BJP leader Sambit Patra found himself in the eye of a political storm following an unfortunate slip of the tongue. During an interaction with media after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow in Odisha’s Puri yesterday, Mr Patra suggested that Lord Jagannath, the revered deity of the ancient town, is a devotee of PM Modi. This gaffe has ignited a fierce backlash from political rivals, especially from Odisha Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
The incident occurred in the sweltering heat and chaos following PM Modi's roadshow. Mr Patra in his clarifications has said that he had aimed to highlight PM Modi's devotion to Lord Jagannath but mistakenly stated, “Jagannath is Modi's bhakt.” The comment, captured on camera, immediately stirred controversy, drawing ire from multiple quarters. The political fallout as a result of Mr Patra's remarks has prompted the BJP leader to undertake a period of “upvaas” (fasting) in atonement.
READ | Sambit Patra’s “S..

Pitching for streamlining of policies at central, state and regional levels, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told NDTV that if he gets the cooperation from states then India will be a huge draw for foreign investors.
“Industry se log jab aate hain, woh sirf Bharat sarkar dekh kar aaye utne se baat banti nahi. State government and local self government, teeno main ek samanvay chahiye neetiyon main (When an industry comes to India, it does not just look at the central government. There should be uniformity in policies at both state and local self government level,” PM Modi said in an interview with NDTV’s Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia.
“There should be competitive cooperative federalism. Ab dheere dheere rajyo main woh spardha aa rahi hai. Woh apne niyam theek kar rahe hain, bureaucracy ko mobilise kar rahe hain. Agar mujhe rajyo ka sahyog mil gaya, tab toh main maanta hoon duniya main koi vyakti Bharat ke siva aur kahin nahi jaayega (There is competition among states. States are making ch..

There has been a lot of speculation over MS Dhoni’s future in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after Chennai Super Kings crashed out of IPL 2024. The five-time champions slumped to a loss against Royal Challengers Bengaluru – a result that saw their playoff dreams go up in smoke. It was a topsy-turvy season for CSK and Dhoni mainly operated as a lower-order finisher under the leadership of new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. While there was no official communication regarding Dhoni’s future, the former India captain was seen taking a bike ride around Ranchi and the videos have gone on social media.
MS Dhoni in Ranchipic.twitter.com/gNHE0fiQyf

—(@StanMSD) May 20, 2024Meanwhile, MS Dhoni was at the crease with the game hanging by a thread by the veteran star was not able to finish the match as he was caught in the deep off the bowling of Yash Dayal.
Ex-India batter Aakash Chopra said that if Dhoni was unbeaten, CSK would have won the match.
“MS Dhoni was there along with Ravindra Jadeja. Dhoni ..

A day after the Juvenile Justice Board here granted bail to a teenager involved in a car accident that killed two people while asking him to write a 300-word essay, police on Monday said they will seek a higher court's permission to prosecute him as an adult accused.
Police has also registered a case against his father, a real estate developer, a senior official said.
The Porsche car allegedly driven by the 17-year-old, who the police claim was drunk at the time, knocked down two persons on a motorbike in Kalyani Nagar area here around 3.15 am on Sunday, causing their death.
The youngster was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board which granted him bail hours later. It also directed him to visit the Regional Transport Office and study traffic rules, and submit a presentation to the Board within 15 days. “The CCL (Child in Conflict with Law) will write an essay of 300 words on the topic of road accidents and their solutions,” the order read.
The board also directed the youth to..

Chennai Super Kings' elimination from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 left a bitter taste in the mouths of fans as their dream of seeing MS Dhoni lifting the trophy at Chepauk remained unfulfilled. It isn’t yet known whether Dhoni plans to play another season, and in that respect, Royal Challengers Bengaluru players were slammed by certain former cricketers and experts over their failure to do the customary handshake with MS Dhoni. Many suggested that RCB players ‘over-celebrated’ their playoffs progression, prompting Dhoni to return to the dressing room without shaking hands. But, a video, contradicting the same, has emerged on social media.
A fan on social media claimed that Dhoni didn't wait much before deciding to return to the dressing room without shaking RCB players' hands, hitting out at those criticising the host team for 'over-celebrating'.
I can understand he's pissed but every other player came to shake hands.
Those players deserved to hav..

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday apologised to thousands of people infected with contaminated blood in a decades-long scandal that a damning report concluded was covered up and largely could have been avoided.
More than 30,000 people were infected with viruses such as HIV and hepatitis after being given the tainted blood in Britain between the 1970s and early 1990s, the Infected Blood Inquiry concluded.
Victims included those needing blood transfusions for accidents and in surgery, and those suffering from blood disorders such as haemophilia who were treated with donated blood plasma products, as well as the partners of those infected.
Some 3,000 people died, and more will follow, in what has been described as the biggest treatment disaster in the eight-decade history of the state-run National Health Service (NHS).
“I am truly sorry,” Sunak told the House of Commons, calling the findings of the long-awaited report “a day of shame for the British state”.
“Time and again people in..

The Mumbai Indians ended the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 campaign bottom of the 10-team points table, securing just 4 wins from 10 matches. The season saw Hardik Pandya taking over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma, a decision that remained in the headlines the entire campaign. As the Mumbai Indians squad gathered together for one last time this season, owner Nita Ambani had no qualms in calling the season a disappointing one for all. She admitted that there’s a need to go back and review what happened in this campaign.
In a video shared by the Mumbai Indians on social media, Mrs. Ambani spoke about the manner in which the current season ended for the side, not just as an owner but also as a fan.
“Disappointing season for all of us. Things didn't go the way we wanted them to, but I'm still a huge Mumbai Indians fan. Not just an owner. I think to wear the Mumbai Indians jersey is a huge honour and a privilege, and to be associated with Mumbai Indians, for me, is an honour a..

Temperatures in several parts of Delhi again breached the 47 degrees Celsius mark on Monday, with the weather office issuing a 'red alert' for the next five days due to heatwave to severe heatwave conditions in the national capital.
The searing heat pushed the city's peak power demand to its highest for May, while the Delhi government directed the schools that have not closed for summer vacations to do so with immediate effect.
Delhi has been seeing a steady rise in temperature in recent days, culminating in the highest temperature recorded this summer on Sunday when the overall temperature reached 44.4 degrees Celsius. Saturday's temperature was 43.6 degrees Celsius, up from 42.5 degrees Celsius on Friday.
On Monday the national capital experienced the second-highest maximum temperature, 3.7 degrees above normal.
Najafgarh recorded a high of 47.4 degrees Celsius on Monday, a day after the southwest Delhi area had recorded 47.8 degrees Celsius — the highest in the ..

A Japanese town was set Tuesday to mount a large mesh barrier across the road from an Instagram-famous view of Mount Fuji in an attempt to deter badly behaved tourists.
The plan made headlines last month when it was announced by officials fed up with what locals said were unending streams of mostly foreign visitors littering, trespassing and breaking traffic rules.
Since then, poles have been put up in preparation for a screen measuring 2.5 by 20 metres (eight by 65 feet) to block the sight of Japan's highest mountain emerging from behind a Lawson convenience store.
On Tuesday morning, workers in hard hats were putting the finishing touches to the metal poles in preparation for attaching the barrier at the photo spot in Fujikawaguchiko town, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
Snaps of this visual juxtaposition taken from a narrow stretch of pavement across a busy road from the Lawson, a ubiquitous Japanese chain, have been widely shared online.
But construction of the barrier itse..

US President Joe Biden on Monday condemned an “outrageous” request by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor for an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As Washington moved to defend its key ally, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the Hague-based court's move could harm ceasefire talks to end the Gaza conflict.
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan is seeking arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as top Hamas leaders, on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“The ICC prosecutor's application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous” Biden said in a statement.
“And let me be clear: Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.”
He added that the United States “will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”
Neither the United States nor Israel is a member of the ICC, which was set up in 2002 as ..