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India News

Browse all articles and features filed under the News desk.

Dec 27, 2013 8 min read

Hike in Indian gold tax to fight trade imbalance squeezes wedding budgets, spurs smuggling

With India's wedding season in full swing, the glass sales counters in Mumbai's famed Zhaveri gold bazaars are crowded with customers eyeing elaborate headpieces, nose rings and necklaces. No one does jewelry quite like an Indian bride, who by tradition wears all the gold she can

Dec 5, 2013 8 min read

Winter session of Parliament begins today; 38 bills slated for passage

New Delhi: The Winter Session of Parliament will commence from today. 38 bills, including the Lokpal, Women's Reservation, Telangana and Street Vendors Bills, are slated for passage during the session which will conclude on December 20. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath h

Nov 21, 2013 6 min read

US Sikh body gets more time for plea against Sonia Gandhi

A US federal Court has given Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) time till Dec 3 to file an amended complaint against Congress President Sonia Gandhi in an alleged human rights violation case. Despite opposition from Gandhi's attorneys, the federal court here Monday granted the Sikh rights b

Nov 15, 2013 6 min read

Are auto meters ticking or falling silent in Chennai?

The euphoria over an auto rickshaw with a ticking meter has died down in Chennai, and the days of haggling over rates are creeping back, say many commuters. More and more drivers are refusing to work with a meter, they allege. Over 70 days ago, effective August 25, the Tamil Nadu

Nov 5, 2013 8 min read

India strikes a balance with combat exercises with US, China

India on Tuesday will kick off wargames with two military superpowers, the US and China, striking a fine balance amid the geopolitical jostling between the two for supremacy in the crucial Asia-Pacific region. Even as 162 Indian soldiers touched down in an IAF IL-76 at the Chengd

Nov 4, 2013 4 min read

Govt throws rings of protection around PM candidate Narendra Modi

Indian security forces are preparing for one of their most challenging assignments in decades, protecting prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in a country with a grim history of political assassinations. A series of small bombs killed six people at a rally Modi held in the

Oct 26, 2013 7 min read

300 Rly staff killed by trains every year, most of them while inspecting tracks

A railway employee dies in the line of duty on four days out of five, making his job statistically far more dangerous than that of security forces in some of India's most violent combat zones. An average 300 railwaymen have been killed in accidents every year over the past 4-5 ye

Oct 25, 2013 7 min read

Notice to centre, TN on plea for fishermen's protection

Supreme Court Friday issued notice to the centre and Tamil Nadu on a petition seeking protection to fishermen from the state from being captured by the Sri Lankan Navy. "Not only they captured the fishermen, but also damaged their boats" and it takes months before they are releas

Oct 24, 2013 4 min read

Aarushi Talwar case: The end is near

​Yet another application by the Talwars was rejected by the special CBI court in the Aarushi-Hemraj trial on Wednesday. No surprises there, all the pleas the Talwars have made to the trial court in the last six months have been turned down. And when they have gone further up the

Oct 24, 2013 8 min read

Kejriwal gets death threats but refuses security cover

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal today refused to accept security cover for himself by Uttar Pradesh police with party leaders saying it was against their ideology. Upon the direction of Home Ministry, some officials of the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) o

Oct 22, 2013 8 min read

South Africa may take field without Steyn or Amla

South Africa could take the field for the second and final test against Pakistan starting in Dubai on Wednesday without either the world's top-ranked bowler or batsman. Fast bowler Dale Steyn missed training on Monday after feeling tightness in his right hamstring while practisin

Oct 22, 2013 6 min read

Nitish Kumar no Lalu Prasad, can't stop Narendra Modi from entering Bihar, says Rabri Devi

RJD leader Rabri Devi said Bihar's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar does not have the strength to stop Narendra Modi from coming to the state, the way her husband Lalu Prasad had stopped LK Advani during his rath yatra in 1990. "Lalu Prasad had the guts to stop the rath of LK Advani b

Oct 19, 2013 7 min read

Rahul escapes Modi's velocity

All those who complained that Rahul Gandhi spoke too little, must now regret, that he's taken their lament a tad too seriously. The characteristically twitchy, unobtrusive Rahul has rapidly been seen upping the ante at his rallies, making unconcealed attempts at connecting with t

Oct 18, 2013 5 min read

Sankalp Sabha: Security intensified in Ayodhya, SMS banned

The Uttar Pradesh government has put a ban on short messaging services (SMS) in Ayodhya to clamp down on Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) 'Sankalp Sabha' scheduled for Friday, an official said. More than 1200 people across the state have been placed under preventive arrest. Official

Oct 17, 2013 4 min read

Can BJP do without Advani?

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) patriarch LK Advani appears to have made his peace with the fact that Narendra Modi will be Prime Minister of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) if it comes to power. It is another matter that smart ally management will be needed, judging by opini

Oct 16, 2013 6 min read

Indian jawan killed as Pakistan violated ceasefire twice on Tuesday

An Indian army jawan was killed when Pakistani troops opened fire at Indian forward posts in Balakote sub-sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district on Tuesday evening in what is stated to be the second ceasefire violation of the day and the eighth in less than a w

Oct 15, 2013 4 min read

Odisha flood situation remains grim

Bhubaneswar: The situation in four flood-hit Odisha districts Tuesday remained grim, though flood waters have begun to recede, a minister said. "The flood water has started receding. We hope it will recede further during the day," state Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Su

Oct 12, 2013 5 min read

Heavy rains lash Odisha as cyclone Phailin advances

While Cyclone Phailin is expected to disrupt flight movements at Bhubaneswar airport, thunderstorm clouds over the Bay of Bengal near Odisha are leading to flight deviations on the busy Mumbai-Bangkok and Bangkok-Gulf routes. Usually, planes between these sectors take two routes

Sep 16, 2013 7 min read

Angry tweets question Indian-origin winner of Miss America

Washington: Nina Davuluri, 24, had this to say after winning the Miss America pageant held in Atlantic City on September 15, 2013: "I'm so happy this organization has embraced diversity. I'm thankful there are children watching at home who can finally relate to a new Miss America

Sep 10, 2013 7 min read

Delhi gangrape: All four convicted for rape and murder

New Delhi: Four accused in the December 16, 2012, gang rape were Tuesday convicted by a court here. Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna found the four guilty in the case. They were present in the court. The court's decision on accused -- Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and