NEW DELHI: PM Modi has told top bureaucrats and state chief secretaries to find ways to fix delays in infrastructure projects rather than wait for him to review and fix accountability for delays.Chairing the web-based Pragati meeting on Wednesday, Modi asked if any disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against erring officials, sources said. “In almost…
Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi celebrates with teammates (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson urged his players to concentrate on cricket ahead of their historic first-ever Asia Cup final against India on Sunday in Dubai, following heightened tensions during their previous two encounters since the May military conflict between the nations.Pakistan secured their place…
Lucknow: ‘Agomoni’—arrival of goddess for Navratri—and all the bustle of pandal building, idol-making and decoration owes much to three men who remain in background. Meet Asim Mastya, Niloy Mitra and Niloy Sen, who design pandal, make the idols and decorate the Durga Puja site. Artist Asim Matya, whose team has been building pandals on various…
Slamming India for backing former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, chief adviser Muhammad Yunus said on Wednesday that Dhaka’s ties with New Delhi are strained also because India didn’t like last year’s student protests that led to her ouster. “They (India) are hosting Hasina who created all these problems and killed young people,” Yunus said during…
NEW DELHI: A new study has estimated India’s logistics cost at 8% of GDP, with smaller firms having a higher burden.In 2023-24, for entities with turnover of up to Rs 5 crore, the cost added up to 16% of their output while it was pegged at 7.6% in the case of companies with turnover of…
MUMBAI: Standard Chartered India CEO P D Singh sees the India-Middle East trade corridor as a promising one for adoption of rupee invoicing, even though it’s a gradual shift. “It is picking up in Middle Eastern corridors and could expand in future, much like how Chinese yuan invoicing became common in solar equipment trade,” he…
Lucknow: Women’s participation in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) in Uttar Pradesh has hit a record high, reaching 42.31% of the total workforce in the 2025-26 fiscal year.The previous highest of 42.26% was recorded in 2023-24, after which it dropped to 41.87% in 2024-25, according to the latest data from the…
BENGALURU: Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said H-1B visas are not a major concern for the company, noting that just 5% of its US workforce is on such visas.“This is really a non-issue because we only have about 5% of our people in the US on H-1B visas, and they’re for really specialised experience and skills…
MUMBAI: RBI has signalled the end of OTP-only second-factor authentication (2FA or AFA) for payments with its Authentication Directions, 2025, issued on Thursday.For consumers, the changes promise fewer bottlenecks and more choice. SMS-based OTPs, prone to delay and interception, will cede ground to biometrics, app-based tokens, or device-native methods such as face ID. Liability for…
Ameesha Patel, who rose to fame with films like Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, has always kept her personal life away from the spotlight. At 50, the actress remains unmarried, but in a recent candid moment, she opened up about love, crushes, and even one-night stands. ‘Tom Cruise has always been my crush’ On Ranveer Allahbadia’s…