New Delhi: India’s agriculture sector closed 2025 with a projection of record foodgrain output surpassing last year’s 357.73 million tonnes (MT) despite US tariffs disrupting farm exports, while landmark GST reforms delivered input cost relief, and stakeholders await passage of key seed and pesticide bills in 2026 to tackle fake inputs. The year showed both…
Visakhapatnam: One person was killed after two compartments of the Tatanagar-Ernakulam Express caught fire at Yalamanchili, about 66 km from here, police said on Monday. The police received information about the fire at 12:45 am. A police official told reporters that there were 82 passengers in one of the affected coaches and 76 in another…
Pune: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has announced an alliance between his NCP and the NCP (SP), led by his uncle Sharad Pawar, for the Pimpri-Chinchwad civic polls, saying the “parivar” (family) has come together. He was in Pimpri-Chinchwad on Sunday to campaign for the January 15 elections. “For the sake of the Pimpri-Chinchwad…
By Vinay Rao The recently concluded Hyderabad Cricket Association One-Day Knockout Championship didn’t whisper its message—it thundered it. On pitches where pressure separated pretenders from performers, the tournament laid bare a truth Hyderabad cricket has long tried to dodge: merit is thriving in the leagues, but suffocating at the state level. At a time when…
Doha: Indian chess stalwart Koneru Humpy suffered a massive heartbreak in her bid for a third world rapid title, finishing with a bronze in the women’s section of the FIDE World Rapid Championships after being cruelly done in by the tie-break rule, here on Sunday. Humpy, the winner of the world rapid title in 2019…
Thiruvananthapuram: Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana hit stroke-filled half-centuries in a record opening partnership to help India beat Sri Lanka by 30 runs in the fourth women’s T20I and take 4-0 lead in the five-match series, here on Sunday. Asked to bat first, openers Shafali (79) and Mandhana (80) stitched a record 162 runs to take…
Dhaka: The main leader of last year’s violent uprising that toppled the then government in Bangladesh, Mahfuz Alam, on Sunday distanced himself from his disciples under the National Citizen Party (NCP) banner over their move to forge an electoral alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami. In a Facebook post, Alam declined to be a “part of this…
Colombo: President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sunday extended the state of public emergency declared a month ago when the Ditwah cyclone made its landfall, leaving a trail of destruction. The gazette notifying the extension by one month was issued by the Secretary to the President to ensure “protection of public order and the maintenance of…
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost ‘ease of doing business’ and strengthen the services sector to make India a global services giant. Addressing the 5th National Conference of Chief Secretaries here, Modi said India has the potential to become the world’s food basket and the country…
The BCCI’s decision to announce India’s T20I squad for the New Zealand series while holding back the ODI squad has triggered a familiar yet unavoidable debate: should Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli be recalled for the three-match ODI series beginning January 11? Whether this delay is strategic or merely procedural remains open to interpretation. But…
