Nancy Tyagi, a Delhi-based fashion influencer, made her Cannes red carpet debut in a stunning pink gown. The influencer turned to Instagram to describe her "dream come true" experience. She disclosed in the post that her outfit was her own design rather than one from a designer house, reports NDTV. She dedicated her "heart and soul" into making her Cannes debut dress, which took her 30 days to complete. Sadia Khalid Reeti invited back as Fipresci jury at Cannes "Stepping onto the red carpet at the 77th Cannes Film Festival as a debutant feels surreal," Tyagi wrote. She also posted a series of images of herself on the famed red carpet. "I poured my heart and soul into creating this pink gown, which took 30 days, 1000 meters of fabric, and weighs over 20kg. The journey has been intense, but every moment was worth it. I'm overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for the love and support from all of you. This is a dream come true, and I hope my creation dazzles you as much as your support has inspired me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!" the influencer added. Tyagi's post has received over 310,000 likes within a few hours of sharing. In the comments section, individuals complimented the fashion influencer, calling her "legendary." Cannes 2023: Johnny Depp overcome with emotion as film gets 7-min standing ovation "I don't why but it feels like we all have won here. I mean it's a dream for every small city ppl and she has done it so gracefully.. it feels like a personal win," one netizen wrote. "The happiest I've been for someone I don't personally know!" said another. "A story like this restores my belief in the power of hard work and goodness. Literally the most well deserved of all!" commented another person. Who Is Nancy Tyagi? Tyagi is from Uttar Pradesh. She graced the red carpet as a member of the Brut India squad. The content maker has 1.3 million Instagram followers and over a million YouTube subscribers. She is well-known for her amazing DIY talents. Over the years, she has even reproduced designs worn by celebrities from around the world. "I'm Nancy Tyagi, and I love anything and everything about Fashion! I create outfits from scratch and style them in my own way. Apart from that, I love trying out new makeup and skincare products, so check out my videos to know more!" — according to her YouTube page. Aishwarya Rai and Eva Longoria’s “spectacular” reunion on Cannes Red Carpet

Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen is visiting India at the invitation of his Indian counterpart, Dr S Jaishankar. He will attend the G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting under the G20 Indian Presidency which will end on June 13 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Dr Momen is expected to make interventions in different sessions of DMM on June 12, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Union Minister of External Affairs Dr S. Jaishankar will chair the meeting. Read: Bangladesh, UN to work closely to achieve SDGs The Varanasi Development Ministers’ Meeting takes place amidst mounting developmental challenges that have been further aggravated by economic slowdown, debt distress, impacts of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, growing poverty and inequality, food and energy insecurity, cost-of-living crisis, global supply-chain disruptions, and geo-political conflicts and tensions. The G20 Development Ministerial meeting will be an opportunity to collectively agree on actions for accelerating achievement of the SDGs and foster synergies between the development, environment and climate agendas while avoiding costly trade-offs that hold back progress for the developing countries, according to MEA. The meeting follows the Voice of the Global South Summit that was hosted by India in January 2023, and the decisions taken at the Varanasi meeting will also contribute to the United Nations SDG Summit which will take place in September in New York. Read: Awami League's policy unchanged despite allowing Jamaat rally: Home Minister The meeting will consist of two main sessions, one on "Multilateralism: Collective Actions for Accelerating Progress towards SDGs” and another on "Green Development: A LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) Approach”. The Development Ministers’ Meeting was preceded by the fourth and final Development Working Group (DWG) Meeting, which was held in Delhi from June 6-9. The DWG, while building on the crucial work done by previous G20 presidencies, has carried forward its mandate of enhancing G20's contribution to accelerating progress towards SDGs and strengthening G20 long-term vision in this regard including by strengthening G20 efforts towards fostering sustainable, inclusive and resilient economic growth. Cultural programmes, exhibitions and excursions have also been organized to provide the delegates a glimpse into the rich culture and traditions of Varanasi, one of the oldest cities in the world. Read more: With G20 event, India seeks to project normalcy in disputed Kashmir A total of 200 delegates are expected to attend the meeting.

Eight people were killed and over 30 others injured after a double-decker bus crashed into another in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Monday. The accident occurred on the Purvanchal Expressway near Narayan Pur village in the state's Barabanki district, some 600 kms from the national capital. Police said both the ill-fated buses were travelling to Delhi from the eastern Indian state of Bihar when the tragedy occurred. "When one of the buses stopped suddenly in the middle of the high-speed corridor, the second one hit it from behind at cruise speed," a police officer told the local media. Read: India's top court frees leading Muslim journo The impact of the crash was such that eight passengers of the buses died on the spot, he said, adding that the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took to social media to express his grief and extend condolences to the families of the deceased. "A probe has been ordered into the crash," the police officer said. Road accidents are common in India, with one taking place every four minutes. These accidents are blamed on poor roads, rash driving and scant regard for traffic laws.  The Indian government's implementation of stricter traffic laws in recent years has failed to rein in accidents, which claim over 100,000 lives every year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is all set to retain India's largest state of Uttar Pradesh, seen as the gateway to power in the 2024 general elections. This inference can be drawn from early trends showing the saffron outfit, led by monk-turned-politician Yogi Adityanath, is way ahead of the state's main opposition Samajwadi Party led by its young leader and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. Read: Modi welcomes Russia’s talks with Ukraine on ceasefire: MEA In fact, the trends indicate that the BJP has comfortably taken a lead in over 220 seats in the 403-member assembly. On the other hand, the Samajwadi Party is trailing in double digits. The final results will be out later in the day. Uttar Pradesh voted in seven phases --February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, March 3 and 7 -- adhering to all Covid-safety protocols. While the opposition parties harped on issues like rising joblessness, high inflation and the BJP's Hindu majority politics, the BJP highlighted law-and-order problems during the Samajwadi Party rule. Uttar Pradesh is crucial for the BJP as it's said that the road to Delhi passes through Lucknow, its capital, and the party that wins the state stands a fair chance of forming the next federal government. Read: Mamata, Modi on the same page on Ukraine crisis Moreover, a win in Uttar Pradesh will be a major boost for the Prime Minister halfway through his second term in power. The general elections are due in India in 2024.

A higher court in Uttar Pradesh state on Thursday granted bail to the son of a federal Minister, nearly four months after he was held for allegedly running over a group of protesting farmers. "Ashish Mishra, my client, has been granted bail by the Allahabad High Court," his lawyer told the media. Ashish, the son of India's junior Home Minister Ajay Mishra, was arrested by the state police in October 2021 in connection with the incident in which eight people were killed in the state's Lakhimpur Kheri district. The arrest was made after the country's Supreme Court slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for apparently going slow in the case amid a nationwide outrage over the incident. Also read: India's largest state of Uttar Pradesh goes to polls "Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish has been arrested after questioning. Ashish was evasive during his questioning," senior police officer Upendra Aggarwal then told the media. In fact, on October 3 last year, the junior Minister's motorcade ploughed into the farmers protesting farm reforms that they feared could hurt their livelihoods.  While four of them were killed after being run over by a car allegedly driven by Ashish, four others died in the ensuing clashes. The federal Minister, however, was quick to deny that his son was present on the spot. "There were miscreants who had attacked our workers. The farmers died when a car in my convoy overturned." The violence in Lakhimpur Kheri was just an aggressive manifestation of the year-long protest by millions of farmers who had been camping on the outskirts of Delhi in protest against three contentious farm laws. Also read: 4 members of Indian fake currency gang arrested by DMP The Indian government was finally forced to revoke the three farm laws later that year.

India’s investor count has crossed 50 million, the country’s top bourse National Stock Exchange (NSE) said on Monday. The unique investor count is 30 per cent less than the total dematerialised (demat) accounts in the country. This is because several investors have multiple demat and trading accounts with more than one broker. At the end of September, the total demat accounts with CDSL and NSDL—the country’s main depositories—stood at 70.2 million. The number of demat accounts have surged by 40 per cent, or 20.4 million this year—many of whom are first-time investors. The sharp jump in investor account has been underpinned by buoyancy in the stock market, ease of account opening and shift to remote working following the covid-19 pandemic. The perks offered by brokerages, such as fee waivers and gift vouchers, to attract new clients also has led to investors with multiple accounts, reports Business Standard. “The unique registered investors on the NSE crossed 50 million count on October 25. While the journey from 30 million registered investors to 40 million took about 15 months, the next 10 million investor registrations took less than seven months. Total number of client codes registered with the exchange stands at 88.6 million (clients could register with more than one trading member),” NSE said in a press release. Read: Facebook dithered in curbing divisive user content in India While an investor can have more than one demat or trading account with different depository participants and trading members, they are linked to a single permanent account number (PAN). Market players said the number of unique investors dealing purely in equities could be less than 50 million as NSE registered investors also deal in other products such as gold and bonds. "The investors can diversify their portfolio on the exchange platform by investing in equity shares or via the exchange traded fund (ETF) or mutual fund route, government securities through non-competitive bidding platform, corporate bonds, real estate by way of investments in REITs & InvITs, gold through Gold ETFs or sovereign gold bonds,” said Vikram Limaye, MD & CEO, NSE. Assuming a population of 1.4 billion, India's equity market penetration is currently less than 4 per cent. Limaye said that the industry is focused on taking the investor count past the 100 million mark over the next 3-4 years. Smaller cities jump on to the equity bandwagon. NSE said northern states have accounted for 36 per cent of new investor registrations, followed by western India with 31 per cent. Meanwhile, southern and eastern states account for 20 per cent and 13 per cent of new investor registrations, respectively. Read:Over 180 people killed after heavy rains in Nepal and India At the state level, Maharashtra accounts for the highest investors 17 per cent followed by Uttar Pradesh with 10 per cent and Gujarat with 7 per cent of new investor registrations. The top 10 states accounted for 71% of new investor registrations. Interestingly, the growth in investor registrations has largely been driven from non-metro cities, indicating that the growing interest in the stocks isn’t just restricted to the metros. As per NSE, cities beyond the top 50 have accounted for 57 per cent of new investor registrations, while the cities beyond the top 100 have contributed to 43 per cent.

A major crisis is brewing in India's largest and politically important state of Uttar Pradesh, with assembly polls barely a few months away. The crisis stems from the violence that broke out in the northern Indian state's Lakhimpur Kheri district on Sunday after a federal Minister's motorcade ploughed into some farmers protesting agricultural reforms that they fear could hurt their livelihoods. While four of the protesters were killed after being run over by a car allegedly driven by junior Indian home minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish, four others died in the clashes that followed. The farmers were attempting to prevent the Minister from visiting the district. To pacify the protesters, Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday booked the Minister's son for murder while the state government promised to pay a compensation of Indian rupees 45 lakh to the families of the deceased amd Indian rupees 10 lakh to each of the injured. The federal Minister has, however, denied that his son was present on the spot. "There were miscreants who had attacked workers with sticks and swords. The farmers died when a car in my convoy overturned." However, India's opposition parties supporting the farmers' agitation have already managed to cash in on the crisis. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka courted arrest in the early hours of the day after she was prevented from going to the district. She alleged she was manhandled by the cops, in a video released by her supporters. Politicians from other opposition parties have also been stopped from visiting the families of the victims. State's main opposition Samajwadi Party's leader, Akhilesh Yadav, claimed he was not allowed to leave his residence in Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow. "Farmers, who are the backbone of our economy, cannot be treated like this." "Their fears are legitimate about private players hurting their income and they should be heard. We need to strengthen our farming systems and not weaken them," the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh added. Sunday's violence in Lakhimpur Kheri is just an aggressive manifestation of the nearly year-long protest by tens of thousands of farmers who have been camping on the outskirts of the national capital in protest against three contentious agricultural laws. While the Indian government has said that the reforms will help farmers get better prices by allowing them to sell their produce at markets and prices of their choice, the protesters fear the laws will favour private players at their expense. Experts say the violence clearly shows that things are gradually going out of control of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which also governs the state of Uttar Pradesh. "It is said that the road to Delhi passes through Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. And the party that wins the majority of seats in assembly polls in the state stands a fair chance to form the federal government," said Prof RK Sinha, a retired Delhi University professor. "It's high time that the government pacified the farmers, who make up 60 percent of India's population," he added.

A parked bus rolled into a group of migrant workers sleeping by a roadside in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh after being hit by a speeding truck from behind early on Wednesday, killing 18 people on the spot. The accident occurred in the state's Barabanki district, some 28 kms from Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow. Read: Pandemic leaves Indians mired in massive medical debts Police said that the migrant workers returning to their home state of Bihar in eastern India on the bus started sleeping in front of the vehicle after it suddenly broke down on a busy highway late on Tuesday night. The victims were coming from the neighbouring northern state of Haryana. "The truck crashed into the parked bus at a high speed after its driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to overtake a car on the highway. The impact was such that the bus rolled on and ran over the victims sleeping in front of the vehicle," Satya Narayan Sabat, a police officer, told the local media. Read:Floods & landslides in India kill over 100 "Three-four other migrant workers who sustained injuries in the accident have been admitted to a local hospital," Sabat said. Though the truck driver managed to escape soon after the accident, cops claimed to have seized the vehicle as well as the ill-fated bus. "A probe has been ordered and a manhunt launched to track the truck driver down," the police officer said. Read:India's deaths during pandemic 10X official toll Road accidents are very common in India, with one taking place every four minutes. These accidents are often blamed on poor roads, rash driving and scant regard for traffic laws. Indian government's implementation of stricter traffic laws in recent years have failed to rein in accidents, which claim over 100,000 lives every year.

The death toll in Sunday's glacier burst in north India has risen to 14, even as the number of missing persons swelled to over 200, confirmed official sources on Monday.

India’s coronavirus cases have crossed 800,000 with the biggest spike of 27,114 cases in the past 24 hours, causing nearly a dozen states to impose a partial lockdown in high-risk areas.