India

New Delhi, Apr 30: Policy think-tank Niti Aayog has suggested outsourcing of public services to private hands in order to reduce dependence on the government administrative machinery. It has also recommended induction of specialists into the governance system through lateral entry, a move which, it says, will bring "competition to the established career bureaucracy". In its draft report on a three

New Delhi, Apr 30: India embarks on space diplomacy like never before. For the first time, New Delhi is flexing its prowess of space technology by embarking on an unprecedented and un- chartered 'stratospheric diplomacy' through a special Rs 450 crore gift for south Asians. India is carving a very unique place in the universe, this week New Delhi will 'gift' a heavyweight bird in the sky to its

Chandigarh, Apr 29: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will soon call a meeting of all political parties to assure them that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were tampering-proof and secured, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said today. He also said that the commission intends to use Voter- Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in all coming elections to bring in more transparency and

Lucknow, Apr 29: Raising questions about Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said today that when petrol can be stolen with the help of a chip, there also were possibilities of misuse of the machines used during polls. "When petrol can be stolen with the help of a remote through a chip without having any internet connection then through EVMs too. Need to

New Delhi, Apr 29: Grappling with a crushing defeat in the civic polls, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today admitted that his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made "mistakes" and that there was a need to "introspect" and "course correct". Till now the AAP leader had been blaming Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the party's rout in polls. Kejriwal said that based on his interactions with "volunteers and

New Delhi, Apr 28: Taking a cue from Uttar Pradesh, the Delhi government has decided to cancel public holidays marking the birth or death anniversary of eminent personalities, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said today. "The Delhi government will cancel holidays on birth or death anniversary of eminent personalities. I have issued instruction to the chief secretary in this regard," he tweeted

New Delhi, Apr 28: Congress president Sonia Gandhi`s son-in-law Robert Vadra made an "illegal profit" of over Rs 50 crore from a 2008 land deal without investing a penny, according to a panel that probed suspect Haryana land deals. The Economic Times citing unnamed people familiar with the SN Dhingra commission report said the committee had probed transactions between Onkareshwar Properties and

New Delhi, Apr 28: An alleged hawala operator was arrested here today in connetion with the Election Commission bribery case in which three persons, including AIADMK (Amma) leader TTV Dhinakaran, were in police custody. Naresh was apprehended at the Delhi Airport for his alleged involvement in "illegal transfer" of money to arrested middleman Sukesh Chandrasekhar by Dhinakaran, said a senior

New Delhi, Apr 28: Malegaon blast accused Shrikant Purohit today moved the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court order rejecting his bail plea in the case. A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said that the petition will come up in regular course while rejecting the former lieutenant colonel's plea for an urgent hearing. The Bombay High Court had on April 25 granted bail to Sadhvi

Lucknow, Apr 28: In a bizarre diktat, a private school in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut town, about 450 kilometres from here, has asked its students to follow UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath's hair style triggering resentment among the parents and students. The school management has also directed the students not to bring non-vegetarian food items in the institution and warned of stern action if such