India News

The Congress said on Saturday it's too early to make an assessment on the likely impact of Rajinikanth's party in poll-bound Tamil Nadu, citing lack of clarity on ideology, programme and electoral roadmap of the proposed outfit.

Covaxin, India's first indigienous vaccine for the highly infectious coronavirus, has been designed to be effective if a person takes two doses, Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech clarified in a statement today, stressing that the "efficacy can be determined 14 days after the second dose".

Hindus who visit churches to take part in Christmas celebrations will be "beaten", a leader of right-wing group Bajrang Dal declared - to raucous cries of "Jai Shri Ram" - at an event at Silchar in Assam's Cachar district earlier this week

Petrol price today breached the Rs 83 per litre-mark in Delhi for the first time in more than two years after a rally in international oil prices forced a 13th increase in rates in the last fortnight.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform the ground-breaking ceremony for new parliament building next week. Lok Sabha speaker Om Prakash Birla met the Prime Minister this afternoon at his residence to officially invite him, officials said.

Ahead of the third round of talks between the BJP-led central government and farmers' representatives, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi called on all Indians to support their demand for a complete rollback of three contentious agricultural laws.

Delhi's air quality turned "severe" today with slow wind speed allowing the accumulation of "locally generated" pollutants, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials.

Indicating their preparedness to camp along Delhi borders for as long as it takes for a rollback of the three contentious laws on agricultural reforms, farmers have added another "essential" to the exhaustive list of supplies they are carrying - a DJ system.

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij tweeted this morning to say that he has tested positive for coronavirus. Mr Vij, 67, said he is admitted at the Civil Hospital in Ambala.

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti may have emerged as the largest party in the Hyderabad municipal elections, but the BJP's gains mean it will likely need support from Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM to elect a new mayor

Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta on Friday suspended a municipal councilor, who was arrested by the CBI, from the party's primary membership.

Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive of the world's largest vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India, is among six people named "Asians of the Year" by Singapore's leading daily, The Straits Times for their work in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a jump of 36,652 fresh infections across states in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 tally has surged past the 96-lakh mark, government data shows. The country now has 96,08,211 total cases of Covid, of which 1,39,700 people have died because of the viral disease; some 512 people lost their lives in the last 24 hours.

Hours after Prime Minister Modi held a high-level meeting at his home, the fifth round of talks between the government and protesters began this afternoon in Delhi over the contentious farm laws. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar met at PM Modi's house, say sources, adding the centre may consider amending the laws. Amid growing support, thousands of farmers camping around Delhi-borders are insistent on the laws being repealed. Two rounds of talks this week have fallen through despite repeated assurances from the centre on the minimum support price or MSP. This is the biggest farmers' protest in years and numbers continue to swell at Delhi's borders amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected over 96 lakh people across India.

Ahead of the fifth round of talks with the government, farm leaders said that only a "complete rollback" of the controversial farm laws will end their protests. "We want the withdrawal of the laws. We won't accept government's offer to amend the laws," a farm leader was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.