AN F-16 screeched across the sky then landed among pineapple fields in southwestern Taiwan to quickly refuel before taking off again. A Taiwanese-made Indigenous Defensive Fighter, US-made F-16V, French-made Mirage 2000-5 and an E-2K early warning aircraft landed on a highway surrounded by farm fields in Jiadong early Wednesday morning - simulating what they would do if their air base was damaged by enemy forces. The simulation is part of Taiwan’s five-day Han Guang military exercise designed to prepare ..

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla have been named among the world’s 100 most influential people of 2021 by ‘TIME’ magazine. ‘TIME’ on Wednesday unveiled its annual list of ‘The 100 Most Influential People of 2021’, a global list that includes US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Duke and Duchess of Sussex Prince Harry and Meghan, former US President Donald Trump ..

THE trust between the Government and the industry has increased following the scrapping of the retrospective taxation regime, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday. In a virtual address at the Indo-US Economic Summit organised by a leading industry chamber, Singh listed a range of measures initiated by the NDA Government to boost economic growth and said the global investors are now receiving “red carpet” welcome in India instead of “red-tapism”. “We have formulated progressive and investor-frie..

A DAY after the Delhi Police busted a Pakistan’s ISI trained terror module that has been closely managed by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s brother, an investigation into the matter has revealed that the operatives were trained under a Major or Lieutenant rank officer named Ghazi. According to the sources, Ghazi had two subordinates named Jabbar and Hamza. The police had arrested six operatives of Pakistan’s ISI-trained terror module. Two accused Zeeshan Qamar and Osama informed the police that they ..

A RECORD 44 candidates have scored 100 percentile in the engineering entrance exam JEE-Main this year while 18 candidates have shared the top rank, according to National Testing Agency . The result for the crucial exam was announced post-midnight on Tuesday with the website crashing for several hours after that. The first rank holders included Gaurab Das (Karnataka), Vaibhav Vishal (Bihar), Duggineni Venkata Paneesh (Andhra Pradesh), Siddhant Mukherjee, Anshul Verma and Mridul Agarwal (Rajasthan), ..

THE National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the Centre, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh Governments and other authorities asking for reports of ongoing farmers agitation against the new farm laws. The NHRC has asked National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Health and the Government of India to submit reports with respect to the adverse impact of farmers agitation on various aspects and observance of COVID protocols at the protest ..

INDIAN Army personnel conducted combat free fall, special heliborne operations and other defensive manoeuvres during multi-national military exercise ‘Zapad’ in Nizhny, Russia, military officials said. A contingent of 200 personnel of the Indian Army are participating in Zapad that started on September 3 and will end on September 16. Zapad aims to boost anti-terror cooperation between countries...

A SPECIAL squad consisting of women officials should be set up at every police station and patrolling should be intensified in areas where the occurrence of crime against women is more likely, Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale said in a circular issued on Tuesday. The instructions came in the aftermath of the brutal rape and murder of a woman in suburban Sakinaka last week, which bore some similarity to the 2012 ‘Nirbhaya’ gang-rape case of Delhi. At every police station, there will be ..

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden will address the UN General Debate in-person next week, as over 100 heads of State and Government arrive in New York to attend the annual high-level General Assembly session, which had gone virtual in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Modi will address world leaders from the iconic UN General Assembly hall on the morning of September 25, a day after he participates in the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC hosted by Biden on September 24. ..

AT LEAST 20 civilians have been killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley, which has seen fighting between the militants and opposition forces, the BBC reported. Communications have been cut in the valley, making reporting difficult, but the BBC has evidence of Taliban killings despite promises of restraint. Footage from a dusty roadside in Panjshir shows a man wearing military gear surrounded by Taliban fighters. Gunfire rings out and he slumps to the ground. It is not clear if the man ..

Tragedy struck Warud tehsil in Amravati district on Tuesday after as many as 10 relatives and an oarsman met watery grave in Wardha river in a boat capsize incident. The deceased include a 2-year-old girl. Till the filing of this report the rescue team had recovered three bodies while search for the others was on. Meanwhile, two persons from the family managed to swim back to safety. As per details, Matre family members from Gadegaon village in Warud tehsil and gone to Zunj village to attend post-death ..

THE Reserve Bank on Monday cautioned people against frauds in the name of KYC updation and advised them not to share key information like account details or passwords with unidentified persons or agencies. In a release, the RBI said it has been receiving complaints/reports about customers falling prey to frauds being perpetrated in the name of KYC updation...

NORTH Korea says, it successfully test fired newly-developed long-range cruise missiles over the weekend, its first known testing activity in months, underscoring how it continues to expand its military capabilities amid a stalemate in nuclear negotiations with the United States. The Korean Central News Agency said on Monday the cruise missiles, which had been under development for two years, demonstrated an ability to hit targets 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) away during flight tests on Saturday and ..

THE Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that it does not wish to file a detailed affidavit on a batch of petitions seeking independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping row, while the top court said it would pass an interim order on the issue. A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, that if the Government re-thinks about filing a detailed affidavit in the case, he can mention the matter before it. “We are reserving order. ..

BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal on Monday filed her nomination for the Assembly by-poll in Bhabanipur where she is up against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress candidate. Bhabanipur will go to the polls on September 30 and the results will be declared on October 3. The CPI(M) has fielded lawyer Srijib Biswas from the seat, while Congress has refrained from taking part in the by-election. Tibrewal, also a lawyer, filed her nomination at the Survey Building in Alipore. She was ..

FIRST-TERM MLA Bhupendra Patel was on Monday sworn in Gujarat Chief Minister, two days after Vijay Rupani’s surprise exit from the post, a year ahead of the Assembly polls. Patel (59), unanimously elected BJP legislature party leader on Sunday, was sworn in as the State’s 17th Chief Minister by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a simple ceremony at Raj Bhawan. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Goa CM Pramod Sawant and Karnataka CM Basavaraj ..

A 15-YEAR-OLD girl was allegedly raped and assaulted with a hammer by a man close to the railway station in Ulhasnagar town of Maharashtra’s Thane district, police said on Sunday. The incident took place on Friday night and the accused, identified as Shrikant Gaikwad (30), a labourer, was arrested a day later, a railway police official said. “The girl was walking on a skywalk at the Ulhasnagar railway station on her way home from Shirdi, along with her two friends, when Gaikwad suddenly came there ..

ONLINE food delivery platform Zomato has decided to stop its grocery delivery service from September 17 mainly on account of gaps in order fulfillment, leading to poor customer experience. The company also said that it believes that its investment in Grofers will generate better outcomes for its shareholders than in-house grocery efforts. In an email to its grocery partners, Zomato said, “At Zomato, we believe in delivering best in class services to our customers and largest growth opportunities to ..

FIRST-TERM MLA Bhupendra Patel will be the new Chief Minister of Gujarat. Patel (59) was unanimously elected BJP legislature party leader here on Sunday. He will be sworn in as the Chief Minister on Monday, State BJP chief C R Patil said. The proposal to elect him the legislature party leader was moved by CM Vijay Rupani, whose resignation on Saturday, over a year ahead of the State Assembly polls, surprised many political observers. Most of the 112 MLAs of the party in the 182-member Assembly were ..

FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said banks, including private sector should embrace digitisation towards ensuring that Government schemes reach the poor and downtrodden, besides adopting financial inclusion for a wider reach. Delivering her address at the centenary celebrations of the city-based Tamilnad Mercantile Bank here, Sitharaman said even during COVID-19 pandemic with the use of digitisation through banking correspondents, the Government’s financial disbursements were distributed ..

THE National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2021 for admission in undergraduate medical courses was held across the country following COVID-19 protocols on Sunday. Ashutosh Kumar, a student while speaking to ANI, said, “The exam was getting postponed due to COVID-19 several times and we got lots of time for the preparation. I am all prepared for this exam.” The strict adherence to COVID-19 measures was taken by the students and the school authorities. “I am 100 per cent prepared for the NEET ..

TERMING the 9/11 terror attack an assault on humanity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that a permanent solution to such tragedies can be found in human values. He said that on the same day in 1893, Swami Vivekananda had introduced to the world the human values of India during his address at the Parliament of World’s Religion in Chicago. Modi’s statements come on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and amid the developments ..

INDIA and Australia on Saturday asserted that Afghanistan must not allow its soil to be used in any manner for terrorism and it should never again become a safe haven for “breeding and training” of terrorists, as the two countries held a detailed discussion on the situation in the war-torn country after its takeover by the Taliban. At the inaugural India-Australia two-plus-two dialogue, the Foreign and Defence Ministers of the two countries also vowed to work towards a free, open and inclusive ..

THE Taliban beheaded an Afghan soldier, then chanted praise to their leader Hibatullah Akhundzada while holding the severed head of their victim by his hair in a video posted in a private Taliban chat room, Washington Examiner reported. The 36-second video, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner, was posted a week ago. It’s unclear when it was made, but on August 17, Taliban leaders promised amnesty for Government workers and protection for women. In the video, six Taliban fighters surround ..

IN A major victory, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. on Thursday won a four-year battle for control of money from an arbitration award, as the Supreme Court upheld an arbitral award which went in its favour. A bench headed by justice L. Nageswara Rao dismissed a plea by DMRC and upheld the 2017 arbitration award in favour of debt-laden Reliance Group, ADAG, led By Anil Ambani. The amount over Rs 4,600 crore, including interest, will help the beleaguered group to repay its debt. A detailed order will be ..

THE Central Bureau of Investigation that is probing the cases of post-poll violence in West Bengal under the direction of the Calcutta High Court, has recently written to the National Human Rights Commission to send them the list of complaints that could not be probed because of circumstantial pressure. The central agency wanted to get the list because it was receiving a series of complaints from several people who are not in the NHRC list submitted to the High Court...

UNION Ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari inaugurated an emergency landing strip at Satta-Gandhav stretch on National Highway 925 here on Thursday for Indian Air Force (IAF) planes. A Hercules C-130J plane of the IAF, carrying the two ministers and Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, conducted a mock emergency landing on the national highway on Thursday. NH-925 is India’s first national highway to be used for emergency landing of IAF aircraft. The two ministers also witnessed multiple aircraft ..

AFGHANISTAN’S acting Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund has appealed to former officials of past Governments to return to the country and assured them “full protection”, saying the period of bloodbath is over and they face a humongous task to rebuild the war-ravaged nation. “We paid a heavy price for seeing this historic moment in Afghanistan,” Mullah Hasan said on Wednesday, a day after the hardline Islamic insurgents unveiled an interim Cabinet after seizing power in Kabul...

BESIDES some fresh appointment, the President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday ordered shuffling of Governors of some States which includes shifting Banwarilal Purohit from Tamil Nadu to Punjab. He was earlier holding additional charge of Punjab...

HOPEFUL of an early resolution to the long-running farmers’ protests on the national capital borders, a key member of the Supreme Court-appointed panel on contentious agri-laws on Wednesday said the report submitted by the committee is “cent per cent” in favour of farmers and the apex court must take up the matter without any delay. The panel member acknowledged that the Government and the Supreme Court have to consider the law and order issue that may arise with the release of the report for which ..

A SCHEDULED visit of industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s wife Nita Ambani to Gujarat was cancelled after the recovery of an explosives-laden SUV outside their house ‘Antilia’ in south Mumbai in February this year, the security head of the residence has said in his statement to the NIA. The statement is part of a chargesheet filed last week by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) before a special court here against dismissed police officer Sachin Waze and nine others in connection with the recovery ..

NATIONAL Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Wednesday held talks with his Russian counterpart General Nikolay Patrushev in mitigating any possible security threat from the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, a day after holding similar deliberations with CIA chief William Burns. Meanwhile, Nikolay Patrushev called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday when the two reaffirmed their intention to strengthen coordination in the field of enhancing regional stability, including on Afghanistan. According to ..

THE Government on Wednesday hiked the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for wheat by Rs 40 to Rs 2,015 per quintal and for mustard seed by Rs 400 to Rs 5,050 per quintal for current crop year in order to boost crop area as well as income of farmers. The decision to increase the MSPs was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. MSP is the rate at which the Government buys the grain from farmers. Currently, the Government fixes MSPs for ..

FARMERS in large numbers gathered here for a Mahapanchayat as the local authorities braced themselves for a possible gherao of the district headquarters by protesters after talks between farm leaders and officials appeared to yield no result. Farmer unions had demanded action against officials over the lathi-charge against protesters on August 28 in Karnal. Otherwise, they had threatened, farmers will lay siege on the Karnal mini-Secretariat. As farmers gathered for the ‘Mahapanchayat’, an 11-member ..

THERE have been “catastrophic consequences” of the prolonged school closure in the country due to COVID-19, with over 37 per cent of students in rural areas not studying at all and 48 per cent not being able to read more than a few words, a recent survey has claimed. The School Children’s Online and Offline Learning (SCHOOL) survey, titled “Locked Out: Emergency Report on School Education”, involving nearly 1,400 students from underprivileged households was conducted in August in 15 states and union ..

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti was put under house detention on Tuesday and she claimed that the decision of Jammu and Kashmir authorities to restrain her movement had “exposed the Government’s claims of normalcy”. She also hit out at the Centre alleging that while the Government was expressing concern for the rights of the people in Afghanistan, the same were being denied to Kashmiris...

THE Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has signed a pact for providing reliable and sustainable power supply to security forces operating in remote, Naxal-affected and high-altitude areas. The MoU between the Navratna PSU BEL and the SFC Energy-AG, Germany, and FC TecNrgy Pvt Ltd (FCTec), signed recently, will ensure cooperation in addressing the emerging requirement of sustainable energy to the security forces through supply of hydrogen and fuel cells, a press release said. Reliable and sustainable ..

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India is administering a record 1.25 crore COVID vaccine shots every day, stressing that this figure is higher than the entire of population of several countries. Addressing the people of Himachal Pradesh virtually on achieving the target of administering the first dose of COVID vaccine to all eligible people, Modi said as many as 70 crore vaccines have been administered so far in the country. At the same time, Modi said, we should not forget the mantra ..

THE growth rate of India’s GDP for the July-September quarter is likely to remain in the range of 7-8 per cent. In the first quarter of financial year 2021-22, India’s GDP witnessed a growth of 20.1 per cent compared to the same period of the last fiscal. According to the EcoScope report of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited (MOFSL), there would be some moderation in Economic Activity Index-Gross Value Added (EAI-GVA) growth in July 2021, largely on account of weaker fiscal spending...

THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) has widened its probe into the alleged money laundering and kickbacks case registered against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and others as it plans to soon question a number of people linked to him, officials said on Monday. Deshmukh has refused to comply with at least five ED summons for questioning in the case and has instead suggested the agency to interact with him over an online link saying he was a “law abiding citizen.” The agency also has notified ..

INDIA’S Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has completed more than 9,000 orbits around the Moon, and imaging and scientific instruments on board have been providing excellent data, officials said on Monday. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is holding a two-day Lunar Science Workshop 2021, which began on Monday, to commemorate the completion of two years of operation of Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft around the lunar orbit...

THE process of appointment of judges to High Courts is through a well established process where the HC collegium considers seniority, merit and all inputs received by the Government, the Supreme Court has said while imposing a cost of Rs 5 lakh on an advocate for abusing the court proceedings by trying to stop the elevation of a judge. A bench of Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh made the observation while dismissing a plea filed by an advocate seeking directions to consider the representation submitted ..

SENIOR Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday said that he would get himself hanged if any central agency can bring to the fore his involvement in any illegal transaction. Speaking to reporters at the Kolkata airport on his way to New Delhi to attend a summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an alleged coal scam case, Banerjee accused the BJP of indulging in political vendetta having lost the State Assembly elections...

PEOPLE with Employees’ Provident Fund and Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF) contribution of over Rs 2.5 lakh per financial year will now have two separate PF accounts. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced, in this year’s Budget, that PF contribution of more than Rs 2.5 lakh in a fiscal will be taxable. In line with the decision, recently, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notified the rules for taxation of the interest on the excess EPF contributions. “For the purpose of calculation ..

OIL marketing companies reduced petrol prices in the key metro cities after keeping them unchanged for three consecutive days. In the national capital, petrol price was cut by 15 paise to Rs 101.19 per litre, from the previous level of Rs 101.34 per litre. Similarly, petrol prices in the other key cities of Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata were reduced to Rs 107.26, Rs 98.96 and Rs 101.62 a litre, respectively, down from the previous levels of Rs 107.39, Rs 99.08 and Rs 101.72 a litre. In line with ..

PRESIDENT Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday conferred the National Teachers’ Awards on 44 teachers from across the country for their contribution to developing innovative methods of teaching. The national-level awards are given on Teachers’ Day to celebrate the unique contribution of some of the finest teachers and to honour those who, through their commitment, have not only improved the quality of school education but also enriched the lives of their students. Noting that every child has different capabilities ..

THOUSANDS of farmers from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring States on Sunday gathered at Muzaffarnagar for a ‘Kisan mahapanchayat’ aimed at “saving the country”, just months ahead of the crucial UP Assembly polls. The event was organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) at the Government Inter College ground in Muzaffarnagar in protest against the Centre’s controversial farm laws. “These meetings will be held across the country. We have to stop the country from getting sold. Farmers should be saved, ..

A SPECIAL CBI court here on Saturday granted interim bail to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor’s wife and daughter in a case involving private sector lender DHFL. Kapoor’s wife Bindu and daughter Radha were named as accused in the supplementary chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation recently, but the duo was never arrested in the case. The court, after taking cognisance of the chargesheet, had summoned the accused, and the two appeared before court on Saturday...

RESEARCHERS at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have developed a modular, self-contained device to cultivate microorganisms, which could enable scientists to carry out biological experiments in outer space. In a study published in ‘Acta Astronautica’, the team showed how the device can be used to activate and track the growth of a bacterium called ‘Sporosarcina pasteurii ‘ over several days, with minimal human involvement, Bengaluru-based IISc said ..

IN AN unprecedented decision, the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana has recommended as many as 68 names in one go for appointment as judges in 12 High Courts, including in Allahabad, Rajasthan and Calcutta, that are facing a severe crunch of judges. The three-member Collegium, of which Justices U U Lalit and Justice A M Khanwilkar are also members, has created yet another first as Marli Vankung becomes the first woman judicial officer from Mizoram whose name ..