The Ministry of External Affairs will entertain suggestions and comments on the draft Emigration Bill, 2019, giving an opportunity for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to air their views till Sunday. These can be e-mailed to dsoia1@mea.gov.in and so2oia1@mea.gov.in. Official sources said the new Bill would ensure the overall welfare and protection …

Writes to the Prime Minister; lists ‘historical neglect, natural calamities’ as reasons for backwardness Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has again raised the demand for special category status for the State in view of the premise of “historical Central neglect and frequent natural calamities”. In a letter to Prime Minister …

India on Friday summoned a Pakistani diplomat and protested against a recent order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan that brought the region of Gilgit-Baltistan within its ambit. A press note from the External Affairs Ministry said the diplomat was told that the region was, and would remain, an integral …

It is best to avoid the pitfalls of a corporate battle, says Defence Ministry The Defence Ministry, which on Friday disputed The Hindu report on the steep price escalation in the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets, said that “hidden deep in the article itself” was the statement that the …

Centre says it’s not the only region that hosts minorities from the neighbourhood Worried over the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the northeastern States, the Centre has decided to push a “region-specific” narrative to gain support. A senior official said the government was planning publicity material to push …

There have been 69 instances of engine failure of Airbus A320neo aircraft operated by IndiGo in 2018, according to the data available from the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation. The data, contained in a January 8 note issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, show there have been 12 instances of …

The Kerala government informed the Supreme Court on Friday that 51 “female devotees” of menstrual age dodged protesters to enter the Sabarimala shrine, besides Bindu and Kanakadurga, during this pilgrimage season. A two-page note submitted by the Director-General of Police (DGP) to a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of …

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Friday claimed that The Hindu ’s detailed story over the steep price escalation in the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets did not adduce any new arguments and that all issues had been answered in detail by the government at various fora and by …

Simplified application forms for planning permission, standardisation of development rules and elimination of the scope for discretion on the part of planning authorities are among the salient features of the Combined Development Regulation and Building Rules, cleared by the State Cabinet at a meeting on Friday. At the meeting that …

As complaints of power cuts continue to pour in even before the onset of summer, the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) is preparing to put in place a new army — AI (artificial intelligence)-powered chatbots — to deal with the innumerable calls and messages that its multiple helplines receive. Bescom …