India

Chennai, Dec 12: Heavy rains today pounded the city and north coastal districts of Tiruvallore and Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu, inundating low lying areas, while high velocity winds uprooted hundreds of trees as the severe cyclonic storm Vardha reached about 60 kms northeast of Chennai and was likely to make landfall in the next couple of hours. According to the IMD bulletin at noon, by the time

Chennai, Dec 12: Very severe cyclonic storm Vardah is on its way to making landfall close to Chennai by Monday afternoon, the India Meteorological Department said. The latest IMD bulletin released at 3.30am said, "The very severe cyclonic storm Vardah now lies at 220km east-northeast off Chennai. It likely to cross close to Chennai by Monday afternoon." Chennai and nearby areas have been receiving

Kathua, Dec 11: Home Minister Rajnath Singh today accused Pakistan of "conspiring" to divide India on religious lines but said it will not succeed. "Pakistan is conspiring to divide India on religious lines but it will not succeed. We were divided in 1947 on religious basis. We have not been able to forget that... All Indians are brothers, whether they are born from the womb of a Hindu mother or a

Mumbai, Dec 11: A helicopter crashed and caught fire in Aarey Colony today, killing 2 people and injuring two others. The chopper crashed in an open ground in Aarey Colony, a green belt in suburban Goregaon, a Fire Brigade official said. Four persons, all occupants of the chopper, suffered burns and were rushed to a hospital where one of them succumbed to injuries, said DCP (Zone 12) Kirankumar

New Delhi, Dec 10: A Delhi court today sent former Air Force Chief S P Tyagi, arrested in Rs 450 crore Agusta Westland bribery case in procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters, to police custody for four days after the CBI said he was needed to be quizzed to unearth a "very large conspiracy having international ramifications". His cousin Sanjeev Tyagi alias Julie and advocate Gautam Khaitan, also

Deesa (Guj), Dec 10: Acknowledging the difficulties thrown up by the note ban decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today cautioned that the coming days may even be tougher but the situation will gradually move towards normalcy after the 50-day period. He also slammed the Opposition for disrupting Parliament saying he has been forced to speak out in 'jan sabha' (among people) as he was not

New Delhi, Dec 10: The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre's response on issues like whether district cooperative banks could be allowed to accept deposits in demonetised notes with some stringent regulations and why banks are unable to allow minimum weekly withdrawals of Rs. 24,000 to customers. The hearing, in which the Centre accused some advocates of politicising the issue in the garb of

New Delhi, Dec 9: The CBI today arrested former Indian Air Force chief S P Tyagi and two others for alleged corruption in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal. Tyagi, who retired in 2007, was questioned by the CBI extensively in the past in this case. Along with Tyagi, his cousin Sanjiv alias Julie Tyagi and lawyer Gautam Khaitan were also arrested. "This is for first time a former

New Delhi, Dec 9: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today accused the government of not allowing him to speak in Parliament on demonetization, which he dubbed as the "biggest scam", and said he would reveal in the House what was behind the move to scrap high denomination notes. Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Gandhi said that his party wants debate on demonetization so that the truth

New Delhi, Dec 9: Defending the notes ban forcefully today, the government told the Supreme Court that it is "not sitting around doing nothing" and all the problems will be over in "10-15 days". There has not been a single case of social unrest, the government told the court, alleging "political overtones" in the arguments on petitions challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to ban Rs