-PTI Actress Shabana Azmi today criticised Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for brokering yesterday's deal between Raj Thackeray and Karan Johar while the Congress demanded his dismissal for aiding "extortion" of the film industry. But emboldened by its success, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena asked traders to "sacrifice" their business with Pakistan for the sake of the "nation", dismissing statements from cotton exporters who said the party's stand would affect the industry. Johar and...

-PTI Chandigarh: Ignoring warnings by state authorities on burning paddy stubble, many farmers in Haryana and Punjab are still continuing the banned practice, leading to health risks and adversely affecting soil health. Both the Haryana and Punjab governments have imposed a ban on burning of paddy residue and the erring farmers can also be prosecuted by authorities. However, reports from various areas, including Karnal district in Haryana and Patiala district in Punjab, suggest...

-PTI New Delhi: Only three of Odisha's 568 hospitals have fire safety clearance, the National Human Rights Commission said today and issued a notice to the state government over the fire incident at a hospital in Bhubaneswar which has left 21 people dead so far. The Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports that at least 21 people died and more than 100 others were injured in the blaze that...

-Hindustan Times New Delhi: Hunger levels in developing countries may have fallen 29% since 2000, but India was still rated as a country with ‘serious’ hunger levels in the 2016, shows Global Hunger Index that was released on Tuesday. Despite improvements in hunger and nutrition over the years, India still has a long way to go before it is able to achieve the United Nations goal to end hunger by 2030 If hunger...

-The Times of India Patiala: Pest attack has been reported in some areas of Patiala and Sangrur districts on paddy crop that is about to be harvested. Patiala chief agriculture officer Parminder Singh said 'kala tela' (black hopper) had attacked paddy here forcing farmers to reap the crop pre-maturely. He said that the farmers were taking the premature crop after harvest to mandis but it was not being procured due to high...