This news report details the upcoming implementation of new Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates on tobacco products, effective from February 1st. The government has mandated a 40% GST on cigarettes and pan masala, while bidis will be taxed at 18%. These changes follow GST reforms announced earlier in 2025 and aim to address public...

Usman Khawaja poses for a photo with his family after announcing his international cricket retirement. (Getty Images) Usman Khawaja will walk out at the Sydney Cricket Ground one final time this week, bringing the curtain down on a 15-year international career that redefined what Australian cricket could look like — and who it could belong...

The urgency of these books signals their permanence in literary memory Source link

January 2, 2026 07:11 AM IST First published on: Jan 2, 2026 at 07:10 AM IST One country, two Christmases. Scene one: Kolkata, West Bengal. The resident of Calcutta (no, we are not touchy about the name) looks up, and there is definitely a snatch of song, a swiftly moving nip in the air. Before...

A laboratory test has established that contaminated drinking water was responsible for a vomiting-diarrhoea outbreak in Indore, Madhya Pradesh’s commercial hub, leading to at least seven deaths and affecting over 1,400 people, officials said on Thursday. The outbreak, which emerged in the Bhagirathpura area, has raised concerns over the safety of the city’s water supply,...

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has publicly backed Shubman Gill, linking the young batter’s rapid rise to a lesson he received early in his own international career from Rahul Dravid. Speaking on JioHotstar, Pathan recalled how Dravid prepared him for the demands of international cricket when he broke into the Indian team as a teenager....

The YSR Congress Party has questioned the “secrecy” allegedly shrouding Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s foreign visit, and has demanded that the government disclose details of the tour. Addressing the media at the party office at Tadepalli on Wednesday, YSRCP SC Cell president T.J.R. Sudhakar Babu alleged that there was no information even with the...

Zohran Mamdani on Thursday scripted history by becoming the first Muslim, Indian-origin, and African-born person to be inaugurated as the Mayor of New York City. On Thursday afternoon, his ceremonial swearing-in ceremony was held on the steps of the historic New York City Hall. Mamdani takes yellow cab for swearing-in The democratic socialist who won...

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sangeet Som on Wednesday took a sharp jibe at Shah Rukh Khan for purchasing Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman for his franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League auction, held in December last year. Calling Khan a traitor, Som said that he has no right to live in...

JAMMU: BSF apprehended a 19-year-old Bangladeshi national in forward areas near international border in Jammu district’s Gajansoo during routine border surveillance on Thursday.“After completing initial formalities, BSF handed Shariful Islam Bhuiyan, a resident of Bangladesh’s Comilla district, over to local police for further legal action. Shariful is being interrogated to ascertain the circumstances that led...