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Amazon seeks to block sale of Future’s small-format stores
Amazon has written to Big Bazaar parent Future Retail (FRL) in an effort to block the probable sale of the latter’s small-format chain of stores that operate under the Easyday and Heritage Fresh brands. The US e-tailer has offered financial help to the cash-strapped retailer. The development comes against the backdrop of an ongoing legal battle between the two retail heavyweights on the one hand and FRL’s lenders looking to sell the stores to recover Rs 3,500 crore in dues on the other.
Goa polls: BJP leaves out Parrikar's son, 2 ministers in 1st list
BJP on Thursday announced its first list of 34 candidates for Goa, dropping three sitting MLAs including two ministers but retaining a former minister who had quit over allegations of sex scandal. The party refused to give the Panaji ticket to former CM Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal. Candidates in the remaining six constituencies would be announced in the second list, expected to be released soon.
Acknowledge ‘Hinduphobia’, India urges UN
Warning the world about the dangers of religious phobias, India has again raised the issue of ‘Hinduphobia’, and also anti-Sikh and anti-Buddhist phobias, calling upon the United Nations to address this threat to ensure “greater balance” into discussions on such topics. India’s permanent representative to UN, T S Tirumurti said on Thursday that while the UN had highlighted other forms of religious phobias, it had not yet fully acknowledged anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh and anti-Semitism threats.
Army vice-chief warns Pakistan over terror use
Countries with ‘regressive thinking’ like Pakistan, which use terrorism as a political tool, need to understand that terrorism is an equally big threat for them, said Army vice-chief Lt General C P Mohanty on Thursday. “While terrorism in all its dimensions must be condemned equally, there is nothing as despicable as state-sponsored terror, he said.
2.5k farm suicides in 11 months of 2021 in Maha: RTI reply
Distress among farmers in the state pushed 2,498 of them to end their lives in the 11-month period from January to November 2021. In 2020, 2,547 debt-ridden farmers had committed suicide. Data from the state revenue department shows that despite loan waiver schemes of the government, farmers continue to commit suicide for inability to repay loans. Region-wise Aurangabad saw 804 suicides in the 11-month period in 2021 and Nagpur division reported 309 cases.
Scores don’t reflect merit, says SC, upholds OBC quota
Settling the perennial merit vs quota debate while upholding reservation for OBC in all-India quota medical seats, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that scores in entrance tests do not reflect the social, economic and cultural advantage that accrues to certain classes and contributes to their success in such examinations. “Merit can’t be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive exam which only provides formal equality of opportunity,” SC said.
Tendency to tarnish India’s image must be shunned: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday targeted naysayers saying there is a tendency to tarnish India’s image, both within the country and internationally, and exhorted non-state actors to make an effort to change this "perception-building" while conveying the correct picture of the country to the world.
Amar Jawan Jyoti to be put out, ‘merged’ with flame at NWM
Amar Jawan Jyoti or the ‘eternal flame’ at the iconic India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years on Friday and merged with the flame at the adjoining National War Memorial (NWM) in the run-up to this Republic Day. A part of the flame at the Amar Jawan Jyoti will be carried to the NWM during a solemn ceremony to merge the two flames at 3.30 pm,” a defence ministry official said Thursday.
Vaccination has kept severe illness, deaths low in third wave: ICMR
The proportion of Covid deaths in active cases during the current surge is significantly lower, helped by large-scale vaccination coverage, than the previous second wave, the Centre said underlining the role of vaccines in protecting against severe illness and deaths due to Covid-19. "Vaccine online tracker shows the benefit of its ability to reduce deaths considerably among vaccinated compared to unvaccinated,” ICMR director general Balram Bhargava said.
Bernie Sanders: The time for Senate talk is over. We need to vote
The Republican Party is working overtime to suppress the vote and undermine American democracy. It is a party which ignores climate change, the existential threat to our planet and represents the interests of the wealthy and the powerful while turning its back on struggling working-class families. The GOP is the party that gives tax breaks to billionaires while pushing for cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other programs desperately needed by ordinary Americans.
Supreme Court extends women’s right to parents’ property prior to ’56
The Supreme Court on Thursday conferred daughters with equal right to father’s property even prior to codification of Hindu personal laws and enactment of the Hindu Succession Act in 1956 and said that the law of inheritance would apply to partition of properties even if the father had died intestate before 1956.
U.S. prosecutors charge 4 in Belarusian government over alleged fake bomb threat
News/World: U.S. prosecutors charged four Belarusian government officials on Thursday with aircraft piracy for diverting a Ryanair flight with a fake bomb threat last year in order to arrest an opposition journalist.
Amar Jawan Jyoti to be merged with National War Memorial flame
The Amar Jawan Jyoti or the “eternal flame” at the iconic India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years on Friday and merged with the flame at the adjoining National War Memorial (NWM) in the run-up to the Republic Day this year.