, the brother of Boris Johnson and the country’s Transport Minister, resigned unexpectedly and lashed out at the direction of government negotiations …

Senate and governor elections are in focus, Georgia governor race remains open With the prospect of vote recounts looming, two of the high profile U.S. midterm races — for State governor and a Senator from the State — continue to stay in focus even after the voting day. On Thursday …