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Indian organic eggs to cost more in US after trade spat
Americans could soon be paying more for organic eggs, and it’s largely because of a trade spat the U.S. is having with India. The U.S., which relies on the South Asian nation for more than 40% of its organic soy meal used to feed chickens, is investigating claims that...
Amarinder asks farmers to move protest to Delhi
Chandigarh: Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today, for the first time since the farmers’ protest began last year, expressed serious concern over how it was adversely affecting Punjab’s economy. He asked those taking part in the agitation to focus on the “Union government” in New Delhi and leave the...
Govt cites national security to refuse Pegasus affidavit
New Delhi: The government on Monday said “it had nothing to hide” but cited national security reasons to tell the Supreme Court that it would not file a detailed affidavit in response to multiple petitions seeking a formal inquiry into the Pegasus spyware scandal. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told...
Security forces to get training modules on Taliban
New Delhi: Border forces and armed police units deployed in the counter-terrorism grid have been directed by the central security establishment to prepare and administer a new training module on the Taliban and its modus operandi to the troops in view of the “emerging” scenario following the Islamic militia...
Judge steps out of courtroom to give relief to accident victim
Korba: A district court judge in Chhattisgarh’s Korba stepped out of the four walls of a courtroom to award Rs 20 lakh compensation to a 42-year-old man, who had suffered paralysis after sustaining multiple injuries in a road accident in 2018. The accident victim, Dwarika Prasad Kanwar, was unable...
Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani resigns
New Delhi: Vijay Rupani on Saturday became the fourth BJP leader to step down as Chief Minister of a party-ruled state in six months, after he quit the top post in Gujarat. Mr Rupani steps down a year ahead of elections in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state –...
Newslaundry ‘survey’: IT sleuths deny legal assistance
New Delhi: A day after Income Tax officers spent over 12 hours at the offices of news websites NewsClick and Newslaundry – calling it a “survey” linked to tax evasion allegations – Newslaundry co-founder Abhinandan Sekhri tweeted to say “… was told I cannot speak to my lawyer… the...
Air Force to acquire 6 ‘Eye In The Sky’ planes for Rs 11,000 cr
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force is set to acquire six state-of-the-art airborne warning and control aircraft in a deal worth close to Rs.11,000 crore with the Cabinet Committee on Security giving a green light on Wednesday. The aircraft themselves are likely to be hand-me-down A-321 jetliners from Air...
CBI launches Covid pension fraud by EPF Organisation
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a corruption and cheating case against three officials of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation or EPFO for allegedly siphoning off around 2.71 crore between March 2020-June 2021 when the pension fund organization had relaxed the norms for withdrawals amid job...
Biden, Xi discuss Covid origin probe
Washington: US President Joe Biden discussed the investigation into the origins of COVID-19 during a call on Thursday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, according to the White House. “They did discuss a range of trans-national issues including COVID-19, and understanding its origins is of course a primary concern...
Tax department holds ‘surveys’ at news website offices
Income Tax officers visited the offices of news sites Newsclick and Newslaundry today, calling them “surveys” and not “raids”. The Income Tax department confirmed that officers had gone to the offices of these news portals in south Delhi “to conduct surveys”. According to Press Trust of India, the officials...
Rahul Gandhi says in Jammu he is Kashmiri Pandit
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, whose party has long assailed the ruling BJP for entwining politics and religion, was on Friday seen exhorting people to chant ‘Jai Mata Di‘ from a stage in Jammu and invoking his Kashmiri Pandit lineage. “Jai Mata Di,” he was heard saying, somewhat...
Modi chairs meeting to review Covid situation
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today chaired a high-level meeting to review the COVID-19 related situation in the country and the vaccination drive to battle the pandemic, government sources have said. The session comes amid talk of a potential third wave sweeping the country in September and October....
Australia threaten to scrap Afghan cricket Test
Cricket Australia said Thursday it would have “no alternative” but to cancel hosting a historic Test match against Afghanistan unless the Taliban backtracks on a reported ban on women playing sport. The governing body said the first ever men’s Test between the two nations was under serious threat...
VK Sasikala’s Rs 100-cr properties seized in corruption case
Chennai/ New Delhi: Eleven properties owned by expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala have been seized by the Income Tax Department, sources said today. The properties – spread across 24 acres in Payanoor village of Tamil Nadu – were reportedly brought between 1991 and 1996 when Jayalalithaa was the Chief...
CIA chief, Ajit Doval meeting amid Taliban government formation
New Delhi: National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met with US spymaster William Burns in Delhi on Tuesday. The meeting took place on a day when the Taliban announced the names of people who would run Afghanistan, including a man on the UN sanctions list being named as Prime Minister....
Tripura royal to lead Northeast alliance against BJP
Guwahati: A new political initiative was today launched in the northeast aimed at taking on the BJP’s might in the region. The grouping, the first two constituents of which are The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (Tipra) and the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), is yet to be named. Tipra...
No graft probe by police without ‘authorisation’
New Delhi: The Centre has issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for police officers to seek mandatory prior approval before conducting any investigation against allegedly corrupt public servants, according to a Personnel Ministry order. An amendment carried out in the over 30-year-old Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988 in July...
