Kolar (Karnataka), Aug 18 (IANS) Shaurya Bhattacharya carded a four-under 68 to take a one-shot lead in the opening round of the second edition of the INR 1 crore Kolar Open, being played at the ZION Hills Golf County in Kolar near Bengaluru.The 23-year-old from Delhi, a two-time winner on the DP World PGTI and currently 16th in the season rankings, made an eagle and four birdies against two bogeys to move to the top of the leaderboard.Bhattacharya began with a par before his round came alive on…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Telecom infrastructure firm RailTel Corporation of India Limited on Tuesday said it has received a work order worth Rs 166.8 crore, including taxes, from the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).The order is an extension of an existing work order for providing Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) through RailTel, with additional components. The extended contract is scheduled to be executed until February 9, 2027.RailTel said the order was received on August 17, 20…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) India presented its Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) framework to BRICS countries and advanced discussions on a proposed BRICS DPI Repository and pilot projects for DPI solutions, as the Focus Group on DPI and the Digital BRICS Task Force met in Pune on Tuesday.The meetings were held on the second day of the in-person sessions of the BRICS ICT Track, alongside the continuing proceedings of the 7th Meeting of the BRICS Working Group for Cooperation in ICTs.The Focus Gr…

Islamabad, Aug 18 (IANS) The massacre of hundreds of Sikhs on August 31 – barely two weeks after Pakistan’s creation in 1947 – at Chak No. 119, known as Bhuler village in Punjab’s Sheikhupura district, remains a quiet reminder of a tragedy that has received little public attention despite its place in the violent history of partition, a report has detailed. Citing testimonies preserved by survivors and their descendants, it said that more than 300 Sikhs were killed when a heavily armed mob fro…

Paris, August 18 (IANS) As unrest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) deepens, a leading international press freedom organisation called on the Pakistani authorities to release detained journalists and end the sweeping crackdown on media professionals in the occupied territory. Expressing grave concern, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that internet outages, the blocking of international media outlet Al Jazeera, the arrest of journalists, travel restrictions imposed on foreign reporters, cour…

Yerevan, Aug 18 (IANS) As Armenia seeks to diversify its defence procurement, India has emerged its major partner in military technical cooperation with both countries sharing similar views on multilateralism and strategic autonomy, the Ministry of Defence stated as Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh held ‘fruitful’ discussions with Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, Mnatsakan Safaryan in Yerevan on Tuesday. “Their discussion focused on the expanding defence partnership between India an…

Kozhikode, Aug 18 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday widened its probe into the “monthly payment” case related to former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter Veena Vijayan, carrying out searches at the residences and offices of four persons described as friends or associates of her husband and former minister Mohammed Riyas, drawing criticism from the CPI-M, which accused the agency of ‘political targeting’. CPI-M state Secretary M.V. Govindan on Tuesday accused the ED of deli…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) The Congress on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha MP Kangana Ranaut after the latter compared senior Congress leaders with Pakistan over the ‘Vande Mataram’ row, asking the BJP to “make her consult a good doctor”.Speaking to IANS during a temple visit in Mumbai, Ranaut said: “Vande Mataram represents the consciousness of India. As an artist, I understand the impact that art and poetry can have on people. The level of hatred show…

Ranchi, Aug 18 (IANS) A Special NIA Court, Ranchi, on Tuesday sentenced 12 convicts to varying terms of rigorous imprisonment ranging from 10 years to 5 years in connection with extortion from coal miners and raising funds for the banned Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC), an official said. The Special Court pronounced sentences against the 12 convicts in NIA case RC-06/2018/NIA/DLI relating to extortion and collection of levy from coal transporters, contractors and business people in the Amrapali…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Assembly elections held after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) have witnessed a significant spike in the percentage turnout of voters in the respective states and have surpassed global records, including those for nations following mandatory voting, according to figures released by the poll body Tuesday. West Bengal, where turnout touched a record 93.70 per cent in the Assembly election held thi…