Bhubaneswar: The ruling BJP and Opposition BJD Wednesday held separate programmes ahead of the three-day special session of Parliament on the Women's Reservation Bill, each claiming credit for championing women's empowerment. The BJP rank and file, including Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the proposed reservation for women in Parliament and state...

Bhubaneswar/Baripada: The Odisha government Wednesday ordered an investigation after one girl died and over 100 students fell ill after having a meal at a tribal residential school in Mayurbhanj, even as the BJD sought a judicial probe and warned of a 12-hour bandh in the district April 18 if their demand was not met. Acting on Chief...

Bhubaneswar: Teenaa Rath, a student from Puri, has secured a perfect 500 out of 500 in the CBSE Class X board examination, results of which were declaredb Wednesday. Teenaa, a student of Mothers' Public School at Puri, scored 500 out of 500 in the examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in February-March this...

Bengaluru: Pacer Rasikh Salam Dar (424 ) returned with a four-wicket haul as Royal Challengers Bengaluru produced a clinical performance to notch up a five-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants in an IPL match Wednesday. Sent in to bat, LSG never found momentum, with Mitchell Marsh (40 off 32) and Ayush Badoni (38 off 24) being the...

Milan: Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni was supposed to be Europe's bridge to US President Donald Trump. It may be burning. After chastising Pope Leo XIV, Trump turned his ire on Meloni, long one of his closest European allies, for calling his papal broadside unacceptable and not backing the US-Israel war on Iran. I thought she had courage,...

Kathmandu: Prime Minister Balendra Shah's visit to India will be finalised only after the external affairs ministries of both countries hold consultations, Nepal's Minister for Foreign Affairs Shisir Khanal said. Khanal said that Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has sent an invitation to Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah "Balen" to visit India. "It is highly natural...

Islamabad: A Pakistani delegation, led by Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, reached Tehran on Wednesday as part of Islamabad's efforts to resolve the conflict between the US and Iran. The Inter Services Public Relations, the media wing of the military, said in a statement that Munir is part of a delegation that also...

New Delhi: The Union Health and Family Welfare the first Health Working Group (HWG) meeting under the BRICS framework for 2026 Wednesday, bringing together senior health officials and delegates from nine member nations to advance cooperation on public health priorities ranging from tuberculosis research to digital health architecture and mental wellness. The virtual meeting -- which was...

Lucknow:  A massive fire broke out at a slum cluster in the Vikas Nagar area of the state capital Wednesday evening, destroying about 200 shanties and causing widespread panic among locals. The fire was now largely under control, officials said, adding that no loss of life or serious injuries were reported in the initial assessment. The blaze,...

Paralakhemundi: Two girl students of a primary school died Wednesday after an iron gate and a supporting pillar collapsed on them in Odisha's Gajapati district, police said. The incident took place at the government primary school at Rubudisingh in Nuagada block when the students were playing near the institute's entrance after classes, officials said. The deceased have...