India

New Delhi, Dec 16: A special court hearing the coal block case involving industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and others here Tuesday asked CBI to record the statement of former prime minister Manmohan Singh who was then holding coal ministry portfolio. Special Judge Bharat Parashar asked Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to record the statement of Manmohan Singh in the case. The court also

New Delhi, Dec 16: In a last-minute compromise deal, the Centre on Monday night decided to keep petroleum out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in return for states agreeing to entry tax being subsumed in the new tax regime proposed from April 2016. On the issue of compensation to states for revenue loss because of subsuming of all indirect taxes in the GST, the Finance Ministry will seek legal

Mumbai, Dec 16: India's wholesale inflation rate fell to a five-and-a-half-year low, driven by ongoing falls in fuel and food prices, data showed on Monday (Dec 15), boosting hopes of an interest rate cut early next year. The Wholesale Price Index, India's inflation measure with the biggest basket of goods, slipped to a lower-than-expected zero per cent in November from a year earlier, official

Hyderabad, Dec 15: Ankireddy Vishwakant, the Indian among the hostages being held by a gunman in a Sydney cafe, hails from Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh and is an employee of software giant Infosys. The company has informed about the incident to his family in Guntur district. Anikreddy's father Ishwar Reddy said he had left for the office in the morning and around 10 a.m. had gone to the cafe

New Delhi, Dec 15: An Indian origin IT professional may be among the hostages held by a gunman in a cafe in Australia, according to Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu who later said the reports were unconfirmed. "We don't want to discuss it because there is some information that one of our IT persons is also there. So the External Affairs Ministry is keeping in touch with concerned

Srinagar, Dec 15: Defying separatists' boycott call and chilly weather, voters came out in good numbers on Sunday to record a 49 per cent turnout in the fourth and penultimate phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections that involved 18 seats. The polling in the four districts--Srinagar, Anantnag, Shopian(all in Valley) and Samba(Jammu region) was four per cent higher than that in the 2008

Ranchi, Dec 14: Women voters Sunday outnumbered men in the fourth phase of the assembly elections in Jharkhand. Around 61 percent balloting was reported from across the 15 constituencies that went to the polls, officials said. "The highest polling was reported from Chankayari with 71.28 percent, followed by 70.2 percent in Madhupur. Polling was by and large peaceful. The turnout in Maoist-affected

Srinagar, Dec 14: Voting began on a sluggish note this morning in the fourth and the penultimate round of state elections in 18 seats for which 182 candidates, including two chief ministerial aspirants and Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, are in the fray. Over 14.73 lakh voters including 7.05 lakh females are eligible to exercise their franchise at 1,890 polling stations in four

Srinagar/Ranchi, Dec 14: Polling began on Sunday for the penultimate round of the five-phased elections as votes were being cast for 18 seats in Jammu and Kashmir and 15 Assembly seats in Jharkhand. Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi and three incumbent ministers are among the heavyweights in Jharkhand whose future will be sealed in the ballot boxes today; while in J&K the fate of 182

Kolkata, Dec 14: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday hit the streets to protest the arrest of her minister Madan Mitra in the Saradha scam, and wondered if Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be arrested for the Sahara scandal as he was photographed with the Sahara group chief who is now behind bars. "A red diary was obtained after raiding the Sahara office. It had several big