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NEW DELHI: Centre on Thursday justified the exclusion of transgender persons, men having sex with men, and female sex workers from list of potential blood donors, saying the decision was not discriminatory but one based on health studies which found six to 13 times higher incidence of HIV among these groups.Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati…

MUMBAI: A technical tweak in the way banks report fortnightly balance-sheet data may swell India’s credit numbers by more than Rs 2 lakh crore this year and lift measured loan growth by over a percentage point. The change concerns the date on which banks report credit and deposit figures to the RBI, a schedule that…

NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha on Thursday witnessed a ruckus after Rahul Gandhi was interrupted during his speech on the energy crisis when he took a jibe at oil and gas minister Hardeep Puri for his name allegedly appearing in the files of an American sex-offender. He also attacked the govt over the US waiver…

BENGALURU: With the West Asia crisis escalating and recent Iranian strikes targeting the UAE, several IT companies and global capability centres (GCCs) have activated their business continuity plans (BCPs), introducing measures such as work-from-home, travel advisories and temporary office closures.Amid rising geopolitical uncertainty, many tech firms and GCCs are increasingly relying on India as a…

NEW DELHI: In an unusual development, TMC MPs had sought an appointment with President Droupadi Murmu to apprise her about the welfare initiatives taken by the Bengal govt. However, Rashtrapati Bhavan turned down their request citing “paucity of time”, as per sources.This comes after a political row errupted over allegations of protocol lapses during Murmu’s…

India’s retail inflation edged higher in February, largely on the back of rising food prices, according to official data released on Thursday.Data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 3.21 per cent in February, up from 2.74 per cent in January. Despite the increase,…

NEW DELHI: The govt said on Thursday that external affairs minister (EAM) S Jaishankar had discussed safe passage for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz in a conversation with his Iranian counterpart Seyed Araghchi on Tuesday but did not confirm if there’s any assurance yet from Tehran that India-bound vessels would not be targeted….

NEW DELHI: Kerosene oil, which has made a comeback for household use across several states and UTs, will be primarily made available through ration shops and, in some cases, from retail outlets of public sector oil marketing companies for cooking and lighting purposes. The Centre on Thursday allocated 48,000 kilolitres (kl) of additional kerosene to…

NEW DELHI: The income of parents cannot be the sole criterion for exclusion of a candidate from OBC quota on the ground of being part of ‘creamy layer’, the Supreme Court has said, stressing that status and category of parents’ jobs have to be considered, with income/wealth test as an additional criterion for exclusion. At…

NEW DELHI: Govt has asked states and UTs to lift from the Central Pool rice and wheat under the free foodgrain scheme for three months in advance (till June) and distribute them to beneficiaries immediately. This directive comes as govt warehouses are brimming with rice and wheat stocks and little space is available for storing…