Colombo: Sri Lanka's request for a Rapid Finance Instrument is being considered as a priority by the IMF in view of the recovery efforts after the devastating cyclone Ditwah, the global lender said Sunday. Catastrophic floods and landslides following Cyclone Ditwah have left Sri Lanka grappling with severe infrastructure collapse as search operations continue for those buried...

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Police arrested a man from Bihar in connection with the question paper leak for the JE (civil) exam 2023, an officer said Sunday. Raj Mohan Prasad (35), a resident of Bihar's Samastipur district, was arrested by the Crime Branch Saturday and brought to Odisha on transit remand Sunday, he said. So far, 27 people...

New Delhi: Congress MP Manish Tewari has introduced a private member's bill in Lok Sabha that seeks to allow parliamentarians to take an independent line in voting on bills and motions other than those affecting the government's stability in a bid to free them from whip-driven tyranny and promote good lawmaking. Tewari, who introduced the bill last...

Beijing: India's Ambassador to China, Pradeep Kumar Rawat, and Consul General in Shanghai, Pratik Mathur, Sunday inaugurated the new Chancery of the Consulate General of India in Shanghai at the Dawning Centre in Changning district, marking the first relocation of its office premises in over 32 years. The Consulate General said that the larger, modern diplomatic platform...

Baripada: A tribal man, who went missing from Odisha's Mayurbhanj district 11 years ago, was Sunday brought back from Bangladesh, where he had been living after inadvertently crossing the border, officials said. Sudam Hembram, 41, was handed over to officers of the Mayurbhanj district by the Bangladeshi authorities at the Haridaspur check post at Petrapole in West...

Panaji: A jampacked nightclub in North Goa turned into a death trap around midnight as a massive fire tore through it, claiming 25 lives and bringing to the fore illegalities along with the laxity of government officials in enforcing rules. Fireworks were the likely cause of the blaze at `Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub at Arpora, 25...

Punjab: Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu has sparked a political row by saying “one needs Rs 500 crore for the chief minister's chair”, with the BJP and AAP claiming her comments exposed the “ugly truth” of how the grand old party functions, and the “money bag” politics it indulges in. Navjot Kaur's remarks also drew flak from...

Dhaka: Bangladesh's mobile phone traders and students held a protest here Sunday, causing traffic congestion in several parts of the capital, including the Science Laboratory,  Shahbagh, Agargaon and outside the Education Building, local media reported. Mobile phone traders held a sit-in in front of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) building in Agargaon Sunday, raising demand for...

Moscow: Russian journalists accompanying President Vladimir Putin during his recent visit to India have expressed disappointment over what they described as very strict security restrictions during the 23rd India-Russia summit. Putin was on a two-day visit to New Delhi from December 4-5 to attend the annual summit, aimed at strengthening the bilateral strategic and economic partnership. According...

New York: A second Indian national has died after suffering severe injuries in a house fire in Albany, the US authorities and the Indian mission here have said. Anvesh Sarapelli succumbed to his injuries Saturday, a day after the death of Sahaja Reddy Udumala, who had also suffered severe burns in the same incident. We are deeply...