India

New Delhi, Jul 3: Finance minister P Chidambaram urged state-run banks on Wednesday to lend money at cheaper rates as he looks to stimulate consumer demand, the main driver of a sluggish economy that has been pulled down by high inflation and interest rates. The Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) has cut repo rates, the rate at which it lends money to banks, by 75 basis points since January this year

Kolkata, Jul 3: Armed Maoists killed Amarjit Balihar, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Pakur, his driver and three other policemen escorting his vehicle in an ambush on Tuesday at Kathikund, 36 kilometres from Dumka in Jharkhand. The three other cops, who sustained grievous injuries, were rushed to Sadar Hospital where one of them died, taking the toll to six. The incident took place when the SP

New Delhi, Jul 2: Sujata Singh, currently envoy to Germany, will be India's next Foreign Secretary following an approval of her appointment by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ending months of speculation on who will head the foreign services. 59-year-old Singh, a 1976 batch IFS officer, was a close contender for the top job along with India's Ambassador to China S Jaishankar, who is a batch junior

New Delhi, Jul 1: Dubbing Narendra Modi as a "very divisive figure", finance minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the BJP has "not changed its spots" and people will reject the party in the next Lok Sabha elections as it represents an idea which is against secularism and inclusiveness. He accused the BJP of raking up divisive issues like Uniform Civil Code, Ayodhya and abrogation of Article 370

Dehradun, Jul 1: Last ditch efforts were today on to evacuate about 900 people from Badrinath amid overcast conditions at some places in Uttarakhand where authorities were grappling with the task of extricating bodies from under tonnes of debris lying in Kedarghati and their cremation. Despite bad weather at places including Dehradun, chopper operations began this morning in Chamoli district to

Pune, Jul 1: Scam-tainted Suresh Kalmadi was today ousted as President of the Asian Athletics Association, losing the re-election bid to Qatar's Dahlan Jumaan Al-Hamad on the opening day of the continental body's two-day Congress here. Kalmadi, who is out on bail after spending 10 months in jail for his alleged involvement in the Commonwealth Games scam, lost 18-20 while seeking re-election to a

New Delhi, Jul 1: The rupee's slide could well mean sky high domestic fares this festive season. Almost all airlines have warned that the dollar's gravity-defying act has added to their costs. Since the July-September quarter is low travel season when airlines lower charges to attract passengers, fares in the October to mid-January period would be 'adjusted' significantly upwards to make up for

Dehradun, Jun 30: The exact number of people dead or washed away may never be known, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said today as estimates of casualties in the worst natural disaster in the state run from several hundreds to several thousands. "We will never know the exact number of those dead and the number of people who have been buried or washed away," he said in an interview. State

Mumbai, Jun 30: IndiGo Airlines may lose a good chunk of its commanders to AirAsia India as around 100 of its pilots have applied for jobs with the proposed carrier, say sources. Besides a hefty package that AirAsia India is offering to the pilots, there are other reasons, like better working conditions, for these pilots to move out, say Indigo sources. "As many as 100 commanders have sought jobs

Shimla, Jun 30: Chief minister Virbhadra Singh's wife Pratibha Singh of Congress has won Mandi parliamentary byelection by 1.37 lakh votes. She defeated BJP candidate and four time MLA Jai Ram Thakur. This is the second time when Pratibha Singh has won from Mandi seat. Polling for byelection was held in two phases. While in the first phase polling was conducted on June 23, in Kinnaur district