Spread the love       Mamata Banerjee NEW DELHI: Election Commission Friday sought a report from the West Bengal chief electoral officer on the recent statement by chief minister Mamata Banerjee at a public meeting in Naxalbari, Darjeeling, allegedly instigating local women to be at polling booths and use household kitchen items to deal with “necessary situations”.With her statement seen as a...

Spread the love       Representative image NEW DELHI: Pilots flying VVIPs, including Z-plus category SPG protectees, Lok Sabha speaker, Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson, cabinet ministers, Chief Justice of India, CMs and governors have now been empowered to put their foot down and refuse to fly if it is not safe to do so for any reason.Following the death of Maharashtra deputy...

Spread the love       KOLKATA: West Bengal’s second supplementary voters’ list was published around 11pm Friday, albeit with little clarity on how many among the 12 lakh names on it had cleared judicial scrutiny.As was the case when Election Commission released the first supplementary rolls close to midnight last Monday, there were more questions than CEO Manoj Agarwal had answers for....

Spread the love       File photo NEW DELHI: In a major push for defence acquisition, the Rajnath Singh-led Defence Acquisition Council on Friday granted approvals to various proposals worth around Rs 2.38 lakh crore, including for additional units of the Russian-made S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile system and 155mm Dhanush — howitzer — gun systems.“The decisions taken in the Defence Acquisition Council...

Spread the love       Noida International Airport NOIDA: Delhi-NCR’s second international airport will be formally inaugurated on Saturday, adding Jewar to the country’s aviation map and creating both space and means for the national capital — already India’s largest aviation hub — to play a much bigger role in connectivity with the world. A day before the inauguration, PM Modi on...

Spread the love       NEW DELHI: Indian seafarers navigating Strait of Hormuz are grappling with GPS disruptions, warnings of underwater mines and the absence of a clear navigation authority.Ships in the region are reporting repeated radio broadcasts over maritime channels warning vessels against transit. “Attention all ships… This is the Sepah Navy… navigation through Strait of Hormuz is forbidden… no ship...

Spread the love       File photo NEW DELHI: The petroleum ministry on Friday increased the allocation of commercial LPG to states by 20% to meet additional demand from industrial units such as steel, automobile, textile and chemicals.With this increase, the total allocation of commercial LPG has now reached 70% of pre-conflict levels.In a letter to chief secretaries of states and UTs,...

Spread the love       NEW DELHI: Govt on Friday dismissed reports circulating on social media about a possible lockdown amid concerns over energy supplies due to the conflict in West Asia, with Cabinet ministers Amit Shah, Hardeep Singh Puri and Nirmala Sitharaman terming the claims mere “rumours” and ruling out any such move.Home minister Shah accused opposition parties of spreading panic...

Spread the love       US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor NEW DELHI: Defence and security cooperation represents the most strategically significant area of collaboration in India-US ties, said US ambassador to India Sergio Gor underlining the importance of the deepening defence ties with a new 10-year framework and enhanced defence industrial cooperation, science and technology collaboration, and operational coordination.In an interview...

Spread the love       Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi CHENNAI: There is no space or room for nuclear weapons in Iran’s doctrine, said Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi, the representative of Iran’s supreme leader in India. In an interview to TOI, Ilahi, who worked closely with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and is a good friend of Khamenei’s son and present supreme leader of Iran...