Pakistan has been offered aid worth $6 bn by Saudi Arabia Pakistan has not dropped the idea of seeking assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) despite Saudi Arabia offering a $6-billion aid package, officials said on Wednesday. Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier this month gave the green signal to …

Officials reach out to Huawei to recover data from a phone Sri Lankan authorities will seek Chinese assistance to tap evidence pertaining to an “assassination plot” said to be targeting President Maithripala Sirisena. On Tuesday, Sri Lankan police won permission from a magistrate court here to approach Chinese multinational Huawei …

The Centre has decided to set up skill development institutes on government land, in partnership with private players, across the country. The Union Cabinet approved the scheme on Wednesday, according to an official statement. The public-private partnership model will be adopted to set up the institutes — to be called …

Punjab bans sale of herbicide glyphosate The Punjab government has banned the sale of the herbicide, glyphosate. “This chemical has been observed to be a group 2A cancer-causing material. It is also known to cause other health problems and has the potential to damage human DNA,” said an official statement …

The Centre has set up a Rs. 7,522-crore fund to create infrastructure facilities for the fisheries sector and help boost annual fish production to 20 million tonnes by 2022-23 from the current production of 11.4 million tonnes. The establishment of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund was approved by …

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has signed a $777 mn deal with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to supply additional Barak-8 Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM) systems for seven warships of the Indian Navy. “IAI’s partnership with India dates many years back and has culminated in joint system development and …

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the setting up of a high-level steering committee chaired by the Chief Statistician of India and Secretary to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) to review if India was on track to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The panel …

A writ petition was filed in the Kerala High Court on Wednesday seeking a ban on entry of non-Hindus into the Sabarimala temple. The court adjourned the hearing on the petition to October 29 after asking the government to respond to the petition. ‘Enforce Rule 3(a)’ In his petition, T.G. …

Bench warned States against inaction The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday gave an undertaking to the Supreme Court that the office of Lokayukta will start to function from February 1 next year. The State’s assurance came after a Bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took a stern view of …

‘CVC has no role in curtailing tenure of CBI Director’ The Supreme Court has to examine whether the government and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) can unilaterally remove the CBI Director on the assumption that the move will restore public faith in the country’s premier investigative agency. The CVC and …

To prevent attacks on women when temple opens for the annual pilgrimage The Kerala police will turn Sabarimala into a highly secure zone to prevent attacks on women devotees when the temple opens for the annual pilgrimage season on November 17. As a first step, they have told the government …

The centenary of the Society and the Religious Tract and Book Society, Madras, was celebrated last evening [October 24] in the Memorial Hall, H.E. the Governor presiding. The proceedings commenced with a prayer. The Lord Bishop of Madras in referring to the work of the Society said that the profuse …

‘No compromise on public health’ The Supreme Court on Wednesday banned the sale and registration of motor vehicles conforming to the emission standard Bharat Stage-IV in the entire country from April 1, 2020. It said pollution hasreached an “alarming and critical” level all over India. “It brooks no delay,” a …

Robot may speak with Naidu in video-con mode today After disappointing many for not being able to make it to the inaugural of the Vizag Fintech Festival, world’s first humanoid robot, Sophia, finally arrived in the city from Hong Kong on Wednesday. “The robot, which has been granted citizenship by …

At the Mazagaon (Bombay) Police Court, Rao Bahadur C.H. Setalvad, Second Presidency Magistrate, has delivered judgment in two cases in which the Inspector of Factories charged Mr. P.A. Babtista of Morarji Goculdas Mills and Mr. Guthrie of Sassoon Spinning and Weaving Mills with having employed a number of minor boys …

H.E.H. The Nizam has granted a firman or charter to the Osmania University — about which some little speculation has been rife — which was opened on the 6th October current synchronizing with the 1st Mohorrum, Hegira 1887. The objects of the University are to teach religion, moral science, philosophy, …

The steps taken by the Union government over the last few years to widen its tax base may finally be yielding some rewards. The total number of tax returns filed in the country increased by over 80% over the last four financial years, according to data released by the Central …

At one level, what is going on in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is a ‘turf war’, a battle of egos between two individuals at the helm. But the unsavoury developments involving the CBI Director and its Special Director are reflective of a much deeper malaise — a big …

N. Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and national president of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), has again sprung a political surprise. After suddenly walking out of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, earlier this year, ostensibly over the denial of ‘Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh’, he …

The CEO of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana on the challenges and scope of the health insurance scheme and responses from the States Indu Bhushan is the CEO of the world’s largest government-funded health insurance scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), which was launched by Prime Minister …