FEATURE STORY
In a major revision to military recruitment rules, the Union Cabinet has lengthened the service period of Agniveers from four to six years, offering the 75% cohort previously slated for civilian discharge an additional two-year engagement and a subsequent route to regular military enrollment. Announced by CDS General N.S. Raja Subramani just ahead of the first batch’s retirement dates, the overhaul also reverses recruitment stages by putting written tests ahead of physical trials.
Celebrated British actor Sir Patrick Stewart has passed away at the age of 86. Rising from a childhood marked by domestic hardship and going completely bald by age 19, Stewart built a formidable career with the Royal Shakespeare Company before capturing global stardom as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor X in the X-Men franchise. Knighted in 2010, the Yorkshire-born legend proved that classical discipline and character can redefine modern popular culture.
Septuagenarian CPI(M) whole-timer Bipul Dasgupta has emerged as the face of peaceful resistance in West Bengal after standing ground with folded hands against a mob attempting to tear down a Left book stall in Nagerbazar during Durga Puja. The incident, set against a broader ideological row over the festival’s nomenclature, drew widespread condemnation from civil society as well as senior saffron figures including State Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta and the RSS, prompting a large solidarity march from Kolkata’s College Street on October 29.
In her newly released memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi reveals that veteran leader Pranab Mukherjee shocked her in 2010 by suggesting ‘it was time for a change at the top’ amid differences with P. Chidambaram, hinting at his ambition to become Prime Minister. Gandhi also firmly dismantles the opposition’s charge that she acted as a ‘back-seat driver’ or examined official PMO files during Dr. Manmohan Singh’s decade-long premiership.
Dalal Street resumed trading after Balipratipada with strong gains on Wednesday as benchmark indices rallied to eight-month peaks. The BSE Sensex rose 772.75 points to close at 81,879.40, while the Nifty 50 climbed 210.40 points to settle at 25,255.05. Broad-based buying across autos, PSU banks, and FMCG—led by M&M’s 5.3% jump—countered weakness in IT stocks as crude fell to $91 and monthly foreign institutional inflows crossed ₹53,700 crore.
India’s most expensive cinematic production—a mega-budget retelling of the beloved Hindu epic Ramayana—has divided film critics and cultural purists even as it draws packed crowds across theatres. While audiences have celebrated its ambitious visual scale and star-studded lineup, the film faces sharp pushback over colloquial language, creative departures from classical texts, and an over-reliance on visual effects at the expense of emotional depth.