India news

Govt scrambles to pull out all Indians from strife-torn Iraq

NEW DELHI: India's operation in strife-torn Iraq is fast taking the shape of a full-scale evacuation of all Indians. Evacuation is being carried out not only from Sunni-controlled troubled areas, but also from Shia-dominated areas that are relatively peaceful, indicating that New Delhi now believes

India writes to Switzerland seeking information on secret accounts

NEW DELHI: India has made a fresh request to Switzerland seeking bank details and names of Indians having unaccounted money in Swiss banks, as the government expands its efforts to combat the menace of black money. The latest request has been made by the finance ministry after a Swiss governm

AIIMS doctors wage war on unnecessary medical tests

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences. NEW DELHI: Top cardiologists of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here have decided to start an initiative called the Society for Less Investigative Medicine (SLIM) — a movement that aims to take on the growing menace of excessive med

Chennai Building Collapse: Nine Killed, 25 Still Feared Trapped

Rescuers search for survivors in the debris of an under-construction building which collapsed in Porur near Chennai on Saturday Chennai:  Nine people have died and 25 are still feared trapped under the debris of an 11-storey under-construction building that collapsed near Chennai on Saturday even

Major fire at Mumbai CST; 35 evacuated

A major fire broke out in a building at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) station here on Friday evening, partially disrupting suburban train services during rush hour, but no casualty was reported. Officials from Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), whose headquarters are located opp

Congress takes dig at one month of Modi govt

NEW DELHI: Congress on Friday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his government's completion of a month, saying his work involved the rail fare hike, rising sugar prices and a policy that would see regular hike in prices of petroleum products. The party took a dig at Modi for his comment ab

14 killed, 15 injured in gas pipeline blast in Andhra Pradesh

KAKINADA: In a major blast in a gas pipeline 14 people were burned alive and 15 others received severe burns at Nagaram village of Mamidikuduru mandal of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh on Friday morning. Villagers woke up to deafening noise and huge flames after the pipeline belonging t

Attacking govt and judiciary, ex-law officer opts out of judgeship

NEW DELHI: Accusing the government of ordering the CBI to dig up dirt on him and expressing disappointment with the judiciary for letting him down, former solicitor general Gopal Subramanium on Wednesday withdrew his consent to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court. In a nine-page letter t

Four Killed as New Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express Derails in Bihar

Chapra:  Four people were killed after the New Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express derailed near Bihar's Chapra town in the early hours of Wednesday, when most passengers were sleeping. Nine people have been seriously injured in the incident that the Railways Ministry has blamed on sabotage by Maoists.

Rail Fare Hike: How Much More You Will Pay

The government on Friday pushed through a steep hike in rail passenger and freight fares, in the first dose of a "bitter medicine" Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned of having to administer to revive Asia's third-largest economy. From June 25, rail passenger fares will increase by 14.2 per c

Govt rethink on suburban railway fare, hike may be in phases

NEW DELHI: Faced with all-round protests, the Modi government is considering recalibrating suburban railway fares in Mumbai and elsewhere in order to stagger the burden of last week's massive hike over phases instead of heaping all of it on the commuter in one go. On a day when Shiv Sena slammed

Kolkata Metro Snag: Passengers Stranded Inside Tunnel for 2 Hours

Kolkata:  The passengers of a Kolkata Metro train had to spend nearly two hours inside a tunnel this morning when a south-bound non-AC metro rake developed snag after soon leaving Park Street station. Metro Railway spokesperson R N Mahapatra said that the snag developed at 11.25 am as the train e

After rail fare, push for LPG price hike

Domestic LPG price may see a hike of Rs 10 per cylinder if the government decides to accept "strong” recommendations made by the Petroleum Ministry to offset the rising fuel subsidy burden. The news is equally bad for piped cooking gas consumers. A decision on increasing the price of natural gas

Protests in India over steep rail fare hike

Samajwadi Party workers block a train in protest against hike in railway fares, in Allahabad on Saturday. New Delhi: Angry demonstrators blocked railway tracks and burned effigies of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday to protest a steep hike in train fares, seen as the government’s firs

Govt announces steep hike of 14.2% in railway passenger fare

NEW DELHI: In a pre-budget move, cash-strapped railways on Friday effected a steep across-the-board hike of 14.2 per cent in passenger fares in all classes and a 6.5 per cent increase in freight rates to garner Rs 8,000 crore a year. The decision, which will come into effect from June 25, marks i

Agents promised jobs in Dubai, sent youths to Iraq

(Relatives of abducted youths on their way to meet the Union home minister in New Delhi, in Jalandhar.) AMRITSAR: Most of the 40 Punjabi youths stuck in Iraq reached there allegedly through travel agents who with illegal recruitment syndicates operating from the Gulf countries trapped them using

NDA's national ID cards may kill UPA's Aadhaar

NEW DELHI: In a move to target government welfare schemes and subsidies on citizens of the country, the Union home ministry has asked the Registrar General of India (RGI) to identify the 'citizens' and 'non-citizens' while preparing the National Population Register (NPR). The NPR authorities will un

40 Indians kidnapped in Iraq's Mosul

NEW DELHI: Around 40 Indians working on projects near the Iraqi city of Mosul were kidnapped by suspected ISIS militants when they were being evacuated from the area ravaged by the war between the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad and Sunni jihadis. "Despite best efforts we are not able to con