India

Srinagar, Dec 13: Jammu and Kashmir Government has cleared ex-gratia to next of kin of 17 persons, including Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani's brother, killed in militancy-related incidents in the Valley, while giving one week's time for filing of any objection before formal orders are issued. Burhan Wani's killing by security forces in an encounter in south Kashmir's Kokernag area on July

New Delhi, Dec 13: Under attack over the alleged power projects scam in Arunachal Pradesh, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju today rejected allegations of wrongdoing and said those who have "planted" the story against him "will be beaten up with shoes". "Jo news plant kar rahe hain wo hamare yehan ayyenge to joota khayenge (Those who planted the story will be beaten up with shoes when they will come to

Nagpur, Dec 13: In a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram today dubbed demonetisation a "thoughtless move" and "the worst assault on the poor" in the country. "This is the worst assault on the poor in the country. Demonetisation has broken the back of 45 crore people. It is punishing the poor. I see no rich man affected by the ban," the Congress

Dadri, Dec 13: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today stepped up attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on demonetisation, saying his vision of a cashless economy has rendered the poor "cashless", robbing them of their hard-earned money. Gandhi accused Modi of "waging a war" against the poor of the country through his announcement on the night of November 8. The measure has enabled the

Chennai, Dec 13: A day after Cyclone 'Vardah' ripped through Chennai, the city presented a scene of devastation with thousands of uprooted trees, broken billboards and snapped telephone and power cables besides low-lying areas reporting waterlogging. Flight operations resumed this morning in the storm-hit city which was limping back to normalcy. The storm, which was the most intense to have hit

New Delhi, Dec 13: RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy, who is among those who are regularly consulted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since demonetisation, has said the new Rs 2,000 notes will be phased out within the next five years. Gurumurthy, who is addressing meetings in the city in support of the note ban, said in a TV interview that the government is “committed” to moving towards smaller

Chennai, Dec 12: Heavy rains accompanied by high- velocity winds pounded the city and coastal districts of north Tamil Nadu as severe cyclonic storm "Vardah" commenced its landfall through the coast, killing two persons and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people from low-lying areas. The cyclone, that triggered strong winds of nearly 100 km/h, uprooted hundreds of trees and disrupted power

New Delhi, Dec 12: India and the world's most populous Muslim nation Indonesia today decided to expand their defence and maritime security ties and resolved to effectively deal with terrorism, calling for "zero tolerance" towards it. The two countries, among the very few fast growing large economies globally, also decided to boost bilateral trade and investment in areas of oil and gas, renewable

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