India

On Board President's Special Aircraft, April 29: As she embarked on her last tour abroad as President, Pratibha Patil today dismissed criticism over a large number of foreign visits undertaken by her, insisting that they were not on her own volition but at the request of the government to promote India's relations. "Government wanted me to visit two-three more countries, but it was not possible

Chennai, April 29: Congress leader and Defence Minister A K Antony today met DMK chief M Karunanidhi as part of consultation process among UPA allies on the Presidential election to arrive at a consensus leader to succeed incumbent Pratibha Patil, who is retiring on July 25. After more than an hour-long meeting, Antony told reporters that he would convey the DMK leader's views on the issue to

Jaipur, April 29: A contentious ‘fatwa' issued by the Imam of the Gulmandi Jama Masjid in Bhilwara that formed the basis for sale of the century-old roofless mosque at Pur village to Jindal Saw Limited, and its consequent demolition last week, has emerged as the bone of contention between the Rajasthan Waqf Board and its detractors. Muslim groups demanding removal of Waqf Board Chairman Liaqat Ali

Thiruvananthapuram, April 29: The quintuplets of Kerala are in the news again. They — Uthara, Uthraja, Uthrajan, Utthara and Uthama — have scored exceptionally well in the Grade 10 examination, results of which were announced on Thursday. Thus, the four sisters and the lone brother fulfilled their promise to their mother Remadevi, who works as a peon at the Pothencode branch of the District

New Delhi, April 29: The Centre on Saturday appointed former SPG (Special Protection Group) chie f B V Wanchoo as governor of Goa, and shifted Uttarakhand governor Margaret Alva to Rajasthan. Aziz Qureshi, a veteran Congress politician from Madhya Pradesh, will replace Alva as the Uttarakhand governor. Former head of IB, the domestic intelligence agency, E S L Narasimhan and K Sankaranarayanan

New Delhi, April 29: The government has rejected the allegations levelled by Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy against Home Minister P. Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis equity issue referring to them as “totally baseless”. Last week, Dr. Swamy had charged Mr. Chidambaram, the then Finance Minister, of delaying permission for the sale of Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis in 2006 to benefit his son

Bathinda (Punjab), April 29: Despite key Congress allies opposing deregulation of diesel prices, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday stressed the need to rationalize fuel prices as spiralling cost of international crude severely impacts India's import bill. Inaugurating a nine-million tonne a year refinery here, the PM said imports account for about 80% of India's crude supplies and "we need

Bhatinda, April 28: Stating that India faces “formidable” challenges on the energy front, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said spiralling international oil prices have put a strain on the country’s import bill and domestic prices need to be rationalised. “With imports accounting for about 80 per cent of our crude supplies, the spiralling prices of crude in the international market have

New Delhi, April 28: Former BJP president Bangaru Laxman was sentenced today to four years in jail by a Delhi court for taking a bribe of Rs one lakh in a fictitious arms deal case 11 years ago. Additional Sessions Judge Kanwal Jeet Arora sentenced 72-year-old Bangaru, also a former Union minister, holding him guilty of taking the bribe from fake arms dealers to recommend to the defence ministry

New Delhi, April 28: India's nominee Justice Dalveer Bhandari of the Supreme Court was on Friday elected to the post of Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the elections held in New York, United States. Justice Dalveer Bhandari defeated the 84-year-old Justice Florentino Feliciano of the Philippines in the elections held to fill the casual vacancy following the resignation of Awn