By Rashmi Saksena : IT was 1974. Campaigning for the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) was starting to warm up. On a wooden chair pulled out of a college canteen stood a young man who kept pushing back his mop of hair, with every sentence he spoke. It seemed more like a reflex action than one driven by actual need. A group of about 50 students listened to his rhetoric almost spell bound. As a young cub reporter for the ‘Hindustan Times’ on the ‘university beat’ I ..

 Commando force personnel conduct checking at a railway station in Coimbatore on Saturday. Security has been tightened across Tamil Nadu following intelligence inputs that members of the Lashkar-e-Toiba had infiltrated into the State.     KOCHI/COIMBATORE : A MAN suspected to have links with terror outfits was on Saturday taken into custody from a Kerala court premises, while three people have been detained in Coimbatore in connection with the reported intrusion of six ..

  The Hitavada Delhi Bureau and Agencies  NEW DELHI: GLOOM descended upon the country at noon as towering statesman and former Union Minister Arun Jaitley succumbed to his long-drawn illness at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), leaving behind a grieving family and mourning nation that is still smarting under near-sudden loss of the iconic Sushma Swaraj a few days ago. Even though his health was deteriorating continuously after he was admitted to the AIIMS a few ..

 NEW DELHI: TOP Congress leaders on Saturday condoled the demise of former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, with party Chief Sonia Gandhi saying his contributions to public life will be remembered forever. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a condolence message, described him as an eminent lawyer, an excellent orator, a very good administrator and an outstanding parliamentarian. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet, “I am sorry to hear about Mr Arun Jaitley’s passing. ..

 LOS ANGELES:  WITH an earning figure of USD 65 million, Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar has beaten Hollywood biggies like Bradley Cooper, Chris Evans and Will Smith to secure fourth place in Forbes’ annual list of world’s highest paid actors. Only Dwayne Johnson (USD 89.4 million), Chris Hemsworth (USD 76.4 million) and Robert Downey Jr (USD 66 million) have more earnings than Akshay. Akshay is currently riding high on the success of his latest release “Mission Mangal” ..

 MUMBAI: THE special edition of Discovery Channel’s popular show -- Man Vs Wild -- featuring Prime Minister Modi with adventurer Bear Grylls lived up to its billing to emerge as the TV show of the year. The show on Discovery Network created history by garnering the highest slot viewership (on active channels) with 3.69 million impressions, according to Discovery Channel.  The premiere slot performance grew an astonishing 50 times giving an unprecedented 93 per cent channel share to ..

  NEW DELHI:  PAKISTAN is planning to push 100 hardcore terrorists from Afghanistan into Kashmir to carry out attacks as part of its “larger design” to create unrest in the Valley, security sources said on Thursday. In addition, around 15 Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists are already waiting at the terror launch-pads in Lipa valley along the Line of Control on the Pakistani side to infiltrate in Kashmir, they said, citing reports by Intelligence agencies. According to Intelligence ..

 CHANTILLY (France): Modi will travel to the UAE and Bahrain before returning to France to attend the G7 Summit   PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held wide-ranging talks with French President Emmanuel Macron during which the two leaders discussed issues of bilateral and mutual interests to further boost the comprehensive strategic partnership. “This visit will add to the ground covered during previous interactions with the French leadership,” Modi tweeted ..

 MUMBAI:  MAHARASHTRA Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray was on Thursday grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case, after he reached the agency’s office in south Mumbai with his family members in tow. The MNS leader reached the ED office at 11.25 AM and walked out at 8.15 PM. He did not respond to queries from waiting media personnel, folded his hands in greeting, got in his car and drove to his residence in Dadar area. There was not much perceptible ..

  NEW DELHI:  The Government has opened for foreigners 137 Himalayan peaks, including the mighty Kanchenjunga located at a height of 8,589 metre, for mountaineering expeditions and trekking in a major boost to tourism, officials said Wednesday. Presently foreigners have to seek permission from the Ministries of defence and home to climb these peaks. With the Government opening them up, foreigners can now directly apply to the Indian Mountaineering Foundation for permits.  The decision ..

  NEW DELHI:   THE CBI has booked NDTV promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy and others for allegedly violating foreign direct investment (FDI) rules in a 2007-09 investment, an allegation denied by the company. Besides the Roys, the agency registered an FIR against then CEO Vikramaditya Chandra as well as unidentified Government officials on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption, officials said. On Wednesday, a CBI team conducted searches at Chandra’s residence, ..

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu shake hands prior to a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Wednesday.   NEW DELHI: INDIA and Zambia signed on Wednesday six agreements in key sectors such as mineral resources and Defence after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu held wide-ranging talks to strengthen ties. The two leaders also deliberated upon enhancing trade and investment, as well as deepening development ..

 NEW DELHI: Chidambaram will be produced before a special CBI court today, where the agency will seek his remand    FORMER Finance Minister P Chidambaram was arrested by the CBI on Wednesday night from his residence in connection with INX media corruption case after dramatic developments with the agency sleuths scaling walls to gain access to the bungalow in the high-end Jor Bagh locality. “Mr P Chidambaram has been arrested in connection with INX media case,” a senior ..

It was first anti-militancy operation in Kashmir since abrogation of Article ; A LASHKAR-E-TOIBA (LeT) militant and a policeman were on Wednesday killed while a sub-inspector was injured in an encounter with ultras in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said. The encounter, which began on Tuesday, has ended with the killing of a militant and a special police officer (SPO) of Jammu and Kashmir Police, a police official said. &nb..

  Karachi: AFTER a sea of anti-India tweets emanating from Pakistan were objected to by the authorities in India, the micro-blogging site Twitter is said to have suspended 200 accounts in Pakistan. The Pakistan Government has specified to the Twitter that 200 accounts that were suspended in the past week were apparently posting about Kashmir, reported ‘Dawn News’. Over the last one week, a large number of Pakistanis have taken to Twitter to report that accounts were being ..

 HYDERABAD:  RESEARCHERS at Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad are collaborating with research institutions across the world to develop a sensor device to detect heart disease with high speed, sensitivity and reliability. According to an institution press release, their ground-breaking work has recently been published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Materials Chemistry B.  The work not only offers promise in the diagnosis or prediction of heart disorders within minutes but can ..

  NEW DELHI:  MADHYA Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s businessman nephew, Ratul Puri, has been arrested by the ED in a fresh case of money laundering linked to an alleged Rs 354 crore bank loan fraud case, officials said. Ratul Puri was placed under arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) late on Monday night after he appeared before the Central probe agency here after it slapped a fresh criminal case against him and others, taking cognisance of a CBI FIR ..

 NEW DELHI:  Chidambaram is ‘prima facie the kingpin’ in the INX Media corruption and money laundering cases, says Delhi HC Justice Sunil Gaur n By Shikha Verma and Hary M Pillai  CONGRESS leader P Chidambaram suffered a major setback on Tuesday as the Delhi High Court dismissed his anticipatory bail in the INX Media scam, paving way for the investigating agencies, CBI and ED, to arrest him. The High Court held that he was “prima facie the kingpin” in the ..

 NEW DELHI: IN A clear reference to the Balakot airstrike in Pakistan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday that the offensive action against terrorists in the neighbourhood spoke volumes about the “reach and lethality” of the Indian Armed Forces. “We are all aware that the Indian (Air) Force is a technologically advanced and extremely potent force. The recent offensive strikes against terrorist outfits in our neighbourhood speak volumes about the reach and lethality ..

 NEW DELHI:  SUPREME Court advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, here on Monday, wrote a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik to immediately register an FIR against Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Ph.D scholar and J&K-based politician Shehla Rashid for “deliberately” spreading fake news with the intention to incite violence and malign the Army’s image. Confirming receipt of the lawyer’s complaint, the police said it was being studied before any action ..

  NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned MNS chief Raj Thackeray in connection with its money laundering probe in the IL&FS alleged payment default crisis, officials said on Monday. It had also called Unmesh Joshi, son of former State Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi, in the same case, following which he deposed before the central agency in Mumbai on Monday, they said. Unmesh Joshi’s statement has been recorded under the Prevention of Money ..

  MUMBAI: VETERAN composer Khayyam, best known for his music in classic films such as ‘Kabhi Kabhie’ and ‘Umrao Jaan’, passed away after prolonged illnesses at a hospital here on Monday. He was 92. The noted composer was admitted at the ICU at Sujay Hospital in suburban Juhu due to lung infection over 10 days ago.  “He was admitted to the hospital a few days ago owing to breathing issues and other age-related illnesses. He died at Sujay Hospital at around ..

 NEW DELHI: PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke with US President Donald Trump on phone and conveyed that “extreme rhetoric and incitement to anti-India violence by certain leaders in the region was not conducive to peace”, in an obvious reference to the Pakistani leadership spewing anti-India venom over the Kashmir issue. Days after the UN Security Council backed India in its efforts to bring in development in Kashmir after revoking its Special Status, Modi held a 30-minute ..

 JAMMU: MOST educational institutions in five sensitive border districts of Jammu reopened after a fortnight on Monday with “full attendance” as authorities lifted curbs in large parts of the region, officials said. Jammu and Kashmir was placed under an unprecedented security cover and curfew-like restrictions on August 4, a day before the Centre revoked the State’s special status under Article 370 and bifurcated it into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. ..

 NEW DELHI:  HEAVY rains lashed northern parts, leaving at least 28 people dead and 22 missing in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab on Sunday, while a flood alert was sounded in parts of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh as Yamuna and other rivers were in spate. Haryana has asked the Army to remain on standby after 8.14 lakh cusec water was released from the Hathini Kund barrage in the Yamuna river. At least 22 people, including two Nepalese, were killed and nine others injured ..

 NEW DELHI:  GOOGLE Maps helped police reunite a father with his 12-year-old daughter who had gone missing over four months ago in Delhi, officials said. The girl had taken an e-rickshaw near the Kirti Nagar furniture market in Holi on March 21, according to the police. When the minor did not get down at the metro station, the e-rickshaw driver asked her where she wanted to go, but she did not give any reply. He took her to the Kirti Nagar police station at 8.33 pm, a senior officer said.  ..

 NEW DELHI: THE BJP is likely to fight the Assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, all three ruled by the BJP, under the leadership of incumbent Chief Ministers, party leaders have said. While BJP President Amit Shah made it virtually clear at a rally in Haryana on Friday that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will again be the party’s choice for the post, sources said Maharashtra’s Devendra Fadnavis and Jharkhand’s Raghubar Das will be the party’s ..

  KALKA (Haryana): DEFENCE Minister Rajnath Singh here on Sunday said there would be no talks with Pakistan unless it acts against terrorists and stops supporting terror activities. He further said if talks were held with Pakistan in future, they would be only on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). “If talks take place (with Pakistan), it will be on PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) and not on any other issue,” he said. Singh said this while addressing a public rally ahead of ..

  MUMBAI: PRESIDENT Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday met veteran singer and Bharat Ratna awardee Lata Mangeshkar at her home in south Mumbai and conveyed his best wishes for her good health. President Kovind was in the city to inaugurate the underground ‘Bunker Museum’ at the Raj Bhawan. “Delighted to meet @MangeshkarLata ji at her residence in Mumbai.  Conveyed my best wishes for her good health. Lata ji, the pride of India, has sweetened our lives with her soulful melody. ..

 HYDERABAD:  First house built by Hyderabad-based entrepreneur couple is about 800 square feet. It was constructed using 7 tonnes of plastic A HYDERABAD-BASED couple has taken up the initiative of constructing houses and other structures using sheets made of processed plastic waste. The entrepreneur couple Prashant Lingam and his wife Aruna, who have a decade-long experience in designing houses and bamboo furniture, decided to use recycled waste for their work after they saw a video ..

NEW DELHI:  The workers have threatened to launch a 30-day strike from August 20 after hearing rumours about privatisation of OFB THE Central Government on Saturday denied reports about privatisation of ordnance factories across the country in a response to workers who have threatened to launch a 30-day strike from August 20. A panel of senior officials of the Defence Ministry has started talks with the agitated employees trying to convince them that reports about privatising ordnance factories ..

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Bhutan Lotay Tshering, before a meeting in Thimphu, Bhutan on Saturday. (Twitter/PTI)   THIMPHU: India, Bhutan sign 10 MoUs  Modi also launches RuPay Card in Bhutan  PRIME Minister Narendra Modi received a red-carpet welcome as he arrived in Bhutan on Saturday on a two-day state visit. This is Modi’s second visit to Bhutan and the first since his re-election. Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering received ..

 NEW DELHI:  A FIRE broke out at the teaching block of the AIIMS here on Saturday, destroying samples and medical reports and forcing evacuation of some patients, though no one was injured, officials said. Patients from some floors of the AB ward, close to the Microbiology department where the blaze started at around 5 pm, were evacuated along with those in operation theatres above it as the smoke spread, they said, adding the fire was doused within two hours. A Delhi Fire Services Department ..

THE Supreme Court on Friday refrained from examining the legal challenges posed to the changes made in the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, saying that the petitions filed on the “serious issue” of abrogation of provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution suffer from defects...

THE Maharashtra Government will strive to ensure that the rehabilitation of the flood-affected people in the State is done in record time, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said here on Thursday...