As politicians step back, poets try bridge barriers in South Asia

Where the sun cannot reach, a poet’s words can, goes a popular saying. At a time when the concept of South Asian community and solidarity is receding due to the onslaught of geopolitical interests and the widening distrust among regional countries, poets are imagining what politicians have failed to do. They still hold the view […]

Reliance Industries expands paraxylene capacity, becomes global No.1

Reliance Industries said it commissioned its third and last crystallization train at its paraxylene complex at Jamnagar, making the company the biggest manufacturer of the key ingredient used in plastic production. Paraxylene is used to make intermediate chemicals that are then used to manufacture polyethylene terephthalate or PET. PET bottles are widely used for water […]

SBI raises Rs 15,000 cr in India’s largest QIP

State Bank of India said it raised Rs 15,000 cr by selling its shares in a ‘qualified institutional placement’ or QIP, making it the largest such transaction in Indian share market history. QIP’s usually involve selling shares exclusively to big institutions such as mutual funds, banks and other investment houses and are cheaper and quicker than […]

Kanhaiya Kumar, Jignesh Mavani, others organize anti-lynching platform

Prominent activists such as Kanhaiya Kumar, Jignesh Mavani, Tehseen Poonawalla and Shehla Rashid have formed an anti-lynching front in the background of vigilante attacks in the name of religious symbols like the cow. Under the banner of the National Campaign Against Mob Lynching, the platform will fight against what it calls “cultural terrorism” that it […]

Godrej Properties enters Sohna market in NCR

Godrej Properties Ltd announced its first project in Sohna in the National Capital region. The project, which involves approximately 157,000 square meters (approximately 1.7 million sq. ft.) of saleable area , will be located in Sector 33. “This project will offer and will be developed as a modern group housing development. This project is located […]

Kabul Blast: Is Islamic State expanding its reach in the subcontinent?

Is this mother of all bomb blast? If one looks at the magnitude of Wednesday morning’s explosion in Kabul, one scouts to find a parallel in recent times. A sewage tanker laden with bomb is denoted at the heart of Kabul city surrounded by presidential palace and many prominent embassies. Kabul is not new to […]

Kabul bomb blast among biggest in recent years, casualties may cross 100

The bomb blast that took place a few minutes ago near the German and Indian embassies in Kabul killed at least 50 people and injured another 50, Afghanistan’s ministry of interior spokesperson Najib Danish said. The blast, considered to be one of the biggest in recent years, happened inside the diplomatic area in the heart […]

Fitch cuts IDBI Bank rating as NPAs climb to 21%

Fitch Ratings said it downgraded IDBI Bank’s Long-Term Default Rating and its ‘viability rating’ by one notch each to ‘BB+’ and ‘ccc’ with a stable outlook. “IDBI Bank’s Viability Rating reflects the deterioration of its financial profile in the last two years and our expectation that both asset quality and capital will remain significant ongoing […]

PSU sells diamonds worth Rs 110 cr via e-auction

India’s premier public sector miner has auctioned rough diamonds worth over Rs 110 cr via e-auction, beating a slowdown in India’s gems and jewellery sector. It is “a significant development amidst the global slowdown in diamond industry,” said mjunction, an e-auction company that also helped with India’s spectrum sales. “The e-auction process has successfully overcome […]

The fast rise of extremist Islam in Maldives

When Hussain Rasheed started talking about his son, a sob choked his voice. His feeble reply wasn’t even audible to the small gathering for sometime. When he regained his composure the first question he asked: Why was my son killed? What was his crime? The only crime of Yameen Rasheed,an independent blogger, was that he […]

Zee launches ‘nationalist’ news channel Hindustan with no TRP obsession

Zee Media Ltd, the news broadcasting company of the Essel Group, has launched Zee Hindustan, a self-described ‘nationalist’ Hindi news channel. Most Indian news channels are ‘nationalist’ already, and it is unclear how the new venture from the media house plans to be sufficiently different. “Indian Television Industry will witness the new age News business […]

PAY REVISION: IDBI Bank employees to strike again tomorrow, May 23

IDBI Bank, one of India’s largest government-controlled banks, said it received notice of strike from the “United Forum of IDBI Bank Officers and Employees”. The strike will be on Tuesday, May 23, and is aimed at demanding “revision of pay and allowances and other issues,” the bank said. The Forum represents a section of its employees and […]

Bhim Singh supports Yasin Malik’s stand in India Today scuffle case

Jammu & Kashmir politician Bhim Singh has sided with separatist leader Yasin Malik in the controversy surrounding a scuffle between journalists of India Today group and Malik. India Today claimed that Yasin Malik assaulted its crew and destroyed their gadgets when they it went to get a reaction from Malik on a story that they […]

Patriotism doesn’t mean excluding anyone, give women their rights – Sri Sri

Sri Sri Ravishankar, a propagator of Yoga and ancient Indian wisdom, criticized the tendency to oppose any particular community in the name of patriotism. In an interview with WION TV channel, the spiritual leader also asked vigilantism related to cow to be treated and dealt with as criminal instances. On Triple Talaq, he said human […]