India was elected to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member with a thumping majority of votes, including that of Pakistan, in what was quickly described by New Delhi as significant.
At a brief ceremony at India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York on Wednesday, Indian Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri handed the check for $5 million and documentation relating to the transfer of money to Ambassador Leo Merores, permanent representative of Haiti to the UN.
The aviation regulator DGCA said on Friday that it was extending the suspension of scheduled international passenger flights in the country till July 31 but added that some international scheduled services on selected routes may be permitted on a case to case basis. Scheduled international passenger flights were suspended in India on March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"You cannot have a fight against international terrorism which is compartmentalised. The snakes that bite us wherever come from the same pit," Indian Ambassador to the United Nations, Hardeep Singh Puri told CNN; wherein he along with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts to the world body had a rare combined appearance on a TV show.
India has strongly protested the inclusion of the Naxal issue under the realm of 'armed conflict' in a United Nations report, saying the violence being perpetrated by these groups does not make it a zone of armed conflict, as defined by international law.
On Thursday, both countries announced that they would develop Kartarpur corridor in their respective areas, linking Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab's Gurdaspur district with the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.
Presently, women comprise only 8 per cent of UN police officers and about 2 per cent of the military personnel deployed in peacekeeping operations.
Aviation minister said if the scheduled domestic flights reach pre-COVID levels by the end of the year, he will have no hesitation in removing the fare limits at that time.
Economy has become a major cause of concern for the new government with GDP dropping to 5.8 per cent in the last quarter of the 2018-19.
In his hard-hitting maiden address to an informal session of the 192-member Assembly on reform of the 15-member Council, Indian ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri lambasted a 'small group' of countries for trying to derail the process by insisting that expansion be limited to non-permanent category.
The new Council of Ministers comprises of 25 Cabinet ministers, nine Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and 24 Ministers of State (MoSes).
Offering its wholehearted support to flood-stricken Pakistan, India has vowed to do all it can to assist the country in relief efforts, apart from the $ 5 million in aid already extended by it.
Billionaire Gautam Adani on Tuesday did an hour-long session of yoga exercises in the open air as he led corporate India to join the International Day of Yoga celebrations. Several public and private sector companies held yoga sessions at their offices to promote the adoption of exercise in daily routines to stay fit and healthy. Adani, chairman of logistics-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group, and his wife Priti, who heads the Adani Foundation, "participated with more than 1,000 members of the Adani Parivaar team to celebrate health, mindfulness and meditation," the group said in a statement. The session was held at a football ground at Adani Shantigram in Ahmedabad. Several other business leaders tweeted pictures of their yoga sessions.
The 77 ministers have been divided into eight groups to develop technology-based resources, create a pool of professionals for recruiting in their teams and other similar initiatives to be adopted in the offices of all ministers' offices to bring more transparency and further improve and efficiency of the Modi government, the sources said.
Securing a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council is India's top priority for the year and it seems "eminently doable" with India putting a concerted effort, Indian envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri has said.
The government has initiated the process for inviting financial bids for the sale of national carrier Air India and the deal is likely to conclude by September, sources said. Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group was among the "multiple" entities that had put in preliminary bids for buying loss-making Air India in December last year. The sources said that after analysing the preliminary bids, eligible bidders were given access to the Virtual Data Room (VDR) of Air India, following which investors' queries were answered.
The Union health ministry said 6 persons who returned to India from the UK have tested positive for the new strain of the virus.
The government is looking at a new timeline for Air India disinvestment and financial bids will be invited in the coming days, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday. Noting that there is no choice but to either "privatise or close" Air India, he said the government will have to keep the airline running till it gets divested. "We are looking at another timeline now, what is called data room for prospective bidders to look at... that is opened up, 64 days for the financial bids to come in. "After that it is the question of taking a decision and handing over the airline," the Minister of State for Civil Aviation said.
Amid the growing tension between Ukraine and Russia, evacuated Indian nationals from the war-torn country have refused to leave their pets behind.
President Pratibha Patil walked into a near empty Brazilian Senate for her address, leaving Indian Embassy officials and the hosts red-faced. Only 15 of the 81-member House turned out on Tuesday to greet 73-year-old Patil. A senior Brazilian government official said it was not unusual for sparse attendance during special sessions since only leaders of political parties are invited.
On Monday, Korosi met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri with an overall focus on pressing global issues including those related to the UN.
Turned away by the Foreign Correspondents Club and the Press Club of India, The Kashmir Files director Vivek Agnihotri says he has been banned "undemocratically" and will go ahead with a press conference at a five-star hotel on Thursday.
"Let me explain to you that we were not trapped by your 'googlies'. Our two Sikh Ministers went to Kartarpur Sahib to offer prayers in the Holy Gurudwara", she said.
Earlier in the day, state home minister Anil Deshmukh, also of the NCP, said that it was "extremely ill-advised" to reopen airports in red zone amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The civil aviation ministry had last week suspended all flights between the European country and India from December 23 to December 31 as a mutated variant of the coronavirus was detected there.
The Airports Authority of India issued a standard operating procedure to airport operators on Wednesday for recommencement of domestic flights from May 25 onwards.
Officials also said that the move to send out the emails was a conscious choice as part of a communication strategy for public interest.
Initially, starting with a slightly curtailed capacity, the airline will increase the operating capacity over the subsequent months, also reopening selected international flights, depending on the existing international travel guidelines: IndiGo.
Sidhu had attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor in Pakistan last year.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the nation's top oil firm, has bought as much as 3 million barrels of crude oil that Russia had offered at steep discount to prevailing international rates, sources said. The purchase, made through a trader, is the first since Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine that brought international pressure for isolating Putin administration. Sources aware of the matter said IOC bought Urals crude for May delivery at a discount of $20-25 a barrel to dated Brent.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and other ministers took charge of their respective offices on Thursday, a day after taking oath at a ceremony held in the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
India has announced suspension of all tourist visas till April 15 in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.
Trump is accompanied by wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and top brass of his administration.
Jhunjhunwala passed away early on Sunday morning due to a cardiac arrest, a source in his newly set up airline said.
Officials also said that sufficient steps have been taken to control air and noise pollution during the construction work for the new parliament building, which will have separate offices for all MPs and those will be equipped with the latest digital interfaces as a step towards creating 'paperless offices'.
It is expected to be completed in around 22 months from the start of construction work. The new building will come up on plot number 118 of the Parliament House Estate.
Only 30 flights per week will operate between India and the UK when services resume from January 8 and this arrangement will continue till January 23, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said on Friday.
In the new Parliament House, with a soft launch this Winter Session, paper is expected to disappear. For the guidance of ministers, secretaries can scribble notes on linked pads even from their offices to respond to queries from members.
Divestment-bound Air India's pilot unions have rejected the paltry five per cent rollback in their salary cuts and warned of "industrial action" if there is no "substantial" reversal in their paycuts. In a joint letter to Air India chairman and managing director Rajiv Bansal on Thursday, the Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG) and the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) said, "(The) pittance in the form of a five per cent decrease in the current wage cut is an outright insult, its sting magnified in light of our unwavering support and trust in this company." They said this "generosity" amounts to a reduction of about 3 per cent in the current gross pay cut for pilots. In April, Air India had reduced its pilots' salary by up to 70 per cent to partially offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its finances.
All airports and air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from May 25. SOPs for passenger movement are also being separately issued by the ministry of civil aviation.
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