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Tinthani Kanaka Guru Siddharamananda Swami dies

Siddharamananda Swami of the Tinthani Kanaka Guru Peetha, head of the Kalaburagi Divisional Kanakaguru Peetha, died in the early hours of Thursday, following a heart attack. He was 49.

Bus gutted in fire in MP's Raisen, 40 passengers escape unhurt

Forty passengers escaped unhurt after a private bus they were travelling in caught fire in Madhya Pradesh's Raisen district early on Thursday (January 15), police said.

Maharashtra civic polls: Vote to create better cities, says Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday appealed to the people to turn out in large numbers to vote in the civic polls, saying widespread participation was key to building better cities.

Speaking to reporters after exercising his franchise in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation polls, Fadnavis said not voting amounts to a dereliction of responsibility.

Voting was underway on Thursday for 29 municipal corporations in the state, including Mumbai and Nagpur.

"I appeal to everyone to come out and vote to create better cities," he said.

Fadnavis slammed the Opposition for casting doubts on institutions like the State Election Commission.

"They should write a new script and stop practising what they will speak tomorrow after defeat. Our win is sure in all the 29 corporations," the senior BJP leader said.

I-PAC raids in Kolkata: Incident reflects very shocking pattern, ED tells SC

The Enforcement Directorate told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the West Bengal government's "interference and obstruction", including by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in its probe and search operation at the I-PAC office and its chief's residence reflects a very shocking pattern.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, told a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Vipul Pancholi that in the past also, whenever statutory authorities exercised statutory power, Banerjee barged in and interfered.

"It reflects a very shocking pattern," Mehta said while contending that this will only encourage such acts, and the central forces will be demoralised.

"The states will feel they can barge in, commit theft, and then sit on a dharna. Let an example be set; officers who were explicitly present there should be suspended," the solicitor general said.

Navi Mumbai civic polls: Minister Ganesh Naik faces voter list snag, casts vote after delay

Maharashtra minister and senior BJP leader Ganesh Naik on Thursday claimed his name was missing from the Navi Mumbai civic polls voters’ list, but he eventually managed to cast his ballot after hours of running between booths.

Naik said in the morning that he had been voting for many years at Navi Mumbai School No. 94 along with his family, but this time he was told that voting would take place at the St Mary High School.

"When I went there, there was no room number 9 as informed, and my name was not in the voters' list, so I could not cast my vote," Naik told reporters outside School No. 94.

He later went to the St Mary school again, saying his family members and relatives live in the same building in Navi Mumbai, but their names were spread across three different polling centres.

The forest minister later found his name in the list and exercised his franchise at the St Mary School.

Indian-origin New Jersey woman arrested, charged with murdering her two young sons

US authorities have arrested and charged a 35-year old Indian-origin woman in New Jersey with murdering her two young children.

Investigation has revealed that Priyatharsini Natarajan of Hillsborough, New Jersey, caused the death of her two children on Tuesday. Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said in a statement Wednesday that on January 13 at approximately 6:45 pm, an individual, believed to be the children’s father, made a 911 call to law enforcement.

The caller said that after arriving home from work, he found his two boys, aged 5 and 7, unconscious and that “his wife did something to them.” After arriving at the scene, police officers found the male caller along with the wife, identified as Natarajan. Officers located the two deceased children within a bedroom inside the residence. Responding officers along with medical personnel initiated life saving measures which yielded negative results.

The two children were pronounced deceased at the scene. Authorities have not released the identities of the two children pending positive identification by the Medical Examiner’s Office. Natarajan was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, and one count of third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.

X says Grok is blocked from undressing images in places where it's illegal

Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok won't be able to edit photos to portray real people in revealing clothing in places where that is illegal, according to a statement posted on X.

The announcement late Wednesday followed a global backlash over sexualised images of women and children, including bans and warnings by some governments.

The pushback included an investigation announced Wednesday by the state of California into the proliferation of non-consensual sexually explicit material produced using Grok.

Initially, media queries about the problem drew only the response, “legacy media lies.” Musk's company, xAI, now says it will geoblock content if it violates laws in a particular place.

“We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis, underwear and other revealing attire,” it said.

India turned its diversity into strength of its democracy: PM Modi

India has turned diversity into the strength of its democracy and shown the world that democratic institutions and processes give stability, speed and scale to its development.

Inaugurating the 28th conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth, Modi also said that Indian democracy is like a large tree supported by deep roots.

"When India gained Independence, many doubted whether democracy could survive amidst the country's immense diversity. However, this very diversity became the strength of Indian democracy," he said.

"There was also scepticism that even if democracy did take root, India would struggle to progress. Contrary to these doubts, India has demonstrated that democratic institutions and processes provide stability, scale, and speed to its development," he said.

The prime minister said India has a long tradition of debate, dialogue and collective decision-making.

"In India, democracy means last mile delivery," he said.

He also said that India is strongly raising the concerns of the Global South on every global platform.

"During its G20 Presidency as well, India placed the priorities of the Global South at the centre of the global agenda," he said.

Magh Mela: Over 21 lakh take dip at Sangam on Makar Sankranti

More than 21 lakh devotees took dip in the Ganga and the Sangam at the ongoing Magh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, officials said.

A Magh Mela administration official said bathing began from midnight and by 8 am, around 21 lakh people had performed the ritual bath.

Given that the auspicious period for Makar Sankranti continues throughout the day, the number of pilgrims is expected to cross one crore by evening, he added.

Explaining the religious significance of the day, local priest Ravishankar Mishra said Makar Sankranti marks the beginning of the sun's northward journey (Uttarayan).

"The period from sunrise to sunset is considered highly auspicious, and worship of the Sun God and chanting of the Gayatri Mantra on this day is believed to be especially fruitful," he said.

Jallikattu begins in TN; bulls roar in Avaniyapuram

The traditional bull-taming sport, the first among the three major events for this Pongal 2026 harvest festival season, commenced on Thursday with about 550 bull tamers displaying their prowess amidst the roar of bulls.

Nearly 1,100 bulls and the tamers have registered online to participate in the mid-January festival event held for three days in Madurai that will be the cynosure of all eyes.

Palamedu and Alanganallur, marking the grand finale, are the other two centres where the bull-taming events would be held on January 16 and 17 respectively. The winner - the best among men and bull, too, will get a car, tractor, and other attractive prizes.

State Commercial Taxes and Registration Minister P Moorthi inaugurated the sport in the presence of Madurai district Collector Pravin Kumar and other senior officials. Over 2,200 police personnel have been deployed for security.

About 200 bulls were released from the Vadivasal (entry point) during the second round and of them the tamers, mostly youth, clung on to the hump of 24 bulls. Except 11 bulls, 89 bulls that were released in the first round had a free run as none of the participants managed to tame them.