PRIME Minister Narendra Modi, who is known for his ability to connect with the masses through social media, has now 30 million followers on Instagram, in just over a month after the tech-savvy leader had crossed the 50 million follower mark on Twitter. With this, Modi is now the most followed world leader on the photo-sharing app. US President Donald Trump currently has 14.9 million followers while his predecessor Barack Obama has 24.8 million followers on Instagram. “PM @NarendraModi crosses 30 million ..

A 75-YEAR-OLD woman has delivered a baby girl in Kota via IVF late on Saturday night, doctors confirmed on Sunday. The underweight child, weighing 600 gm, has been shifted to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of another hospital while the woman was in Kinkar Hospital in Kota. A team of pediatricians is monitoring the child. The woman, who had earlier adopted a kid, wanted to have her own child and hence had consulted the doctors about the possibilities of her becoming a mother...

PRESIDENT Ram Nath Kovind met Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mother Hiraba at her residence near Gandhinagar on Sunday morning. On the second day of his two-day Gujarat visit, the President and his wife Savita Kovind met the Prime Minister’s nonagenarian mother at her residence in Raisan village, where she lives with her younger son Pankaj Modi...

SECURITY was beefed up in several areas of Srinagar - the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir - on Sunday following a grenade attack by suspected militants in a city market that left seven people injured, police said. More security personnel, along with the flying squad, were deployed in Lal Chowk, Jehangir Chowk, Hari Singh High Street, Regal Chowk, TRC Chowk, Polo View and the areas around the city centre, a police official said. He said random checking of vehicles and frisking of people was being ..

ASSURING account holders of troubled Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank of support, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that she has spoken to the RBI Governor, who assured that customers’ concerns will be taken on top priority. The bank was put under ‘directions’ by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last month due to weak financial health, wherein the central bank has capped the deposit withdrawals at Rs 25,000. “Spoken to Governor @RBI on the #PMCBank matter. He assured me that ..

CHINESE President Xi Jinping was gifted a hand-woven portrait of his by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the final day of the Mamallapuram Informal Summit. The portrait was painstakingly created by the master weavers of Sri Ramalinga Sowdambigai Handloom Weavers Co-operative Society in Sirumugaipudur in Coimbatore District...

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi, here for an informal summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, was on Saturday seen cleaning up a beach by picking up plastic litter and other waste during his morning walk. On Twitter, Modi released a three-minute video, which showed him collecting the waste as he walked barefoot on the sand, and urged the people to ensure that public places are clean and tidy. “Plogging at a beach in Mamallapuram this morning”. It lasted for over 30 minutes. Also handed over my ‘collection’ ..

INDIA and China on Saturday resolved to start a new chapter of cooperation while prudently managing their differences, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed several key issues, including ways to enhance trade and investment and confidence building measures, during their nearly seven-hour one-on-one talks spread over two days in this ancient coastal town. The significant outcome of the second Modi-Xi informal summit included setting up of a new high-level mechanism ..

UNION Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday hailed the Modi Government’s “great job” of “integrating” India by scrapping Article 370, and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar to clarify whether they were for or against it. Addressing poll rallies in Maharashtra’s Sangli and Solapur districts to campaign for the BJP, Shah accused the Congress and NCP of opposing the move for their politics of vote bank and appeasement...

UNION Minister Nityanand Rai launched a website and a mobile application on Thursday to facilitate the railway police in addressing complaints of passengers from across India and crime detection by integrating the criminal database online. The Minister of State of Home Affairs launched the website www.Railways.Delhipolice.Gov.In and the mobile app Sahyatri in presence of Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik and other officials at the NDMC Convention Centre on Sansad Marg here. The database of ..

THE picturesque historical seaside town of Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu will be the cynosure of all eyes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping at the UNESCO world heritage site for the second bilateral informal summit on October 11-12. This is not the first time that Modi is hosting a foreign leader outside the national capital, which earlier used to be the norm. Modi has always maintained that the other states should..

RAILWAYS has formed a task force to draw a blueprint for developing 50 railway stations with world class standards and allowing private passenger train operators to run 150 trains on its network. The order comes days after NITI Aayog Chairman wrote to Chairman Railway Board V K Yadav proposing the formation of an empowered group to drive the process in a “time-bound manner”. “Ministry of railways have decided to constitute an empowered group of Secretaries for development of 50 railway stations to ..

THE Centre on Wednesday approved a resettlement package under which Rs 5.5 lakh will be given to each of the 5,300 displaced families which had come from PoK, initially settled outside Jammu and Kashmir and later relocated to the State. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here...

PARIS, INDIA should provide an attractive business environment as the country is set to become the third largest commercial market for aviation, the CEO of the French engine manufacturer behind the Rafale fighter jet told Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday while announcing that the company plans to invest nearly USD 150 million in the country...

THE Rafale multi-role fighter jets will boost India’s air dominance exponentially, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday as he formally took delivery of the first of the 36 long-awaited French-made aircraft acquired by the Indian Air Force at a ceremony here. Singh attended the handover ceremony along with his French counterpart Florence Parly at aircraft maker Dassault Aviation facility in Merignac, south-western France...

THREE Indian engineers held by the Taliban in Afghanistan since May 2018 have been freed by the militant group in exchange for 11 of its top members from Afghan jails, according to media reports on Monday, amidst fresh efforts to revive the Afghan peace talks. The release of Indian hostages follows key meetings between US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Islamabad during the weekend...

THE Enforcement Directorate has attached immovable and movable properties worth whopping Rs 1489 crores in connection with embezzlement of public deposits by Adarsh Credit Cooperative Society Limited (ACCSL), the agency said on Monday. The properties include land and building valued at Rs 1464.76 crore and fixed deposits/balance in various bank accounts of Rs 24.44 crore approximately belonging to Adarsh Group of Mukesh Modi, Virendra Modi and his family; Riddhi Siddhi Group of Mahendra Tak, Saurabh ..

INDIA has got first tranche of swiss bank account details of its nationals under a new automatic information exchange pact, a major milestone in the Government’s fight against black money stashed abroad. India is among 75 countries with which Switzerland’s Federal Tax Administration (FTA) has exchanged information on financial accounts within the framework of global standards on AEOI, an FTA spokesperson told PTI. The next exchange would take place in September 2020, the spokesperson added...

SAUDI Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman was so upset by some actions of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in New York that he reportedly “snubbed” him by ordering his private jet to “disembowel” the Pakistani delegation. Prince Salman gave Prime Minister Khan his private jet to travel to the US on a week-long visit and to attend the 74th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York last month. Khan went to Riyadh and held talks with the Crown Prince first before leaving for the US. It was ..

CHARACTERS of Liliputs and Gulliver from a popular novel and the old-world charm of Kolkata of yesteryears are the main attractions of two big- budget Durga Pujas in the city, that are drawing huge crowds. At the FD Block Puja in Salt Lake, scenes from ‘Gulliver’s Travels’, a novel by Jonathan Swift, have been recreated with a giant model of Gulliver lying on the ground and surrounded by dwarf-sized installations..

ENTERPRISES which deployed an internal Security Operation Center (SOC) have been able to reduce financial damage from a cyberattack at $675,000 -- less than half the average impact cost for all enterprise-level organisations at $1.41 million, a new survey from Kaspersky and market research firm B2B International has revealed...

AHEAD of handing over of the first Rafale jet to India, European missile maker MBDA has said that the aircraft with most advanced weapons package comprising Meteor and Scalp missiles will provide the country unrivalled deep strike capability and air dominance in the region..

SONIA Gandhi on Sunday accepted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s invite to visit her country on its 50th anniversary of liberation, as the visiting leader met the Congress chief and former PM Manmohan Singh here and discussed issues concerning the two nations. Hasina also extended the invitation to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to join the commemoration of 50th Anniversary of Bangladesh Liberation. The Congress president has accepted the invitation, the party said in a statement...

GREEN crackers with 30 per cent less emissions have entered the market, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan announced on Saturday, noting that the step has been taken so that people’s sentiments are taken care of without harming the environment. The green crackers were displayed by the minister and scientists of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) who were involved in their making at an event here. The Health Minister said the new and improved crackers have been introduced to deal with ..

CLASHES broke out between the police and green activists who tried to stop tree cutting by Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) in Aarey Colony in north Mumbai on Friday night and Saturday, leading to arrest of at least 29 persons. The police on Saturday imposed section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Aarey, restricting movements and gathering of groups, and cordoned off the area. Several people were detained, including NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad, Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, sena ..

PEOPLE residing in far-flung and remote villages of Rajouri district here are overjoyed after receiving electricity under the Soubaghya Electricity scheme. At least 20,000 homes have got the electricity connection for the first time. The area, especially near the border, was deprived of power supply since independence. DDC Rajouri Mohammed Aijaz Asad spoke to ANI on this development and said, “The Centre under Saubhagya scheme has provided electricity to around 20,300 homes. People are very happy ..

INDIA and Bangladesh on Saturday signed seven pacts including one for setting up of a joint coastal surveillance systems as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina held “productive and comprehensive” talks to further broadbase bilateral ties. In the discussions, Hasina also raised her concerns over roll out of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, an exercise carried out to identify genuine Indian citizens living in Assam and weed out illegal Bangladeshis. ..

HEEDING to a long-standing demand of the Army, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has given in-principle approval to enhance monetary assistance to next of kin of battle casualties from existing Rs 2 lakh to Rs 8 lakh, officials said Saturday. They said the financial assistance will be granted under Army Battle Casualties Welfare Fund (ABCWF). At present, financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh was given to battle casualties in case of death and also to those sustaining 60 per cent and above disability besides ..

NEW DELHIDAYS after the PMC Bank came under scanner for alleged frauds, the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said that all was well with the banking system and one incident could not reflect the health of the overall system.He advised the public and depositors to not believe in rumours. Shaktikanta Das  “The Indian banking sector remains sound and stable and there is no reason for any unnecessary panic. In fact, sometimes unnecessary rumours can create panic situation,” ..

NEW DELHITHE Indian Air Force (IAF) will showcase its newest acquisitions - the Apache and the Chinook helicopters - on the occasion of Air Force Day next week, defence officials said here on Friday. Apache AH64-E attack helicopter during its induction at the Pathankot Air Base, in Pathankot. (ANI/File photo)   The Air Force Day celebrations will be held with a spectacular air show at the Hindon Air Force Station in Ghaziabad on October 8. The IAF had inducted eight Apache attack ..

NEW DELHIINDIAN Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria on Friday strongly backed indigenous development of a fifth generation fighter jet and said the IAF was working on an ambitious modernisation plan to bolster its combat capability. Addressing a press conference, Bhadauria said the plan includes induction of more Tejas and Sukhoi aircraft, integrating of indigenous ASTRA beyond visual range missile across platforms and upgrading the Jaguar jet fleet among others. He said ..

The repo rate cut is aimed at pushing consumption up during the ongoing festival season by reducing borrowing costs for home and auto loansMUMBAIHOME, auto and other loans are set to become cheaper after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday cut interest rates for a record fifth straight time to almost a decade low as it moved aggressively to revive economic growth languishing at six-year lows.  With all six members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voting in favour of a rate cut ..

JAMALUDDIN, a resident of Padrauna in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar, looks normal at first glance but he is not. All the organs in his body are placed on the wrong side -- his heart is on the right side while his liver and gall bladder are on the left. The matter came to light recently when Jamaluddin complained of stomach ache and was taken to a doctor in Gorakhpur...

APPEARING in public after nearly three weeks, former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar on Thursday surrendered before the Alipore Court here, which then granted him bail on two sureties of Rs 50,000 each in connection with the Saradha chit-fund scam case. The Calcutta High Court had on Tuesday given anticipatory bail to Kumar, who is currently the Additional Director General of the West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department...

MUMBAI police on Thursday arrested two Directors of the Housing Development Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) in the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank scam, a senior official said. Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang Wadhawan, accused of loan default, have been arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), the official said. Properties worth Rs 3,500 crore of HDIL have also been frozen by the EOW, he said...