'No words can heal the wounds of a mother who lost her child, or a friend who lost their companion. But we must speak, we must feel, and we must remember.'
The Maharashtra government has transferred Rs 17,505.90 crore into the bank accounts of 2.38 crore women beneficiaries under its Ladki Bahin Yojana till December 2024, in the first five months after the scheme was launched. The scheme, launched in August 2024, provides financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month to eligible women. The objective of the scheme is to promote employment and economic development by providing adequate facilities to women and girls in the age group 21 to 65 years. The scheme aims to promote the empowerment of women and girls and improve the health and nutritional status of women and children dependent on them.
The second seasons of OTT's two best shows, Paatal Lok and Severance, coming up. Sukanya Verma lists your options.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, speaking at the University of Oxford, stressed the importance of inclusive development and stated that division in society is counterproductive. She emphasized that her governance model prioritizes the welfare of all sections of society and does not allow discrimination, highlighting the state's diverse population and the need for a human-centric approach.
'Not just women, but even men are judged by the colour of their skin and have to fight prejudice every day.'
A Kolkata court will pronounce the sentence on Monday for Sanjay Roy, convicted of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was found guilty of sexually assaulting the doctor and throttling her to death. The judge will also address questions raised by the victim's father and criticize some activities of the police and hospital authorities.
''I don't revisit any of my work once it's complete because I'm very self-critical.' 'I will probably exclaim, "Oh God, such bad acting!"'
A 20-year-old Indian student, Sudiksha Konanki, has gone missing while on vacation in the Dominican Republic. US federal law enforcement agencies are working with Dominican authorities to investigate her disappearance. Konanki, a student at the University of Pittsburgh, was reported missing on March 6 while vacationing with friends in Punta Cana. The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) is assisting in the investigation, which includes a review of surveillance video, telephone records, and interviews with anyone who may have seen Konanki. The LCSO has filed for a Yellow Notice (worldwide police alert for a missing person) to be issued by INTERPOL. While Dominican officials believe Konanki may have drowned in the ocean, the LCSO cautions against drawing any unsubstantiated conclusions. The investigation is ongoing.
Legal experts have lauded Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna's decision to make public crucial documents related to a controversy surrounding the alleged discovery of cash from Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma's residence. They also welcomed the formation of an in-house committee to further investigate the matter. While some expressed concerns about the incident's impact on the judiciary's image, others emphasized the need for transparency and a fair inquiry. The Supreme Court released the inquiry report by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya, which included photos and videos of the alleged cash discovery. Justice Varma has denied the allegations, calling them a "conspiracy to frame and malign him."
The Police on Tuesday claimed to have cracked the sensational murder case involving an ex-service man in Hyderabad, revealing grisly details of the killing of his wife where he allegedly dismembered her, crushed her bones into powder and flushed down the remains in a toilet, all during a day-long 'operation'.
He lashed out at the state government terming it an "extremely sad and inhuman" crime.
If Prakash Jha is able to transfer today's social and political reality onto the screen, the future seasons of Aashram might just get a much-needed dose of eyeball-grabbing power, observes Deepa Gahlot.
'Although one-in-five women in the UK will experience stalking at some point in their lives, there are no scientific studies around the stalking of athletes.'
The Mammootty-starrer is a passable procedural, let down by half-baked ideas that don't necessarily come together, observes Arjun Menon.
A Special Investigation Team of Maharashtra Police told a court at Beed on Wednesday that Santosh Deshmukh was killed because he was thought to be an obstacle in a plan to extort Rs 2 crore from an energy firm, and Walmik Karad was in contact with his killers when the crime was executed.
Army troops in Bangladesh intensified their patrols on the streets of Dhaka as the country witnessed rising tensions with the newly formed student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) accusing the military of political interference. The NCP staged protest rallies at the premier Dhaka University campus vowing to thwart at any cost a military-backed plot to rehabilitate deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League which was toppled seven months ago in a student-led violent street protest in July-August last year. A key leader of NCP, which was floated last month with widely assumed blessings of Professor Muhammad Yunus, accused the military of political interference over a proposal for inclusiveness that would allow Awami League to participate in the next elections. The military, which is now entrusted with maintaining nationwide law and order with magistracy power, however, did not enter the campus but continued their intensified patrol, particularly in the capital. The NCP convenor Nahid Islam said at the Muslim fast-breaking iftar party that the army or any other state institution had no "authority to propose or make decisions" about politics. He added that in no way "we will allow installation of another 1/11 government" in the country.
The number of cyberfraud cases has skyrocketed from 2,677 in 1999-2000 to 29,082 in FY24 -- more than a 10-fold increase. The RBI pegs digital payment frauds at Rs 1,457 crore in FY24, up more than five times in a year. It's not just the number of frauds. What's alarming is the growing sophistication of the fraudsters, exposing the vulnerabilities within the financial system, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The CBI's failure to file a chargesheet within the mandated 90 days has resulted in bail being granted to two key suspects in the rape-murder case of an on-duty medic at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. This comes just days after the West Bengal Police secured capital punishment for a convict in a similar crime against a minor. The delay in justice has sparked outrage, particularly among the victim's family and junior doctors who are demanding accountability.
'Neither are Baloch insurgents capable of breaking up Pakistan, nor has Pakistan learned any lessons from the 1971 debacle that led to the country's dismemberment.'
Rekhachitram is the latest in an assembly line of films that use the period setting and mythic allure of the past to drive home the suspense of relatively straightforward genre stories, notes Arjun Menon.
The Supreme Court of India has expressed concern over the protracted trials in heinous offences related to Maoist activities, stating that indefinite incarceration violates the right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. Two separate benches of the court granted relief to two accused, citing the delayed trials. One bench expedited the trial of a man accused of transporting ammunition for a banned organization, while the other granted bail to a man accused of transporting materials for Naxal activities. The court emphasized the importance of speedy trials and suggested the establishment of special courts to handle Maoist-related cases, aiming to expedite proceedings. The court also criticized the practice of examining an excessive number of witnesses, which can lead to indefinite delays in the conclusion of trials.
'In today's political spectrum, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party that always says, nation first.'
A very good mix of movies and Web series arrives on OTT in January.
The 97th Academy Awards are live in Hollywood, California, and the biggest stars are looking even more glamorous on the red carpet.
According to the officer, the accused has confessed to the killings and said that he had an affair with the teacher's wife for 18 months which went sour later, leading to him shooting the family.
'The male-dominant Indian culture displays a lot of violence, a lot of aggression towards women.'
A 30-year-old delivery man was allegedly killed when he went to deliver an iPhone to a customer who was supposed to pay him Rs 1.5 lakh for the product, police said on Monday.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an appeal in the Calcutta High Court seeking the death penalty for Sanjay Roy, who was sentenced to "life imprisonment until death" for the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The CBI argued that the crime falls under the "rarest of rare" category deserving capital punishment, while the trial court had ruled otherwise. The West Bengal government has also appealed for the death penalty, but the CBI opposed the state's right to file an appeal, claiming it was the prosecuting agency and therefore had the right to appeal on the grounds of inadequacy of the sentence. The high court will hear the appeals from the CBI, the victim's family, and the convict on January 27.
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan pits him and Tiger Shroff in titular avatars. While we wait to catch their distinct personality play off against each other, Sukanya Verma offers a lowdown on Akshay's two-hero jodis in the past.
Hyderabad police are consulting experts from across the country to investigate the case of an ex-serviceman suspected of killing his wife, dismembering her body, and boiling the parts in a pressure cooker. Despite the suspect's arrest, the woman's remains have not been recovered. The police are treating the case as a missing person's case while investigating the gruesome allegations.
Netflix has announced a thrilling line-up for 2025.
India's Minister of State for Home, Nityanand Rai, has announced a 71% decrease in terrorist incidents in the country under the Modi government. He credits a "zero tolerance" policy towards terrorism, which has resulted in no terror incidents in the hinterland. Rai also highlighted the National Investigative Agency's (NIA) successes, including the investigation of cases on foreign land and a conviction rate of 95.54%.
Arjun Menon looks at 2024's top Web series from South India.
'The pressure from these betting games, coupled with financial ruin, is becoming unbearable for many, and tragically, some even resort to extreme measures like suicide.'
The power of the series is that it is rooted in reality, feels Deepa Gahlot.
Dhananjay Deshmukh, brother of slain Beed sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, climbed a village water tank on Monday and threatened to jump alleging that information about the investigation was not shared with the family. He demanded that the accused in the extortion case linked to sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh's murder be booked under murder charges. Family members of the slain sarpanch and Opposition leaders are demanding that state minister Dhananjay Munde's aide Walmik Karad, arrested in a related extortion case, be booked for murder. Santosh Deshmukh, the sarpanch of Massajog village, was abducted, tortured, and murdered on December 9. Preliminary investigation suggests that the sarpanch had tried to thwart an extortion bid on an energy firm operating a windmill project in the region. After climbing down the water tank, Dhananjay told reporters that he trusted Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' assurance on the probe. He further said his agitation was not a drama but a serious yearning for justice for his brother.
An upcoming book by investigative journalist Chitra Subramaniam claims that senior Indian bureaucrats "tutored" Bofors officials in a secret meeting in 1987 on how to absolve then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of all blame in the infamous bribery scandal. The book, "Boforsgate," details how the meeting was held to cover up the alleged Rs 64 crore bribe in a Rs 1,437 crore deal for Howitzer guns, and how Indian officials provided advice on concealing information from investigators. Subramaniam's revelations are based on documents provided to her by the Swedish head of police investigating the Bofors case.
An Enforcement Directorate team undertaking searches in a cyber fraud linked money laundering case was allegedly attacked in New Delhi on Thursday, officials said.
Haryana Police have arrested a "friend" of Congress worker Himani Narwal for allegedly strangling her after a fight at her home and later dumping her body in a suitcase. The accused, Sachin, hails from Jhajjar and was arrested in Delhi. Police say he strangled Narwal with a wired mobile phone charger and then took her jewellery, laptop, and ring before dumping her body in a suitcase and fleeing the scene. Narwal's body was found stuffed in a suitcase in Rohtak on Saturday, leading to the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the murder. Congress party members have expressed grief and demanded justice for Narwal, who was a dedicated party worker and also took part in the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust (LKMMT), which runs Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital, has accused its former trustees and related individuals of misappropriating over Rs 1,500 crore. The trust has filed complaints with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Bandra Police Station, alleging that the misappropriation, uncovered during a forensic audit, has impacted the trust's operations and healthcare services. The trust has also claimed that black magic was performed in the hospital premises by former trustees and related individuals. The Bandra Magistrate Court has ordered an inquiry against these individuals. The current trustees have identified large-scale irregularities in the hospital management body's affairs and appointed forensic auditors who found that over Rs 1,500 crore has been siphoned and misappropriated by the former trustees. The Mumbai police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has initiated a probe into an alleged cheating case of Rs 85 crore registered against three former trustees of the hospital.