It is for BJP to decide on Gadkari's second term: RSS

New Delhi, Mar 30: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday interacted with Indian ambassadors and high commissioners abroad and urged them to remain alert to developments in global efforts against COVID-19 including breakthroughs to help the country's fight against the coronavirus.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla were also present during the interaction through video-conferencing.

"Coming together for India PM interacted with Indian Ambassadors/High Commissioners abroad and urged them to remain alert to developments in global efforts against COVID-19 including breakthroughs to help our national efforts to fight COVID19," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

"PM appreciated the efforts of our missions in helping Indians abroad, in particular, students and workers," he added.

The number of positive coronavirus cases in the country stood at 1,071 on Monday. It includes 29 deaths and 99 people, who have been cured of the highly contagious virus.

New Delhi, Jan 12: A fact-finding committee of the Congress on the JNU violence on Sunday said the January 5 attack inside the university campus was "state-sponsored" and recommended Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar be dismissed and criminal investigation initiated against him.

The Congress had appointed a four-member fact-finding committee to carry out a detailed inquiry into the violence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Sushmita Dev, member of the committee, said the committee recommended that Kumar should be dismissed immediately and all the appointments in faculty should be probed and independent inquiry should take place.

"Criminal investigation must take place against the VC and faculty members and the security company," the Mahila Congress chief said.

"It is clear that the attack on JNU campus was state-sponsored," Dev said.

She also demanded a complete rollback of the JNU fee hike.

The other members of the fact-finding committee are Hibi Eden, MP and former NSUI president, Syed Naseer Hussain, MP and former president of JNU NSUI and Amrita Dhawan, a former NSUI president and ex-DUSU president.

On January 5 night, masked people armed with rods and sticks stormed the JNU campus and assaulted students and faculty members, and vandalised property, leaving several people injured.

Leftist outfits and the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) blamed each other for the violence.

New Delhi, Jun 26: Petrol prices in the national capital have reached Rs 80.13 per litre on June 26, up by 21 paise from yesterday’s Rs 79.92 per litre; while diesel prices in Delhi also rose to Rs 80.19 per litre – up by 17 paise compared to yesterday’s Rs 80.02 per litre.

This is the 20th consecutive day that fuel prices have been hiked by oil marketing companies (OMCs). The hikes began from June 8 after a 83-day halt on revised pricing during the lockdown period.

The state government’s increased value-added tax (VAT) on diesel since May is causing the fuel’s prices to soar in Delhi. VAT was increased to 30 percent for both petrol and diesel from 27 percent and 16.75 percent, respectively.

Coupled with the Centre’s hiked excise duty of Rs 3 per litre since March 14 and then Rs 10 per litre on petrol and Rs 13 per litre on diesel since May 5 has affected prices.

The hike on diesel prices is unusual, as the government traditionally keeps the price for the fuel low due to its impact on agriculture and other high consumption economic activities.