The NDA will contest the assembly polls in Bihar next year under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary said on Sunday.
"There is no confusion," he said during a press conference at the BJP headquarters when asked to comment on speculation that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) could do a rethink on projecting Kumar as its leader in the polls.
He was responding to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent interview to a news channel in which he was asked if the NDA could go to the polls in Bihar without declaring a chief ministerial candidate, like it recently did with great success in Maharashtra.
Shah, a former BJP president who is still regarded as the party's principal strategist, had replied after a pause, "We will sit together and decide. We will let you know after we have made a decision."
The cryptic response had led to furious speculation that the BJP could insist on not ...

Modi, Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar

The Chinese military has denounced a recent Pentagon report alleging corruption is denting PLA's modernisation, saying the report "desperately slandered" the Chinese military and "exaggerated" the military threat posed by China.
Reacting to the Pentagon's report to the US Congress titled "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China" released recently, the Chinese Defence Ministry accused Washington of fabricating false narratives against the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
The report "misinterpreted China's defence policies, speculated about China's military capacity development, flagrantly interfered in China's domestic affairs, desperately slandered the Chinese military and exaggerated the so-called military threat posed by China, Defence spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said on Saturday.
China "strongly deplores and firmly opposes" all these statements, Zhang was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Zhang said that for over 20 years, t

china Flag, China

Hotels are going fully booked at the end of the year, despite foreign tourist arrival numbers still remaining below pre-Covid levels

Hotel room rates in India have been trending at an all-time high and are expected to close the year at a peak, driven by a boom in domestic tourism, a record number of weddings in November and December, and a surge in short weekend vacations.

At least three chief ministers -- Devendra Fadnavis, Chandrababu Naidu and Revant Reddy -- will join over 100 CEOs and other leaders from India in Davos next month for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025.
Naidu will also be joined by his son and senior Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh, while Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Tamil Nadu Minister T R B Rajaa and Uttar Pradesh minister Suresh Khanna will also be there for the five-day annual congregation in the Swiss ski resort town starting on January 20, 2025.
Some senior Union ministers are also expected to attend the meeting, but their names are still being finalised. Those who attended the last WEF annual meeting from the central government included Ashwini Vaishnaw, Smriti Irani and Hardeep Singh Puri.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also attended the meeting in the past, but there is no official word so far about his participation in the high-profile summit, for which the main theme this time would b

The world can live without Davos: Society needs to listen to new voices

World Economic Forum, Davos

Ukrainian drones struck a major Russian fuel depot for the second time in just over a week on Sunday, according to a senior Russian regional official, as part of a massive cross-border attack on fuel and energy facilities that Kyiv says supply Moscow's military.
The strikes came days after Russia launched sweeping attacks on Ukraine's already battered energy grid, threatening to plunge thousands of homes into darkness as winter tightens its grip over the region, and as Russia's all-out invasion of its neighbour nears the three-year mark.
A fire broke out at the Stalnoy Kon oil terminal in Russia's southern Oryol region, local Gov. Andrey Klychkov said in a post on the Telegram messaging app, adding Russian forces downed 20 drones targeting fuel and energy infrastructure in the province.
Russian independent news outlet Astra shared video of what it said was an explosion at the site, showing a massive orange blaze lighting up the night sky. While the clip could not be independently ..

Drones, Mysterious objects in US

GST Council addresses disaster levy, clarifies tax exemptions, and revises ITC norms, while deferring insurance premium GST cut and key rate rationalisation decisions

GST council meeting

After two weeks of buying, FPIs turned net sellers in Indian equities this week, with a net withdrawal of Rs 976 crore amid a strengthening US dollar and steady rise in US 10-year bond yields, impacting investor sentiment.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) began the week on a positive note, investing Rs 3,126 crore in equities during the first two trading sessions (December 16-20).
However, the trend reversed in the latter half of the week, with FPIs offloading equities worth over Rs 4,102 crore in the subsequent three sessions. This resulted in an overall net outflow of Rs 976 crore during the week, data from National Securities Depository Limited showed.
Despite this short-term reversal, the broader December trend remains positive. FPIs have infused Rs 21,789 crore into Indian equities so far this month, reflecting continued confidence in India's economic growth potential and its resilient markets.
FPIs adopted a cautious approach due to the US Fed meeting and uncertainty about 

Foreign portfolio investor exodus: Financial sector bears the brunt, FPI

Fundraising via IPOs in India hit another landmark as economic growth, favourable market conditions and improvements in the regulatory framework helped companies raise a record Rs 1.6 lakh crore in 2024, while the pipeline for the next year holds out bigger promise.
This exceptional year not only reflected the confidence of issuers but also highlighted investors' eagerness to seize listing-day gains or back companies with strong long-term growth potential.
The year was marked by Hyundai Motor India's historic IPO, the largest in the country's history, which raised Rs 27,870 crore.
Companies of varying market capitalisations -- large, mid, and small -- tapped into the IPO route in 2024, with the average issue size rising significantly from Rs 867 crore in 2023 to over Rs 1,700 crore in 2024.
The exceptional vibrancy of the IPO market was evident, with December alone seeing at least 15 launches.
"Rising retail participation, strong domestic inflows and active participation by FPIs (

ipo market listing share market

The accumulated losses of state public sector enterprises (PSEs) rose from Rs 3,953.70 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 4,778.70 crore in 2022-23, while the profit earned by 13 SPSEs stood at Rs 20.21 crore as on September 30, 2023, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on finances tabled in the Assembly on Saturday.
The net worth of nine out of these 14 PSEs has been completely eroded by losses and their worth was (-) Rs 1,932 crore against an equity investment of Rs 2,085.59 crore, while three PSEs have outstanding government loans amounting Rs 3,132 crore, the report said.
Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board topped the list of loss making enterprises with accumulated losses of Rs 1,809.61 crore, followed by Himachal Pradesh Road Corporation at Rs 1707.12 crore, HP Power Corporation at Rs 552 crore, Himachal Pradesh Power Transmission Corporation at Rs 395.91 crore, HP Financial Corporation at Rs 180.97 crore, State Forest Corporation at Rs 113.04 crore, HPM

The Centre may overshoot the Rs 56,260 crore target for dividend receipts from central public-sector enterprises (CPSEs) set for FY25 and is likely to end up getting around Rs 65,000 crore this financial year, according to a senior government officia

A 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia, who has been living in Germany since 2006, is the prime suspect in the Christmas market attack in Magdeburg, which killed five people

Germany police

Taxpayers must ignore notices sent erroneously for returns, it says

tax, taxes, taxation, tax evasion, I-T raids, Income tax

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) conducted a series of surprise inspections at 29 schools in Delhi, Bengaluru, Varanasi, Bihar, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh to check enrolment of 'dummy' students, officials said on Thursday.
According to CBSE Secretary Himanshu Gupta, a total of 29 teams, comprising a CBSE officer and a principal from an affiliated school, conducted the inspections.  "Majority of the inspected schools were found to have violated the Board's Affiliation Bye-Laws by enrolling students beyond their actual attendance records, effectively creating 'non-attending' enrolments. Additionally, schools were found to be flouting infrastructural norms of the board," Gupta said.
"CBSE has taken these violations seriously and is in the process of issuing show-cause notices to the schools found in breach of regulations. The Board is also considering legal action against the defaulting institutions," he added.
The inspections were conducted on Wednesday and ...

Class, School, Teacher, Students, Student, Education, Study, Classroom

The government on Thursday said 102 aircraft are on the ground due to supply chain issues and that it has been encouraging development of the ecosystem for manufacturing of planes by public as well as private enterprises in the country.
Supply chain woes have been impacting the airlines' industry in recent years, especially after the coronavirus pandemic and due to certain geopolitical developments.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said aircraft operating in India are periodically inspected for compliance with Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) regulations.
The aircraft can also be withdrawn by the airline from flying when the spare parts and consumables to maintain the aircraft are not available from Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) & manufacturer to keep it airworthy.
"There are total 822 aircraft registered under Scheduled Air Transport Service out of which 105 aircraft are Aircraft on Ground (AOG) due to ..

Boeing, Boeing 737 Max 8, Aircraft

The Navy said Search and Rescue (SAR) efforts had continued through the night of December 18 - 19 in the vicinity of the accident. Two persons from the ferry are still reported to be missing

Mumbai ferry collision

Distributors will no longer benefit from higher commissions for switching existing investments to NFOs

SEBI

Congress calls FIR against Rahul Gandhi over Parliament scuffle a 'badge of honour', alleging BJP's vendetta and diversionary tactics to counter his protest against Amit Shah's Ambedkar remarks

Rahul Gandhi, Rahul, congress leader

The I-T department probes Rs 7,500 crore spent on lavish weddings, targeting Jaipur planners and fake billing networks linked to foreign destination events and cash transactions

weddings, marriage

The latest Economic Survey said, India has to find the right balance between importing goods from China and importing capital (FDI) from China

How policymakers are split over attracting Chinese investment into India

The Banning of Unregulated Lending Activities Bill calls for the CBI to handle probes in cases spanning multiple states or UTs

The Centre, in collaboration with states, has proposed to classify unregulated lending as a cognizable and non-bailable offence, with penalties including imprisonment of up to 10 years. The finance ministry has invited feedback by February 13 from st

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NDA to contest 2025 Bihar polls under Nitish, PM Modi: Deputy CM Choudhary

Stop fabricating false narratives: China slams Pentagon report on PLA

Hotel room rates set to rise in 2025, driven by strong demand growth

Delegation of state ministers, CMs, CEOs to attend WEF Summit in Davos

Ukrainian drones hit Russian fuel depot for second time this month

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55th GST Council takes key decisions, defers rate cuts on insurance premium

FPIs pull out Rs 976 crore from Indian equities amid rising dollar

IPO boom: Record Rs 1.6 trn raised in 2024; bigger gains expected in 2025

Losses of Himachal's 30 PSEs rose from Rs 3,953 cr to Rs 4,778 cr: CAG

Who is the Saudi-born suspect behind Germany Christmas market attack?