Bengal resonates with prayers, revelry on Maha Saptami
Kolkata, Oct 8 (IANS) After a scintillating start, the Durga Puja spirit soared on Saturday which marked Maha Saptami — Day Two of the Puja — as thousands of revellers decked up in their best…
Human Interest
Hurricane Matthew kills over 800 in Haiti, glances past Florida
Port-au-Prince (Haiti)/Daytona Beach (Florida), Oct 8 (IANS) “Monster” Hurricane Matthew, the most powerful Caribbean storm in a decade, killed more than 800 people and left tens of thousands homeless in Haiti before it churned northwards…
Agartala Durga Puja pandal pays tribute to Uri martyrs
Agartala, Oct 8 (IANS) Departing from the normal, a Durga Puja pandal (marquee) here is paying tribute to the 19 Indian Army soldiers martyred in a terrorist attack on their camp in Uri in Jammu…
Triple talaq, polygamy not integral to Islamic practices, SC told
New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) The Union government on Friday told the Supreme Court that ‘triple talaq’, ‘nikaah halaal’ and polygamy as practised by the Muslims in India were not “integral to the practices of…
Prejudice, bias against women still exists: Diplomats
New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) Women around the world have achieved success by breaking stereotypes but there is still a need to end “prejudice and gender bias” against them, diplomats said here on Friday. A…
Hurricane Matthew batters Florida, more than 300 dead in Haiti
Cape Canaveral (Florida), Oct 7 (IANS) Hurricane Matthew battered the Florida coastline on Friday morning with heavy rains and gusty winds, leaving more than 300,000 homes and businesses without power. The storm, the most powerful…
Apes show human-like ability to guess what others are thinking
New York, Oct 7 (IANS) Just like us, apes can grasp complex mental states and have the ability to guess what others might be thinking, suggests new research. Apes can correctly anticipate that humans will…
Triple talaq, polygamy not integral to Islamic practices, SC told
New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) The Union government on Friday told the Supreme Court that ‘triple talaq’, ‘nikaah halaal’ and polygamy as practised by the Muslims in India were not “integral to the practices of…
Colombian President Santos wins Nobel Peace Prize
Oslo, Oct 7 (IANS) Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was on Friday awarded the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his resolute efforts in bringing his country’s five-decade-long civil war to an end, the Norwegian Nobel…
NFR introduces DEMU train service in Assam districts
Guwahati, Oct 7 (IANS) The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is to introduce Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) train services on the Dibrugarh-Tinsukia-Ledo-Dangri section from October 8. The DEMU is a special train and very beneficial…
Durga Puja begins in Bengal with fervour
Kolkata, Oct 7 (IANS) Aptly styled and full of enthusiasm, people in West Bengal plunged into merriment on Friday, marking the first day of Durga Puja – the biggest festival in this part of the…
Radioactive leakage at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant
Tokyo, Oct 7 (IANS) Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant operators on Friday confirmed that radioactive water had leaked from one of its storage tanks but the contaminated liquid was contained. The technicians at the accident-struck plant…
Chopper service for Durga Puja revellers in Tripura
Agartala, Oct 7 (IANS) The Tripura government will operate a helicopter service for Durga Puja revellers and sightseers to enable them to get an aerial view of tourist spots and puja celebrations in Agartala, a…
Women to continue to be barred from Haji Ali shrine for now
New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) Women will continue to be barred from entering the Dargah of Sufi saint Haji Ali in Mumbai, as the Supreme Court on Friday continued with the interim order of the…
Will chaos again rule this Durga Puja or will crowd control work?
By Sahana Ghosh Kolkata, Oct 7 (IANS) Almost a year after the “tallest Durga idol” in the world caused a stampede-like situation here, speculation is rife: Will chaos reign supreme yet again this Puja or…
Bangladesh’s Jamdani textiles to get global patent
Dhaka, Oct 6 (IANS) Dhakai Jamdani, one of Bangladesh’s finest muslin textiles, is set to be registered this month as the country’s first Geographical Indication (GI) product, a media report said on Thursday. Senior Secretary…
Akshay urges people to think about army, not ban on artistes
Mumbai, Oct 6 (IANS) Actor Akshay Kumar on Thursday broke his silence on the ban on Pakistani artistes and said think about Indian Army and not the ban on artistes. Akshay posted a video on…
Swacch Bharat Mission failing due to lack of credible data: CSE
New Delhi, Oct 6 (IANS) The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on Thursday said that dspite huge investments, the Swacch Bharat Mission is failing to achieve the desired results due to lack of credible…
Mumbai’s Bengali community ready to welcome Goddess Durga
Mumbai, Oct 6 (IANS) Be it Bengal or Maharashtra, the enthusiasm of the Bengali community is alike when it comes to celebrating the Durga Puja. And, it’s no different even this time round. The community…
Start-ups ecosystem better, but few women involved: Sitharaman
New Delhi, Oct 6 (IANS) Noting the palpable change in the Indian eco-system in developing a more congenial ethos for start-ups, Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday, however, lamented that a very small number…