India

Islamabad, Aug 20: Pakistan today announced that it will not host next month's Commonwealth Parliamentary Union meeting amid a row with India over its refusal to invite the Speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly for the conference. India had threatened to boycott the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference to be held here from September 30 to October 8 after Islamabad refused to invite Jammu and

New Delhi, Aug 20: Ashwani Lohani, Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME) official, was appointed as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of national carrier Air India Ltd, for three years. He will be replacing Rohit Nandan, whose extended tenure ends tomorrow. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved appointment of Mr. Lohani, a 1980 batch IRSME officer, as CMD, Air

Srinagar, Aug 20: Top Kashmiri separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, were today put under house arrest only to be released within hours in actions that were linked to their proposed meeting with Pakistani National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz in Delhi on Sunday. Early this morning, police put restrictions on the movement of the several separatist leaders

New Delhi, Aug 20: Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani have been placed under house arrest ahead of the India, Pakistan NSA talks. Pakistan has invited the separatists leaders to meet its National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz when he comes to India for talks. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is to hold talks with Sartaj Aziz on Sunday. According to media reports

New Delhi, Aug 20: The Supreme Court on Wednesday imposed a hefty fine of Rs 60 crore on Ansal brothers - Gopal and Sushil – who had been earlier convicted in the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case. The Supreme Court, however, ruled no jail term for the Uphaar cinema hall owners. The fine imposed on them has to be paid within three months. Each of the brothers will have to pay a fine of Rs 30 crore to

New Delhi, Aug 19: Pakistan's invite to Kashmiri separatist leaders ahead of the NSA talks was "designed to scuttle" the August 23-24 parley, and follows a typical pattern the Pakistani military-intelligence establishment has been following since the Ufa talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to heighten tension, sources said on Wednesday. The

New Delhi, Aug 19: A crucial day-long meeting of the highest advisory body on education began here today to consider reviewing the no-detention policy up to class 8 and reintroduction of class 10 board examination. The meeting is being chaired by HRD Minister Smriti Irani, where the Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi suggested supplying of sanitary napkins in schools to reduce

Lucknow, Aug 19: SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav has kicked a fresh controversy with his comments on rape, saying while one man commits rape, four are named to "settle scores" and that rape by four persons was not "practical". This is not the first time that the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has made shocking comments on rape. While opposing capital punishment for rape last year, he had

Amethi, Aug 19: Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday followed up on his "suit-boot ki sarkar" jibe against Prime Minister Narendra Modi by promising a "kurta-pajama sarkar" that will work for the common man. "We want your sarkar. Shirt ki sarkar, chappal ki sarkar, kurta pajama ki sarkar. And we will show it to you", he said attacking the Modi government as elitist. Interacting with villagers in his

Pune, Aug 19: In a post-midnight swoop, Maharashtra police arrested five students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) from the campus for rioting, damaging properties and other charges. The arrests came after a group of striking students confined FTII Director Prashant Pathrabe and other staffers in his office for eight hours, and vandalised office furniture and fittings on Monday