'We love them but the moment we hear something about them, we are done.'
The blaze was quickly doused and no one was injured in the incident which occurred near Yevat in Pune district at around 8 am, an official from Daund railway police station said.
'On the set, he was this big personality, the great Om Puri. But at home, he was like a fluffy teddy bear.'
Union Minister Nityanand Rai launched a scathing attack on Congress, stating that the party takes "pleasure" in insulting Bihar and its people.
The duty hike on cigarettes by 16 per cent announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 would have a nominal impact of around 7-12 paise per stick across cigarette categories, according to experts. This upward revision in National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) would have negligible impact on smokers and the companies could easily absorb the shock as it may not also have any resultant impact on margins, they said. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharama in the Union Budget for 2023-24 on Wednesday proposed to revise and increase the duty on cigarettes to about 16 per cent.
Simplifying GST rates, removing exemptions, easing disputes, and speeding up refunds can boost investment in India and offer the best reply to Trump's tariffs, observes V S Krishnan, former member, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.
'Arundhati Roy is like a ballerina performing on a high wire, cool, supremely at ease but conscious of all the adoring eyes on her,' notes P Vijaya Kumar.
rediffGURU Ravi Mittal, CEO, Quack Quack, shares expert advice on how to deal with trust issues in a marital relationship.
A young couple sharing a laugh - in the living room over a Polish joke book, on the beach, in the rain - with the tagline, "Made for each other", hung from billboards at prominent street corners from the 1960s to the 1990s. It was a campaign for one of the largest selling cigarette brands in India, Wills (Navy Cut) from the ITC stable, that resonated with a generation of smokers and non-smokers alike till the curtains came down on tobacco advertising in 2004. As we prepare to welcome 2024, ITC has metamorphosed from a tobacco giant into a conglomerate straddling multiple large-sized businesses. In the mind space of Gen Z or millennials, the company represents a gamut of branded products - from frozen food (ITC Master Chef), noodles (YiPPee!), and cookies (Sunfeast) to snacks (Bingo!) and notebooks (Classmate), and so on and so forth.
At the end of the discussion, the older Monpa said that if today the Chinese were to come inside India, "I will fight and kill them", prudently adding, "if they are of my age, if they are younger soldiers, I will not be able to fight". The entire village had a good laugh.
Maalik is just unpleasant, not even slightly engaging, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Seventy years after Pather Panchali released on August 26, 1955, we finally get it. Shuttling between the village of Boral and a studio in Calcutta, caught between worrying about the next purse of funds and wondering which item to mortgage next, Satyajit Ray was explaining Indians to themselves, discovers Sreehari Nair.
Delhi high court ruling on numbers as trademarks could be a trendsetter.
'E-cigarette devices expose users to toxic metals like lead, arsenic, chromium and nickel,' warns Wellness Guru Roopashree Sharma.
British multinational BAT Plc on Wednesday trimmed its ownership in conglomerate ITC by divesting a 2.5 per cent stake for Rs 12,927 crore ($1.51 billion) through a block deal, according to a revised term sheet accessed by PTI. Following the stake sale, shares of ITC went lower by 1.15 per cent to trade at Rs 421.15 apiece on the NSE.
First time violators will face a jail term of up to one year and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. For subsequent offences, a jail term of up to three years or a fine of Rs 5 lakh, or both according to the ordinance.
'At least 25 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of plastic chewing gum gets dumped.' 'And because the way people spit it out, there's no possible way this plastic can be recycled.'
There remains a debate on who said this: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, Sir?" Was it the British economist John Maynard Keynes or the American economist Paul Samuelson. Irrespective of who said it, this sentiment appears to have found resonance in ITC's boardroom in recent years.
The bill defines electronic cigarettes ss electronic devices that heat a substance, which may contain nicotine and other chemicals, to create vapour for inhalation.
Standing near the noose, he recited a couplet in which he said he wished nothing but to sacrifice his life for the motherland. Utkarsh Mishra remembers Ram Prasad Bismil on the revolutionary leader's 128th birth anniversary.
During the Gudhi Padwa festival, Hindus visit Hazrat Sayyad Badshah Dargah near the mosque, a villager said.
The 70 launches were made in the first half of the financial year alone and were mostly focused on hygiene, health & wellness, naturals and convenience, which were in high demand as Covid -19 raged across the world.
'I eagerly await the day when we can experience a truly great Bollywood movie rooted in pure historical facts, one that authentically showcases the essence of our armed forces for Indian audiences,' notes Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
E-cigarettes pose a huge health risk to users, who more often than not are adolescents and young adults
While the American Club Cool Fresh Taste saw the minimum hike of 10 per cent, from Rs 200 to Rs 220 for a pack of 20 cigarettes, the price of Navy Cut Filter rose by about 16 per cent, at Rs 80 for a pack of 10 sticks. Flake Filter has become costlier by 14 per cent at Rs 80, while prices of Flake Special Filter, Flake Blue Special Filter and Wave Cool Mint rose by 20 per cent.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan's recent request to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley - for an increase in tax on cigarettes from 45 per cent to 60 per cent in the coming Budget - seems to have had a serious impact on cigarette smokers' pockets.
The Chief Superintendent of Kalaburagi Jail, R Anitha, received an audio message threatening to blow up her car. While Anitha has not received the message personally and will not be filing a complaint, police are investigating the matter. The threat comes after Anitha took charge and conducted raids at the jail, leading to the seizure of contraband items.
Goods from sectors, including agriculture, precious stones, chemicals, pharma, medical devices, electricals, and machinery may get impacted if the US will go ahead with imposing reciprocal tariffs on Indian products, according to experts. They said that these sectors could face additional customs duties from the Trump administration because of the high tariff differential or gap, which is the difference between the import duties imposed by the US and India on a product.
Weighing in on the 90-hour workweek controversy, ITC Ltd chairman Sanjiv Puri said that it is more important for the workers to be aligned to the grander vision of the company rather than the number of hours put in. Giving an analogy of many workers building a castle, he said, "If you ask a mason what he is doing, he might say he is laying a brick, another might say he is building a wall but some might say he is building a castle.
Students at Ashoka University in Haryana are protesting against new security measures, including vehicle checks and prohibition on carrying cigarettes and alcohol on campus. The new protocols, reportedly outlined in a January 13 email by the varsity's Vice President of Operations, also include shifting student movement to another gate and submitting students to pocket checks. Students have criticised the measures as invasive and an overreach of authorities, demanding a roll-back.
Cigarette companies have substantial wriggle room thanks to India's complex tax structure, which categorises them by length and filter
The peak GST rate of 28 per cent as also the 5 per cent ad valorem cess will continue
10 largecaps stocks which stand to gain from the Budget.
Termed as 'regular size filter cigarettes,' the cheap brands come mostly with a length of 70 mm or less, and are believed to be manufactured by a host of small manufacturing units across the country. These cheap regular size filter cigarettes, which are available at prices of Rs 10 for a pack of 10, are pushing non-filter brands made by big popular companies to the verge of extinction.
'Everything can be resolved, but my husband's legacy is not up for sale.'
In the past 18 months, the department of revenue intelligence has seized 50 containers of cigarettes, valued at nearly Rs 200 crore
'Sanjay Leela Bhansali wanted me to play Qudsia Begum with a glass of wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other. I told Sanjayji that I have never held a cigarette in my hand.'
Biman Basu, the senior-most Marxist leader in the country, pays homage to a comrade he has known and admired since the 1980s.
Currently, 40 per cent of the front and back panel of cigarette packs is covered with warnings.
First-time violators will face a jail term of up to one year and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. For subsequent offences, a jail term of up to three years or a fine of Rs 5 lakh, or both, have been prescribed.