The already strained ties between India and Canada escalated to a full blown diplomatic row 14 October, as both countries expelled their top envoys after Ottawa sought to link the Indian High Commissioner to an investigation into the assassination of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Rejecting the “preposterous imputations” of the accusation, New Delhi said that the...

Bhubaneswar: Taking suo motu cognisance of the alleged gangrape of a 34-year-old woman of Puri in Delhi, the Odisha State Commission for Women (OSCW) Tuesday urged the National Commission for Women (NCW) and Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to initiate a probe into the ‘shame’ and share its report within 15 days. OSCW chairperson Minati Behera said...

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi will embark on a four-day visit to Haryana and Mumbai beginning Wednesday. Majhi will be in Haryana for two days. He will attend the swearing-in ceremony of the BJP-led Haryana government Thursday and also attend a meeting of all the chief ministers of states where either the BJP or the NDA...

New Delhi: The Congress Tuesday announced that its general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would contest the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll next month, making her electoral debut from the seat in Kerala. She had campaigned for her brother Rahul Gandhi who contested the seat during the general elections, apart from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency. Rahul Gandhi...

Washington: The Biden administration has warned Israel that it must increase the amount of humanitarian aid it is allowing into Gaza within the next 30 days or it could risk losing access to US weapons funding. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned their Israeli counterparts in a letter dated Sunday that the...

Washington: The Biden administration believes it has won assurances from Israel that it will not hit Iranian nuclear or oil sites as it looks to strike back following Iran's missile barrage earlier this month, two US officials said Tuesday. The administration also believes that sending a US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence battery to Israel and roughly...

Islamabad: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Tuesday exchanged pleasantries with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, hours after landing in the Pakistani capital in the first such visit from New Delhi in nearly a decade. The brief exchange and handshake between Jaishankar and Sharif took place at a banquet dinner hosted by the Pakistani prime minister at his...

New Delhi: Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia Tuesday rejected service providers' demand to auction satcom spectrum but made it clear that radiowaves will come with a cost even if assigned without auction for satellite-based communications services. Earlier in the day, Bharti Airtel founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal joined rival firm Reliance Jio in demanding allocation of spectrum...

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday questioned the West Bengal government over hiring of civic volunteers in the state and sought data regarding their recruitment and appointment process. A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra called the process of hiring as a means of granting “political...

Bhawanipatna: Police have arrested five persons, including four journalists of a local web portal, for their alleged involvement in a dacoity case, officials said Tuesday. The accused had intercepted the car of a labour contractor October 2 near Bhangabari on the outskirts of Bhawanipatna town in Kalahandi district and decamped with Rs 2.55 lakh, police said. The...