Modi thanks UAE for ‘Order of Zayed’ honour Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked the United Arab Emirates for conferring on him the ‘Order of Zayed’ in April, the highest honour of the nation. According to a press release from the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Modi thanked the Gulf …
Read More »Monthly Archives: July 2019
Kartarpur corridor to be fast-tracked
India on Tuesday asserted that the construction work on the Kartarpur corridor, which will allow its pilgrims to access the famed Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, will be completed expeditiously. Giving a detailed description of the work under way, sources said a passenger terminal building, a four-lane highway and other …
Read More »SC deadline on judicial vacancies
Within 20 days, they have been asked to provide position with regard to filling up of vacancies in each State The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave a deadline of 20 days for the States, Union Territories and respective High Courts to provide it information on the status of filling up …
Read More »SC to consider refugee status for illegal migrants
The petitions, filed in the Supreme Court, submitted that the 40,000-odd Rohingya were registered and recognised by the UNHCR in 2016 and granted refugee identity cards. The pleas said their deportation would violate India’s commitment to international conventions that recognise the ‘Principle of Non-Refoulement’. This principle of customary international law …
Read More »Honour Mahatma Gandhi with village walks, Modi tells MPs
Seek feedback on government, PM advises cadre BJP MPs on Tuesday were asked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to undertake a padayatra (walking tour) of their constituencies between October 2 and 31, the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel respectively. Addressing a BJP parliamentary party meeting, Mr. …
Read More »Honour for ‘Plan Bee’ that helped save jumbos
Amplifying system imitating buzz earns NFR award Plan Bee, an amplifying system imitating the buzz of a swarm of honey bees to keep wild elephants away from railway tracks, on Tuesday earned the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) the best innovation award in Indian Railways for the 2018-19 fiscal. The first …
Read More »‘Infiltration down after Balakot strike’
Govt. claims a 43% dip after Feb. 26 The security situation in Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed an improvement and the net infiltration from across the border has reduced by 43% after the February 26 last air strike on a terror camp at Balakot in Pakistan, Union Minister of State …
Read More »Ayodhya: SC agrees to hear petition
Mediation process not moving: plea The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine a plea of a claimant to the disputed Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land that the mediation proceedings triggered by the court to heal hearts and minds is making no headway. In an urgent mentioning before a Bench led by …
Read More »Rising healthcare costs bankrupt families: Minister
Children have to stop education in some extreme cases’ The Central government has admitted that 75 lakh families fall below the poverty line annually due to the rising cost of health care in India. Replying to a question on the availability and price control on generic drugs Mansukh L. Mandaviya, …
Read More »Born in Silchar in 1943, this Assam man is tagged a foreigner
Official attributes it to clerical error; sons, family members are included in the draft National Register of Citizens The birth register of the municipality in southern Assam’s Silchar town says Sunirmal Bagchi was born on September 21, 1943. This did not prevent the 76-year-old from being marked a ‘foreigner’ during …
Read More »Monsoon heading for ‘a break’ after July 15
A routine occurrence, heavy rain will be confined to the foothills of the Himalayas The southwest monsoon, which has seen a vigorous phase over parts of central India, the western coast and eastern India, will likely take a break after July 15, private weather agency Skymet Weather said. “… The …
Read More »Protests over Karnataka crisis disrupt Parliament
Opposition members raise slogans and walk out of the Lok Sabha; Rajya Sabha adjourned amidst the ruckus The Rajya Sabha witnessed its first adjournment on Tuesday in the inaugural session of the second term of Narendra Modi government over the Karnataka political crisis. The issue rocked the Lok Sabha also, …
Read More »‘UN report backs India’s stand on Pak.-based militant groups’
Human rights activists urge New Delhi not to reject findings entirely While India has rejected the ‘Update’ of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report on Jammu and Kashmir, human rights activists have pointed out that it includes several unprecedented references to rights violations and …
Read More »‘Draft Education Policy gives boost to research’
K. Kasturirangan, chairman, Drafting Committee, National Education Policy 2019, on Tuesday said the draft education policy has recommended merger of 900 universities and 40,000 colleges into around 15,000 large, well-resourced, vibrant multidisciplinary institutions and the higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country would move towards becoming three types of universities. …
Read More »High Court seeks latest data on potholes
Indicating that the court would fix liability on civic bodies in case of mishaps owing to bad roads or potholes, the High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday directed BBMP to submit the latest data on the condition of roads and assessment of the number of potholes. The bench was hearing …
Read More »State facing severe power crisis
Mani says 30 minutes to one hour curbs within 10 days With the southwest monsoon playing truant over the 40 days since its onset, Kerala is grappling with a serious power shortage as the water level in hydel reservoirs dips to alarming levels. Hinting at the possibility of regulations in …
Read More »SC to decide if illegal migrants can be given the status of refugees
Centre’s question came on petition by two Rohingya men who face deportation The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to examine a “substantial question” from the Union government on whether illegal immigrants can even be considered for ‘refugee’ status. A Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, was hearing …
Read More »8 letters not in order, says Karnataka Speaker
MLAs wanting to quit can send them again: Ramesh Kumar In another twist to the political crisis in Karnataka, Speaker K. Ramesh Kumar said on Tuesday that the resignation letters of only five of the 13 legislators from the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), were in order. “These five [letters] …
Read More »U.S. troops in Viet Nam begin pull out
The initial pullout of 25,000 American troops from Viet Nam began to-day [July 8] with the departure of a battalion of 814 infantrymen. Garlanded with plastic flowers thrown round their necks by pretty Viet Namese girls, most of the young troops laughed and smiled as they boarded nine giant transport …
Read More »The visible hand
BJP must not stake claim to form a Ministryin Karnataka without an absolute majority The political crisis in Karnataka that has been brewing for months has boiled over, threatening the Congress-Janata Dal(S) coalition government. With 13 of its MLAs resigning from the Assembly in phases, and one independent withdrawing his …
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