Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) President Anbumani Ramadoss has urged the Central government to roll back the hike in charges at toll plazas in Tamil Nadu.

In a statement on Tuesday, the PMK leader, who is also a former Union Minister, said that the charges would be increased in toll plazas including Vikravandi, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri by 7 per cent from September 1.

He said that of the 64 toll plazas on national highways, toll charges were hiked in 34 toll plazas after the model code of conduct for the elections ended.

The PMK leader said that there was no transparency in fixing toll charges and collecting the toll. Anbumani Ramadoss said: "It is unfair for the National Highway Authority (NHAI) of India to mandate the public to pay the toll without releasing data on total collection and total spend.”

Celebrating the auspicious occasion of Krishna Janmashtami, the AI-generated devotional song titled 'Achyutam Keshavam' has been unveiled, which is sung by Harshit Saxena.

The three minute 12 seconds song is directed by Siddharth Kumar Tewary, the AI visualisation is by Chirag Bhuva and Chanakya Chatterjee of Raj Studios, and produced by Swastik Productions.

Speaking about the same, Siddharth, Founder and Chief Creative of Swastik Productions said: "Our goal is a step into a transformative world where authentic stories and melodies breathe life into AI crafted characters, and emotion drives the narrative. With this we strive to capture the true essence of spirituality for New India and our global family."

The Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh governments have donated Rs 20 crore and Rs 10 crore respectively to Tripura, which has witnessed catastrophic floods for the first time in over three decades.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Tuesday said that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have announced their state's contributions.

CM Saha, who himself contributed his one month’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to provide relief to the people affected by the floods, said that many organisations and individuals have donated funds for the relief of the affected people.

Former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who is also a Lok Sabha member from the Tripura West parliamentary constituency, donated Rs one crore from his Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).

Tipra Motha Party supremo Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma donated Rs ten lakh towards the relief efforts for the people affected by the floods last week.

The telecom, internet service provider (ISP) and allied industry in the country is poised for robust growth with an expected net employment increase of 5.62 per cent in the first half of current fiscal (FY25), a report said on Tuesday.

The report mentioned that 62 per cent of telecom, ISP and allied industry players are planning to increase their workforce, while 17 per cent foresee a reduction. The remaining 21 per cent expect no change in their workforce size for H1 FY25.

This trend is particularly pronounced in certain cities, with Delhi leading at 57 per cent for employers expanding their workforce in existing job locations, followed closely by Bengaluru and Chennai at 53 per cent each, according to the Teamlease Services report.

Hyderabad and Bhopal top the hiring list for new job locations with 20 per cent each, followed by Bengaluru, Vadodara, and Jaipur at 19 per cent each.

“Hiring in the sector is likely to increase, as 62 per cent of respondents plan to expand their workforce, driven by the growing momentum in broadband expansion, exponential IoT implementation, and advancements in AI, robotics, and cloud computing,” said Subburathinam P, CSO-Staffing, TeamLease Services.

Japan on Tuesday slammed China for an unprecedented violation of its airspace by a Chinese military intelligence aircraft, calling it a "totally unacceptable breach of sovereignty and safety".

"On Monday, August 26, 2024, it was confirmed that a Chinese military Y-9 intelligence gathering aircraft violated the airspace over Japanese territorial waters off the coast of the Oshima Islands in Nagasaki Prefecture between approximately 11:29 (Japan time) and 11:31," the Japanese Defence Ministry said in a statement.

"In response, the Self-Defense Forces scrambled fighter jets from the Western Air Defense Force and took other measures, including issuing notifications and warnings," it added.

Addressing a news conference on the issue, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi severely condemned the Chinese military aircraft's first-ever incursion into Japanese airspace, calling it "utterly unacceptable".

A remote region in northwestern Australia set a new all-time national record for the highest winter temperature, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said on Tuesday.

The weather station at Yampi Sound, approximately 2,000 km north of Perth in the state of Western Australia (WA), recorded a maximum temperature of 41.6 degrees Celsius on Monday afternoon, Xinhua news agency reported.

It marks the hottest temperature ever recorded in Australia in winter, beating the previous record of 41.2 degrees Celsius set in the nearby town of West Roebuck on August 23, 2020.

In a post on social media, the BoM said that many locations across Australia have broken winter temperature records amid unseasonably hot weather, with maximum temperatures 5-16 degrees Celsius above the August average across the continent.

Desh Bhagat University recently hosted an impactful session led by Kayoko Govindasamy, Founder of Hanaru Women’s Health Fundraising Inc, Australia. The event brought together over 60 students and faculty members to discuss crucial topics surrounding gender equality, with a specific focus on addressing period stigma and the importance of including boys in menstrual health education. During the session, Kayoko Govindasamy highlighted the pressing need to dismantle societal taboos related to menstrual health, emphasizing that true progress in India requires open and inclusive conversations on these issues. Environmental concerns linked to menstrual health were also discussed, adding a crucial dimension to the dialogue.

An old man in Adampur town of Jalandhar district of Punjab has won a lottery worth Rs 2.5 crore. 67-year-old Pritam Lal Jaggi bought this lottery ticket for only 500 rupees on the occasion of Rakhi.

Pritam Singh said that he has been doing scrap work and has been buying lottery tickets for the past 50 years. He hoped that one day his fortune would shine.

Pritam says that after seeing the newspaper, he came to know that he has won the lottery. However, he did not believe this. After some time, when he got a call from the lottery selling agency, he was convinced.

Pritam said that he has been buying tickets for the past 50 years. Last week he had bought a lottery ticket from a man named Sevak. He bought this ticket not in his name but in the name of his wife Anita Jaggi alias Babli. whose ticket number was 452749.

Pharma giant Bharat Biotech on Tuesday announced the launch of an oral cholera vaccine (OCV) to help combat cholera which continues to pose a significant global public health challenge, especially in regions with inadequate sanitation.

HILLCHOL (BBV131), a novel single-strain vaccine is to be administered orally on day 0 and day 14. It is suitable for babies older than one year.

In a statement, Bharat Biotech said the vaccine was developed under licence from Singapore-based Hilleman Laboratories, and added that large-scale manufacturing facilities have been established in Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar with a capacity to produce up to 200 million doses.

Thailand's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday issued a "situation alert" for its citizens travelling to Israel and Lebanon following escalating tensions in the West Asian region.

"Thais are advised to delay travel to Israel/Lebanon and monitor embassy alerts, while embassies are to be ready to help if needed," the office of Thailand's Prime Minister posted on X quoting the country's foreign ministry.

The fresh alert, it said, was issued in wake of Israel's air strikes on Hezbollah, resulting in over 320 missiles being fired back on August 25.

In retaliation, Hezbollah launched extensive drone attacks, targetting 11 Israeli military sites.

The attacks primarily occurred in northern Israel with Hezbollah vowing further retaliation.