New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) Prime Minster Narendra Modi’s pet project of building 100 smart cities has only been allotted Rs.143.05 crore in the union budget Saturday – down from Rs.7,016 crore. Of the Rs.7,016 crore allocated, however only Rs.924 crore have been used. However, the urban development inistry – entrusted with the task of […]
New Delhi/Mumbai, Feb 27 (IANS) Union minister Nitin Gadkari Friday denied any wrongdoing after a media report said he had enjoyed a two-day holiday on a yatch owned by the Essar group on French Riviera. An unruffled Gadkari told the media that he had gone “just to see” the yacht and stressed he never took […]
Kannur (Kerala) Feb 27 (IANS) A court here Friday sent Communist Party of India-Marxist legislator James Mathew to 14 days judicial custodyfor abetting suicide of a school teacher. Mathew, a first time legislator representing Thaliparampa assembly constituency in Kannur district, was named as an accused in the case here. E.P. Sasidharan, who was the headmaster […]
New Delhi, Feb 27 (IANS) The Supreme Court Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to undertake investigation into the two rape videos that were posted on WhatsApp but nothing has been done so far to apprehend the perpetrators of the crime. Taking suo motu cognizance of a letter sent by Hyderabad-based NGO Prajwala, the […]
Srinagar, Feb 27 (IANS) A fierce gunfight began Friday evening between two militants, holed-up in a house, and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, police said. A joint team of army’s counter-insurgency force, the Rashtriya Rifles, and state police’s special operations group (SOG) surrounded a house in Rathsuna village near Tral town of […]
New Delhi, Feb 27 (IANS) The government intends to give priority to passage of bills replacing six ordinances in the next week of budget session, Parliamentary Affairs M. Venkaiah Naidu said here Friday. The government is willing to consider constructive suggestions concerning the land acquisition ordinance but will not compromise on its core, he added. […]
Havana, Feb 26 (IANS) Restoring Cuba-US diplomatic ties in time for an upcoming summit in April solely depends on Washington’s willingness to create the right conditions. Deputy Director for US affairs at Cuba’s foreign ministry Gustavo Machin Wednesday indicated removing Cuba from a list of countries alleged to be “sponsors of terrorism” was one of […]
Dhaka, Feb 25 A court here Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, scrapping her bail in two cases filed by the country’s anti-graft body. Dhaka’s Third Metropolitan Special Judges Court scrapped bails for the former prime minister after she failed to appear for a hearing of the Zia Orphanage Trust and […]
The year 2015 has marked the return of volatility to the financial markets. We have seen huge moves in the foreign exchange and bond markets in response to the European Central Bank’s Quantitative Easing program, the “Grexit” debate, the surprise move by the Swiss National Bank to abandon the Franc’s peg against the Euro and […]
Between February 17-19, a large conference on ‘Countering Violent Extremism’ convened in Washington, bringing together political and diplomatic representatives from over 60 countries, law enforcement officials, religious leaders and experts. The meeting constituted a reaffirmation of the need for an effective multilateral strategy to counter and prevent violent extremism in today’s increasingly challenging environments. At […]