VARANASI: As the sun sets along the Dasaswamedh Ghat and chants of the Ganga aarti rent the air, a restive population waits for its moment in history. While BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is clearly the star of the show, dominating every discussion and quarrel, Benarasis are turn

AFTAB H. KOLA/TIMES OF OMAN Kolkata: Tea producers in the North East, backed by the government, are aggressively venturing into tea tourism projects. Tea tourism has become a rage these days. Lured by the irresistible charm of the perfumed mist and eucalyptus-scented air permeating above the

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said that it plans to clamp down on beef exports if it takes power after that general election that ends on Monday, threatening supplies from one of the world's biggest shippers of the meat. Surprisingly in a country where so many view cows a

A day before polling for the high stake contest here, Uttar Pradesh police and election commission officials today conducted search at BJP's regional office in the city and seized campaign material, prompting strong protest from the party. A flying squad of the state police and EC swooped down on

President of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, the umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan condemned organisations like Boko Haram in Nigeria and the “Islamic State in Iraq & Syria” (Da’ish) as terrorists and enemies of Islam and Muslims. He said such organ

The All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, the umbrella body of Indian Muslim organisations, condemned the arrest of Kashmir’s renowned scholar and thinker Dr Ghulam Qadir Lone on 2 May by the Dangiwacha police for his alleged appeal to people during an address in a mosque not to participate in elect

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)supremo Mayawati on Friday ruled out extending any kind of support to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the event of the party coming to power after the Lok Sabha polls. The former UP Chief Minister also said that the BJP has realised that it mi

NAVI MUMBAI: Three members of a family were killed along with a relative in two separate road accidents on Thursday in a span of four hours in Ratnagiri district. Seventeen-year-old HSC student, Dhanasree Kadam, was travelling in her father's autorickshaw from Khed to Ratnagiri to appear for her

When Halima Khatun jumped into the Beki river with her five-month-old child to save his life from terrorists, she never thought it was the last time she was holding her child. “Everywhere there was sound of firing. Some people who ran towards the forest guards’ post were also fired by them. I had

LUCKNOW | NEW DELHI: A statement by BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at an election rally in Faizabad promising "Ram Rajya" had the Congress up in arms even as the principal opposition conceded that the use of a portrait of Ram in the background was an "error of judgement". After d

(Sanjay Jha is the National Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress party. He is co-author of the bestseller 'The Superstar Syndrome'. Mr Jha is a former banker, and also a leading Management Consultant in training.) In this election, the Sangh Parivar sponsored BJP has made communal polariz

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday accused BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi of allegedly using the name of Kargil martyr Captain Vikram Batra to grab the PM’s chair and termed it as an insult to the brave soldiers, besides an attack on the fundamental values of Indian democracy

4th May is revered as the day Tipu Sultan sacrificed his life to protect his nation from foreign occupation. The British still despise him as their biggest foe in sub-continent. Tipu Sultan left us with an unforgettable legacy. Let us remember the great freedom fighter’s  famous quote: “One day

KOKRAJHAR: Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslims continued to flee their homes in western Assam on Saturday even as eight more bodies were found, taking the number of people killed by the rebels since Thursday to 32. Officials said no fresh attacks were reported in the last 24 hours. Curfew was relaxed

The voter turnout for the ongoing elections for the 16th Lok Sabha could be the best ever, if the polling trend witnessed during the seven phases of polling continues for the remaining two phases. According to data provided by the Election Commission, the aggregate voter turnout for the 438 const

Even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the monsoon will be “below normal” this year, researchers at Stanford University, California, have concluded that monsoon in India is becoming more extreme, with significant increase in both wet and dry spells. They have said that

With Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra over, the Shiv Sena has taken potshots at the Gujarati community, traditionally seen to be close to its ally, the BJP, and questioned why Gujarati businessmen who support Narendra Modi don’t celebrate Maharashtra Day. In a stinging editorial in its mouthpie

BILASPUR (Himachal Pradesh): BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi represents the ideology of the RSS, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday. Referring to MS Golwalkar, the second "Sarsanghchalak" (Supreme Chief) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Gandhi said Golw