Bandyopadhyay told PTI that he received a call from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and the external affairs ministry, and was asked to go to the US but he informed them that he would not be able to go due to health reasons.
Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla, aboard the International Space Station, interacted with students in Lucknow, answering questions about life in space, the challenges of readjusting to Earth, and the benefits of space exploration.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he was proud of the manner in which the multi-party delegations presented India's views in various countries on the need to eradicate the menace of terrorism following the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.
'Our party has formed governments independently in all neighbouring states except West Bengal; now it's Bihar's turn.'
Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and raised concerns over its timing, alleging that over two crore voters of the state may be disenfranchised by this mammoth exercise being done just ahead of assembly elections.
'I carry the hopes and dreams of over a billion hearts.'
If you ask any young parent what they dread the most about planning their child's birthday, there'd be only one answer: Planning and buying return gifts, notes Divya Nair.
'The government is actively engaging with EU to ensure that concerns of Indian companies and hard-to-abate sectors are adequately addressed under CBAM'
The jawan was last posted with the 41st battalion of paramilitary CRPF, the lead internal security force of the country.
At least six students have been injured in the incident and they are currently undergoing treatment at the government hospital Hisar, the sources said.
Aam Aadmi Party's Gopal Italia on Monday won from Gujarat's Visavadar assembly constituency and his party also retained Punjab's Ludhiana West seat while the Congress-led United Democratic Front wrested Nilambur from the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala, according to results of assembly bypolls in four states.
Against the Samajwadi Party's decision to field actor Jaya Bachchan and retired IAS officer Alok Ranjan as its candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls, Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) leader and party MLA Pallavi Patel on Wednesday said she will not cast her vote.
Nearly 50 public parks and gardens in vulnerable areas of Kashmir Valley have been closed as a precautionary measure following the Pahalgam terror attack, officials said. The decision comes a week after terrorists shot dead 26 people, mostly tourists, at Baisaran meadows in Pahalgam resort. The security review is ongoing, and more locations may be added to the list in the coming days.
Three tourists from Bangladesh were charred to death in a major blaze in a houseboat on the famous Dal Lake on Saturday, officials in Srinagar said.
While it is expected that the JD-U, a major ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, will support the Waqf Bill, two JD-U MPs, Union Minister Lalan Singh and party Working President Sanjay Jha met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court of India dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking safety measures for tourists in remote hilly areas of Jammu and Kashmir, criticizing the petitioner for seeking publicity without a genuine public cause. The PIL was filed in response to a terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The court stated that the petitioner had a history of filing similar PILs primarily for publicity.
The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association reported receiving over 1,000 distress calls from students across the country, many expressing fears for their safety and making urgent plans to return home.
Opposition parties in India, including the Congress, Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (SP), have unanimously hailed the armed forces' "Operation Sindoor", a retaliatory strike against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The operation, which involved missile and drone strikes, was conducted in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Despite political differences, all parties expressed support for the government and the armed forces, stressing the importance of national unity and integrity in the face of terrorism. While emphasizing the need for diplomatic avenues to prevent further escalation, some parties also called for caution in attributing political credit for the strikes.
'If my daughter was admitted in time and her treatment started soon, she could have been saved.'
While a giant, it's a nimble-footed one, and is growing at a speed that even some of its private sector peers find enviable.
Between FY18 and FY24, it doubled its balance sheet. Despite being a late entrant in some segments, it has been able to grab market share, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The diplomatic exercise aimed at presenting India's stance against Pakistan on terror comes in the wake of Operation Sindoor -- the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
As a result, lotus stems, also known locally as nadru, is available in good quantity in Kashmir due to revival of the crop in the lake.
The delegation will now head to Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia, where they are expected to arrive on Sunday. Member of the delegation, Brijesh Chowta left earlier for Ljubljana.
Yadav, however, did not elaborate on what he meant by people playing politics with him.
Senior BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey has expressed his desire to see Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the Deputy Prime Minister. However, the JD(U) and the RJD have dismissed Choubey's remarks as inconsequential, with the JD(U) pointing to Amit Shah's recent statement that Nitish Kumar is the coalition's leader for the upcoming assembly polls. The RJD has also ridiculed Choubey's statement, stating that the BJP is looking to get rid of Nitish Kumar and that Tejashwi Yadav will be the next Chief Minister of Bihar.
Only in the event of the RSS managing to force Modi into accepting a consensual candidate, will the party not continue to 'being' the 'next Congress', observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Re-entry into the list could have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan, including diminished foreign investment, increased borrowing costs, and tighter scrutiny from global financial institutions.
Rajbaris are a link to Bengal's rich past, of grand mansions, classical fine dining, and allow guests to be pretend zamindars for those few hours or days that they stay.
Aishwarya, the estranged daughter-in-law of RJD president Lalu Prasad, claims that the expulsion of her husband Tej Pratap Yadav from the party was a "drama" enacted with an eye on upcoming Bihar assembly polls. She also accuses her in-laws of ruining her life by getting her married to Tej Pratap.
The metro, it seems, is politics-proof -- even if it comes at a high cost.
Earlier, on Monday, hot Khichdi was sent through this 6-inch pipeline to the stranded workers for the first time since they were trapped.
The Nagpur violence may have been prevented had the police considered the dangerous potential of the VHP/Bajrang Dal's demonstration; had they immediately stopped the burning of the chaddar and arrested the demonstrators; and had they fanned out to counter the rumours that spread among Muslims, observes Jyoti Punwani.
'We are totally in favour of the country on matters of external affairs. Naming representatives for diplomatic multi-party delegations to counter Pak-backed terrorism is the choice of parties, not of the Centre'
Tharoor also said he is honoured by the invitation of the government to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals to present the nation's point of view on recent events.
The delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both Bharatiya Janata Party), Sanjay Kumar Jha (Janata Dal-United), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Supriya Sule (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
While the BJP went back to the drawing board to recraft its political and governance outreach and regained momentum by notching up surprisingly big wins in a string of assembly polls, the burst of fresh optimism in the main opposition Congress and other INDIA bloc parties fizzled out.
Ahead of the impending assembly polls, the rising crime graph and poor law and order situation have led to demands being revived to adopt UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's 'bulldozer' and police encounter policy in Bihar to deal with criminals.
What tasks they accomplished, how they stayed fit, what did they eat, whom did they meet, what they brought back... amazing stories from an epic voyage.
Moderate turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across five assembly constituencies across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala where bypolls are underway on Thursday.
A man suspected of belonging to a terrorist outfit died in an explosion near Majitha Road in Amritsar, police said. The man was retrieving explosive material when the blast happened, possibly due to mishandling. The SSP said the man might be linked to some terror organisation. A team from the Forensic Science Laboratory was at the spot to collect samples of the explosive.