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Civil Society Groups Hold Rally To Demand Postponement Of Manipur Census

The rally passed through several sensitive areas of the state capital.

LIC Housing Finance asked to pay Rs 10 lakh after losing borrower’s original property papers

LIC Housing Finance must pay Rs 10 lakh compensation for losing a borrower's original property documents after loan repayment. The consumer commission upheld the order, finding the company guilty of deficiency in service. Despite the borrower's repeated requests, the lender failed to return the crucial title deeds, leading to the significant penalty.

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Foreigners who returned after voting in T.N. Assembly election come under the scanner

Central and State law-enforcement agencies are working with the Election Commission of India to obtain data on foreign nationals who might have voted. Investigators have sought the assistance of the Bureau of Immigration in identifying foreign nationals who arrived in the State ahead of the election and departed within two to three days of polling

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Consensual pre-marital relationship is no blot on character, says Supreme Court

Observes that premarital relationships are common in contemporary society and cannot be used as a pretext to cast aspersions on a person’s character

Allahabad HC upholds POCSO conviction; reaffirms child victim’s sole testimony sufficient if credible

Allahabad High Court noted that the victim’s statements remained completely unwavering and were fully corroborated by medical and forensic evidence, and thus she qualifies as a ‘sterling witness’

JoSAA mock seat allotment 2026 released

The Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) has released the first mock seat allocation for the 2026 counselling process, giving engineering aspirants an early indication of the institutes and courses they may secure based on their current choices and rank positions.Candidates who have registered for JoSAA Counselling 2026 and filled in their programme and institute preferences can now check their provisional allotment through the official JoSAA portal.The mock allocation is designed to help students understand their likely admission prospects and make informed changes to their choices before the actual seat allocation rounds begin.What Is the JoSAA Mock Seat Allocation?The first mock seat allocation is a provisional exercise conducted by JoSAA before the commencement of the official counselling rounds.The allocation has been prepared using the choices submitted by candidates up to 8 PM on 7 June 2026. It reflects the seat a candidate could potentially receive if the counselling process were to conclude based on the current preference order and rank position.Importantly, the mock allocation is not the final seat allotment. Candidates can still modify, reorder, add or remove choices before the counselling deadline.How to Check JoSAA First Mock Seat Allocation 2026Candidates can follow these steps to view their provisional allotment:Step 1Visit the official JoSAA website.Step 2Click on the link for the First Mock Seat Allocation 2026.Step 3Log in using your application credentials.Step 4Submit the required details.Step 5View your provisional seat allocation status.Step 6Download and save the allotment details for future reference.Step 7Take a printout if required.Why the Mock Allocation Is ImportantThe mock seat allocation serves as a valuable planning tool for candidates.By reviewing the provisional allotment, students can assess whether their preferred colleges and branches are within reach. If they are dissatisfied with the outcome, they can revise their choices strategically before the final seat allocation rounds.This process often helps candidates improve their chances of securing a more desirable institute or academic programme.JoSAA 2026 First Round Seat Allotment DateJoSAA is scheduled to announce the first round of seat allocation on 13 June 2026.Candidates who are allotted seats in the first round will be required to complete several admission-related formalities, including:Online reportingDocument uploadVerification processSeat acceptance proceduresAdmission fee paymentThe deadline for fee payment in the first round is 26 June 2026.JoSAA Counselling 2026: Participating InstitutesThe JoSAA counselling process will facilitate admissions to 138 premier technical institutions across India for the 2026-27 academic session.These include:23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru31 National Institutes of Technology (NITs)Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur26 Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs)56 Other Government-Funded Technical Institutes (GFTIs)The counselling process remains one of the largest and most important admission exercises for engineering aspirants in the country.Reservation Categories in JoSAA CounsellingSeats across participating institutions are allocated under various reservation categories, including:Open CategoryGEN-EWS (Economically Weaker Sections)OBC-NCL (Other Backward Classes – Non-Creamy Layer)Scheduled Castes (SC)Scheduled Tribes (ST)Persons with Disabilities (PwD) categoriesCandidates are advised to carefully review category-specific eligibility and seat availability during the counselling process.JEE Main and JEE Advanced Ranks Used for AdmissionsJoSAA uses different entrance examination ranks depending on the participating institution.Admissions to IITs and IISc BengaluruAdmissions are based on ranks secured in JEE Advanced 2026.Admissions to NITs, IIITs and GFTIsAdmissions are based on ranks obtained in JEE Main 2026.Candidates must ensure that their rank details and category information are correctly reflected in the counselling portal.What Should Candidates Do Next?Students should carefully review their first mock allocation and compare it with their desired institute and branch preferences.If necessary, they can modify their choices before the final counselling rounds begin. With the first round of seat allocation scheduled for 13 June, aspirants now have a valuable opportunity to fine-tune their choices and maximise their chances of securing admission to their preferred engineering institute.

SpiceJet to halt operations from Shivamogga airport from June 9

An airport official attributed the withdrawal to rising fuel costs, operational challenges following the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) regulations, insufficient aircraft, and inadequate pilot strength to meet revised standards

Fitness at what cost? Cardiac emergencies, fatal mishaps put gym safety in spotlight

Recent tragic incidents in Indian gyms, including celebrity deaths from cardiac arrest and fatal accidents, highlight critical safety concerns. These events underscore the urgent need for mandatory health screenings, proper supervision, and adherence to safety standards within fitness centers to prevent further avoidable tragedies.

US largest private-sector employer’s message to 2M-plus staff on AI replacing their jobs

Walmart assures its 2.1 million employees that AI will enhance their roles, not replace them. Company leaders emphasized that while technology will be integral to future operations, human employees will remain central. AI is already being implemented to improve efficiency, such as a tool helping truck drivers optimize loads and reduce empty miles.

Google AI CEO Demis Hassabis on AGI: Humans only have a few years left to prepare

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis warns humanity is on the cusp of Artificial General Intelligence, potentially within four years, urging immediate preparation. He views current AI agents as a societal stress test and highlights the risks of recursive self-improvement. Hassabis also criticized tech companies for laying off engineers, advocating for increased productivity instead.

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Court orders 10 free biriyani plates for five Sundays after man finds dead insect in food

A Puducherry restaurant, Briyani & Co., has been ordered to pay ₹10,000 compensation and provide 10 free biryani plates after a customer found a dead insect in his food. The consumer commission found the restaurant liable for serving contaminated food, deeming it a 'deficiency in service'. The eatery's contradictory responses further influenced the ruling.

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Missing B.Tech student from Hyderabad presumed dead after body recovered in Prakasam district well

Personal belongings and other articles recovered from the deceased matched the description and identity details of Rahul. However, officials said scientific confirmation through DNA testing is still pending.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella figures out best way to manage AI agents, along with employees

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella proposes treating AI agents like human employees to manage their integration into the workforce. This strategy involves providing AI with identities, sandboxes, and policies, mirroring human worker guardrails. Nadella emphasizes security, containment, manageability, and observability as crucial for building trust and safely overseeing these digital agents.

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Water purifiers fuel a Rs 9,000 crore economy

You do the research, read lists of reviews, compare the filtration stages, and shell out a significant sum for the most promising, tech-savvy water purifier in the market. Then, just two months into installation, the machine starts throwing a series of confusing, flashing signals. The premium buying experience instantly evaporates, replaced by the sheer frustration of tracking down customer care and waiting at home for a technician to show up.In India’s competitive consumer durables sector, this exact friction point has transformed the landscape of water purifiers. The ultimate battle is no longer just about who can build and sell the best machine; it is increasingly about who can maintain trust after the hole has been drilled in the customer's kitchen wall.While the water purifier market is traditionally viewed through the lens of one-time appliance sales, companies like Eureka Forbes, the legacy player behind AquaGuard, are increasingly betting on a far larger opportunity hidden beneath the surface: the recurring service economy built around filters, annual maintenance contracts (AMCs) and nationwide technician networks.According to internal projections by Anurag Kumar, Chief Growth Officer at Eureka Forbes, the water purifier service market alone is on track to cross Rs 9,000 crore by FY30, nearly matching the projected Rs 10,000 crore size of the product market itself.131582773Also read: Beyond the room: Why India Inc's luxury hospitality bet is becoming an experience businessBreaking down the mathFor decades, the consumer durable playbook was simple: manufacture, distribute, sell, repeat. But water purification is far different from selling a television or a refrigerator; it is an active, evolving health product bound to the fluctuating quality of local municipal and groundwater supplies."The market for product categories for water purifiers is about Rs 3,800 crore today," Kumar says in an exclusive interview with ET Online. "I think you would add another, roughly about Rs 3,500 crore of service category as well to it."Citing independent industry reports, Kumar highlighted that by FY30, this parallel economy is set to explode. The product market will expand to over Rs 10,000 crore, while the service and aftermarket ecosystem will chase it tightly at more than Rs 9,000 crore, growing at a combined double-digit compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11% to 12%.This shifting weight from hardware to service fundamentally changes corporate strategies. For an industry dealing with an urban penetration rate of just 14% (and a mere 7% nationally), the recurring revenue from existing households forms a highly resilient cash-flow cushion that protects margins even during macro-economic slowdowns.131582808Service scale becomes the biggest moatThe Rs 9,000 crore service opportunity explains why tech-first aggregators and rental startups are rushing into the service category. However, scaling an on-demand service infrastructure across India’s complex geography is entirely different from coding an app.For legacy companies like Eureka Forbes, this operational network has become a major competitive advantage."After sales service can make or break a brand," says Kumar. "I think a lot of the trust that AquaGuard has today is really thanks to the fact that people have trust in our service... It's a very, very important integral part of our business and a very, very crucial moat that we continue to nurture."To defend this moat against new-age tech startups, Eureka Forbes operates at a scale that resembles a logistics company more than an appliance manufacturer. The company has deployed more than 8,000 technicians mapping out an operational footprint across 19,500 PIN codes.Also read: Apple expected to unveil new AI features at last developers conference with CEO Tim CookThe push to reduce maintenance costs"Once you sell a product, then you have it for life and there's some revenue which comes with it," Kumar says, referring to filter replacements, AMCs and servicing requirements.Interestingly, the biggest threat to this recurring service revenue is not new-age competitors, it has been consumer fatigue over high maintenance costs. Historically, the dread of paying steep annual fees to replace purifier filters has acted as a primary barrier keeping the remaining 86% of urban Indian households from adopting organised water purifiers.To beat this, Eureka Forbes pulled off a counter-intuitive strategic gear: they disrupted their own short-term revenue model to secure long-term market share.Last year, the company introduced a range of purifiers featuring "long-life" filters extending the replacement cycle from the traditional 12 months to a full two years."We did that because we fundamentally heard from consumers that there was also a barrier to the category around maintenance cost being high," Kumar reveals. "What two-year filters actually did was they actually lowered the maintenance cost because now you don't have to change filters every year. You have to change once every two years."Digitising a 1980s direct-sales DNAEureka Forbes, a company historically known for its door-to-door service, and making Aquaguard synonymous with water purifiers in India, faced a new piece of necessary upgrade with building digitisation. The multi-billion dollar service landscape required a complete digital overhaul of consumer interactions. The brand that built its empire in the 1980s on the soles of direct-sales agents knocking on suburban doors has had to pivot entirely to an on-demand, algorithmic infrastructure.An army of thousands of field technicians is only as efficient as the software directing them. For modern consumers who manage their entire lives via smartphone screens, a bland "technician will visit tomorrow" promise no longer cuts it."We've digitised that service," notes Kumar.The long-term playAs water contamination concerns spike across rapidly expanding urban clusters, the structural demand for pure drinking water will continue to climb, and so for water purifiers.However, as the hardware itself faces gradual commoditisation and intense price competition from newer market entrants, the center of gravity has largely shifted. Where the growth moves nextCapturing a dominant share of the service market is only half the blueprint. As Kumar maps out the strategic trajectory for Eureka Forbes over the next three to five years, the company's growth engine eyes two distinct tracks: aggressive geographic widening and targeted product diversification. Geographically, Kumar notes, the company is bypassing deep rural pockets for the time being to focus heavily on India’s rapidly urbanising Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns. Instead, the company is doubling down on smaller towns where they can immediately deploy their signature localised service infrastructure without stretching their logistics network too thin.Simultaneously, the brand is attempting to de-risk its reliance on the kitchen wall by expanding into adjacent consumer durables. Kumar outlined a product pipeline anchored in high-growth, premium categories, including robotic vacuum cleaners, air purifiers, and household water softeners. The underlying playbook here is pure cross-selling. By utilising the same 8,000-strong technician network to service these newer household appliances, Eureka Forbes is betting that its aftermarket footprint can drastically lower its customer acquisition costs; positioning the legacy firm to evolve from a single-product manufacturer into a broader home-health ecosystem player.

Bajaj Allianz wins mediclaim dispute after probe finds hospital records manipulated

A Delhi consumer court overturned a reimbursement order for a mediclaim, stating an insurer was justified in rejecting a claim. Investigations revealed significant flaws and discrepancies in hospital records, including alleged non-cooperation from the insured. The court emphasized the importance of considering investigator reports, concluding the insurer acted within policy terms.

OpenAI CFO: I wouldn't hire a finance person who doesn’t know how to use Excel

OpenAI's CFO, Sarah Friar, stressed that AI tool proficiency is now as crucial for finance professionals as spreadsheets were decades ago. She highlighted that companies are actively seeking employees skilled in AI, with demand for compute power outstripping supply. Friar also underscored the need for inclusive access to AI technologies as adoption grows.

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Rajesh Exports shares hit 5% lower circuit for third session on alleged Rs 15.15 lakh crore fraud

Shares of Rajesh Exports (REL) tumbled 5% to hit the lower circuit at Rs 94.50 on Monday, marking the third consecutive session of sharp losses after market regulator Sebi accused the company of orchestrating an elaborate financial fraud involving alleged revenue inflation of Rs 15.15 lakh crore over the years, personal gold trades purportedly passed off as corporate sales, and investments of Rs 1,035 crore in gold mines.In its findings, Sebi alleged accounting irregularities, diversion of company funds into personal accounts, and a pattern of conduct aimed at misleading investors. The regulator also flagged lapses by the company's auditors and said both Rajesh Exports and its auditors failed to fully cooperate with the investigation.In its 109-page interim order dated June 3, Sebi said its investigation and forensic examination revealed prima facie evidence suggesting that nearly 97-99% of the company's reported revenue may have been inflated. The regulator described the alleged discrepancies as "egregious and unheard of".Pending further directions, Sebi has barred Rajesh Mehta from buying, selling or otherwise dealing in securities of Rajesh Exports. The regulator has also directed the company to fully cooperate with investigators and ensure true and fair disclosure of its financial statements and related-party transactions."The acts of REL constitute a deliberate device, scheme and artifice to mislead and defraud investors dealing in the shares of REL by portraying an inflated and misleading picture of its operational scale, revenue and financial health," Sebi said in its order.The case stems from a shareholder complaint received in March 2024 that raised concerns over substantial trade receivables reflected in the company's accounts. Following a preliminary review, Sebi initiated a detailed investigation covering the period from April 2020 to March 2024 and appointed BDO India Services as the forensic auditor.Besides restricting Rajesh Mehta from dealing in the company's securities, Sebi has directed Rajesh Exports to furnish all pending information sought by investigators within 30 days. The regulator has also ordered the appointment of a new forensic auditor to conduct a more comprehensive review of the company's books and transactions.Rajesh Exports has denied the allegations. In a press release issued on Thursday, the company said the revenues reported in its financial statements were accurate and contended that Sebi's conclusions were based on a misunderstanding between revenue and EBITDA figures at Swiss refiner Valcambi SA, an indirect subsidiary of the company.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)