A young Indian man was arrested in Pakistan after illegally crossing the border to meet a Facebook friend he wanted to marry. However, the woman told police she was not interested in marrying him. The man, Badal Babu, was arrested in the Mandi Bahauddin district of Pakistan's Punjab province on December 28. He had crossed the border to meet his Facebook friend, Sana Rani. Rani, in her statement to police, said she had been friends with Babu for the past two-and-a-half years but was not interested in marrying him. Babu's family has appealed to the Indian government to intervene for his release.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which operates India's largest airport, dismissed the expert committee report as "inaccurate", claiming it relied on "probabilities, hypothesis, and conjectures" rather than empirical data or complete documentation.
The Delhi government has announced that vehicles older than 15 years will be denied fuel at petrol pumps starting April 1.
Three schools in Delhi received bomb threats via email on Friday morning, prompting a multi-agency response, including searches by police and bomb detection teams. The threats come after at least 44 schools received similar emails on December 9, which were declared hoaxes by police. Authorities are currently conducting checks at the schools, and parents have been advised not to send their children to classes.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has seen a reduction in fighter squadrons due to the phasing out of ageing MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-27 aircraft. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence acknowledged the "shortage" and highlighted the multi-pronged approach being taken to address it. This includes the induction of indigenous Tejas fighters and the procurement of additional LCA Mk-1A aircraft. The report also addresses concerns over "incidences of spying" within the IAF and details the action taken against those involved.
Bangladesh has summoned the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka over border tensions, accusing India of violating a bilateral agreement by constructing fences at five locations along the Indo-Bangla border. The development comes after Bangladesh officials alleged that India had halted construction of barbed wire fencing due to strong opposition from the Border Guard Bangladesh and local residents.
He also said the independent media, judiciary, NGOs and dynamic democracy can be misused to destroy the security of a nation.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held wide ranging discussions with Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian in Tehran and their discussion focused on the long term framework for India's involvement with the strategically vital Chabahar port and the North-South connectivity project.
'He may respect others, but he is unlikely to admire them'
Trump's sweeping tariffs and penalties on China-built ships have turned global shipping into the front line of economic war, observes Shyam G Menon.
The DG-level border talks between India and Bangladesh, scheduled to be held in Delhi next month, have been postponed following a change in plan by the neighbouring country, official sources said on Friday.
'Our politicians solely depend on bureaucrats who are unaccountable and follow their own agenda.' 'Our politicians would dare not dream of establishing a DOGE,' argues Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Barring a few, such as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu (74), Union Minister C R Patil (69) and Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Khanna (71), most other ministers attending the WEF represent the next generation of India's politicians.
India is pushing for greater disclosures by credit card companies, fintech firms, and payment aggregators (PAs) at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), so that the sender and recipient in a cross-border financial transaction can be easily identified and the information shared with law enforcement agencies. Separately, the inter-governmental group, which sets standards to curb money laundering, will release the fourth round of its mutual evaluation report on India on September 19. FATF in June had adopted the mutual evaluation report on India and placed the country in the "regular follow-up" category - the highest rating given by the global watchdog and a distinction shared by only four other G20 countries.
Three years after India declared its goal to become a net-zero economy by 2070, the policy design for achieving the target has begun, with the NITI Aayog forming dedicated multi-sectoral committees to prepare a transition plan. In 2021, India joined a select group of nations that set a target year for becoming net-zero carbon economy. At COP26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined a five-pronged 'Panchamitra' climate action target for India and committed to a net-zero target by 2070, joining nations like the US, the UK, and China.
The Budget should undertake further reductions in import tariffs and seriously consider an announcement of India's intention to join one or both of the two Asian mega-regional free trade agreements, suggests Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the Government of India.
'It is our duty to keep space sustainable and free of debris.'
Modi said a separate rating agency would help the economies of the member countries as well as other developing nations.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) intercepted a group of bombers near Alaska, marking the first instance of joint Russian and Chinese operations prompting such a response from the United States, CNN reported, citing, a United States defence official.
the CBI said Roy allegedly committed the crime on August 9 when the victim had gone to sleep in the hospital's seminar room during a break, they said.
India needs to recognise and address challenges posed by its dependence on China for critical minerals and examine the implications of phasing down coal on bank balance sheets as it accelerates its green transition, the government's Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament on Monday said. As part of its national plan to contribute to meeting the global goal of limiting the average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, India has committed to reducing emissions by 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, achieving 50 per cent cumulative electric installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources, and creating a carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 gigatons of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover.
There are three things you never do in a small North East state: Undermine local leaders, divide and rule, push homogenisation, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The government will investigate every Indian name appearing in an unprecedented leak of financial records, known as the 'Pandora Papers', which alleged that many world leaders have secret offshore stores of wealth.
India's e-commerce market alone is projected to reach $200 billion by 2026, making it a prime industry for ambitious entrepreneurs, explains rediffGURU Harsh Bharwani.
'With India's growing capabilities in the space sector, this creates promising opportunities for enhanced collaboration and market access.'
Hundreds of people are facing a shortage of food, safe drinking water and sanitation in Kathmandu following the natural disaster, according to eyewitnesses.
CIDCA is headed by Luo Zhaohui, the former vice foreign minister and ex-ambassador to India.
The mission has been delayed for several years because of setbacks in the spacecraft's development.
For Yogi Adityanath the successful management of the fair is a crucial part of building 'Brand UP' and making the state a $1 trillion economy.
'I've had a 10-and-a-half year journey behind the camera and people don't know who I am.'
The Quad also vowed to work towards a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific, a region that has seen increasing Chinese military muscle-flexing in the last few years.
The World Bank on Tuesday raised the growth forecast for the Indian economy to 7 per cent for the current fiscal year on the back of recovery in agri sector and rural demand. World Bank had in June projected India to grow at 6.6 per cent for FY24. According to the World Bank Report released on Tuesday, India's growth continues to be strong despite a challenging global environment.
Quiet hiring allows employees to expand their skill sets, making them more versatile and valuable to the organisation, says Sonica Aron, founder of the HR consultancy firm, Marching Sheep.
In the event of a war with China, AMCA deep strikes would target China's rail and road links with Tibet, isolating PLA divisions there.
'Rather than cutting and pasting from advanced economies, we should use basic economic principles to think about what is right for India at the stage of development at which we are,' says Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian.
In a statement released on Friday, the United Nations Atomic Watchdog said it is monitoring the situation very closely.
The operation was jointly carried out by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) off Agatti coast in Lakshadweep, sources told PTI.
'We operate in 16 countries already, and therefore adding the UK to it, and beginning a chapter in the European continent is the next step.'
"The two sides note that the relationship between Russia and China has progressed to a more advanced interstate cooperation compared to the military-political unions of the Cold War era as it is not bloc or confrontational in nature, nor does it target any third countries," Russia's new agency Tass quoted the document as saying.
In June last year, India unveiled its first list of 29 critical minerals open for private sector exploration and mining. Since then, 38 critical mineral blocks have been auctioned, but only 14 - less than 37 per cent - have found bidders. This modest achievement was secured only after the Centre conducted a second round of auctions when the first round fell flat, failing to attract the minimum required bidders.
