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Delhi witnessed heavy traffic congestion at several key stretches on Friday as the city saw increased movement on Raksha Bandhan, with long queues of vehicles reported on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, MB Road, Kalindi Kunj, Pragati Maidan and Akshardham, while the metro also saw a heavy rush of passengers. The congestion on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, which began before the festival weekend, continued for several hours, with vehicles moving slowly and traffic teams deployed to regulate movement. Heavy traffic was also reported on MB Road in the Chhatarpur area, with long queues stretching for considerable distances. The Lado Sarai Old MB Road traffic signal also witnessed regular congestion, with commuters raising concerns over buses allegedly jumping red lights and obstructing pedestrians at zebra crossings. Kalindi Kunj remained another major bottleneck, with commuters reporting traffic jams towards the Delhi side and describing congestion on the stretch as a daily ...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday greeted people on Raksha Bandhan and hoped that the auspicious festival brings happiness, prosperity and success to everyone's lives. Raksha Bandhan is a Hindu festival that celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters. On the occasion, sisters tie vibrant threads, or rakhis, on their brothers' wrists as a symbol of their heartfelt prayers and well wishes, and brothers reciprocate with thoughtful gifts and promise to protect them under all circumstances. "Happy Raksha Bandhan. May this auspicious festival bring happiness, prosperity, and success to all your lives," Modi said in an X post in Hindi. The prime minister also wished that the bond of affection, togetherness and mutual trust remains eternal.
Quick commerce platforms had a field day on the occasion of Rakshabandhan as the nation ditched exhaustive post-office shopping for quick hassle-free deliveries. Blinkit, which holds about 40 per cent share of the quick commerce market, sold about 700 rakhis every minute. "We'll cross all-time high orders in a day on blinkit in a couple of minutes. We also hit highest ever OPM (orders per minute), GMV, chocolate sales and most other metrics today! And at its peak - we hit 693 RPM (Rakhis per minute)," Blinkit CEO and co-founder Albinder Dhindsa wrote on X. Zomato-owned Blinkit on Saturday announced it will take international orders on Blinkit till August 19. "Folks living abroad can now place orders on Blinkit to send Rakhis and gifts to their siblings in India and we'll deliver in 10 minutes! Countries from where you can order -- USA, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, France and Japan," Dhindsa announced. Zepto, which raised USD 665 million (about Rs 5,560 crore) in its latest fundin
Raksha Bandhan festival on Monday saw the celebration of the brother-sister bond with the tying of the sacred thread and vivid messaging on issues like environment conservation and social equity with an emphasis on women's safety. Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated the festival at his residence with schoolchildren tying 'rakhis' on his wrist as he wished people prosperity and good fortune on the "auspicious" occasion. Kolkata, the epicentre of a nationwide stir against the alleged rape and murder of a trainee woman doctor at a state-run medical college and hospital in the city, saw protesters tying rakhis bearing the message of "We want justice". Kolkata Police personnel were also seen tying rakhis to protesting junior doctors. West Bengal Governor CV Ananda attended a Raksha Bandhan programme at Raj Bhavan, where several women doctors, representatives from the LGBTQ community, and others tied rakhis around his wrists. He pledged to support their efforts until the goal of a saf