Author: Admin

Tianjin: India on Monday refused to endorse China’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative (BRI), becoming the only country in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) not to support the connectivity project. A declaration unveiled at the end of the SCO summit in this Chinese port city said Russia, Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan reaffirmed their support to the Chinese connectivity initiative. India has not endorsed the BRI in any previous SCO meetings and summits. The declaration said the eight member nations noted the ongoing work on the joint implementation of this project, including efforts to align the development…

Mumbai: A District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed SpiceJet to pay Rs 55,000 to a passenger after observing that a “single burger and fries” were “inadequate arrangement” for a 14-hour flight delay. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Mumbai Suburban) under president Pradeep Kadu and member Gauri M Kapse passed the order last week, details of which were made available on Monday. The Commission noted that the delay was “due to technical glitch” and the airlines “cannot escape from its duty to look after its travellers till the flight gets ready and operational for further journey”. Nor can the…

Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Municipalities and Housing has introduced tough new penalties to enforce food safety standards, with smoking in undesignated areas of food establishments now attracting the highest fine of Saudi Arabian Riyals (SAR) 5,000 (Rs 1,17,252). The measures, developed with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), aim to strengthen hygiene practices and ensure consumer protection across the sector. Also ReadSaudi Arabia bans sale of dates, meat, fruit in grocery stores Under the revised rules, workers in food preparation areas face fines of SR 1,000 (Rs 23,444) for failing to wear face masks and…

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh’s leading export hubs are reeling under the impact of a steep 50 per cent tariff imposed by the US on Indian imports, with exporters warning of job losses, stalled orders and shrinking market access. Industry leaders from Noida, Kanpur and Varanasi said the tariff has put years of painstaking market-building at risk, even as protests and demonstrations erupted in several districts last week. Lalit Thukral, President of the Noida Apparel Export Cluster, said the new tariff would have a “direct and severe impact” on the apparel sector, which contributes significantly to India’s export basket. Also ReadTrump claims…

Hyderabad: Several ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) workers staged a protest in front of the office of the commissioner of the medical and health department at Koti, Hyderabad, on Monday, September 1, demanding fixed monthly salaries. ASHA workers across the state have been holding protests for a year now, demanding a fixed salary of Rs 18,000. Several ASHA workers staged a protest in front of the Commissioner of Health office at Koti, Hyderabad, on Monday, demanding fixed monthly salaries of Rs 18,000. They threatened to deter the state and central government-sponsored healthcare initiatives in Telangana. pic.twitter.com/4g2g3Mo7Av— The Siasat Daily (@TheSiasatDaily)…

New Delhi: GST collection in August rose 6.5 percent to over Rs 1.86 lakh crore with increased domestic sales, and the upcoming festive season is likely to swell the kitty going forward. The August Goods and Services Tax (GST) mop-up is, however, lower than Rs 1.96 lakh crore collected in July. In August 2024, the collection was Rs 1.75 lakh crore. The gross domestic revenue grew 9.6 per cent to Rs 1.37 lakh crore, while tax from imports dipped 1.2 per cent to Rs 49,354 crore in August. GST refunds were down 20 per cent year-on-year to Rs 19,359 crore.…

At a Hyderabadi wedding, there are certain things you can always expect- the flavourful biryani, the traditional clothes and the unmistakable beats of marfa. As the drum quickens and dances gather, a familiar chant takes over the baraat: ‘Dila Teer Bija‘. For many in the city, this Bhutto song is not just music, it is a long-standing tradition that defines a wedding. What surprises most people, however, is that this song was never meant for weddings in the first place. Dila Teer Bija was originally composed as a campaign song for Pakistan’s former PM Benazir Bhutto in the late 1980s.…

Hyderabad: In a dramatic turn that could shake the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), party MLC and Telangana Jagruti president K Kavitha has accused her cousin, MLA and former irrigation minister T Harish Rao of orchestrating a plot to ‘frame’ her father and former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) in the PC Ghose commission of inquiry on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation project. At a press conference held in Hyderabad on Monday, September 1, Kavitha also named party leader and former Rajya Sabha MP J Santosh Kumar and Megha Engineering and Infrastructure MD Krishna Reddy, for playing important roles in the…

Kuwait City: In a landmark move, Kuwait has introduced a new traffic law replacing prison sentences and fines with community service for certain traffic offences. The reform aims to improve road safety, ease pressure on prisons, and encourage responsible driving. The new system will take effect one month after its publication in the Official Gazette Kuwait Al-Yawm. Also ReadIndian Embassy in Kuwait announces new passport photo rules According to the Arabic daily Al Rai, the decision, led by First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef Al-Sabah, updates the 1976 traffic law by giving courts the power to…

The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), the world’s foremost body of experts on mass atrocities, on Monday, September 1, formally declared that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide under international law. In a resolution adopted on August 31, eighty-six percent of the 500 members supported the declaration, reading that Israel’s policies and military operations in Gaza constitute genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, clearly defined by the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and international humanitarian law. Key findings of IAGS resolution The resolution highlights that since October…