The Meena Bazaar area near Jama Masjid here at the heart of the national capital transforms into a bustling hub of Bakrid shopping, attracting throngs of buyers to its famed 'Bakra Mela'.

Typically lined with garment shops, the area is cleared for the 10-day 'mela' held in the lead-up to Bakrid, which will be celebrated this year on June 16-17.

The 'mela' teems with activity with countless goats around, priced at Rs 25,000 and above. But one of them stands out with inscriptions of 'Allah' and 'Muhammed' on its coat — two of the most venerated words for many in the Muslim community — and could be sold for as high as Rs 10 lakh.

The owner of the goat, Mohammad Talim, said: "These rare goats are priceless because they have Allah's name written on them. There has been a bid from Mumbai for Rs 10 lakh but we haven't set a fixed price. We will sell it to whoever bids the highest." 'Qurbani' or sacrifice is an important part of Bakrid and is a gesture of gratitude to Allah by Muslims who share the meat with family, friends and the less fortunate.

7:00 PM

Politics live: Akhilesh exhorts SP workers to prepare for 2027 UP assembly polls

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday appealed to party workers and leaders to prepare for the state polls and said the public has ended the politics of hatred with the victory of SP's Awadhesh Prasad from Faizabad Lok Sabha seat.

The Faizabad parliamentary constituency falls under the Ayodhya district and Prasad defeated BJP's Lallu Singh by a margin of about 55,000 votes in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls. Uttar Pradesh (UP) will go to polls in 2027.

6:37 PM

UPSC exam: Delhi Metro Phase-III services to start at 6 am on June 16

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has announced that train services on Phase-III sections will be available from 6 am on Sunday in view of the upcoming UPSC examination.

Metro train services on Phase-III sections, which usually begin at 8 am on Sundays, will begin at 6 am on June 16, Anuj Dayal, the DMRC's principal executive director (corporate communication), said on Friday.

This arrangement is being made to facilitate the candidates appearing for civil services (prelim) examination held by the Union Public Service Commission UPSC, he added.

6:00 PM

Leave voluntarily or get terminated, Paytm HR to affected employees

After Byju’s, it is now the turn of India’s most famous fintech player Paytm to lay off its employees.

Employees are in a tight spot with the company asking several of its workforce to resign voluntarily and exit as it aims to finish the process within a month’s time.

Some of the verticals that have got most impacted include Paytm Payments Bank, Payment Gateway (PG) business, lending, promotions, ONDC, offline payment among others.

This comes amidst months-long effort to trim the workforce, during which human resources (HR) personnel have verbally informed employees of their role redundancies, urging them to resign voluntarily or face termination.

“The most impacted is tech and product since they have fat packages. They were hired on high packages after the pandemic. Some employees have voluntarily resigned to ensure their teams are saved,” one of the impacted employees said, requesting anonymity.

“Our notice period begins only when we voluntarily resign. However, there is a blatant disregard for that since the HRs are under pressure to wrap this up as early as possible,” one of the affected employees said.

Meanwhile, employee requests for written communication indicating dismissal from services are being turned down by HRs at the company.

5:57 PM

SBI sanctioned 20,000 digital small biz loans up to Rs 50 lakh since Dec: Official

State Bank of India (SBI) has sanctioned around 20,000 loans of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh for small businesses as part of a digital lending pilot that started in December, a senior official said on Friday.

Having been satisfied with the results of the pilot, under which a customer can get a loan sitting at home, the country's largest lender is now broadening the loan amounts to Rs 5 crore, Deputy Managing Director Surendra Rana said at a banking conference organised by IMC here.

"We rolled out the Rs 10-50 lakh model in December and I am happy to share that we have already sanctioned around 20,000 loans through this process and this is working very smoothly. Now, we are escalating it to Rs 5 crore," he said.

A customer journey starts with scanning a QR code from anywhere, grants some approvals and SBI uses data repositories to come back with a sanctioned amount in a maximum of five days, he said.

5:42 PM

Global trade: Imports from Iraq up 58.68% to $3.76 bn in May

India's imports from Iraq rose 58.68 per cent to $3.76 billion in May, while from the UAE, the country's inbound shipments increased by about 50 per cent during the month, according to the commerce ministry data.

Similarly from Russia, the imports rose by 18 per cent to $7.1 billion on account of oil imports.

The data showed that the inbound shipments from China during the month were 2.82 per cent higher at $8.48 billion.

Among the top 20 import source nations of India, imports from Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia and Malaysia recorded negative growth in May.

On the export front, India's exports to South Africa, Italy, Nepal, Belgium and Australia recorded a negative growth rate during the month under review.

However, exports to the US, the UAE, the Netherlands, the UK, Singapore and Saudi Arabia have recorded positive growth.

5:14 PM

Karnataka HC directs police not to arrest ex-CM Yediyurappa in POCSO case

The Karnataka High Court on Friday directed ex-CM Yediyurappa to appear before CID in POCSO case on June 17.

4:54 PM

Pawan Kalyan set to be Andhra Pradesh deputy CM as CM Naidu hands out portfolios

The actor-turned politician bagged the victory from Pithapuram Assembly constituency in the recently concluded elections.

4:52 PM

Anna Hazare must raise voice against scams in Maharashtra, country, says Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut today stated that anti-graft activist Anna Hazare must highlight scams across the country, including the one allegedly linked to electoral bonds.Raut was referring to reports that said the leader would challenge the police closure report in the alleged crore Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) in which Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was among the accused.

4:40 PM

IMD weather update: Heatwave alert issued for Delhi for next five days

The current spell of heatwaves in Delhi is expected to persist for the next five days. Read here for more details.

3:47 PM

News update: NEET aspirants demand paper leak investigation

3:45 PM

Junaid Khan-starrer 'Maharaj' doesn't drop on Netflix after Gujarat HC stays release

YRF Entertainment's "Maharaj" did not premiere on Netflix on Friday as scheduled after the Gujarat High Court stayed its release following a petition by members of a Hindu sect who claimed the film would hurt their religious sentiments.

The film, in which Aamir Khan's son Junaid Khan makes his debut, caught the attention of social media users on Wednesday with hashtags such as "Boycott Netflix" and "Ban Maharaj Film" trending on X.

3:36 PM

NEET scam is Vyapam 2.0, says Congress

The Congress today questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the matter and stated that only a Supreme Court-monitored forensic probe can safeguard the future of lakhs of young students. "If the paper was not leaked in NEET then -- why were 13 accused arrested in Bihar due to paper leak? Did the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Patna police not expose the payment of Rs 30 lakh-Rs 50 lakh to the education mafia and organised gangs involved in the racket in exchange for papers?" he said in a post in Hindi on X.

3:04 PM

Finance ministry invites industry views on tax rates, laws

The Finance Ministry has invited suggestions on direct and indirect taxes and changes in laws to reduce compliances for the 2024-25 Budget from trade and industry associations. The suggestions are to be sent to the ministry by June 17 and the full budget for 2024-25 is expected to be presented in Parliament in the second half of July.

2:58 PM

News update: Kerala CM, Suresh Gopi and others pay homage to victims of Kuwait fire tragedy

The Karnataka High Court on Friday ruled that no coercive action will be taken against former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa nor can he be arrested till the next hearing on June 17.

The Supreme Court today issued notice on the plea filed by the National Testing Agency (NTA) seeking to transfer to the court a petition filed in the Delhi High Court alleging irregularities and paper leak.

The special aircraft, carrying the mortal remains of Indians who were killed in the Kuwait fire tragedy, landed at Cochin International airport.

A special Indian Air Force plane, carrying the mortal remains of the 45 Indians killed in the Kuwait building fire tragedy, has taken off for Kerala in the early hours of Friday. The development was confirmed by Union Minister Kirti Vardhan Singh on X, who rushed to Kuwait soon after taking charge as a junior minister in the foreign ministry. On June 13, officials in Kuwait tidentified the bodies of 45 Indians and three Filipino nationals killed in the tragic fire incident in a seven-storey building housing foreign workers. Kuwait has said it will swiftly probe the incident and assured full support in repatriating the mortal remains of the victims. Kuwait Fire Force stated the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (local time) arrived in Italy's Apulia to attend the Outreach session of the G7 Summit. This is the Prime Minister's first foreign trip after being sworn in for a third time. PM Modi is expected to meet multiple leaders on the sidelines of the event on Friday.

Tesla shareholders have backed a record-breaking pay package for boss Elon Musk. The payout, which is worth up to $56bn - the exact amount depends on the Tesla share price. "Hot damn, I love you guys," he told a crowd of shareholders who had gathered in Texas for the firm's annual meeting. The vote at Tesla’s annual meeting on Thursday came after a judge in the US state of Delaware threw out the deal after finding that the company’s board was too close to Musk and had not protected shareholders’ interests.

Connect with us on WhatsApp

Topics :Narendra Modi Rahul Gandhi NDA BJP Congress Gaza Israel-Palestine G7

First Published: Jun 14 2024 | 8:59 AM IST

Highlights: Ex-CM Yediyurappa can't be arrested in sexual assault case till next hearing, says court

Latest news updates: Catch all the news updates from around the world here

Key Events

'Bakra Mela' near Jama Masjid becomes hub of goat shopping, prices as high as Rs 10 lakh