"We are in talks with the Taliban on a daily basis through both political and security channels. I'm not going to get into the details of those discussions here, to protect those discussions, which are covering a wide range of issues," Sullivan told reporters at a White House news conference.
Nepal plunged into a political crisis last Sunday after Oli, known for his pro-Beijing leanings, in a surprise move, recommended dissolving the 275-member House, amidst a tussle for power with former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'.
Opposing a dialogue with Pakistan till it stops 'exporting' terror into Jammu and Kashmir, a Bharatiya Janata Party delegation led by Jammu and Kashmir president Ravinder Raina at an all-party meet in New Delhi on Thursday said those seeking engagement with the neighbouring country should meet the victims of violence to understand their pain.
Bankrupt Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) has sold the entire stake in the waste management arm IL&FS Environmental Infrastructure & Services (IEISL) and its subsidiaries to EverEnviro Resource Management (EverEnviro), an arm of the PE major Everstone Group, the companies said in separate statements. Though the value of the deal was not specifically disclosed, the crippled IL&FS -- which is under bankruptcy proceedings in NCLT -- said the sale will reduce its overall debt by Rs 1,200 crore, which is the combined debt of entities under the group's environment businesses. IL&FS Environmental Infrastructure & Services (IEISL) is one of the leading integrated waste management companies that is into municipal solid waste management apart from presence across various segments including construction and demolition, collection and transportation and waste to energy and currently manages over 8,400 tonnes per day solid municipal waste.
India, Taiwan and countries with large numbers of Tibetans, Uyghurs and overseas Chinese will be prominent among those that witness elevated United Front activity, notes Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RAW officer.
Biden has reiterated America's support for India's permanent membership on a reformed UNSC and its entry into the NSG during his first in-person bilateral meeting with Modi at the White House.
The panel's report also provides a range for fiscal deficit and debt path of both the Union and states and also recommended additional borrowing room to states based on performance in power sector reforms. Finance Commission is a constitutional body that gives suggestions on Centre-state financial relations. The report of the 15th Finance Commission was tabled in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
As voting begins in Bihar in the first phase of assembly elections on Wednesday, the fate of political leaders depends on how the electorate perceives they can solve ground-level issues from reverse migration to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
'During Amit Shah's recent visit to Kerala, the strategy of concentrating the attacks on the CM on false charges was clear enough.'
The BJP is certain that the TMC will divide the Opposition votes, leaving it free to cruise through the polls.
The US spent $1.5 million a day since 2001 fighting the opium war in Afghanistan. After hundreds of airstrikes failed to curtail the Taliban's $200-million-a-year opium trade, the US military quietly ended the campaign when the Trump administration officials engaged in direct peace talks with the Taliban, notes Atanu Biswas.
'Both of us are not politicians. We were forced to enter politics to counter corruption that is looting the country.'
Unlike any other national asset, which is typically sold to the highest bidder, the profile of the bidder is the most important criterion for a licence to bank, and even for acquiring more than 5 per cent stake, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Violation of the provisions entails a punishment of a jail term up to five years or with fine up to Rs 1 crore or with both, the ordinance released by the Ministry of Law and Justice on Thursday said.
Stalin, 68, was contesting as the chief ministerial candidate for the first time during these polls. He was elected unopposed as the DMK chief in August 2018, after the death of his father, a post that Karunanidhi held for 49 years. That didn't come as a surprise to anyone, as during his lifetime, Karunanidhi, on multiple occasions made his preference for his successor abundantly clear and systematically groomed him for the job.
Weeks ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, V K Sasikala, expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and close aide of late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, on Wednesday announced that "she will stay away from politics," but would pray for the "golden rule" of the late party supremo.
With the expert panel's recommendations, the project comes a step closer to getting the environment clearance (EC), to be given by the Union Environment Minister.
Trump said the spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by the companies in China continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the country.
The IMD had initially predicted that Cyclone Nivar was likely to intensify into a 'severe cyclonic storm' but has now estimated that it will intensify further.
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Moving quickly towards ending a retrospective tax dispute with a firm that gave India its largest oilfield, the government has accepted Cairn Energy PLC's undertakings which would allow for the refund of taxes, sources said. Meeting the requirements of the new legislation that scraps levy of retrospective taxation, the company had earlier this month given required undertakings indemnifying the Indian government against future claims as well as agreeing to drop any legal proceedings anywhere in the world. The government has now accepted this and issued Cairn a so-called Form-II, committing to refund the tax collected to enforce the retrospective tax demand, two sources with direct knowledge of the development said.
All laws have been modified to omit the domicile clause for property rights in the valley. This effectively means that anyone with enough money to spend can now technically buy property there, writes Sai Manish.
'Women's voices are too high or too low, or they are seen as too short or too tall, or too fat or too thin, to be great leaders.' 'These judgments wear us down.'
'There's also a possibility of the cyclonic system changing its course, thus avoiding a landfall in Odisha'
'A one-party State is not possible in a diverse country like India.'
"All the schemes in which the term Samajwadi is used should be presented before the cabinet so that they can be reviewed and the word should be replaced with Mukhyamantri," the CM said at a review meeting late Thursday evening.
The winners of the Natural History Museum's prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition were announced at an awards ceremony in London. American photographer Karine Aigner was announced as this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Expressing solidarity with the people of Lakshadweep, the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a resolution demanding the recall of island administrator Praful Khoda Patel and requesting the immediate intervention of the Centre to protect the lives and livelihood of the islanders.
Once completed, the 10 reactors of 700 MW each will give much needed fillip to the domestic nuclear industry.
C2C DB Systems is tightly integrated into India's warship production eco-system.
Infrastructure ministries asked to quickly resolve issues.
Summing up the year gone by, Sebi Chairman U K Sinha told PTI that the regulator was also able to provide clarity and a direction to the market in areas like corporate governance and investor protection during 2013.
The future can only get better if we continue to break silos and work as integrated teams focussed on promoting national interests, recommends Sanjeev Nayyar.
Among the three Deputy Chief Ministers are Govind Karjol, who has also been given the charge of PWD and Social welfare; Ashwath Narayan the portfolio of Higher Education, IT & BT, Science and Technology; and Laxman Savadi with Transport department.
Sources said the MHA directions came after the services department wrote to it seeking to know the legal status of the appointment of the nine advisors.
The reshuffle is aimed at speeding up the implementation of the government's ambitious programmes like the SmartCity project and focus on key sectors like Mines, Information Technology and Road Transport.
The chargesheet highlighted his links to Pakistan-trained Abu Dujana and Abu Qassim, who were killed in separate encounters with security forces, and went on to allege that he used to meet them personally as well as through Over Ground Workers.
A total of 16 secretaries have been appointed to various central government departments.
CBI sources said that Kumar has been charged with abusing his official position to award contracts to M/s Endeavour Systems Pvt Ltd and securing government tenders worth Rs 9.5 crore between 2007 and 2014 for the company.
'Today, I am taking new actions to restrict Iran's nuclear, ballistic missile, and conventional weapons pursuits. My Administration will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, nor will we allow Iran to endanger the rest of the world with a fresh supply of ballistic missiles and conventional arms,' Trump said in a statement.
Processes are at an advanced stage for a number of assets of the Centre and central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) to be monetised. The assets include office space, apartments, factories, land, power transmission assets, sports stadia, gas pipelines, and telecom assets.
