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New Delhi — The Centre has tightened stock-holding rules for sugar dealers, cutting the period they may hold stocks from 30 days to 15 days and capping holdings at 1,000 quintals, in a move aimed at preventing hoarding and keeping supplies moving during the festive season. The revised norms will apply from October 15 to November 30, 2026, and were announced on October 1 as the new sugar season began, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said in an official statement issued through the Press Information Bureau. What the new rules say Under the revised provisions, a sugar dealer cannot hold stock for more than 15 days from the date of receipt, and cannot hold more than 1,000 quintals at any time and at any...

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday reached Madhya Pradesh's tribal-dominated Balaghat district to meet the families of children who have died over the past few months amid a health crisis in the region's tribal belt. Gandhi travelled by road from Gondia in neighbouring Maharashtra and visited Jagla village in Baihar tehsil, the MP Congress said, claiming that no politician — not even Chief Minister Mohan Yadav — had visited the village since the deaths were reported. Over 30 children, mostly from the Baiga tribe, have died in the Birsa block, about 85 km from the district headquarters, according to opposition claims and PTI reporting. "I am coming to Balaghat today. To meet those tribal families who have lost their innocent...

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the West Bengal government and the Union government to file responses to a petition by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, who alleges that state officials obstructed her work in her Krishnanagar parliamentary constituency and evicted her from a Circuit House during a visit. A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana heard the plea on October 1. Moitra's petition seeks adequate protection during visits to her constituency and alleges that Nadia district administration officials evicted her from a Circuit House even though she had been allotted a room at the state-owned property. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for both the state government and the Centre. He told the court he would...

Explosions were heard overnight in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, amid escalating clashes between government forces and an anti-government alliance, Reuters reported on Thursday. Three diplomatic sources told Reuters that explosions were heard in the city overnight, according to the report. A source linked to the opposition alliance, which has been fighting federal forces in northern Ethiopia since last week, claimed that drone strikes were carried out in Addis Ababa, including on a military headquarters. If confirmed, it would mark the first known drone attack on the Ethiopian capital — a significant escalation in a conflict that has so far been largely centred in the country's northern regions. What is known so far The reports...

India has secured the deportation of wanted accused Harwinder Kumar from the United Arab Emirates in connection with the 2024 killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Vikas Prabhakar in Punjab's Nangal, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Thursday. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Harwinder, also known as Sonu Barnala, soon after his deportation at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Thursday. He was subsequently produced before a Special NIA Court for further legal proceedings, according to ANI. The case Prabhakar was shot dead by operatives of the banned terror organisation Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) in Nangal in 2024, in what the MHA said was an attempt to create communal...

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held a "productive discussion" with United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer towards the early conclusion of a mutually beneficial interim trade agreement between India and the US, the minister said on Thursday. Goyal met Greer in Milwaukee on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting. In a post on X, the minister said the two sides discussed the early conclusion of an interim agreement under the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement, and also exchanged views on G20 deliberations under the US presidency of the grouping. The meeting came on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump held a telephone conversation to review progress in bilateral...

The Indian Coast Guard, working with the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad, has seized 526 kilograms of high-grade methamphetamine and heroin valued at more than Rs 3,000 crore from an Iranian boat in the Arabian Sea, officials said on Wednesday. Five Pakistani nationals operating the vessel were detained in the operation, carried out near Lakshadweep on September 25. The intelligence-led operation began after inputs that an Iranian dhow was attempting to move the narcotics consignment into Indian waters. Coast Guard assets mounted sustained sea-and-air surveillance, tracked the suspicious vessel, and then launched a hot pursuit before boarding it west of Lakshadweep. The boat, its crew, and the seized contraband were brought to Mumbai...

The United States completed its troop withdrawal from Iraq on September 30, ending a 12-year military campaign against the Islamic State group and closing a major chapter of American involvement in the country. The last American troops and equipment left an air base in Erbil, in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, ahead of the September 30 deadline agreed by Washington and Baghdad in 2024. US Central Command said it had completed the "orderly departure" of forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base, marking the end of the Operation Inherent Resolve mission in Iraq. An 'orderly departure' from Erbil Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell described the withdrawal as the conclusion of a 12-year campaign that defeated ISIS as an organised...

Washington is quietly tightening the flow of commercial aircraft parts to China, turning Beijing's dependence on American aviation suppliers into bargaining power for trade negotiations, Reuters reported on October 1, citing people familiar with the matter. The move shows how the United States is strengthening its hand in talks even as it works to loosen China's grip on rare earth minerals needed across vehicle manufacturing, chipmaking and aerospace. Two sources told Reuters that the Commerce Department is positioning itself to increase pressure on Beijing should the administration call on it to do so. A slower licensing pipeline The slowdown has taken several forms. The Commerce Department slowed export licensing for airplane parts...

The government has proposed decriminalising breaches of licence conditions under the Petroleum Act, 1934, while introducing a graded penalty framework that includes fines of up to Rs 25 crore for unlicensed petroleum activities. The draft Petroleum (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was released on Wednesday by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for public and industry comments as part of the pre-legislative consultation process. Stakeholders can submit their comments by October 30, 2026. What the draft proposes The amendments seek to replace the existing general offence provision under Section 23 of the Petroleum Act with specific offences and penalties. Under the draft, carrying out an activity that requires a licence without obtaining...

Britain has announced a new round of sanctions on Russia targeting ships and individuals, in its latest effort to choke off revenue flowing to Moscow and crack down on alleged disinformation networks and those accused of deporting Ukrainian children. The package, announced on Thursday, covers 23 individuals and entities and eight ships, Reuters reported. Ships in the crosshairs The sanctioned vessels include three alleged shadow-fleet tankers, two vessels accused of providing them with bunkering services, and three Russian-owned ice-class ships. The UK government said Moscow was trying to dodge existing shipping sanctions by rotating to different vessels, and noted that the new measures hit ships Russia acquired as recently as July...

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has refused to grant permission to offer prayers at the mosque located near the runway inside Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, citing national security concerns. According to a Times Now report, the FlyDubai cockpit-attack incident was also raised during the hearing. The order came on a petition concerning the 136-year-old Bankra mosque situated within the airport complex, which challenges the indefinite restriction on devotees' access to the shrine imposed by airport authorities on security and aviation-safety grounds. The case so far The petition, before Justice Krishna Rao, contests the decision to stop entry to the mosque indefinitely. Senior advocate Kishore Datta...

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the country must bring into public service young people who are drawn not to public office but to public service, and that recruitment examinations should test not just what a candidate knows but also why that candidate wants to join the civil services. He was addressing the centenary celebrations of the Union Public Service Commission at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, marking 100 years since India's first Public Service Commission was constituted on October 1, 1926. Two touchstones for aspirants "Our mantra is... citizen is God. Meaning, the citizen of the country is no less than a deity to us. For us, the service of the citizen is paramount," Mr. Modi said. He added that...

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iran would "give up" and claimed the United States had taken more oil out of the Strait of Hormuz over the previous couple of days than at any point in history. "They will give up... We took more oil out of the Hormuz Strait over the last couple days than at any point in history," Trump told reporters at the White House, speaking after a luncheon with leading technology executives where a voluntary AI safety accord was signed. Administration's case Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that oil shipments through the strait had reached pre-war levels, averaging 15 to 22 million barrels a day against about 20 million before the conflict, and argued that Tehran was...

NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has announced that the Indian Navy will induct or commission 18 warships during 2026, describing it as the largest single-year force accretion in the history of the service. Singh made the announcement on September 29 while addressing the second edition of the Navy's biannual Commanders' Conference at Nausena Bhawan in New Delhi. Calling 2026 a "historic year" for the Navy, he said the planned additions reflected the growing maturity of India's domestic naval shipbuilding ecosystem. Indigenous content and exports The minister highlighted the Navy's push towards self-reliance, noting that warships commissioned recently contain more than 75 per cent indigenous content and that the country's...

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has put the idea of Britain rejoining the European Union on the table, breaking a taboo for a UK prime minister and reopening a debate that has divided Britain for a decade — a move that drew an immediate "welcome back" from French President Emmanuel Macron. Burnham, who became premier in July after Labour MPs replaced Keir Starmer, told his party's annual conference in Manchester on September 29 that Britain's departure from the EU in 2020 had done "more harm than good" and had triggered "a decade of low growth", adding that Britain must decide on a long-term relationship with its largest trading partner. On BBC radio the following day he went further, saying his centre-left Labour government could...

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on November 2 a plea filed by the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha seeking legal action against former Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai and others over alleged irregularities linked to donations and land transactions related to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The plea alleges that donations collected for the construction of the temple were misappropriated, and that land in areas surrounding the temple was purchased illegally. It also asks the court to order the dissolution and complete reconstitution of the existing trust. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the petition would be heard along with other pending pleas concerning alleged...

The Supreme Court has said that courts must refrain from imposing their personal views or value judgements on morality while deciding bail applications or criminal trials. A bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S. Chandurkar made the observation in an order passed on September 23, setting aside a Madhya Pradesh High Court order that had declined bail to an accused in a sexual assault case. The High Court had reasoned that granting bail could have ramifications on the social order and the "morals" of the victim's family — reasoning the apex court held to be impermissible. The court's words "We are of the view that courts should refrain from imposing the personal views or value judgement of the Presiding Judge on morality or...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hailed Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar as a "hero" for fighting off his co-pilot during an alleged attempt to crash a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, as details emerged of how the seriously injured captain's actions helped save 174 people on board. Two prime ministers praise the captain "Captain Smit Machchhar is a HERO. In the face of the gravest danger and despite being seriously injured, he showed immense courage and an unwavering resolve to protect the lives of others," Modi said in a post on X. "His valour helped save hundreds of lives and avert a great tragedy," he said, adding that India was proud of the pilot and praying for his speedy recovery. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime...

Tension flared in Kerala's capital late Wednesday night after a beer bottle was allegedly hurled at the state headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party, an incident the BJP has blamed on Congress workers. Night-time attack According to the First Information Report, the bottle was allegedly thrown at the KG Marar Bhavan, the BJP's Kerala headquarters in Thampanoor, Thiruvananthapuram, at around 11.30 pm on Wednesday. Two people on a scooter are accused of hurling the bottle at the office and pushing police personnel who tried to stop them, the FIR states. A case has been registered against unidentified persons. Police are examining CCTV footage from the area to identify those responsible. Political blame game The BJP has alleged...