MUMBAI terror attack mastermind and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed and his three aides were granted pre-arrest bail on Monday by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan in a case pertaining to the banned outfit’s illegal use of land for its seminary...

A MAJOR 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit the remote Maluku islands in Eastern Indonesia on Sunday, sending panicked residents running into the streets, but no tsunami warning was issued...

 By Lalit K Jha: WASHINGTON PRESIDENT Donald Trump on Tuesday said India has long had a “field day” imposing tariffs on American products, which is “no longer acceptable” to the US. Trump’s terse comment came days after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28 where the two leaders aired their concerns over the bilateral trade disputes and agreed for a meeting of their Commerce Ministers to sort ..

 NEW DELHI: THE Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday said it will deliver on July 17 its verdict in the case relating to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is on death row in Pakistan. Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India approached the ICJ in May 2017 against Pakistan for denying consular access to Jadhav. India had also challenged the “farcical ..

 By Lalit K Jha: WASHINGTON A SHORT film based on the real-life of an eminent Indian-American Sikh, whose campaign forced the US authorities to change their policy towards turban, has won ‘Short of the Year’ award at a prestigious film festival that showcases independent films from around the world. Directed by Jenna Ruiz, the movie titled SINGH was chosen among 100 films submitted for the award in the same category at the Covellite International Film Festival in Montana, ..

 PANMUNJOM: DONALD Trump stepped onto North Korean soil in a historic first on Sunday as he met Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un in a moment of high diplomatic drama on the world’s last Cold War frontier. Moments after becoming the only sitting US President to set foot inside North Korea, Trump brought Kim back over the dividing line for a meeting where they agreed to start working-level talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons. Trump also said he had invited the young leader ..

 OSAKA: THE bonhomie between Scott Morrison and Narendra Modi was on full display on Saturday when the Australian Prime Minister tweeted a selfie with his Indian counterpart and praised him in Hindi “Kithana acha he Modi!”, a message which went viral. Modi replied to his tweet by saying he was “stoked” about the energy of the India-Australia relations.  “You have made the message go viral by writing Kithana acha he Modi!” the Indian Prime Minister ..

 OSAKA: PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday used the G20 Summit here to promote India’s traditional healing measures, Yoga and his flagship Ayushman Bharat health scheme. Modi, who was in Osaka, Japan for the two-day G20 Summit, also took part in a special session on empowerment of women.  The session witnessed an in-depth dialogue on how to further women empowerment and work towards gender equality. Speaking at the third session of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Prime Minister ..

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi held a trilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin here on Friday and discussed global hot-spot issues like terrorism and climate change. Modi, who is in Osaka, Japan for the G20 Summit, hosted Xi and Putin for an informal RIC (Russia-India-China) meeting here. The three countries, in a joint communique of the 16th Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, India and China, strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and ..

 EUROPEAN Union leaders on Friday warned of the damage caused by the ongoing US-China trade dispute to the world economy and urged for rules-based international trade, the media reported. As the world’s Group of 20 economies kicked off their two-day summit in the Japanese port city of Osaka, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the strained relations between Washington and Beijing over trade were “difficult” and contributing to a slowdown in the global economy. ..

BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday that normal relations will not be restored until Moscow ends its “irresponsible and destabilising” activity, a Downing Street spokesperson said. The comments came as May met Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan’s Osaka, their first formal face-to-face since the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal last year.  “She told the President that there cannot be a normalisation ..

  UNITED NATIONS:  India’s candidature for the two-year term has been unanimously endorsed by the 55-member Asia-Pacific grouping, including China and Pakistan  Each year the 193-member General Assembly elects five non-permanent members for a two-year term   IN A major diplomatic win and testament to its global stature, India’s candidature for a non-permanent seat at the powerful UN Security Council for a two-year term has been unanimously endorsed by the 55-member ..

 By Gaurav Sharma  BEIJING THE leaders of China, India and Russia will meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit later this week in Japan to discuss ways to counter US President Donald Trump’s “protectionist” trade policy and bullying practices. Ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit to Osaka to attend the summit on June 28-29, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Jun on Monday said the leader will have a sit-down with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ..

 TEHRAN: The cyber attack targeted Iranian Intelligence group’s computer systems used to control missile and rocket launches  THE US has covertly launched a cyber attack against an Iranian Intelligence group’s computer systems on the same day President Donald Trump pulled back on using more traditional methods of military force. The cyber attack, which were approved by Trump on Thursday, targeted computer systems used to control missile and rocket launches that were ..

 NEW YORK:  According to the report, even though 1.8 billion people gained access to basic drinking water services since 2000, there remain vast inequalities in accessibility, availability, and quality of these services  SOME 2.2 billion people around the world do not have access to safely managed drinking water services, while 4.2 billion people lack access to safely managed sanitation services, according to a new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations ..

 BERNE/NEW DELHI: SWISS authorities are in process of sharing details of at least 50 Indian nationals having accounts in Switzerland-based banks, with regulatory and enforcement agencies in the two countries tightening their noose on individuals suspected to have amassed illicit wealth. These individuals largely include businessmen associated with companies, including the dummy ones, in sectors ranging from real estate, financial services, technology and telecom to paints, home decoration, ..

  WASHINGTON:  The estimated cost of the journey is USD 58 million for a return trip lasting 30 days at International Space Station, or around USD 35,000 a night.  ANTARCTICA used to be one of the most remote destinations on travellers’ bucket lists, but there will soon be an even more exclusive club to join. Last week, NASA announced its intention to open up the International Space Station to tourists. For the last two decades, astronauts from 18 countries have lived ..

 BISHKEK: Pak must take ‘concrete action’ against terrorism for peace talks: Modi tells Xi  To mark the establishment of 70 years of diplomatic relations, India and China will both hold 70 programmes, 35 in each country    PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday raised the issue of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan during his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping here and said India expects “concrete action” by Islamabad to ..

 United States President Donald Trump revealed on Tuesday that Mexico agreed to take stronger legal action to halt Central American migrants if its initial efforts to stem the flow don’t show results in 45 days. In bright sunshine outside the White House, Trump waved what he said was the text of an agreement Mexican and US officials signed on Friday to avert the application of tariffs on their exports to the United States.  Photographs of the document revealed that Mexico appeared ..

  By Aditi KhannaA UK High Court judge on Wednesday accepted a broad consistency of evidence put forward by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), arguing on behalf of the Indian Government, in the extradition case against fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi.  Justice Ingrid Simler read out a detailed judgement at the Royal Courts of Justice, in which she upheld a lower court ruling to withhold bail and also summed up the case against Modi - wanted in India as the “principal ..

 By Lalit K Jha: WASHINGTON INDIA is projected to grow at 7.5 per cent in the next three years supported by robust investment and private consumption, the World Bank has said. The Bank in its Global Economic Prospects released on Tuesday said that India is estimated to have grown 7.2 per cent in fiscal year 2018/19, which ended March 31. A slowdown in Government consumption was offset by solid investment, which benefitted from public infrastructure spending.  As against a growth ..

ABU DHABIIN an extraordinary gesture, the UAE Government lit up the iconic ADNOC building here on the occasion of the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Council of Ministers to symbolise the close bonds of friendship and cooperation between the two nations.   The flags of India and the UAE and portraits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan were displayed on the facade of the iconic building. The Abu ..

 NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD:  Modi made the remarks in a telephonic conversation after Pakistan PM Imran Khan telephoned him to congratulate Modi on his victory  IN their first telephonic conversation after the Balakot airstrikes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on Sunday that creating trust and an environment free of violence and terrorism was essential for fostering peace and prosperity in the region. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said ..

NEW YORKI M PEI, the pre-eminent US architect who forged a distinct brand of modern building design with his sharp lines and stark structures, has died, his sons’ architecture firm said on Thursday. He was 102 years old. The Chinese-born Pei was the mastermind behind the bold Louvre pyramid in Paris, the landmark 72-story Bank of China tower in Hong Kong and Athens’ Museum of Modern Art, works seen as embracing modernity tempered by a grounding in history.   In his adopted ..

 WASHINGTON: SPEAKING about his plans of g etting to the moon by 2024, Amazon and US-based aerospace company Blue Origin Founder, Jeff Bezos unveiled a new Moon-lander called “Blue Moon” along with a smaller rover at the Walter E. Washington Convention Centre here.  “Today, our founder shared our vision to go to space to benefit Earth. We must return to the Moon-this time to stay. We’re ready to support @NASA in getting there by 2024 with #bluemoon,” Blue ..

  By Aditi KhannaLONDON, May 12 (PTI)  INDIAN-ORIGIN brothers dominate the annual rich list of Britain’s wealthiest, with the Hinduja brothers ranked at No. 1 with a fortune of 22 billion pounds followed by Mumbai-born Reuben brothers in second place with 18.66 billion pounds.  Sri and Gopichand Hinduja, who run the Hinduja Group of companies in the UK, registered a 1.35 billion pounds jump in their fortunes over the previous year to return to the top of the ‘Sunday ..

A MYANMAR pilot saved the day after his aircraft’s landing gear failed, forcing the jet into an emergency landing with no front wheels on Sunday morning, an official said. The nail-biting touchdown -- in which nobody was injured -- was the second instance of a malfunctioning flight in less than a week within the country.  The Myanmar Airlines flight UB-103 -- an Embraer-190 model -- was grounded at around 9 am in Mandalay (0230 GMT), a city popular among foreign tourists, with all ..

  JACKSONVILLE (US): A CHARTER plane carrying 143 people and travelling from Cuba to north Florida ended up in a river at the end of a runway on Friday night, though no critical injuries or deaths were reported, officials said. A Boeing 737 arriving at Naval Air Station Jacksonville from Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with 136 passengers and seven aircrew slid off the runway into the St. Johns River, a NAS Jacksonville news release said. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office ..

UNITED NATIONSTHE gloves are off at the United Nations between the United States and their once-close European allies, according to some diplomats. European diplomats complain that Washington has shown little interest in working with them to address global crises and appears indifferent to the prospect of going it alone on the international stage. The 15 members of the Security Council -- five of which are European Union members -- will hold a retreat outside New York, but there is little hope of ..

IN A huge diplomatic win for India, the United Nations on Wednesday designated Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist” after China lifted its hold on a proposal to blacklist him. ..

  DUBAI: IT is a problem of plenty for a Dubai-based Indian girl who has been offered acceptance letters by seven prestigious US-based universities, including Ivy League schools, leaving her surprised as she never expected the variety of choices she has been left with. Simone Noorali, 17, has been offered acceptance letters from the University of California in Berkeley, Johns Hopkins University, Emory University, George Town University and George Washington University.  The girl ..

  By Lalit K Jha: WASHINGTON  US may withhold visas of Pakistanis beginning with its senior officials  THE US has imposed sanctions on Pakistan after Islamabad refused to take back its citizen deportees and visa over-stayers from America, warning that it may withhold visas of Pakistanis beginning from its senior officials. The State Department on Friday said that consular operations in Pakistan remain “unchanged” as of now but as a result of such a sanction ..

  COLOMBO:  SRI Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Thursday that authorities were targeting the “sleepers” who could trigger another round of bombings as police released photos of six suspects, including three women, wanted for their involvement in the attacks and sought information regarding them from the public. Meanwhile, Health Ministry on Thursday night revised the death toll down to 253, from 359, saying the previous figure was due to a calculation ..

  By Gaurav Sharma BEIJING; A TOTAL of 37 countries minus India on Thursday will gather at China’s second edition of the Belt and Road forum, a three-day grand event on the world’s largest connectivity project. The Belt and Road Initiative -- a trillion-dollar project floated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 -- aims to connect Asia, Africa and Europe through a network of highways, rail lines, ports and sea-lanes.  The sheer vastness of the project and the money ..

SRI Lankan Government on Wednesday admitted that “major” Intelligence lapses led to the horrific Easter Sunday blasts and asked two top security officials to resign, even as the death toll in the coordinated attacks rose to 359 amidst a nationwide manhunt to nab the perpetrators. Nine suicide bombers,..

  BOSTON;  GLOBAL warming has caused the Indian economy to be 31 per cent smaller than it would otherwise have been, according to a Stanford study which shows how Earth’s temperature changes have increased inequalities. The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that growing concentrations of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere since 1960s have enriched cool countries like Norway and Sweden, while dragging down economic ..

THREE days after the suicide bombings in Sri Lanka, the Islamic State (IS) on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the devastating Easter blasts that killed 321 people while Sri Lankan Government has said that little-known local Islamic extremist group called National Tawheed Jamath (NTJ) was behind the attacks...

  WASHINGTON:  SAVING the diversity and abundance of life on Earth may cost USD 100 billion a year, say scientists who have proposed a policy to prevent another mass extinction event on the planet. There have been five mass extinctions in the history of the Earth. Scientists now estimate that society must urgently come to grips this coming decade to stop the very first human-made biodiversity catastrophe. “The sixth extinction is on our society’s shoulders; it really ..

SEVEN suicide bombers believed to be members of an Islamist extremist group carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter on Sunday, killing 290 people and wounding 500 others..

A STRING of eight devastating blasts, including suicide attacks, struck churches and luxury hotels frequented by foreigners in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing 215 people and shattering a decade of peace in the island nation since the end of the brutal civil war with the LTTE...

Scientists believe that around 100,000 years after the big bang,helium and hydrogen combined to make a molecule called helium hydride for the first timeWASHINGTON, Apr 19 (IANS) NASA’s airborne observatory has detected the first type of molecule ever formed in the universe.This is the first time helium hydride has been found in the modern universe. Scientists discovered the molecule in our own galaxy using NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), as the aircra..

By K J M VarmaBEIJING, Apr 19 (PTI)  CHINA said on Friday it was ready to hold a Wuhan-style summit meeting with India this year to improve ties, notwithstanding the differences over the trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in which the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a flagship project.   Addressing a media conference here ahead of the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) being held from April 25-27 to showcase China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI..

   WASHINGTON:  Instead of using visible light to spot incoming objects, Mainzer’s team at JPL/Caltech has leveraged a characteristic signature of NEOs -- their heat  NASA scientists have found a simple yet ingenious way to spot tiny near-Earth objects (NEOs) early as they hurtle towards the planet, an advance that may aid the efforts to prevent dangerous impacts. The Chelyabinsk meteor, which was a mere 17-20 metres across, caused extensive ground damage and numerous ..

ISLAMABAD, Apr 16 (PTI) PAKISTAN and the IMF are set to sign a USD 6-8 billion bailout package, Finance Minister Asad Umar has announced, as the cash-strapped country tries to wriggle out from a severe balance-of-payments crisis that threatens to cripple its economy.He said the International Monetary Fund package would ease off pressure from the country’s dwindling foreign reserves. “We have reached an agreement and all the major issues have been settled and documented,” Umar told ..

The device can work in remote areas because it provides its own power and does not need batteriesLOS ANGELES, Apr 16 (PTI) SCIENTISTS have designed a first-of-its-kind 3D-printed device that can produce electricity from falling snow.The device designed by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the US is inexpensive, small, thin and flexible like a sheet of plastic. “The device can work in remote areas because it provides its own power and does not need batteries,̶..

A handout photo provided by the European Southern Observatory on Wednesday shows the first photograph of a black hole and its fiery halo, released by Event Horizon Telescope astronomers (EHT). The supermassive black hole is 50 million lightyears away in a galaxy known as M87.    PARIS: ASTRONOMERS on Wednesday unveiled the first photo of a black hole, one of the star-devouring monsters scattered throughout the Universe and obscured by impenetrable shields of gravity. The image ..

  WASHINGTON DC:  AMAZON CEO Jeff Bezos will retain control over 75 per cent of his stock in the company and gain voting rights of the remaining shares of his former wife MacKenzie Bezos, under a divorce settlement, the pair said on Thursday. “Grateful to have finished the process of dissolving my marriage with Jeff with support from each other and everyone who reached out to us in kindness,” MacKenzie said on twitter message that was retweeted by Jeff Bezos.  The record ..

GLOBAL growth in 2019 should be even slower than previously expected but a “precarious” rebound later this year is likely, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday. In a speech ahead of next week’s spring meetings with the World Bank, IMF chief Christine Lagarde said..

 By K J M Varma BEIJING, CHINA has successfully launched the first of its new-generation data relay satellites into orbit that will provide data relay, measurement and control services for its manned spacecraft. The Tianlian II-01 satellite was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China’s Sichuan Province Sunday night. As the first satellite to constitute China’s second-generation data relay satellite network, the Tianlian ..

    By Aditi Khanna:   LONDON,   The gang is alleged to have sent 1 per cent of its gains from their elaborate tax fraud to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where it funded madarasas, training camps and other terrorist activities, according to the leaked files seen by ‘The Sunday Times’ These crimes have reportedly cost the UK taxpayer an estimated 100 million pounds    A BRITISH Asian gang of fraudsters may have been involved in misusing ..