TWO key accused in the sensational Kerala gold smuggling case were sent to National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody for eight days by a special court here on Monday. Considering an application by the investigating agency, the court granted the custody of Swapna Suresh and Sandeep Nair, arrested from Bengaluru on Saturday...

TO provide a world-class National Highways (NH) network, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has approached all IITs, NITs, and reputed engineering colleges for improving highway infrastructure leveraging local expertise. NHAI will collaborate and adopt nearby stretches of NH, on a voluntary basis, as part of Institutional Social Responsibility (ISR). A large number of IITs, NITs, and engineering colleges opted to join th..

DAYS after India banned 59 Chinese mobile apps, China raised the issue during a bilateral meeting with New Delhi held recently. “During a meeting at the diplomatic level, the Chinese side raised the issue of ban on its mobile applications in India,” Government sources told ANI. The Indian side made it very clear to the Chinese that the action was taken in vi..

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi and Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday held discussions on a wide range of issues such as data security and concerns around privacy, use of technology to transform lives of farmers and ways to expand the scope of online education, the Prime Minister’s Office said. During the virtual interaction, they also spo..

THE Supreme Court on Monday upheld the rights of the Travancore royal family in the administration of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, one of the world’s richest temples, in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram. Allowing the appeal filed by members of the Travancore family, the apex court observed that the death of the Travancore ruler, who signed the covenant, do..

VETERAN actor Anupam Kher on Sunday said his mother, Dulari, along with brother Raju and his family have tested positive for COVID-19 and are currently under quarantine. Sharing a video on Twitter, Kher said his mother wasn’t eating for the past few days and even got her blood tests done, which showed nothing alarming. “But then our doctor advised us to take her to a CT scan centre and get her scanned and it turned out she was COVID positive, mild,” he said...

AMID the border tension with China, NCP president Sharad Pawar has said China is a “bigger threat to India” than Pakistan. China’s military might is “ten times greater” than India, the former Defence Minister said, adding that Beijing has “weaned away” India’s neighbours to its side...

MAHARASHTRA’S COVID-19 cases rose by 7,827 to 2,54,427 on Sunday, State Health Department said. With 173 more patients succumbing to the infection, the number of fatalities has gone up to 10,289, the department said in a statement. A total of 3,340 people were discharged in the day, taking the number of the recovered cases to 1,40,325, it said...

AMID the ongoing dispute with China over boundary issue, the Indian Army is going to place another order of 72,000 Sig 716 assault rifles from the United States. The order for the second batch of the assault rifles would be coming after the first lot of 72,000 rifles, has already been delivered to the Army for use by troops in Northern Command and other operational areas...

ACTOR Abhishek Bachchan said his wife, actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and daughter Aaradhya will be “self quarantining at home” after they tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Sunday. A day after Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek revealed their diagnosis of COVID-19, the megastar’s daughter-in-law Aishwarya (46) and granddaughter Aaradhya (8) also tested positive for the virus. Amitabh’s wife, veteran actor-MP Jaya Bachchan, 71, has teste..

THE family of a man who died by suicide has claimed that he was on a fishing boat that came under fire from Italian marines eight years ago when he was 14 years old and has appealed to the Centre to get Rs 100 crore compensation from Italy. After witnessing the firing by the marines from oil tanker “Enrica Lexie”, which killed two fishermen on February 15, 2012 off the Ke..

A VACCINE for COVID-19 is expected only by early next year, a parliamentary panel was informed on Friday. Presentations were given by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the principal scientific adviser to the government before the Parliamentary Stan..

CHIEF Justice S A Bobde on Friday, citing migrant workers’ case, said it is not for the apex court to take up every matter at the very first instance, especially against the backdrop that facts associated with the matter differ from one State to another. The Chief Justice said “people and lawyers’ have expressed disappointment that the Supreme Court did not urgently entertain various matters such as migrant workers case etc.” He added that the lawyers’ and people should kno..

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi has said that India will become a model of ‘clean energy’ in the world. Launching Asia’s largest 750 MW solar project in Rewa in Madhya Pradesh through video-conferencing, Modi also said that the State will emerge as a major hub for clean and cheap power in the country. The Rewa project comprises three solar generating units of 250 MW each located on a 500 hectare plot of land situated inside a Solar Park (total area 1500 hectare)...

FROM 2.82 per cent a month earlier, India’s COVID-19 fatality rate has declined to 2.72 per cent which is lower than that of many other countries, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday. It also noted that 30 States and Union Territories have a fatality rate lower than the national average. Also, there is an upward trend in the recovery rate which was recorded at 62.42 per cent on Friday. In 18 States and UTs the recovery rates are higher than the national average, the Ministry said...

GANGSTER Vikas Dubey was shot dead on Friday by police, who claim he was trying to flee after the car carrying him from Ujjain overturned on an isolated stretch of the highway on the outskirts of the city. The SUV met with the accident at Bhaunti in Kanpur district, toppling on the road which was slippery after the rains, police claimed. The car was part of a small convoy of police vehicles. However, the UP Special Task Force (STF) has claimed that a herd of cows and buffaloes suddenly appeared before ..

GANGSTER Vikas Dubey’s mother Sarla Devi on Thursday said that her son, arrested for the Kanpur ambush, is with the SP, a claim denied by the party. Dubey was arrested in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain on Thursday after a six-day manhunt following the Kanpur ambush in which eight policemen were gunned down. Earlier, in a 2017 video seen on ..

THE National Green Tribunal has said that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways cannot proceed with new road projects in tiger corridors in Maharashtra without complying with the action plan prepared by the National Tiger Conservation Authority...

THE attack on BJP’s Bandipora District President Waseem Bari was “pre-planned” by Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar said on Thursday, adding that the policemen posted for personal security of the politician were being dismissed from service. Three more policemen were arrested in connection with Wednesday’s attack, taking the total number of the arrested cops to 10. “We came here and checked the site of the incident. We have checked the CCTV cameras as well ..

WOOING global companies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said Asia’s third-largest economy is one of the most open in the world and offers investment friendly, competitive business environment and immense opportunities. Speaking at the India Global Week 2020, he said green shoots of economic revival are already visible in India that is coming out of co..

DEFENCE Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday inaugurated six bridges in border areas of Jammu and Kashmir, and asserted that development of remote areas in the region will continue to be a key priority for the NDA Government. The Defence Minister dedicated the bridges through video conferencing in presence of Chief of the Army Staff Gen M M Naravane, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar, Director General of Border Roads Organisation Lt Gen Harpal Singh among others. Four bridges were constructed on the Akhnoor-Palla..

INAS 300, the premier Fighter squadron of the Indian Navy has completed 60 glorious years in service of the nation. The White Tigers, as the squadron is called, has the rare distinction of operating all three fighter aircraft of the Indian Navy from all three Aircraft Carriers - INS Vikrant, INS Viraat and INS Vikramaditya. A press release from the Indian Navy said, “INAS 300, The White Tigers heralded the era of carrier borne aviation into the Indian Navy six decades ago with ..

THE Government on Wednesday approved setting up an agriculture infrastructure fund with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore to provide financial support to entrepreneurs, Starts-ups, agri-tech players and farmer groups for infrastructure and logistics facilities. A decision in this regard was taken in the Cabinet meeting, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Agri-Infra Fund was part of the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package announced in response to the COVID-19 disaster. Briefing the media about the ..

THE Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has set up an inter-ministerial committee to probe alleged violations of legal provisions by three Gandhi family trusts, namely Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, and Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust. The committee led by a Special Director of the Enforcement Directorate will coordinate investigations into alleged violation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Income Tax Act, and Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) by these ..

THE disengagement process in Ladakh was completed on Wednesday as Chinese troops moved fully away from Patrolling Point 14 and 15 to a location 2 kilometres away from the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Indian Army sources said. The disengagement started after a two-month military stand-off and it is happening “as per agreed terms in the Corps Commanders’ meeting”. After the disengagement process is completed, the two Armies are likely to hold further talks to take the process further. Sources said, ..

THE Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) killed an aide of gangster Vikas Dubey in Hamirpur on Wednesday and arrested six others in separate encounters in Kanpur and Faridabad for their alleged role in last week’s Bikru ambush, wherein 8 policemen were killed, a senior officer said. Two policemen were injured in the Hamirpur encounter. “Amar Dubey, who carried a reward of Rs 50,000, was killed in an encounter in Maudaha village of Hamirpur district,” Uttar Pradesh Additional Director General of ..

THE World Bank on Tuesday said it will provide USD 400 million assistance to enhance support for the Namami Gange programme that seeks to rejuvenate the Ganga river. The Second National Ganga River Basin Project (SNGRBP) will help stem pollution in the iconic river and strengthen the management of the river basin, it said in a release. “The USD 400 million operation comprises a loan of USD 381 million and a proposed guarantee of up to USD 19 million,” it said...

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Tuesday said green shoots are visible and the economy, which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, will bounce back soon. The pandemic has impacted economic activities severely as the country had to go through a nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus. The Government had to announce a slew of measures, including fiscal package, to boost the economy. “I am a great believer that India will bounce back...

STUDENTS across the country have objected to the HRD Ministry’s decision to not cancel the final year exams in universities in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying they feared community spread of the infection and not examinations. The students launched multiple petitions online and took to Twitter to raise their objection using hashtag “Student lives matter”...

THE Act East Policy (AEP) devised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a regional summit in Myanmar in 2014 has shifted the geostrategic posture of India in the Indo-Pacific and reformulated New Delhi’s approach to one that is more strategically assertive, says a European think tank. “The AEP has expanded the operational scope of India’s earlier Look East Policy (LEP) beyond one that is merely focused on economics to one that integrates matters of security in the Indo-Pacific region...

THE Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is not expected to be assigned any task related to internal security in the near future as more than 60 companies of the paramilitary force are being deployed all along the LAC against the backdrop of the recent stand-off with China in Ladakh, officials said on Tuesday. Sources in the security establishment said the force is also set to get sanctions from the Union Home Ministry to raise at least nine fresh battalions soon...

THE Supreme Court Tuesday granted one more month to the Centre to implement its verdict directing that permanent commission be given to all serving SSC women officers in the Army. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra said the Centre will have to comply with all the directions in the verdict. The Centre told the bench that decision making on the issue is at a final stage and only formal orders remain to be issued...

TO improve highways, a ranking system will be introduced based on performance audit of roads, NHAI said on Monday. NHAI has been mandated the task to develop, maintain and manage National Highways, the arterial roads of the country, for inter-State movement of passengers and goods. “In its effort to improve the quality of roads, NHAI has decided to undertake performance assessment and ranking of the highways in the country,” NHAI said in a statement...

SAUDI Arabia on Monday announced a series of measures to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus during the annual Haj pilgrimage scheduled to take place later this month. The Kingdom will limit the number of domestic attendees to around 1,000 and touching the Kaaba, Islam’s most sacred monument, will be banned, reports the BBC. Social distancing will also be imposed...

THE Chinese Army has moved back tents, vehicles and troops by 1-2 kilometres from locations where disengagement was agreed upon at Corps Commander-level talks, Indian Army sources said on Monday. Chinese heavy armoured vehicles are still present in the depth areas in the Galwan river area. The Indian Army is monitoring the situation with caution, Army sources informed. “There is mutual disengagement between the two sides on all the four ..