The Polish government’s decision to rescind the forced retirement of several Supreme Court judges is a welcome sign of its willingness to improve compliance with the rule of law. This could begin a process to resolve the stand-off between Poland’s Law and Justice party (PiS) government and the European Union. …

The announcement by India and Pakistan of plans to operationalise a visa-free corridor between Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab and Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan’s Punjab heeds a longstanding plea of Sikh pilgrims. That demand had gathered pace in 1995, when Pakistan renovated the Kartarpur gurdwara, situated on the site …

President Ram Nath Kovind’s choice of Vietnam as the first Southeast Asian country to visit in his capacity as the President is not surprising. A close ‘ally’ of India for over 70 years, and not limited to official diplomatic ties, Vietnam is critical for India’s foreign policy at the regional …

There is a clamour by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Sangh Parivar for an ordinance and later a statute (i.e. Act) for building a Ram temple over the ruins of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya immediately. No more waiting, they say. The supposedly neutral Justice J. Chelameswar, who retired …

Maya Madan, 22, lives in a brick hut in Hamid Khedi village. A few feet from her home, which is in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh, is a narrow street, criss-crossed by ditches full of dirty water. The buzz of mosquitoes breeding in these pools fills the air. It does …

Manoj Kumar Moharana, a youth from Odisha’s Ganjam district, set a Guinness World Record by making 36 vertical rotations of a toothpick in the mouth in one minute.For the 24-year-old post graduate in mathematics, this is his second record. On August 28, 2017, he broke a Guinness World Record title …

The recent notification issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate change allowing local bodies to stipulate environmental conditions while granting building permission will improve the launch pipeline and at the same time, help save time and cost for developers.As per the notification, municipalities, development authorities and district panchayats …

The 11 state-run banks under the Reserve Bank’s prompt corrective action (PCA) framework have seen a 400 basis points increase in their share of retail loans at 19% of the system in the four years ended September 2018, says a report.The Reserve Bank began to place state-run banks under the …

Mahindra First Choice Services (MFC), part of the $20.7 billion Mahindra group, is open to talks with strategic investors to raise Rs. 125 crore. “We need at least Rs. 125 crore to accelerate our expansion programme,” said CEO YVS.Vijaykumar. “The funds will be invested in technology and brand building.”He said …

The Finance Ministry would not curtail its capital infusion plan for this financial year even as state-owned banks would be needing lesser funds following the Reserve Bank’s decision to defer the deadline to meet Basel III norms by a year, according to sources.Under the new dispensation, the capital infusion by …

British Prime Minister Theresa May repeated her stand that Britain would not be able to get a better deal from the EU but declined to say whether she believes the controversial withdrawal deal would make Britain better off than it would without any deal.Earlier in the day, former Brexit Secretary …

As many as 122 Sri Lankan lawmakers on Friday challenged former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the court of appeal, asking on whose authority he occupied the ffice of the Prime Minister, after being voted out in the legislature.The case is likely to be heard early next week, legal sources told …

Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Kumar Dev has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary in the Delhi government, according to an order of the Union Home Ministry.Mr. Dev, a 1987-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, takes over from Anshu Prakash, a 1986-batch officer of the same cadre, the …

Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s repeated attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over demonetisation at election meetings in Madhya Pradesh led the Prime Minister to declare that Mr. Gandhi’s party is yet to revive from the “shock” inflicted by the note ban.“Only the Congress and one family are still crying because …

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval arrived in Chengdu on Friday for boundary talks with China’s Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi, to build on the Wuhan informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping that took place in April.The 21st round of talks between the …

The Centre has denied a Right to Information (RTI) request for a copy of the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill 2018, which had been notified for introduction in the monsoon session of Parliament.The Bill sought to give the Centre power to set the tenure and salaries of State and Central …

At first glance, Syed Ammad Chishti looks like an urban professional, juggling career and family. But the 26-year-old is the second member of the Khadim community here to contest an Assembly election.The community of nearly 800 families occupies a prominent position in the hierarchy of the famed 13th century dargah …

Three major science administrators in India — the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Indian Council for Medical Research and the Department of Biotechnolgy — are getting together to promote research in herbal drugs, some of which involve deriving new drugs from marijuana.Among the first such studies likely to …

The Chandrayaan-2 lunar lander’s sensors are set to undergo a crucial test in the next few days as the mission races towards a planned take-off in around two months.The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to fly the sensors on an aircraft over its artificial lunar site at Challakere to …

The Tripura government is the co-sponsor of the seventh edition of the tourism mart, an annual event held in one of the State capitals of the region to highlight and promote the tourism potential of the Northeast in domestic and international markets, officials said. Tripura’s capital has been chosen as …