Today News in English

At the time when social media platforms are being used to reach out to voters, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh has decided to bank on street plays to woo the voters in the ensuing Assembly polls in the state. Through street plays, the BJP will apprise the people in small towns and rural areas about developmental works carried out by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan led government in the state. BJP leaders on Sunday gathered at the party office here and shortlisted several drama groups for their upcoming campaigns. Scores of artists residing across the state had come for the audition test. Those selected were asked to perform street plays on the themes pertaining to the BJP government’s achievements in the state. Bablu Jha, an artist said that his group is all charged up for the election campaign for the BJP and added that they will make all efforts to persuade people to press the button having lotus symbol on the electronic voting machines on the election da...

Two players from Odisha have been selected in the 18-member Indian Men’s Hockey team, who will represent the host country, at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2018 which is scheduled to begin from November 28 at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium here. The two players are defenders Birendra Lakra and Amit Rohidas. The team would be led by Manpreet Singh while the vice-captain is Chinglensana Singh Kangujam. The Indian team, scheduled to begin their campaign against South Africa on the opening day, features PR Sreejesh and Krishan Bahadur Pathak as goalkeepers. Odisha’s experienced defender Birendra Lakra would be joined by fellow Odia Amit Rohidas, Surender Kumar, Kothajit Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Varun Kumar to form India’s defence. Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Sumit, Nilakanta Sharma and Hardik Singh are the midfielders while the forward line would see the experienced Akashdeep Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh and Simranjeet Singh. Team Ind...

The White House has withdrawn the permanent credential from CNN journalist Jim Acosta for confronting US President Donald Trump at a press conference following the mid-term results. The CNN journalist at the White House on Wednesday engaged in a tense tug-of-war with Trump, who after answering several of his questions, said "That's enough. Put down the mic... I tell you what, CNN should be ashamed of itself, having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person." A White House aide immediately approached Acosta and unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from him, Efe news reported. Hours later White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders tweeted: "As a result of today's incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice." Acosta was asked by an agent of the US Secret Service for his accreditation after leaving the presidential building, according to a video of the moment shared by the j...

A record-shattering Virat Kohli became the quickest to reach 10,000 ODI runs on his way to slamming yet another century as India notched up a competitive 321 for six in the second match against the West Indies here Wednesday. Kohli fired 157 off 129 balls, while Ambati Rayudu, who is seen as the answer to the team's persistent problems at the number four slot by none other than the Indian captain himself, made a fluent 73 off 80 deliveries. Kohli hit 13 boundaries and four sixes. During their stay in the middle, the two were involved in a partnership of 139 runs in 142 balls for the third wicket at the Dr YSR ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, set amidst picturesque hills. While he acknowledged the fans' applause by raising his bat after reaching the 10k landmark, the crowd was on its feet again when Kohli creamed Marlon Samuels to the cover boundary to bring up his century, his 37th in this format. Kohli pulled, cut, flicked and drove in the manner he does best be...

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) has completed one year and a quarter and has thrown up some indicators to make assessment of the new system. The GST in India is unique in the sense that a lot of compromises have to be made to make it implementable in a federal country where the fiscal powers between the Centre and States are well defined. Experts had many reservations on GST. It was believed that introduction GST would escalate the prices of commodities, at least in the first year of its implementation. Multiple tax rates would complicate the compliance. Manufacturing States were of the view that they would lose revenue due to the destination principle in which tax goes to the State where the goods or services are consumed rather than where those are produced. A little more than a year’s experience has proved the contrary. First, GST did not result in inflation. The tax rates of goods and services under GST are fixed taking into account pre-GST incidence of taxes. For exa...

Saudi Arabia , the world’s biggest oil exporter, will supply Indian buyers with an additional 4 million barrels of crude oil in November, several sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The extra cargoes indicate a willingness by Saudi Arabia to increase crude supply to make up the shortfall once sanctions by the United States on oil exports from Iran, the third-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), start up on Nov. 4. India is Iran’s top oil client after China, though several refiners have indicated they will stop taking Iranian barrels because of the sanctions. Reliance Industries Ltd Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemicals Ltd are seeking an additional 1 million barrels each in November from Saudi Arabia, the sources said. Three of the companies did not immediately reply to an email from Reuters seeking comment. MRPL replied “no comments” when contacted by email....

Accusing the Congress of working for only one family, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday attacked the party alleging that it was doing vote bank politics and kept spreading lies. Addressing a public meeting here, the Prime Minister also hit out at the Congress for questioning the surgical strike that demonstrated the valour of the Indian armed forces. "The BJP believes in presenting the report card of the works its government has done, whether its Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisagrh . "The BJP never hides its face while giving the report card to the people. But the Congress keeps on spreading lies," he said. The Prime Minister said that the Bharatiya Janata Party  does not have a habit of lying as it works on the mantra of 'Sarva Jan Hitay' and 'Sarva Jan Sukhay'. "But the opposition is fond of doing vote bank politics, and those who do vote bank politics, they enjoy the issue of Hindu-Muslim, older-youth, forward...