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‘Plan part of restructuring effort’ The Ministry of Civil Aviation has proposed greater autonomy for Air India’s management, as part of its strategic turnaround plan for the cash-strapped national carrier, sources said. Cash infusion The plan is part of efforts to bring about organisational and financial restructuring at Air India …

He is to meet Kim for a third bilateral summit on Sept. 18 South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Friday that he is pushing for “irrevocable progress” in efforts to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons by the end of this year as he prepares for his third …

Removes economist from council Pakistan Premier Imran Khan’s government backed down on Friday over its controversial decision to appoint a member of a persecuted religious minority as an economic adviser, underscoring the pressure it faces from hardline Islamists. Atif Mian, an MIT-educated Pakistani-American economics professor at Princeton University, was recently …

Putin, Rouhani, Erdoğan agree to eliminate IS, Nusra and other terrorist groups in Syria The Presidents of Turkey, Iran and Russia on Friday failed to agree on a ceasefire that would forestall a Syrian government offensive in rebel-held Idlib province which the UN fears could cause a humanitarian catastrophe involving …

India’s inaugural 2+2 ministerial dialogue with the United States on Thursday has “symbolic” significance, but is unlikely to yield a structural change in regional security, says a posting on a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) website. “From a long-term perspective,…it’s unlikely to have any significant impact on the regional security layout …

‘New govt. in Pakistan offers hope’ Indicating that end of terrorism will play a key role in determining bilateral relations, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria said that if ‘terrorism ends’ India is prepared to take 10 steps forward. He was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a …

‘Exact compensation difficult to fix’ “Every patient will have to be evaluated and it is hard to put an exact amount on the compensation,” said Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Medical’s India spokesperson, contesting the Union Health Ministry’s recent direction to pay a base amount compensation of Rs. 20 lakh to …

Hindu society is now on an ascendant path, spreading its wisdom to the world, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said. Mr. Bhagwat was addressing the second World Hindu Congress (WHC), coinciding with the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s speech at the Parliament of World Religions in 1893 …

Border Guards chief says only 100 people were intercepted so far this year The chief of Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) said here on Friday that there was no large-scale infiltration from Bangladesh to India and in the past six months, only 100 infiltrators were intercepted along the border. On a …

Dilbag Singh takes charge as new J&K police chief; promises to protect interests of common people Senior IPS officer Dilbag Singh took over as the new Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police on Friday after his predecessor S.P. Vaid was shunted out and posted as Transport Commissioner on Thursday …

Says announcement regarding this will be made soon Punjab Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday welcomed Pakistan’s decision to allow pilgrims to pay obeisance at the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara across the border. However, Pakistan or India is yet to confirm the decision officially. At a press conference here, Mr. …

Rawat terms remarks preposterous Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) O.P. Rawat on Friday termed caretaker Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s remarks about the schedule of fresh polls preposterous. He said an EC team would visit the State on September 11 to assess poll preparedness to decide the timing. “The Commission …

A robot submarine able to hunt and kill the predatory crown-of-thorns starfish devastating the Great Barrier Reef was unveiled by Australian researchers on Friday. Scientists at Queensland University of Technology said the robot, named the RangerBot and developed with a grant from Google, would serve as a “robo reef protector” …

China will restrict the number of video games and take steps to curb playing time by minors to address growing rates of childhood visual impairment as the government steps up its crackdown on the world’s biggest online gaming market. A statement posted on the Education Ministry website late on Thursday …

The U.S. government has decided to stop all funding it gives to a UN agency that provides assistance to millions of Palestinian refugees, ending a decades-long policy of supporting it, according to a former senior U.S. aid official. The move was pushed hardest by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law …

Canada’s Foreign Minister said on Friday that an agreement had yet to be reached with the U.S. on salvaging the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). “We are not there yet,” Chrystia Freeland told reporters during a break in a fourth and final day of negotiations with U.S. Trade Representative …

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a series of bilateral meetings, including with his Thai counterpart, Prayut Chan-o-cha and Myanmar President Win Myint, on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit here on Friday. “Mr. Prayut Chan-o-cha and I had a great meeting. Our talks focussed on boosting cooperation between India and …

The first face-to-face engagement between the new Pakistani government and India could come later this month when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi attend the SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) Council of Ministers’ meeting in New York, officials in Delhi and Islamabad …

The Supreme Court on Friday bowed to the Centre’s wish to postpone hearing on the legality of Article 35A, giving special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, till the panchayat elections in the State are over in order to avoid law and order problems. Appearing before a Bench …

The regional grouping’s Kathmandu Declaration focusses on backing of terror by state and non-state actors, apart from connectivity among the member nations Describing terrorism as a “great threat” to international peace and security, India and six other BIMSTEC nations on Friday called for identifying and holding accountable states and non-state …