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India is the world’s top shipper, and its move to ease export restrictions has helped push Thai prices – an Asian benchmark – down almost 40% from a 15-year high in January 2024

India’s stash of rice is running at the highest for this time in at least two decades, raising the risk it will run out of room to store it all as another record crop looms.

Overflowing reserves – equal to more than one-tenth of the annual global production – are becoming a headache for the world’s second-biggest grower as authorities struggle to create extra storage. Forecasts of above-average rains have raised expectations that the nation will reap another bumper crop this year, increasing the risk of the grain rotting in open storage facilities.

“Our outlook for Indian production is favorable, pointing to another record Indian crop being harvested in 2025-26,” said Shirley Mustafa, an economist at the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. The arrival of the new crop in September and October raises the prospect of increased supply pressure on public granaries, she said.

India is the world’s top shipper, and its move to ease export restrictions has helped push Thai prices – an Asian benchmark – down almost 40% from a 15-year high in January 2024. Still, the country’s swelling surplus shows its struggle to find enough demand to meet rising supply. Global stockpiles are expected to reach a five-year high in the coming season, which could keep prices under pressure.

India on Friday banned imports of certain jute products and woven fabrics from Bangladesh through all land routes amid strained relations between the two countries.

India on Friday banned imports of certain jute products and woven fabrics from Bangladesh through all land routes amid strained relations between the two countries.

However, imports are allowed only through Nhava Sheva seaport in Maharashtra, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification.

The goods under these curbs include jute products, flax tow and waste, jute and other bast fibres, jute, single flax yarn, single yarn of jute, multiple folded, woven fabrics or flex, and unbleached woven fabrics of jute.

Such port restrictions will not apply to Bangladeshi goods transiting through India to Nepal and Bhutan, it added.

It further said re-exports of these products from Bangladesh to India through Nepal and Bhutan will not be allowed.

“Import from Bangladesh shall not be allowed from any land port on the India-Bangladesh border. However, it is allowed only through Nhava Sheva seaport,” the DGFT said, adding that “imports of certain goods from Bangladesh to India are regulated with immediate effect”.

Earlier in April and May, India announced similar curbs on imports from Bangladesh.

On May 17, India imposed port restrictions on the import of certain goods like readymade garments and processed food items, from the neighbouring country.

The Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday that the US should treat the applications of Indian students on the basis of merit after the US embassy issued guidelines requiring details of social media accounts of applicants.

The Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday that the US should treat the applications of Indian students on the basis of merit after the US embassy issued guidelines requiring details of social media accounts of applicants.

“Visa and immigration matters pertain to the sovereign functions of any country. But we have seen the guidelines issued by the US embassy, requiring the provision of social media identifiers in visa applications,” Mr Jaiswal said.

He added that, “But it is our belief that all visa applications of Indian nationals should be treated on the basis of merit. We remain engaged with the US side on all mobility and consular issues to ensure that the legitimate interests of Indian nationals are safeguarded.”

The US Embassy in India, in a social post had asked Indian students to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used in the last five years on their application form. 

“Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used in the last five years on the DS-160 visa application form. Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit,” 

Apply To Harvard University: The application process for Harvard includes multiple steps such as basic information forms, recommendation letters, and specific Harvard questions.

The application process for students applying to most top universities-whether abroad or within the country follows a rigorous pattern. Harvard University from United States has consistently been a top choice for students and is currently ranked fifth in the QS Global Rankings released last week.

The application process for Harvard includes multiple steps such as basic information forms, recommendation letters, and specific Harvard questions. Whether applying from abroad or domestically, the process remains largely the same.

The first step involves filling out either the Coalition Application powered by Scoir or the Common Application. Both forms require biographical details, family information, and your educational history.

You may also include your entrance test details, though it’s not mandatory, as Harvard does not necessarily require a test.

The historic Jagannath Temple in Puri, one of the Char Dhams of Hinduism, holds within its sacred precincts several mystical traditions and ancient secrets.

The Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath began in Odisha’s Puri today. Lakhs of devotees from across the world have gathered to witness the grand procession of the three divine siblings, Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra.

This revered annual event is held during Ashadh Shukla Paksha in the Hindu calendar month Asadh. 

The historic Jagannath Temple in Puri, one of the Char Dhams of Hinduism, holds within its sacred precincts several mystical traditions and ancient secrets, one of the most intriguing being that of the third step at the temple’s entrance, known as ‘Yamashila’ or ‘Yama’s stone’.

To enter the Jagannath Temple, one must ascend 22 stairs, each considered sacred. The third step from the bottom holds special, and somewhat ominous, significance. Known as Yamashila, this step, in religious lore, is believed to be the abode of Yamraj, the Hindu god of death.

According to a popular legend, Yamraj once visited Lord Jagannath, troubled by the fact that no souls were coming to his domain. Only seeing Lord Jagannath was believed to grant salvation to devotees, allowing them to skip the journey to Yamlok 

The fossil they found belonged to a fish that had died 350 million years ago, its bony husk spanning nearly a metre on the lake bed.

In 2015, two members of the Blue Beach Fossil Museum in Nova Scotia found a long, curved fossil jaw, bristling with teeth. Sonja Wood, the museum’s owner, and Chris Mansky, the museum’s curator, found the fossil in a creek after Wood had a hunch.

The fossil they found belonged to a fish that had died 350 million years ago, its bony husk spanning nearly a metre on the lake bed. The large fish had lived in waters thick with rival fish, including giants several times its size. It had hooked teeth at the tip of its long jaw that it would use to trap elusive prey and fangs at the back to pierce it and break it down to eat.

For the last eight years, I have been part of a team under the lead of paleontologist Jason Anderson, who has spent decades researching the Blue Beach area of Nova Scotia, northwest of Halifax, in collaboration with Mansky and other colleagues. Much of this work has been on the tetrapods — the group that includes the first vertebrates to move to land and all their descendants — but my research focuses on what Blue Beach fossils can tell us about how the modern vertebrate world formed

The couple first sparked divorce rumours when the former first lady did not attend Jimmy Carter’s funeral and President Donald Trump’s inauguration back in January.

 an attempt to shut down divorce rumours, former US First Lady Michelle Obama has revealed why she and her husband, Barack Obama, don’t make public appearances together anymore. On Thursday, the 61-year-old appeared on NPR’s Wild Card podcast with Rachel Martin, where she said that she is not photographed alongside her husband, former US President Barack Obama, because of their age. During the podcast appearance, she joked that the couple doesn’t document their relationship on social media because they are “too old” for Instagram.

“The fact that people don’t see me going out on a date with my husband sparks rumours of the end of our marriage. It’s like, ‘OK, so we don’t Instagram every minute of our lives. We are 60. We’re 60, y’all,” Michelle Obama said, according to The Independent. “You just are not gonna know what we’re doing every minute of the day,” she added. 

The couple first sparked divorce rumours when the former first lady did not attend Jimmy Carter’s funeral and President Donald Trump’s inauguration back in January. Back then, she defended her decision to skip the events, saying, “One of the major decisions I made this year was to stay put and not attend funerals and inaugurations and all the things that I’m supposed to attend.”

The US Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a major victory by curbing the power of lone federal judges to block executive actions.

US President Donald Trump said Friday he can now push through a raft of controversial policies after the Supreme Court handed him a “giant win” by curbing the ability of lone judges to block his powers nationwide.

In a 6-3 ruling stemming from Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship, the court said nationwide injunctions issued by individual district court judges likely exceed their authority.

“This was a tremendous win,” Trump told reporters in a hastily arranged press conference at the White House. “I want to just thank again the Supreme Court for this ruling.”

Trump said he would now proceed with “so many policies” that had been “wrongly” blocked, including his bid to end birthright citizenship, and stopping funding for transgender people and “sanctuary cities”  for migrants.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi, standing alongside Trump at the podium, said the ruling would stop “rogue judges striking down President Trump’s policies across the entire nation.”

Operation Red Wedding was designed to crush Iran’s military leadership in one fell swoop, denying them the ability to coordinate a retaliatory strike. Simultaneously, Israeli jets and drones were tasked with dismantling missile launchers and nuclear sites to cripple Iran’s future capabilities.

In a covert strike reminiscent of the infamous “Red Wedding” from Game of Thrones, Israeli military generals executed a meticulously planned operation on June 13th to eliminate Iran’s top military commanders. Running parallel was Operation Narnia, a deadly mission that successfully assassinated nine of Iran’s most prominent nuclear scientists – right at their homes in Tehran.

These twin operations have now cemented Israel’s standing as the undisputed military powerhouse in the region.

“When we started to plan this thing in detail, it was very difficult to know that this would work,” said Maj. Gen. Oded Basiuk, head of the Israeli military Operations Directorate and a key architect of the assault, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The groundwork for this mission wasn’t laid overnight. It dates back to the mid-1990s when Israeli intelligence first flagged Iran’s clandestine efforts to develop nuclear weapons. What started with a vast web of spies evolved into a sabotage campaign – two bombings at enrichment facilities, and a string of targeted assassinations of Iranian scientists. But as Iran’s nuclear ambitions persisted, Israel concluded that mere sabotage wasn’t enough; the entire program had to be dismantled.

Several times, Israel came close to launching a full-scale attack. Yet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was repeatedly overruled by his own cabinet and security chiefs-fearing a direct war with Iran could rupture ties with the US, which then preferred diplomacy over military strikes.

Everything changed after Hamas’s October 7th, 2023 attack on Israel. In the two years that followed, Israel decimated Hamas and significantly weakened Hezbollah. Meanwhile, opposition forces toppled Syria’s Iran-backed government, replacing it with an anti-Iran regime-opening up Syrian airspace for Israeli jets.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested the United States might acquire Greenland, a vast semi-autonomous Danish territory on the shortest route between North America and Europe vital for the US ballistic missile warning system.

The head of Denmark’s Arctic command said the prospect of a US takeover of Greenland was not keeping him up at night after talks with a senior US general last week but that more must be done to deter any Russian attack on the Arctic island.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested the United States might acquire Greenland, a vast semi-autonomous Danish territory on the shortest route between North America and Europe vital for the US ballistic missile warning system.

Trump has not ruled out taking the territory by force and, at a congressional hearing this month, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth did not deny that such contingency plans exist.

Such a scenario “is absolutely not on my mind,” Soren Andersen, head of Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command, told Reuters in an interview, days after what he said was his first meeting with the general overseeing US defence of the area.