Film 'Songs of Paradise' Delightfully Portrays Kashmir’s Nightingale Raj Begum

By Sanjay Kaul 

BOSTON: Kashmir, often celebrated for its breathtaking landscapes, has an equally rich but sometimes overlooked legacy of music and art. At the heart of this tradition stands Raj Begum, fondly remembered as the "Nightingale" or "Melody Queen" of Kashmir. The 2025 film "Songs of Paradise", released on an OTT platform, follows the journey of the Kashmiri woman who dreams of becoming a singer, inspired by the songs of Raj Begum....more

Dharmendra Pradhan, Lindy Cameron Discuss Deepening India-UK Academic Collaboration

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan met the British High Commissioner to India, Ms Lindy Cameron, and had engaging discussion on deepening academic collaboration between the two countries. The High Commissioner shared updates on the upcoming University of Southampton campus in Gurugram, set to open in July 2025. The two also had engaging discussions on deepening academic collaboration encouraging more UK students to Study in India as well as top UK universities to establish campuses in India, and strengthening the India-UK education partnership....more

New UK-India Cultural Agreement To Boost Creative Industries

NEW DELHI: The UK and India have signed a Programme of Cultural Cooperation, enhancing cultural exchange through the arts, heritage and creative industries, helping drive growth and opportunity. India's Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and the UK’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy signed on Friday the India–UK Programme of Cultural Cooperation....more

Five new suspects arrested over Louvre jewellery theft

PARIS, Oct 30: Five more suspects have been arrested over their involvement in the Louvre heist, Paris' public prosecutor has said.

They were detained on Wednesday night in the Paris region during coordinated raids, according to Laure Beccuau.

One of the suspects is thought to be part of the four-man team that carried out the heist, who were seen on CCTV.

Two of the other alleged thieves have already been arrested and have "partially recognised" their involvement in the brazen theft, while the fourth person has not yet been caught.

It is not clear what role the other newly arrested people allegedly played in the theft, but Beccuau told French radio station RTL on Thursday that they "may eventually inform us about how the incident took place".

Beccuau said the arrests had been made in areas in and around Paris, including the suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis.

Phones and other objects found on the suspects during the raid were allowing investigators to study encrypted messages, she added.

Income tax audit deadline extended: Corporates, taxpayers get relief till December 10

NEW DELHI, Oct 29: The Income Tax Department on Wednesday extended the deadline for filing income tax returns (ITRs) for corporates and assesses requiring an audit for the assessment year 2025–26 to December 10.

Under the Income Tax Act, such taxpayers are required to file their returns of income by October 31 every year. The department has now granted an additional 40 days to comply with the requirement.

“The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has decided to extend the due date of furnishing of Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2025–26, which is 31st October 2025, to 10th December 2025,” the CBDT said in a statement.

Additionally, the last date for filing audited reports has been pushed from October 31 to November 10.

Earlier, on September 25, the department had extended the deadline for submission of audit reports for the 2024–25 fiscal by one month till October 31, following industry representations.

The extensions were sought due to floods and other natural calamities in parts of the country that disrupted normal business and professional activities, according to a report.

For the current assessment year, the ITR filing deadline for individuals was also extended from July 31 to September 15, and then to September 16.

As per official data, over 7.54 crore ITRs were filed till that date, with 1.28 crore taxpayers paying self-assessment tax.

Tax experts have cautioned that failure to file the tax audit report within the stipulated timeline could attract a penalty under Section 271B of the Income Tax Act.

According to a report, the penalty may amount to 0.5% of total sales, subject to a maximum of ₹1.5 lakh.

However, the report notes that under Section 271B, no penalty will be levied if the taxpayer can provide a “reasonable cause” for the delay or non-compliance.

For a tax audit, the required documents include cash books, ledgers, bank statements, stock records, and sales or purchase invoices, which must be reviewed by a Chartered Accountant.

Any taxpayer with a business turnover exceeding ₹1 crore in a financial year, or ₹10 crore when cash transactions account for less than 5% of total transactions, must undergo a tax audit, another report added.

Similarly, professionals are required to get their accounts audited if their gross receipts exceed ₹50 lakh annually.

US clarifies on H-1B visa fee, big relief for students, techies

WASHINGTON, Oct 21: In a significant development for Indian professionals and students in the US, the Donald Trump administration has clarified exemptions to the controversial $100,000 H-1B visa fee introduced via a presidential proclamation in September.

The clarification from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) outlines who must pay the H-1B visa fee, the accepted payment methods, and the circumstances under which applicants may be exempt, along with details on how to apply for such exceptions.

The USCIS said in a statement on Monday (US time), "The Proclamation applies to new H-1B petitions filed at or after 12.01 am eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025, on behalf of beneficiaries who are outside the United States and do not have a valid H-1B visa".

This means the H-1B fee of $100,000 applies only to new petitions filed for individuals outside the US without a valid visa, starting September 21, 2025.

"The Proclamation also applies if a petition filed at or after 12.01 am eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025, requests consular notification, port of entry notification, or pre-flight inspection for an alien in the United States," the statement also added.

This means the fee also applies to petitions filed from within the US if they request consular or port-of-entry processing. Consular or port of entry processing means the applicant will get their visa stamped at a US embassy abroad or be inspected at a US border or airport before entering the country.

In rare cases, applicants may be exempt from paying the H-1B visa fee, subject to specific conditions.

The most significant relief for employers is the USCIS' clarification that the $100,000 fee does not apply to "change of status" cases, where individuals switch from one visa category to another without leaving the United States, such as transitioning from an F-1 student visa to an H-1B work visa.

The contentious proclamation, which imposes an H-1B visa fee of nearly Rs 89 lakh, was introduced on September 19.

The proclamation had sown confusion among employers and applicants as the earlier directives left key questions unresolved.

This comes as a major relief for Indian students, who remain the largest source of international students in the US. It is also a reprieve for Indian tech professionals, with 70% of H-1B visas in 2024 awarded to Indian nationals.

Indian students accounted for 27% of all foreign students in the US in 2024, marking an 11.8% increase from the previous year, according to the annual report by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).

The USCIS has also assured that existing H-1B visa holders and approved beneficiaries can travel in and out of the US without restrictions.

Also, the fee does not apply to petitions for amendments, status changes, or extensions filed within the US. Even if the beneficiary later travels abroad, they won't be charged when re-entering or applying for a visa.

The agency stated, "The Proclamation does not apply to any previously issued and currently valid H-1B visas, or any petitions submitted prior to 12:01 am eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025."

"The Proclamation also does not apply to a petition filed at or after 12:01 am eastern daylight time on September 21, 2025, that is requesting an amendment, change of status, or extension of stay for an alien inside the United States where the alien is granted such amendment, change, or extension," it read.

"Further, an alien beneficiary of such petition will not be considered to be subject to the payment if he or she subsequently departs the United States and applies for a visa based on the approved petition and/or seeks to reenter the United States on a current H-1B visa," it added.

The guidance further notes that employers must pay the fee if USCIS denies an application, deeming the individual ineligible for a status change or extension.

Other exemptions will be granted by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in "extraordinarily rare circumstances", USCIS said, including if no American worker is able to fill the role, or the immigrant's employment is in the national interest.

USCIS has also detailed the payment process for the $100,000 fee.

The agency directed that the fee be paid via pay.gov, offering clear guidance to petitioners accustomed to USCIS online payments.

The agency also stated that the fee must be paid prior to submitting an H-1B petition, and any filing lacking proof of exemption will be rejected.

The clarification came after the US Chamber of Commerce sued the Trump administration over the new H-1B visa application fee, calling it "unlawful and harmful to small and medium-sized businesses."

Napoleonic Jewels Stolen From Louvre In Paris In Daring Sunday Heist

PARIS, Oct 19: The Louvre has closed for the day after Napoleon-era jewels were stolen from the iconic museum in Paris that is home to some of the world's most iconic historical artefacts, including the Mona Lisa.

The robbers entered the museum using a hydraulic ladder and made away with "priceless jewellery," said France's Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, calling it a "major robbery".

The robbery occurred around 9:30 am. The intruders entered via the under-construction Seine-facing facade and used a hydraulic ladder to reach the Apollo gallery, reported French daily Le Parisien. The Apollo Gallery had a selection of the French Crown Jewels on display at that time.

They broke in by cutting the windowpanes with “a disc cutter,” said Nunez, suggesting that a team had supposedly done scouting before the daring heist. The entire operation "lasted seven minutes," he said.

The robbers made away with "nine pieces" from the jewellery collection of "Napoleon and the Empress," according to Le Parisien. One stolen jewel was later found outside the museum, it said.

The world-renowned museum is yet to comment on the incident. It has cited "exceptional reasons" for the sudden closure.

The Paris prosecutor's office has opened an investigation and is currently "assessing the damage."

The Louvre is the world's most visited museum, drawing up to 30,000 visitors a day. It houses over 33,000 artefacts, including antique items, sculptures, and paintings. The top attraction is the Mona Lisa, the world's best-known artwork, besides the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

The museum has witnessed multiple thefts and attempted robberies over the years, including that of the Mona Lisa. The portrait by Leonardo da Vinci was stolen in 1911 by Vincenzo Peruggia, a former worker who had walked out of the museum with the painting hidden under his coat. It was recovered in Italy's Florence after two years.

The last notable theft at the Louvre was in 1983, when two Renaissance-era pieces of armour went missing from the museum. The stolen items were recovered in 2021.

Maria Corina Machado Awarded Nobel Peace Prize 2025

STOCKHOLM, Oct 10: Maria Corina Machado, Venezuela's opposition leader, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in promoting democracy and fighting dictatorship in her country.

There has been persistent speculation ahead of the announcement about the possibility of the prize going to US President Donald Trump, fuelled in part by the president himself, amplified by this week's approval of his plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

However, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said that the former opposition presidential candidate was being lauded for being a "key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided - an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government."

"In the past year, Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions. When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist."

As the leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, Machado, often called Venezuela's iron lady, is seen as an example of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times. She has emerged as a key figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided - an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government.

Venezuela has evolved from a relatively democratic and prosperous country to a brutal, authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis. Currently, most people in the country live in deep poverty, even as the few at the top enrich themselves.

Data shows that nearly 8 million people have left the country as the state uses violent machinery against its own citizens. The opposition has been systematically suppressed by means of election rigging, legal prosecution and imprisonment.

Venezuela's authoritarian regime makes political work extremely difficult. As a founder of Sumate, an organisation devoted to democratic development, Machado stood up for free and fair elections more than 20 years ago, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Machado Dedicates Award To Trump

CARACAS, Oct 10: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize on Friday to the people of Venezuela -- and US President Donald Trump, for his "decisive support" for her country's pro-democracy movement.

"I dedicate this prize to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!" she wrote on X.

"We are on the threshold of victory, and today, more than ever, we count on President Trump, the people of the United States, the peoples of Latin America, and the democratic nations of the world as our principal allies to achieve Freedom and democracy," she added.

Machado has been in hiding in Venezuela for the past year since elections that authoritarian leftist President Nicolas Maduro is accused of stealing.

Machado, who was barred from contesting the election, campaigned instead for her stand-in, ex-diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, seen by much of the international community as the rightful winner.

The Nobel Committee cited her "tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy."

Machado, 58, has backed Trump's ongoing campaign of military pressure on Maduro, including a major US naval deployment near Venezuela, as a "necessary measure" towards a democratic transition in Venezuela.

White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt shared Machado's post dedicating her Nobel to Trump on her X account.

Several of Machado's fellow opposition leaders, including two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, congratulated her on her prize.

"May this recognition be another boost to achieve PEACE and for our Venezuela to leave behind the suffering and recover the freedom and democracy for which it has fought for so many years," Capriles wrote on X.

Chemistry Nobel Prize awarded to trio in field of metal organic frameworks

STOCKHOLM, Oct 8: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M Yaghi for their work in the development of metal organic frameworks (MOF).

The three scientists, who won the award on Wednesday, come from the universities of Kyoto in Japan, Melbourne in Australia and Berkeley in the United States, respectively.

The trio have created “molecular constructions with large spaces through which gases and other chemicals can flow”, read a statement from the Nobel Prize. Such constructions can be used to harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide, store toxic gases or break down traces of pharmaceuticals in the environment.

“Metal organic frameworks have enormous potential, bringing previously unforeseen opportunities for custom-made materials with new functions,” said Heiner Linke, chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.

According to Olof Ramstrom, a member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, the new form of molecular architecture can be compared with the handbag of the fictional Harry Potter character Hermione Granger: small on the outside but very large on the inside.

Kitagawa told the Nobel press conference that he was deeply honoured by the award: “My dream is to capture air and separate air to – for instance, in CO2 or oxygen or water or something – and convert this to useful materials using renewable energy”.

Yaghi was born to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, where his family shared a one-room home with the cattle the family was raising. “It’s quite a journey and science allows you to do it,” he said in an interview published on the Nobel website, adding that his parents could barely read or write. “Science is the greatest equalising force in the world,” he said.

Yaghi, who said he was astonished and delighted to win the award, was 10 years old when he found a book on molecules in the library, and it was the beginning of a life-long love of chemistry. “The deeper you dig, the more beautifully you find things are constructed,” he told the Nobel website.

The chemists, working separately but adding to each other’s breakthroughs, devised ways to make stable metal organic frameworks, which may be compared with the timber framework of a house.

These structures can absorb and contain gases inside these frameworks, with many practical applications today — such as capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or sucking water out of dry desert air.

Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to trio for quantum mechanics discoveries

STOCKHOLM, Oct 8: The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics to a trio of United-States-based scientists for work on quantum mechanic tunnelling.

The award, announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Tuesday, will be presented to John Clarke, Michel H Devoret, and John M Martinis in December “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit”.

The trio’s experiments demonstrated that quantum mechanical properties can be made concrete on a macroscopic scale, the prize-awarding body said in a statement.

Their work has “provided opportunities for developing the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers, and quantum sensors”, it continued.

Clarke, a British-born professor at the University of California, said the team’s discovery “in some ways is the basis of quantum computing”.

“Exactly at this moment where this fits in is not entirely clear to me,” he added.

Quantum computing is a new kind of computing that uses the principles of quantum mechanics – the science of how particles behave at the smallest scales – to perform calculations much faster than conventional computers.

Quantum mechanics is the “foundation of all digital technology”, noted the chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics.

“I’m completely stunned. Of course it had never occurred to me in any way that this might be the basis of a Nobel Prize,” Clarke told the Nobel news conference by telephone. “To put it mildly, it was the surprise of my life.”

He paid tribute to his fellow laureates, saying, “Their contributions are just overwhelming.”

Devoret, born in France, is a professor at Yale University and the University of California, where Martinis is also a professor.

The prize of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1.17m) is to be shared equally between the three.

Speaking from his cellphone, Clarke added: “One of the underlying reasons that cellphones work is because of all this work.”

Olle Eriksson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said it was “wonderful to be able to celebrate the way that century-old quantum mechanics continually offers new surprises”.

“It is also enormously useful, as quantum mechanics is the foundation of all digital technology,” he said.

The Nobel Prize in Physics is widely regarded as the most prestigious in the discipline, with past winners including some of the most influential figures in the history of science, such as Albert Einstein, Pierre and Marie Curie, Max Planck and Niels Bohr, a pioneer of quantum theory.

Last year’s prize was won by US scientist John Hopfield and British-Canadian Geoffrey Hinton for helping create the building blocks of machine learning that has spurred the artificial intelligence boom.

The Nobels were established through the will of Swedish businessman, chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel, who became rich from his invention of dynamite. Since 1901, with occasional pauses, the prizes have annually recognised leading achievements in science, literature, and peace, with economics a later addition.

The physics prize was the second Nobel awarded this week, after two US and one Japanese scientist – Mary E Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi – won the medicine prize for their work on the functioning of the human immune system.

The chemistry prize is due next, on Wednesday, followed by prizes in literature, peace and economics in the following days.

The sciences, literature and economics prizes are presented to the laureates by the Swedish king at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, at which they will also receive gold medals.

The peace award, which will be announced on Friday, will be given in a separate ceremony in Oslo.

Nobel Prize for medicine awarded to immune system researchers

STOCKHOLM, Oct 6: The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Mary E Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for their work on the functioning of the human immune system.

The award, announced by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute on Monday, will be presented to the trio in December for “their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body”.

The research “relates to how we keep our immune system under control so we can fight all imaginable microbes and still avoid autoimmune disease”, said Marie Wahren-Herlenius, a rheumatology professor at the Karolinska Institute.

The prize of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1.17m) is to be shared equally between Brunkow and Ramsdell, both 64, of the United States and Japan’s Sakaguchi, 74.

The king of Sweden will also present them with gold medals.

“Their discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of research and spurred the development of new treatments, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases,” the prize-awarding body said in a statement.

Olle Kampe, chair of the Nobel Committee, said the trio’s work has been “decisive for our understanding of how the immune system functions”.

Their work dates back to 1995, when Sakaguchi made the initial key discovery. Brunkow and Ramsdell made another breakthrough in 2001, before Sakaguchi linked all of their work two years later.

Thomas Perlmann, Secretary-General of the Nobel Committee, said he spoke to Sakaguchi by phone on Monday, and had left voicemails for Brunkow and Ramsdell.

“I got hold of [Sakaguchi] at his lab and he sounded incredibly grateful, expressed that it was a fantastic honour. He was quite taken by the news,” Perlmann said.

The prize for medicine kicks off the annual Nobel awards, arguably the most prestigious prizes in science, literature, peace and economics. The winners of the remaining prizes will be announced over the coming days.