MUMBAI: Thousands of Haj pilgrims travelling to Mecca with private tour operators have been denied visas by the Saudi embassy in Delhi because their new scanning machine cannot read the data in these Indian passports. The pilgrims are in a spot as each has paid Rs 2.25 lakh to the Saudi authoriti

New Delhi: If the UPA government had food, education, job and information for all, Prime Minister Narendra Modi - who has just unveiled banking for all - now plans to give a little cyberspace to all. The government is working on an ambitious plan to provide each citizen with a "unique digital clo

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat high court on Thursday granted conditional bail to Hyderabad-based cleric Mohammed Abdul Qavi who was arrested in connection with the 2003 ISI conspiracy case. A bench headed by Justice Anant Dave ordered Qavi's release on a bail bond of Rs 50,000. The HC asked him to surrender

A month after assuming office, Narendra Modi had rued the absence in his case of the customary honeymoon period for a new prime minister. Now, the by-election setbacks and signs of dissonance at the top have cast a further shadow on his first 100 days as prime minister. The sombre mood was not qu

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday reiterated his Government’s commitment towards waging a relentless struggle against the divisive forces. He said people who professed the Samajwadi (socialist) ideology have always been in the forefront of the fight against social evils. Fl

NEW DELHI: The first major controversy hit the 3 month-old Narendra Modi government on Wednesday when Union home minister Rajnath Singh publicized his anguish about the "rumour" that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had rebuked his son Pankaj Singh for seeking to influence transfers and postings in Delh

Ahead of the Assembly elections in four crucial states, the NDA government on Wednesday lifted the restriction of one cooking gas cylinder per month to a household, allowing consumers to avail 12 cylinders in their quota at any time of the year.  An official statement said that according to the U

New Delhi:  The Supreme Court today refused to disqualify ministers with criminal cases, leaving the decision to the "Prime Minister's wisdom". "No disqualification can be prescribed," a Constitution bench of the country's five senior most judges said. "It is expected that the PM will not appo

Auhor: Harsh Mander In the three months since Narendra Modi’s spectacular triumph, many corners of the country have begun to smoulder in slow fires of orchestrated hate and distrust against India’s Muslims and this is mostly unnoticed by the majority. Only a few violent episodes make it briefly t

New Delhi:  Three people who arrived at Delhi airport this morning from Ebola-hit Liberia, have been isolated and taken for further tests. 112 people are arriving at the Mumbai and Delhi airports on seven flights through the day. Following are the latest developments: Health authorities have str

A villager walks past marks on the wall of a house caused by mortar rounds fired from the Pakistan side of the border at Treva village in Arnia sector of Jammu on August 24, 2014. (AP photo) NEW DELHI: In what is being perceived as the biggest ceasefire violation, Pakistan troops have targeted 35

Jammu:  Violating the ceasefire yet again, Pakistani troops targeted at least 25 Border Security Force (BSF) posts in Jammu and Kashmir last night, forcing the Indian side to retaliate. The firing reportedly began around 10 pm and is still on. Pakistani rangers resorted to unprovoked firing and s

NEW DELHI: The father of a student who died after being gang-raped on a moving bus in New Delhi spoke of his anger Friday after a senior minister referred to the infamous attack as a “small incident.” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said at a tourism conference on Thursday that “one small incident

The barren border outposts on the international border with Pakistan and Bangladesh may soon turn green as BSF personnel on Tuesday set out on a record making effort to plant two lakh saplings in 30 minutes. Over a lakh saplings were planted on the border outposts with Pakistan. BSF personnel are

The Kerela govt plans to shut down all liquor bars operating in the state. (TOI photo) THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The excise policy of the Congress-led United Democratic Front government, finalized in a two-hour meeting held at the chief minister's official residence here on Thursday, proposed to make K

NEW DELHI: After basing its most potent Sukhoi-30MKI fighters at Tezpur and Chabua, India has now begun deploying six Akash surface-to-air missile (SAM) squadrons in the northeast to deter Chinese jets, helicopters and drones against any misadventure in the region. Defence ministry sources on Thu

NEW DELHI: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday slammed the Narendra Modi government for peddling the schemes and policies of UPA as its own, saying the rival which came to power by selling "false dreams" was now propagating falsehoods. Speaking at a conclave of women workers on the occasion

She wanted to be like Kareena Kapoor, and “could not wait to act in a movie”. In her last year of college, she “got offers from casting directors who would scout for faces in campuses and on Facebook”. But her “well-to-do” Mumbai-based Kashmiri Muslim family would not allow her to take up any film j