Shamnath Marg was a high- profile address till its last occupant, former industries minister Deep Chand Bandhu, died of illness in the bungalow. Since then, politicians have shunned the address, branding it a "jinxed abode". More »Jinxed houses
India, June 19 -- Veteran BJP leader LK Advani may have come to terms with Gujarat CM Narendra Modi overtaking him as the face of the party, but close aide Sudheendra Kulkarni still hasn't.In a strongly-worded letter posted on rediff.com, he condemns Modi and calls party president Rajnath Singh 'foxy'.Kulkarni - who headed Advani's campaign in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and became part of the BJP's vision document team as late as 2012 writes: "An autocrat is sought to be enthroned, and a perfect democrat is being marginalised and humiliated. ... More »Advani aide calls Modi autocrat, Rajnath foxy
New Delhi, June 18 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday met L.K. Advani to get the BJP patriarch's backing for his new role as head of the BJP's campaign committee, an elevation that has split the NDA. More »Modi meets Advani to get backing for new role
The earlier price of 10p per 10 KB has been reduced by 80 percent and will now be charged at 2p per 10 KB. More »2G data rates reduced by 80 per cent
India, June 19 -- The release of more water by Haryana from the Hathini Kund barrage led to the Yamuna flowing well above the danger mark. "Haryana is continuously releasing water for the past two days and is expected to release more. The army has been asked to be on alert to help the civil administration, if required," a Delhi government official said.According to revenue department officials, the water level of Yamuna on Tuesday evening (10pm) had reached 205.72m and is expected to reach 207.75m by Wednesday evening. ... More »Yamuna above danger mark, many evacuated
India, June 19 -- Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi took a backseat and allowed his men to settle scores with the Planning Commission regarding the panel's criticism of Gujarat's development model.Modi even coined a new slogan for development "sabka vikas sabka saath" and remained quiet most of the time.In earlier annual plan meetings, Modi used to himself counter criticism of his developmental model but this time he watched as his men blamed the panel for wrong interpretation of data, especially on school education, projecting Gujarat in a bad light. ... More »Gujarat CM counters UPA govt claims, walks away with Rs 59,000 crore
Joshimath, June 18 (ANI): Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was amongst the many pilgrims and tourists stranded in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand due to the landslides and heavy rains, on Tuesday lauded the rescue operations conducted by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel at Joshimath. More »Bhajji lauds rescue operations, says 'happy to be alive'
Patna, June 18 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is confident of proving his majority in the assembly Wednesday after dumping the BJP as an ally, party leaders said Tuesday. More »Ahead of vote, Nitish confident of proving majority
India, June 19 -- A new global study has predicted a large increase in the frequency of floods in South Asia and peninsular India due to climate change.The study titled 'Global flood risk under climate change', published online in international journal Nature's website on June 9, predicts a large increase in flood frequency in southeast Asia, peninsular India, eastern Africa and northern half of the Andes.In some parts of the world, however, flood frequency is projected to decrease. ... More »India at high flood risk: Study
The iBall Slide 7334i has a 1 GHz dual core processor, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB inbuilt memory, and Android 4.1 OS. But the tablet gets too small a battery. More »iBall launches tablet with dual SIM, FM & GPS
New Delhi/Haridwar, June 18 ((IANS) Swollen mountain rivers fed by heavy rains destroyed homes and property in many areas in north India even as the monsoon downpour continued, leading to flooding and many rivers rising dangerously. The death count in floods reached 60 while 60,000 tourists and pilgrims are stranded at various locations following floods and landslides. More »Monsoon fury toll mounts in north India, rescue efforts on
Patna, June 18 (IANS) Nearly half-a-dozen people were injured here in a clash, and several trains stopped, roads blocked and top BJP leaders taken into custody across Bihar during the party's state-wide shutdown Tuesday to protest what it called a betrayal by the JD-U. More »Half a dozen hurt, trains stopped in BJP's Bihar shutdown
By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Th=e United States will meet the Taliban in Doha for talks aimed at achieving peace in Afghanistan, where the United States has battled the insurgents for 12 years, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, warned that the process would likely be lengthy. They said the Taliban would issue a statement on Tuesday opposing the use of Afghan soil for attacks on other countries and that they support an Afghan peace process. ... More »U.S. to hold Afghan peace talks with Taliban in Doha
Bangalore, June 18 (IANS) Karnataka will soon permit the state ombudsman (Lokayukta) to prosecute senior officials named in the probe report on the multi-crore iron ore mining scam in the state, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Tuesday. More »Karnataka to act against corrupt officials in mining scam
Reuters Market Eye - The rupee rises on hopes of inflows related to debt limit auction, say dealers. The pair is at 58.70/71 after rising to 58.92, versus its record closing high of 58.77/78 on Tuesday and remains within touch of an all-time high of 58.98 hit on June 11. The capital market regulator will auction 420.22 billion rupees in unused limits on Thursday. However, the success of the auction will remain an issue as foreigners have been heavy sellers of Indian debt, pulling out $4.7 billion over 18 successive sessions. ... More »Rupee off lows; debt quota auction on Thursday
New Delhi, June 18 (IANS) A total of 163 people were rescued Tuesday from flood-affected areas caused by torrential rains in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, disaster management officials said. More »163 people rescued from flooded areas in Uttarakhand, Himachal
By Mark Felsenthal, Warren Strobel and Hamid Shalizi WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - The United States and the Taliban raised hopes for a negotiated peace in Afghanistan with commitments to meet this week after 12 years of bloody and costly war between American-led forces and the insurgents. The Taliban opened an office in Doha, the Qatari capital, on Tuesday to help restart talks and said it wanted a political solution that would bring about a just government and end foreign occupation of Afghanistan. U.S. ... More »United States to meet Taliban to seek Afghan peace
India, June 19 -- India has sent across a Bombay High Court assurance to Islamabad to allow its 26/11 judicial commission to cross-examine the four witnesses in the Mumbai attacks case."We have sent the High Court's communication and the statements of the four witnesses to Pakistan for submission before a Rawalipindi court as desired by them," a home ministry official said on Tuesday.The Rawalpindi court is trying seven people including LeT's operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi for planning, financing and executing the attacks that killed 166 people in November 2008. ... More »Pak asked to join 26/11 probe
The Bihar chief minister won the vote of confidence in the Bihar assembly by 126 votes as 24 MLAs voted against the motion. More »Nitish Kumar wins trust vote, takes a dig at Modi
India, June 19 -- Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday spoke to Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Vir Bhadra Singh and Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna and enquired about the flood situation.The combined death toll has reached 130.The death toll in Uttarakhand has reached 54. Leader of opposition Ajay Bhatt said around 1,000 people were reported to be missing in Rudraprayag.Published by HT Syndication with permission from Hindustan Times. More »Floods take 54 lives in Uttarakhand