2026

"Deported to the Wrong Country?!" Over 2,300 Mexican Nationals Flown to Guatemala and Honduras in Massive US Crackdown!

In a dramatic and controversial escalation of immigration enforcement, more than 2,300 Mexican citizens have been deported from the United States and flown directly to Central American nations like Guatemala and Honduras rather than being sent back to their home country of Mexico. This aggressive enforcement surge comes as the Trump administration accelerates large-scale deportation operations, utilizing third-country transfer agreements to rapidly remove undocumented migrants from US soil. Under these expanded removal arrangements, foreign nationals intercepted at the US border or detained during inland enforcement sweeps are being processed and routed to third-party nations willing to receive them. Sending Mexican nationals to Central American countries marks a sharp departure from standard deportation protocols, where individuals are typically repatriated directly to their country of citizenship. Human rights organizations, legal watchdogs, and immigrant advocacy groups have raised severe alarms over the practice, warning that deportees are left stranded thousands of kilometers from their homes in unfamiliar nations with limited support networks, legal recourse, or financial resources.

21 August 2026

"Big Relief for Law Graduates!" Supreme Court Slashes 3-Year Practice Rule to Just 1 Year for Becoming a Judge!

In a massive victory for young law graduates and judicial service aspirants across India, the Supreme Court has modified its May 2025 order and reduced the mandatory three-year legal practice requirement to just one year of active Bar practice for entry-level judicial service exams (Civil Judge, Junior Division). Delivering a 2:1 majority ruling on review petitions, a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Augustine George Masih-with Justice K. Vinod Chandran dissenting-held that while courtroom exposure is crucial for judges, the sudden restoration of a strict three-year rule without a transitional buffer had caused severe career disruption to young advocates. To give immediate breathing room to aspirants, the top court has provided a major transitional relaxation: candidates appearing for any judicial service examination notified between May 25, 2025, and March 31, 2027, remain fully eligible to apply regardless of prior legal experience. Candidates selected during this window will not take the bench immediately; instead, they will be appointed as Trainee Judicial Officers to undergo one year of rigorous training at the State Judicial Academy, followed by a one-year structured clerkship divided equally between a District and Sessions Judge and a sitting High Court Judge before taking regular postings. The new permanent rule requiring a minimum of one year of active Bar practice-combined with the academy training and clerkship-will formally take effect for all judicial exam notifications issued on or after April 1, 2027.

21 August 2026

"Waking Up at 5 AM, Returning at 11 PM Just to Sleep!" ₹35,000-Salary Mumbai Worker Exposes the Brutal Reality of a 6-Hour Daily Commute!

In an eye-opening confession that has sparked massive viral debate across social media, a Mumbai employee earning ₹35,000 a month revealed the punishing daily grind of travelling six exhausting hours every single day just to hold down a job. The employee detailed a gruelling 18-hour daily cycle between Badlapur and Goregaon that leaves literally zero personal time for anything other than travelling, working, and crashing into bed. The worker’s daily nightmare begins at 5:00 AM to leave home by 6:30 AM, catching the crowded Central Line train from Badlapur at 7:15 AM. After reaching Dadar, they switch to the Western Line for Goregaon, followed by a frustrating 30-minute wait in a shared auto-rickshaw queue before finally reaching the office around 10:00 AM. After a full day's work ending at 7:00 PM, the entire multi-leg journey repeats in reverse, bringing the employee back to Badlapur only by 11:00 PM-a relentless six-day routine where only Sunday is a holiday. Moving closer to the workplace is financially out of reach: safe PG accommodations near Goregaon are too expensive for a ₹35,000 salary, while cheaper alternatives are severely unhygienic. The massive difference between stagnant entry-level wages and skyrocketing metro city rents is what forces thousands of young professionals into this daily struggle. When rent near corporate hubs demands more than half of a worker's take-home pay, everyday employees are left with no choice but to sacrifice their physical health, sleep, and sanity on overcrowded local trains.

21 August 2026

"30 Years of Loyal Votes, Zero Roads!" Angry Tribal Villagers Build Their Own Road in ASR District, Threaten to Boycott Sarpanch Polls!

Frustrated by decades of administrative neglect and unfulfilled political promises, the residents of Gadigunta village (under Nurmathi Panchayat in G. Madugula Mandal, Alluri Sitaramaraju district) took matters into their own hands and manually laid a road through collective community labor. Tired of waiting endlessly for the coalition government and local authorities to sanction a basic connecting route, the villagers picked up shovels, crowbars, and baskets to clear the rocky terrain and build the pathway themselves to end their daily struggle with isolation. The villagers expressed deep heartbreak and anger, pointing out that their entire community has stood as a loyal vote bank for the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for the last 30 years, yet they have not received even a basic pucca road in return. For decades, the lack of road connectivity has forced school-going children to trek through treacherous hilly paths and compelled families to carry pregnant women and critically ill patients on makeshift cloth stretchers (dolis) for kilometers to reach the nearest primary healthcare centre. Having exhausted all representations to elected representatives with zero action on the ground, the villagers stated that they were left with no choice but to do the government's job themselves. Issuing a stern ultimatum to the ruling administration and political leaders, the villagers have formally announced that they will completely boycott the upcoming Sarpanch elections unless the government officially sanctions and completes a proper pucca road for their village.

21 August 2026

Aditya Birla Capital Enters Gold Loan Market With 1,000 New Branches to Take On Muthoot & Manappuram!

In a major disruption in India's retail lending market, financial services giant Aditya Birla Capital has officially entered the gold loan business to expand its secured lending portfolio. Under this aggressive expansion plan, the company will roll out 200 to 300 dedicated gold loan branches by March 2027, before scaling up to a massive pan-India network of around 1,000 dedicated branches within three years. By blending physical branch-level jewellery appraisal and secure locker storage with quick digital disbursals, the corporate heavyweight is directly entering the turf dominated by traditional gold loan specialists like Muthoot Finance and Manappuram Finance. This mega foray comes at a time when loans against household gold jewellery are exploding across the country, surging nearly 70% year-on-year to touch over ₹3.4 lakh crore as rising gold prices allow borrowers to unlock higher cash values. With stress rising in unsecured personal loans, top financial institutions are aggressively pivoting toward secured credit. Aditya Birla Capital now joins other corporate giants like Tata Capital and Godrej Capital in launching dedicated gold lending units, targeting urban, semi-urban, and small-town borrowers looking for fast liquidity.

21 August 2026

"Say Goodbye to Paperwork Delays!" SEBI Clears Digital Signatures for Foreign Investors to Fast-Track Billions into Indian Markets!

In a major digital push to boost the ease of doing business and welcome global capital faster, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has officially permitted Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) to submit digitally signed Powers of Attorney (PoA). This regulatory reform removes an archaic, paper-heavy compliance hurdle, allowing overseas institutional funds, pension trusts, and global asset managers to complete their registration and onboarding processes without dealing with slow physical paperwork. A Power of Attorney is a crucial legal document that authorizes domestic custodians and brokers to execute trades, manage funds, and settle securities on behalf of overseas investors. Historically, foreign funds were forced to physically sign, notarize, apostille, and courier physical paper documents across continents, a cumbersome process that often delayed an investor's entry into Indian markets by several weeks. By officially authorizing electronic and digital signatures, SEBI has modernized the entire verification pipeline, slashing onboarding turnaround times from weeks down to a matter of days or hours.

21 August 2026

"The End of Cancer Relapse?!" World’s First Custom mRNA Cancer Vaccine Cuts Deadly Melanoma Spread by Half in Phase 3 Trial!

In what medical oncologists are hailing as a monumental turning point in modern cancer treatment, late-stage Phase 3 clinical trials have confirmed that a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine (mRNA-4157/V940), developed jointly by Moderna and Merck, drastically cuts the risk of melanoma-the deadliest form of skin cancer-from returning or spreading to other organs when combined with the immunotherapy drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab). High-risk melanoma patients who received this combo therapy after surgical tumor removal saw their risk of cancer recurrence or death slashed by nearly 44% to 49%, and their risk of distant metastasis (cancer spreading to the lungs, liver, or brain) reduced by an astonishing 62% compared to standard treatment alone. Unlike traditional chemotherapy that floods the entire body with toxic chemicals and destroys healthy cells alongside cancerous ones, this breakthrough treatment is 100% tailor-made for each individual patient. After a patient’s tumor is surgically removed, doctors sequence its DNA and use artificial intelligence to identify up to 34 unique genetic mutations (called neoantigens) that exist only on that specific patient's cancer cells. Scientists then manufacture a customized synthetic mRNA strand that acts like a wanted poster, instructing the patient's own immune system-specifically killer T-cells-to hunt down and eliminate any microscopic leftover tumor cells. Keytruda is given alongside the vaccine to turn off the cancer's defense mechanism, preventing malignant cells from hiding behind immune "shields."

21 August 2026

"Fix Our Schools or Face the Public!" India's Youth-Led 'Cockroach' Movement Takes on Broken Classrooms, Leaking Roofs, and Dirty Toilets Nationwide!

After making waves across the country and forcing high-level political accountability over exam paper leaks, India’s youth-led student group-popularly known as the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-has launched an aggressive nationwide drive titled 'School Thik Karo' (Fix the Schools). Born originally as a satirical protest movement after a controversial court remark comparing unemployed youth to cockroaches, the group has transformed into a massive grassroots pressure network. Starting this Independence Day, founder Abhijeet Dipke and thousands of young volunteers have begun auditing government-run primary and secondary schools across states like Maharashtra, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, publicly exposing shocking classroom conditions on social media to demand immediate government action, as reported by Deutsche Welle and India Today. The ground reality uncovered by these citizen inspections is alarming for everyday parents and students. In hundreds of rural and semi-urban government schools, children are forced to study under crumbling ceilings, broken window panes, non-functioning ceiling fans in blistering heat, and a complete absence of clean drinking water or sturdy benches. Even worse, unhygienic or locked school washrooms routinely force young girls to drop out or face daily indignity. To tackle this, the campaign focuses squarely on five basic rights that every child deserves: working and safe toilets, continuous electricity with fans, potable drinking water, proper classroom furniture, and nutritious midday meals. Rather than waiting for slow official inspections, the movement empowers local villagers, students, and parents to document discrepancies, question local sarpanches and education officers, and demand on-the-spot repairs.

21 August 2026

"Free 1-Year AI & Exam Prep for Everyone!" Sundar Pichai Drops Massive Gift for NEET, JEE & College Students Across 140+ Countries!

In a massive announcement for students and parents, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has rolled out specialized Gemini-powered study tools alongside free premium Google AI subscriptions for eligible college students across more than 140 countries. Under this special student initiative, college students in India get 12 months of Google AI Plus completely free, giving them access to the advanced Gemini Omni, double the standard daily usage limits, and 400 GB of cloud storage, while eligible students in the US receive a free one-year subscription to Google AI Pro with higher usage limits and 5 TB of cloud storage. The new educational rollout introduces a dedicated student hub right inside Gemini and Google Search to help learners prepare for major competitive entrance exams like NEET, JEE, GRE, SAT, AP, and MCAT. This hub is packed with useful interactive features, including dynamic study notebooks, customizable flashcards, practice quizzes, and 3D visual learning aids to break down tough science and math concepts. Most importantly, Google has teamed up with top ed-tech platforms to give students full-length, completely free mock tests-partnering with Physics Wallah and Careers360 for NEET-UG candidates, and The Princeton Review for GRE and ACT aspirants.

21 August 2026

"Big Shield for Everyday Workers!" Supreme Court Upholds Historic 1978 Industry Rule, Protecting Millions Against Unfair Workplace Practices!

In a massive judicial victory for employee rights across India, a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, has delivered a majority verdict upholding the expansive definition of "Industry" originally established in the landmark 1978 Bangalore Water Supply case under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. This crucial ruling settles decades of legal controversy, firmly ensuring that labour welfare laws and dispute mechanisms continue to protect employees across a wide variety of sectors, rather than being restricted to traditional manufacturing factories. The apex court clarified that the broad legal definition applies to any establishment where an organized, systematic activity is carried out through cooperation between an employer and employees, as long as a genuine employer-employee relationship exists. This broad interpretation has historically ensured that staff working in hospitals, schools, colleges, research institutes, clubs, and municipal bodies enjoy statutory labour protections. Furthermore, the Constitution Bench provided key guidance for upcoming workplace matters, clarifying that future industrial disputes will be governed by the newer Industrial Relations Code, 2020, which will be interpreted independently based on its own specific text and context.

21 August 2026

"Your Every Car Trip Is Being Secretly Tracked 24/7!" AI Flock Cameras Spark Massive Public Privacy Alarm!

A massive surveillance network has quietly spread across cities, suburban roads, and residential housing societies through solar-powered Flock Safety AI cameras. Unlike standard traffic cameras that only snap photos when a vehicle runs a red light or breaks the speed limit, these automated license plate readers continuously record and scan every single vehicle passing by 24 hours a day. Using advanced machine learning, the system captures full vehicle profiles-including number plates, exact car make and color, bumper stickers, roof racks, and driving directions-and instantly uploads them into a searchable cloud database. While police and gated communities use these systems to catch car thieves and suspects, civil rights and privacy advocates warn that they have created an unchecked, nationwide surveillance dragnet. Thousands of law enforcement agencies and private neighborhood committees share access to this network, allowing users to search through billions of vehicle location records across different cities in seconds without needing a court warrant. Privacy experts warn that this makes it easy to track innocent citizens visiting hospitals, political meetings, or places of worship, turning every ordinary driver into a permanently monitored subject.

21 August 2026

"Mega Market Crash Warning!" Ex-Fed Chief Bill Dudley Predicts US Stock Market Bubble Will Burst by 2027!

In a massive reality check for global equity markets, William "Bill" Dudley-the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York-has sounded a stark warning that the ongoing US stock market rally is sitting in dangerous bubble territory and is primed to burst before the end of 2027. In a sharp analysis highlighted by The Bretton Woods Committee and detailed on WRKO's Financial Exchange, Dudley emphasized that virtually all major market valuation metrics have reached extreme highs, meaning it will not take much of an economic shock to trigger an aggressive sell-off. The primary catalyst behind Dudley's warning is the massive speculative frenzy surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) combined with weakening macroeconomic cushions. While AI is poised to change the global economy over the long haul, major tech hyperscalers are spending trillions of dollars building out infrastructure without generating sufficient profits to justify their sky-high stock valuations. Dudley warns that this massive investment boom will eventually create excess capacity, while slowing corporate earnings growth, persistent high interest rates, and growing sovereign debt risks will pull the rug out from under overstretched stock prices.

21 August 2026

"No More File-Passing Bureaucracy!" Government Moves to Scrap 37-Year-Old Telecom Commission to Fast-Track Mega Mobile & Spectrum Decisions!

In a major administrative clean-up to slash government red tape, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has officially begun seeking Union Cabinet approval to dissolve the Digital Communication Commission (DCC). Established in 1989 as the Telecom Commission and renamed in 2018, this apex inter-ministerial body has spent nearly four decades as the supreme authority deciding India's multi-crore telecom policies, spectrum auction prices, and regulatory recommendations from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The decision to disband the heavyweight body comes as key leadership seats-including Member (Technology) and Member (Services)-have remained vacant with no plans to refill them, while Member (Finance) Manish Sinha is set to retire in February 2027. In the past, clearing big telecom proposals required lengthy consensus among senior secretaries from the DoT, NITI Aayog, the Finance Ministry, and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Under the new streamlined setup, files will bypass multi-member commission reviews entirely; the Telecom Secretary will take direct decisions at the DoT level, forwarding approvals straight to the Union Communications Minister and the Cabinet.

20 August 2026

"Retail Giant Rings the Alarm!" Walmart Shares Crash 9% as Sales Growth Hits 6-Year Low Amid Inflation & Fuel Shock!

In a major shock to Wall Street and global retail markets, shares of retail behemoth Walmart tumbled over 8% to 9% on Thursday after the company reported its weakest US comparable sales growth in more than six years. In its latest quarterly results, US same-store sales rose by just 2.6%, down from 4.1% in the prior quarter and missing Wall Street expectations of around 3.7% to 3.8%, marking the retail giant’s slowest pace of sales expansion since late 2019. The sudden slowdown has triggered fresh alarm bells about the financial health of ordinary shoppers who are cutting back on discretionary spending as daily living costs and petrol pump prices stay elevated. While Walmart's fast-growing e-commerce business surged by 24%, customer sales inside its traditional physical stores actually slipped by 2.5%. The retailer was also hit by federal price caps on prescription medicines in its pharmacy division and warned that rising energy costs will add a massive $2 billion in extra fuel expenses for its nationwide trucking fleet this year. To fight back and win over cash-strapped buyers, Walmart is aggressively slashing prices. Boosted by an unexpected $2.9 billion tariff refund after past emergency import taxes were struck down in court, the company announced it will deploy these funds to temporarily lower prices on more than 11,000 grocery and general merchandise items through the rest of the year. Despite the domestic store slowdown, Walmart’s total quarterly revenue grew 5.9% to $187.9 billion, beating expectations as higher-income households increasingly shop at discount aisles to save money.

20 August 2026

"Dragon Fires Back at Trump!" China Slams US "Economic D-Day" on Iran, Warns Bullying Sanctions Won't Solve Middle East Crisis!

In a sharp diplomatic pushback, China has officially rejected US President Donald Trump's newly declared "Economic D-Day" against Iran, warning Washington that extreme pressure tactics and unilateral secondary sanctions will never solve complex Middle East conflicts. Reacting to Trump's announcement of what he called the "most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated that "imposing sanctions and pressuring do not help to solve the issue," urging all involved parties to act responsibly and resolve disputes strictly through political and diplomatic negotiations. This clash carries massive global significance because China stands as Iran's largest crude oil customer and primary economic partner. Trump's aggressive directive issued an open ultimatum to foreign governments, warning that any country allowing its banks, ports, or businesses to provide a financial "lifeline" to Tehran-specifically through oil trade, currency swap lines, cash transfers, and maritime registries-will face severe economic retaliation. By pushing back against the American embargo, Beijing is signaling that it will not bow to Washington's secondary sanctions or abandon its bilateral energy and trade arrangements in the region.

20 August 2026

"Global Roti & Bread Alarm!" Grain Prices Explode as Ukraine War Chokes Black Sea Ports and Traps Millions of Tonnes of Wheat!

In a major shock to global food security, international wheat and grain prices have surged toward multi-year highs as escalating missile and drone attacks between Russia and Ukraine effectively choke off critical Black Sea and Danube shipping corridors. Russia and Ukraine together supply more than 30% of the world's wheat exports, but recent strikes on major maritime export hubs-including Ukraine's Odesa and Izmail ports, as well as Russia's Novorossiysk terminal-have brought commercial ship traffic to a near standstill right during the peak winter harvest season. The shipping bottleneck has triggered an immediate supply squeeze across international commodity desks. Ukrainian grain exports plummeted by nearly 75% during the first half of the month as cargo vessels refuse to enter high-risk combat waters, stranding millions of tonnes of wheat, corn, and sunflower oil. With drought conditions already lowering crop yields in Europe and North America, major grain-importing nations from Egypt to Indonesia are desperately hunting for expensive alternative shipments from Australia and the Americas, sending benchmark wheat futures climbing.

20 August 2026

"No More Begging Bowls to Friendly Nations!" Cash-Strapped Pakistan Knocks on US Door for Massive $10 Billion Lifeline!

In a major shift in its economic survival strategy, cash-strapped Pakistan has formally approached the US Treasury Department seeking a massive $10 billion Exchange Stabilisation Support Facility. Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb confirmed that Islamabad has submitted the proposal to Washington, aiming to secure a financial safety cushion with a maturity of up to five years. While Pakistan is currently implementing a $7 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Islamabad is trying to break free from its decades-long cycle of emergency bailouts and repeated pleas to "friendly nations" like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and China to roll over short-term deposits. The real reason behind Pakistan's massive $10 billion ask is to rebuild its battered currency credibility and boost its global credit rating. Rather than functioning as a standard debt handout, the proposed US facility is designed as a financial backstop to stabilize foreign exchange reserves and signal strength to global capital markets. Pakistan's sovereign credit rating has remained stuck near junk levels for over two decades, making private international borrowing extremely expensive. By securing direct backing from the United States, Islamabad hopes to upgrade its credit rating to at least 'B+', which would allow it to borrow from global bond markets at cheaper interest rates with longer repayment timelines instead of living on short-term rollovers.

20 August 2026

"Secret Midnight Armada!" US Runs Covert Oil Convoys in Strait of Hormuz Moving 10 Million Barrels a Day Under Fighter Jet Shield!

In a top-secret military operation that has kept the global economy running behind the scenes, a dedicated US task force based out of the Army headquarters in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, has been running covert nightly oil convoys through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The stealth corridor allows 15 to 20 commercial tankers every night to slip through a southern lane along Oman's coastline under direct US military coordination. This clandestine operation is moving nearly 10 million barrels of crude oil every single day-roughly half the waterway's pre-conflict capacity-preventing severe shortages on world markets despite intense hostilities with Iran. The high-stakes operation functions as a precision-timed maritime shuttle. Empty supertankers arriving from the Arabian Sea are safely navigated into Gulf ports to load oil from regional partners before being guided back out into open international waters under the cover of darkness. To protect the commercial ships from Iranian missile and drone strikes, US Air Force fighter jets maintain round-the-clock air defense patrols overhead, while US Central Command strikes have systematically degraded Iranian radar and naval surveillance along the southern channel to keep the shipping route secure.

20 August 2026

"Sweet Festive Relief!" Government Allows 10 Lakh Tonnes of Duty-Free Sugar Imports to Crash Record Sweetener Prices Before Diwali!

In a major emergency move to protect household budgets ahead of the grand festival season, the Central Government has officially allowed the duty-free import of up to 10 lakh metric tonnes (1 million MT) of raw sugar under the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) scheme until October 31, 2026. Notified by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), this order allows domestic refiners to bring in massive raw sugar shipments without paying import taxes, marking India's first major sugar import in nearly a decade to bridge an urgent domestic supply shortfall. The government has also granted a one-time option for refiners to convert existing Advance Authorisation imports into this duty-free TRQ scheme to quickly boost local availability. This decisive step comes after domestic sugar prices shot up by nearly 40% over the last two months. Due to lower starting stocks and tighter sugarcane output, wholesale mill rates reached record highs of ₹5,400 to ₹5,500 per quintal, while retail market prices climbed past ₹52 per kg. Because countrywide sugar demand peaks between August and November for major celebrations like Ganesh Chaturthi, Dussehra, and Diwali, the government stepped in to prevent artificial price hikes. Alongside zero-duty imports, strict stockholding limits have been slapped on commercial bulk users-such as big confectionery, beverage, and biscuit manufacturers using over 10 tonnes a month-capping their storage to just 15 days of consumption to stop hoarding.

20 August 2026

"Going All-In to Stop Market Chaos!" US Treasury Chief Bessent Hints Debt Buybacks Could Smash Past $4 Billion!

In a massive signal to global financial markets, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has revealed that the US government is prepared to purchase even more than the newly doubled $4 billion limit per operation to rescue the struggling bond market. Bessent emphasized that liquidity in the 30-year government bond market has turned "very poor" and that soaring borrowing costs do not reflect true economic fundamentals. Asserting that the Treasury has a "big toolkit" at its disposal, he made it clear that the government will pump in whatever cash is necessary to prevent bond yields from running wild. This aggressive intervention comes as America's total national debt officially crossed a record-shattering $40 trillion (nearly ₹330 lakh crore) this week, creating immense pressure on government budgets and global lenders. Big private investors had staged a "buyers' strike" on older 10-year, 20-year, and 30-year bonds, forcing the Treasury to step onto trading floors as a guaranteed mega-buyer. To soothe fears that massive money injections will trigger fresh inflation, Bessent added that the administration is preparing to announce strict fiscal consolidation measures to review spending and revenues alongside the buyback blitz.