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Chennai, Sep 14 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu government is moving forward with an ambitious plan to install the world's tallest statue of Lord Muruga at the Subramaniaswamy temple in Marudhamalai, with the project expected to give a major push to spiritual tourism in the region. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department has proposed a 184-foot-tall statue to be constructed at a cost of about Rs 110 crore.The overall project, which includes allied facilities, is estimated at Rs 146.83 crore. Officials said the initiative will be funded primarily through donations.Preliminary works for the project began in May 2025. Alongside the statue, a sprawling hexagon-shaped complex is planned, featuring a museum, parking space, and other amenities designed to accommodate large numb...

New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday a suo motu case registered over the lack of functional CCTV cameras in police stations across the country. A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta took cognisance of a media report which revealed that 11 people had died in police custody in Rajasthan in the first eight months of 2025, seven of them in the Udaipur division alone.“We have come across a disturbing news article… The news article reveals that there have been 11 deaths in police custody in the State of Rajasthan in the past 8 months in the year of 2025, 7 of these unfortunate incidents happened in the Udaipur Division itself,” the Justice Nath-led Bench noted in its order passed on September 4.The news report also pointed out that many remand rooms ...

Chennai, Sep 14 (IANS) Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and DMK president M.K. Stalin has said that the upcoming 'Mupperum Vizha' in Karur on September 17 will be a parade of unity and determination, demonstrating the party’s resolve to secure victory in the 2026 Assembly elections and to take on the twin challenge posed by the BJP and the AIADMK. In a letter to party cadre, CM Stalin described the meeting as a rallying point for reaffirming commitment to the Dravidian movement’s ideals and showcasing the organisational strength of the DMK ahead of the polls.He accused the BJP-led Union government of undermining Tamil Nadu’s rights through “unfair parliamentary seat delimitation, voter list manipulation and the imposition of NEET” and charged the AIADMK with subservience to the Centre.The annu...

Hyderabad, Sep 14 (IANS) The ordeal of unemployed youth who have been toiling for years to secure Group-1 government jobs in Telangana appears to have no end, as the process to issue appointment letters to 563 selected candidates has hit a fresh legal roadblock.The single-judge bench's order, directing Telangana State Public Service Commission (TGPSC) to annul the results of Group-1 Mains and manually re-evaluate answer scripts, has landed the selected candidates in a quandary.Though TGPSC has decided to file a review petition, challenging the single-judge order, a fresh round of legal battle is adding to the anxiety of selected students who were waiting to receive the appointment letters.The candidates, who were selected from among 21,000 candidates who appeared in the Mains, fear that ...

New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday extended greetings to the countrymen on the Hindi Diwas and said the growing respect for Hindi worldwide is a matter of "pride and inspiration" for all Indians. Observed every year on September 14, Hindi Diwas commemorates the adoption of Hindi as one of India's official languages. The date holds historical importance, as in 1949, the Constituent Assembly reached a consensus on the official language framework during the drafting of the Constitution.Taking to X, PM Modi posted, "Heartfelt greetings to all on Hindi Diwas. Hindi is not merely a medium of communication, but a vibrant heritage of our identity and values."Urging the countrymen to pass the regional languages on to the future generations, he said, "On this occasion, l...

Kolkata, Sep 14 (IANS) When at an election rally at Esplanade in central Kolkata before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah mentioned the name of Late Gopal Mukherjee and described him as the Hindu braveheart who took the lead role against the post-Independence violence by Muslim mobs in Kolkata in 1946, the name hardly cut any ice among Gen X Bengalis in West Bengal then.However, with the recent controversies over the newly released Vivek Agnihotri-directed 'The Bengal Files', whose screening has been banned in West Bengal following silent threats from vested interests, the name of Gopal Mukherjee, a.k.a. Gopal Patha, has now become almost a household name in Bengal these days. All are discussing his role in taking up arms against the violent Muslim mobs unleashed ...

New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday witnessed a large-scale Joint Counter Terrorist Mock Exercise involving multiple security and emergency response agencies. The high-intensity drill was designed to bolster aviation security, enhance tactical preparedness, and evaluate real-time crisis response mechanisms.The CISF Quick Reaction Team (QRT) spearheaded the exercise, with active participation from the Delhi Police, National Security Guard (NSG), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), Delhi Traffic Police, Fire Services, medical teams, and the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA). The mock exercise replicated a high-threat scenario, beginning with alert initiation and moving into coordinated tactical action for threat neutralisation.The ope...

Guwahati, Sep 14 (IANS) Residents of Assam expressed enthusiasm as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate and lay foundation stones for significant infrastructure and industrial development projects valued at Rs 18,530 crore on Sunday.Tight security measures are in place across the state ahead of the event.PM Modi arrived here on Saturday and attended the celebrations in Guwahati marking the 100th birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Bhupen Hazarika. The Prime Minister paid rich tribute to the legendary singer and cultural icon of the state.Ahead of his gathering later on Sunday, locals in large numbers have started gathering at the venue in Mangaldoi in the Darrang district, where the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for a cluster of health education projects, in...

Kolkata, Sep 14 (IANS) On the occasion of the 'Hindi Diwas’, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee issued a social message on Sunday, highlighting the initiatives undertaken by the state government under her leadership for the Hindi-speaking people residing in the state.Her social media message comes amid the recent narrative coined by her and her party, Trinamool Congress, that “Bengalis are in danger”, alleging harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states. Many pro-Trinamool Congress intellectuals in Bengal have also accused the BJP-ruled states of enforcing “Hindi-language dominance” over Bengali and other regional languages there.Political observers feel that the Chief Minister’s message on Sunday morning was a kind of balancing act to send a message that neither she ...

Hyderabad, Sep 14 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao on Sunday slammed the Congress government in Telangana for "failing" to retrieve bodies of six workers from the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel even 200 days after a portion of the tunnel roof collapsed.He promised that if BRS returns to power, it will ensure justice to the six families and will "make those who buried the workers pay for it"."More than 200 days since the Srisailam Left Bank Canal tunnel collapsed, killing 8 hapless workers due to the criminal negligence of the corrupt Revanth government," KTR posted on 'X'."This inefficient Congress govt couldn't even retrieve the bodies of 6 victims, and hasn't paid any compensation to the families," he said."Shockingly, the Union BJP governme...