The sobering news is that retailers - including big firms like Reliance Retail - and exhibitors are contemplating issuing force majeure notices to shopping malls and real estate owners, and are in discussions with them to formulate an action plan for sharing the financial burden of the lockdown.
Flash floods triggered by torrential rain have killed at least 22 people in India and forced more than 1,70,000 from their homes.
The Centre said bird flu has been confirmed so far in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat, and asked these six states to contain the disease as per the action plan.
A resident of village Betadur in Dharwad district of Karnataka, the Madras regiment soldier was pulled out alive from under 30 ft of ice-and-snow debris where he lay buried for six days on the unforgiving Siachen glacier.
The flood-ravaged Srinagar city has been divided into three zones to expedite the cleaning up and sanitation operations, an official spokesman said on Tuesday.
The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday ordered an inquiry into the Gas Authority of India Limited pipeline blast at Nagaram village in East Godavari district, in which 14 persons were killed.
Today, the Ladakhis and Tibetans have been joined by the Sikhs, the Madrassis, the Garhwalis, the Rajputs, who are well trained psychologically and otherwise, to defend the nation, observes Claude Arpi.
'Temperature and wind can be predicted more easily than rainfall.' 'Rainfall, as common experience suggests, is very spotty.' 'The last bit of physics required that tells us whether it is going to rain or not is very hard.' Professor Roddam Narasimha, the eminent scientist, explains the monsoon, climate change and global warming, in a fascinating conversation with Shivanand Kanavi.
Highly decorated police officer and former Intelligence Bureau chief Ajit Doval, considered one of the finest operational brains, was on Friday appointed as the national security adviser.
'China would rather tie us down; and bleed us as much as it can so that we aren't able to lift our heads to face them.'
Without strategising together, Jayalalithaa's successor, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, and M Karunanidhi's son-cum-successor, M K Stalin, have used tough-talking on seat-sharing with allies, to replace charisma that they purportedly lacked, during the run-up to the assembly polls scheduled for April 6, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Over 2 lakh people living in and around the vulnerable coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have been evacuated with Cyclone 'Hudhud' set to hit the two states no Sunday with winds gusting up to 195 kmph.
An assessments of 2,500 buildings carried out by more than 1,000 local engineers during the last four days have revealed that a fifth are no longer habitable and three-quarters need repairs before they can be considered safe.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gone to China with a bagful of initiatives, but not all seems to have been fulfilled given China's reluctance to go the whole hog with him
India and Vietnam on Monday inked seven pacts, including one to enhance cooperation in the strategic oil sector, as they called for "freedom" of navigation in the South China Sea, a remark which could irk China, which has been claiming territorial sovereignty over the high seas.
With the recovery of eight more bodies, the death toll in the Delhi-Gorakhpur train accident has climbed to 22 on Tuesday. "Eight more bodies have been recovered by the rescue teams since Monday night and 103 others have been injured," District Magistrate Bharat Lal said.
Affaq Husain and his wife Saira built a Rs 100 crore empire preying on the most vulnerable people in society.
India's military prowess and multi-hued images of the country's rich cultural diversity and achievements in various fields were on display at the majestic Rajpath on Tuesday during 67th Republic Day parade which was graced by French President Francois Hollande as the chief guest.
Earlier, Pakistani military spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor claimed that two Indian Air Force pilots were arrested. One pilot is injured and has been shifted to a hospital, while another one is unhurt, the spokesman had said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that at least 72 people have died due to Cyclone Amphan and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the affected districts and provide help to 'rebuild those areas from scratch'
DDinesh Kumar Khara is someone who cares for others's ideas and suggestions.
If he takes the people along with him (which he always does); cares for the customers (80 per cent of SBI's new customers are in the 20-40 age group); and doesn't take his eyes off technology, his job is done, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Kerala Home minister Ramesh Chennithala said an inquiry has been ordered.
Two women doctors were injured in Indore when a five-member team of health officials was pelted with stones in Taatpatti Bakhal area on Wednesday while they were trying to trace a person who had come into contact with a COVID-19 patient, police said.
India is failing to take advantage of its important ally, Japan as much as it should, notes Mihir S Sharma.
'If majority of the country's population is sentimental about a certain species, why are we so ashamed to say that we want to give it statutory protection?'
A large number of foreign nationals including Dutch, Israelis and at least around 1,000 Canadians are still stranded in parts of Nepal, a week after the earthquake battered the Himalayan nation.
The UPA's failure to reach out to Kashmiris and the NDA's 'anti-Muslim' stance has fuelled anger in the Kashmir valley.
It has been also revealed that V G Siddhartha had written a letter to the Board of Directors and employees of Coffee Day Enterprises, saying he had 'failed as an entrepreneur'.
'The spirit of cooperation between the Centre and states has been diluted in many ways.' 'The level of consultation which used to be there earlier has reduced significantly.'
When a Chinese warship entered Japanese waters, the Indian commander called on China to maintain discipline at sea. Dr Rajaram Panda explains the significance of the Malabar exercises between India, Japan and the US.
With cyclone Phailin expected to make landfall in Odisha on Saturday, the state government mounted a massive operation to evacuate two lakh people from six coastal districts on Friday night
A 58-year-old man died after a power transformer fell on him in Raigad district. 2 people died and 3 were injured in two separate cyclone-related incidents in Pune.
'The Indian Army can easily initiate retaliation.' 'But escalation would be both inevitable and unpredictable.'
Evacuation of people from the family quarters is in progress.
Water level in the Mullaperiyar dam is threatening to cross the permissible limit of 142 feet, leading to fears about the safety of the people living downstream from it in Kerala even as six spillway shutters were opened on Monday night to release excess water.
Officials at the UAE embassy in New Delhi on Friday said the UAE had not officially announced any financial aid for Kerala flood relief. However, Vijayan claimed there was no lack of clarity on UAE aid for the flood-ravaged state.
'Inept handling by the National Security Advisor transformed what should have been a short counter-terrorist operation in Pathankot into an apparent debacle.'
'I told the lady I was two months pregnant, but that did not seem to bother her.' A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com visits the infamous cages of Mumbai's oldest red light district, Kamathipura, to find out how human trafficking has given India the awful reputation of the nation with the highest slavery rates in the world.
At present, the Met department is often unable to provide exact information on the exact amount of rain over a localised area.
'Perhaps the finest example is from the current avalanche itself.' 'The Commanding Officer of 19 Madras (the affected unit) is Colonel Um Bahadur Gurung, a Gurkha who joined the Madras Regiment.' 'He inspired this recovery operation at 19,500 feet, a unique feat by itself.' 'He knew that if it was delayed the chances of finding the mortal remains in the Saltoro's ice would be impossible.' 'He did not pass orders from his base at Kumar (15,000 feet) or gave directions; he simply went there himself, inspiring the multitude that followed.' Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd), who has served on the Siachen Glacier, salutes the incomparable spirit of the Indian Army.
