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The woman, posting under the Reddit username «IllustratorFresh4423,» recounted that the event took place in Brookfield, Bengaluru. According to her, a resident in the vicinity became agitated, asserting that their festivities were disrupting his peace and leaving the sidewalk outside his home messy. She argued that since the pavement was public property, they had every right to play Holi there. In her detailed account, she described how the disagreement escalated. She stated that she and her friends were enthusiastically taking part in the celebrations when the neighbor suddenly confronted them, instructing them to refrain from playing on the road. When they refused to comply, he returned and, according to her, aggressively demanded that they vacate the area.

The one-year inflation outlook surged to 4.9 per cent in March—the highest since 2022—while long-term expectations hit 3.9 per cent, a 30-year peak. Despite mixed signals (like flat wholesale prices), consumers across all demographics report dwindling confidence. Pushpin Singh of the Centre for Economics and Business Research warns that unpredictable tariff reversals create a “climate of uncertainty,” discouraging business expansions and household spending.

The Pantaloons departmental chain run by Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd (ABFRL) has exited over 40 stores in tier-two and smaller markets in this period. Most Shoppers Stop stores that have been closed are at high-street locations because they «have lost that critical mass» and the company is trying to move them inside malls. Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, which runs multiple quick service restaurants, said there is a decline in dine-in orders for pizza chain Domino's stores on the high street, even though footfall in mall outlets is robust.

Trump said he ordered a series of airstrikes on Yemen's capital, Sanaa, on Saturday, promising to use «overwhelming lethal force» until Iranian-backed Houthi rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor. «Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists' bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom,» Trump said in a social media post. «No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.» He also warned Iran to stop supporting the rebel group, promising to hold the country «fully accountable» for the actions of its proxy. The Houthis reported a series of explosions in their territory Saturday evening. Images circulating online show plumes of black smoke over the area of the Sanaa airport complex, which includes a sprawling military facility. The extent of the damage was not yet clear. The airstrikes come a few days after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing in waters off Yemen in response to Israel's blockade on Gaza. There have been no Houthi attacks reported since then.

Chief Election Commissioner and an election commissioner last month, needless questions are being raised on whether they were the right individuals for these offices because the Chief Justice of India was not on the selection committee. Argument being that the CJI's exclusion has rendered the selection one-sided as the Leader of Opposition is in the obvious minority. This logic is spurious. Article 324 (2) of the Constitution that outlines the composition and appointment of the CEC and ECs reads as follows: «The Election Commission shall consist of the chief election commissioner and such number of other election commissioners, if any, as the President may from time to time fix and the appointment of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners shall, subject to the provisions of any law made in that behalf by Parliament, be made by the President.» The President has been appointing the CEC and ECs on the advice of the executive, that is the government of the day. Parliament has not enacted any law to amend this process. The LoP's inclusion in the selection committee for the appointment of any regulatory position started with the Right to Information Act, 2005. Under this law, the President appoints central information commissioners on the recommendation of not the executive but a selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, a minister nominated by him and the LoP in the Lok Sabha. In state information commissions, the governor makes the appointment on the recommendation of a committee comprising the chief minister, a minister and the LoP of the state assembly.

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Participating at the inauguration of a manufacturing factory of Zetwerk Electronics at Sriperumbudur, Vaishnaw said he was lucky as he got a professor by name Sadagopan while pursuing his academics at IIT Kanpur who taught him about the Tamil language. Greeting the audience with a traditional 'Vanakkam' (Namaste) in Tamil language at the beginning of his speech, Vaishnaw said, «Tamil is a very very sweet language. All I know is three words — Vanakkam, Eppadi Irukeenga (How are you) and Nandri (Thanks).» Referring to his interaction with Sadagopan at IIT Kanpur, the Minister said, «Sadagopan introduced me to Tamil language and in North India, Tamil is generally known as masala dosa, right?.. He taught me so many facets of Tamil culture… It is a very, very deep culture, very ancient culture. We all respect Tamil culture and we all respect the Tamil language.» «This is one of our assets of our country and this is also one of the assets of the world and lets take pride in that. Let's take joy in that and let's enjoy all the Indian languages. And that is the spirit with which our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) is working today making sure that every Indian language gets its big place under the Sun and make sure they get the respect which is due to them, make sure that they get the exposure,» he said.

Bombay High Court has upheld the mandatory use of FASTag, the electronic toll collection system, and the imposition of double toll fees for vehicles without it. The court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Pune resident Arjun Khanapure, challenging the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) directive, which mandates that vehicles without FASTags pay twice the regular toll fees. Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Bharati Dangre, in their ruling on Thursday, emphasized that the implementation of FASTag is a well-considered policy decision aimed at ensuring efficient and smooth road travel. «The system of FASTag, introduced in 2014, is here to stay,» the judges remarked, stating that there was no legal basis to intervene in the Centre's policy, which is being carried out by NHAI. Khanapure had filed the PIL after NHAI's circular in February 2021, which made it mandatory for all vehicles to use FASTag to pass through toll plazas. He had urged the court to keep at least one toll lane for hybrid payment options, such as cash.

This troubling development comes despite legislative mandates designed to expedite trials, primarily due to the absence of sufficient dedicated courts to handle such cases. The alarming statistics were revealed in response to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by city-based activist Vihar Durve on February 6, 2025, requesting details on the pendency of POCSO-related cases in the state. A reply provided by the Bombay High Court’s Public Information Officer on March 4 disclosed that the number of pending cases rose from 32,988 at the beginning of 2023 to 41,977 by January 31, 2025. This increase occurred even as laws stipulate the fast-tracking of cases involving child victims. The backlog has been growing significantly each year. In 2024 alone, 12,838 new cases were registered, while only 7,942 were resolved, contributing nearly 5,000 additional cases to the pile. The pendency rate has risen by 11.2% in 2023 and 13.3% in 2024, with 405 new cases added to the backlog in the first month of 2025 alone.

China's securities watchdog will step up monitoring fake information in the stock market and work with the police and cyberspace regulators to crack down on those who disseminate false news, which is being made easier by AI, official media reported on Saturday. Regulators will «hit early, hit hard, and hit at the heart» of the issue, the Securities Times said. Artificial intelligence has become a new tool for creating and spreading misleading information to con investors or manipulate stocks, luring investors with the prospect of getting rich quickly, the Shanghai Securities News said in a separate article.

Bahujan Samaj Party founder late Kanshi Ram on his 91st birth anniversary, with senior leader Rahul Gandhi saying his struggle for the rights of Dalits, deprived and exploited «will continue to guide us» at every step in the fight for social justice. «Respectful tributes to the great social reformer, Honourable Kanshi Ram Ji, on his birth anniversary. His struggle for the rights of Dalits, deprived and exploited will continue to guide us at every step in this fight for social justice,» Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also paid tributes to the late Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader. «We pay our humble tributes on the birth anniversary of great social reformer, Manyawar Kanshi Ram Ji, who contributed significantly in connecting the Dalit, deprived, exploited and backward classes of the society with the mainstream of Indian politics,» Kharge posted on X. «He left an indelible mark as a pioneer of equality and social justice,» he added. Born in Punjab's Rupnagar on March 15, 1934, Kanshi Ram worked for the upliftment and political mobilisation of people belonging to backward classes.

«We were going ahead of the scooty, we were turning right and there was a pothole on the road. There was a scooty and a car while we were turning right… The car slightly touched the other vehicle and the airbag opened suddenly, our vision was hampered and the car went out of control. We were going at 50 km/hour,» said Rakshit Ravish Chaurasia, who has been arrested after the accident. A woman was killed on the spot and four others sustained injuries in the accident on Friday. The accident occurred around 12.30 am near Muktanand cross roads in the Karelibaug area. The 20-year-old law student was allegedly speeding and cops said it could be a case of drunk driving as eyewitnesses, who caught Chaurasiya at the scene, told the police that he appeared intoxicated and was screaming «another round, another round» after coming out of the car.

LVMH will ask shareholders to raise the age limit for its CEO and chairman to 85, allowing its billionaire boss Bernard Arnault to remain longer at the helm of the French luxury goods group. Bernard, 76, created the group and has grown it into the world's largest in its sector, holding the position of both chief executive and chairman of the board, and making him the wealthiest man outside the United States. But he has yet to name a successor, even though his five children — ranging in age from 27 to 49 — work for the group and four sit on its board. At the company's next general meeting on April 17, shareholders will be asked to vote on an amendment to «to harmonize the age limits for the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive Officer, bringing them to 85 years,» according to a posting in an official gazette. The company had already raised the age limit for CEO to 80 in 2022. In July 2022, Bernard Arnault consolidated family control over LVMH by reorganizing his Agache holding company into a limited partnership.

A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored a February Japan-U.S. statement in condemning «coercion» toward Taiwan, language that heartened Taipei in its increasingly tense standoffs with Beijing. Compared to a G7 foreign ministers' statement in November, the statement added members' concerns over China's nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing's human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for «constructive and stable relations with China» and recognizing the «importance of direct and candid engagement to express concerns and manage differences.» The statement dropped past reassurances, recently stated in November, that there is «no change in the basic position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including stated One-China policies,» as well as that the G7 is «not decoupling or turning inwards» and recognizing the importance of China in global trade.

Democrats are smarting over Trump's radical spending cuts which have shredded entire sections of government and seen Congress largely bypassed in what critics say is an unconstitutional exercise of power by the White House. Many in the party argue that refusing to back the Republican bill funding the US government for another six months would be a chance for Democrats to demonstrate opposition to the Trump project. Republicans have a slim majority with 53 of the 100 senators, but need some Democratic support to reach the necessary 60 votes for getting their bill through. Ahead of the Friday midnight deadline, top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer — who has long insisted that it is bad politics to shut down the government — said he would support the bill. A Democratic blockade of the bill and the ensuing chaos of the entire US government temporarily being out of funds would be «a gift» to Trump, he said.

Facing a Friday night deadline to fund the government or allow it to start winding down, the Senate is set to vote ahead of the midnight cut-off on a Trump-backed bill passed by the House of Representatives. The deal would keep federal operations going for another six months, but Democrats are under pressure from their grassroots activists to defy Trump and reject a text they say is full of harmful spending cuts. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer — who has long insisted that it is bad politics to shut down the government — said he would support the bill, a move seen as improving its chances of success. «President Trump and Republicans leaders would like nothing more than to pull us into the mud of a protracted government shutdown. For Donald Trump, a shutdown would be a gift,» Schumer said on the Senate floor.

Blackstone is set to acquire a 40% equity stake in realtor Kolte-Patil Developers in a deal valued at over Rs 1,167 crore including the company’s preferential allotment of shares and stake sale by controlling shareholders. The board of directors of Kolte-Patil has approved a preferential allotment of shares to Blackstone entity BREP Asia III India Holding Co VII, raising approximately Rs 417 crore from the global investment firm. Under the preferential issue, Kolte-Patil will allot over 1.26 crore equity shares at Rs 329 per share to BREP Asia III, giving the investor a 14.3% stake in the company post-issuance, the Pune-based developer said in a regulatory filing.

JD Vance shared the Trump administration’s position on key issues like deportation, immigration, border security, economy, and trade during an interview on Fox News' «The Ingraham Angle» on Thursday. Green Card Holders and Deportation Vance addressed the case of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student and green-card holder, recently arrested for allegedly spreading pro-Hamas propaganda. Vance said, «A green card holder… doesn't have an indefinite right to be in the United States.»

state-sponsored vigilantism" to crush dissent after the «Women, Life, Freedom» protests in 2022, a UN investigation said Friday. Iran is making «concerted state efforts to stifle dissent, perpetuating a climate of fear and systematic impunity», the United Nations' Independent International Fact-Finding Mission said in a new report. These involve «the increased use of technology and surveillance, including through state-sponsored vigilantism». Iran was rocked by demonstrations after the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress rule for women based on Islamic sharia law. Widespread anger led to weeks of taboo-breaking protests against the Islamic republic's system of government under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In an interview with ETMarkets, Ramkumar said: “We also feel infrastructure and defence sectors are in for structural growth in India,” Edited excerpts: