Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, who was arrested by the CBI on August 21 and was in the agency’s custody for several days, was confronted by four to five persons and answered more than 400 questions related to the INX Media case and the FIPB approvals given during his term as the Union Finance Minister, agency sources said. The Supreme Court on Thursday sent Chidambaram to 14 days’ judicial custody in the INX Media case. He is presently lodged in jail number-7 of Tihar Jail, which is meant for economic offenders. A top CBI source connected to the INX Media…
Author: Our Correspondent
Former Union Minister and veteran politician Arif Mohammad Khan was sworn in as the 24th Governor of Kerala on Friday. Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court Hrishikesh Roy administered Khan the oath of office at the Raj Bhawan here. He took the oath first in Malayalam. Present on the occasion was Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his Cabinet colleagues and other top officials. Khan, 68, arrived here on Thursday, and was given a guard of honour at the airport. Despite being in the city, Vijayan failed to greet the new Governor at the airport, but made it up by calling…
India and South Korea signed two MoUs pertaining to defence co-operation during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to the East Asian nation. The MoUs are aimed at furthering defence educational exchanges and extension of mutual logistical support for the navies of both countries, Defence Ministry officials said on Friday. Singh met his South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeongdoo on Thursday during his three-day visit to the country, which will end on Friday. “Had productive discussions with the Minister of National Defence of RoK, Mr Jeong Kyeong-Doo, during bilateral meeting. The ongoing defence cooperation engagements have made good progress in recent years.…
The Supreme Court on Friday referred the plea seeking recording of daily hearings in the Ayodhya dispute case to a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. The plea filed by former BJP leader and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue K.N. Govindacharya seeks audio recording and live streaming of the proceedings in the case. If none of these can be done, it has asked the apex court to at least prepare the transcripts of the proceedings. However, a bench of Justices R.F. Nariman and Surya Kant referred the decision on the plea to a bench headed by CJI Gogoi.
Business is going to be the thrust area now in India-Russia relationship, which has so far been seen mostly from the prism of military and civil nuclear cooperation. Even the military and civil nuclear elements of cooperation have been one-way street, with India being the buyer and Russia the supplier. But this has to change. This is what Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here during his two-day visit, emphasising on converting the buyer-seller relationship to a collaborative one. He also stressed that the relationship has to be taken beyond military and civil nuclear elements and diversified, with more focus on…
The Narendra Modi government has plans to honour legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar with the ‘Daughter Of The Nation title when she turns 90 on September 28. Mangeshkar will be conferred the title as a tribute to her contribution to Indian film music over seven decades. Poet-lyricist Prasoon Joshi has written a special song for the occasion. “Modiji is a very big fan of Lataji’s voice. She represents the collective voice of the Indian nation. Honouring her is to honour the daughter of the nation and that’s what we will officially designate her on her 90th birthday,” an informed source…
The Jammu and Kashmir government has come out with a public notice explaining the benefits and advantages of the abrogation of Article 370 which it said kept the state isolated for long and did not allow its development. The government said that Article 370 and 35A were responsible for Jammu and Kashmir’s backwardness while only benefiting a select few like the separatists and their associates. It said while earlier there were restrictions on transfer of land, it will now lead to growth and employment and private investments in education, health and tourism. The government said land rates which had remained…
The Union government has identified 130 wetlands in the country to be restored in the next five years, while to speed up the process, the Centre has asked the states to send an integrated management plan by October 15, a senior official said on Thursday. According to the the Union government publication National Wetland Atlas, India has 7.5 lakh wetlands. “The initiative will be carried out with local involvement. Each wetland will be issued a health card, which will denote its health. Apart from this, wetland ‘mitras’ (friends) will be appointed for every marsh,” Environment Ministry Joint Secretary Manju Pandey…
More than 700 truckloads of apple have been transported from Jammu and Kashmir to wholesale markets in North India over the past two days with normal trading activities resuming in the Valley, Army officers said on Thursday. Inter-state trading activities are gradually resuming in Jammu and Kashmir with curbs being lifted in a phased manner following over a month of restrictions since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5. With apple picking season in the Valley now in full flow, security agencies have gradually started to remove restrictions on inter-state trading of the fruit. “Nearly 300 trucks loaded with…
A Pakistani Hindu girl, who was abducted, forcibly converted to Islam and wedded to a Muslim, has returned to her parents. According to a report in the Pakistani media, the girl — Reno Kumari — was abducted on August 29 from the Rohari town in Sindh province while on way to the college. Her family members alleged that she was kidnapped and married to a Muslim. Angry over the incident, the Hindu community urged the Pakistan government to take immediate action. Later, a court asked for Reno’s return to her home. Expressing happiness over the girl’s return to parents on…