National

Kochi: Enforcement Directorate (ED) has widened its investigation into the alleged CMRL-Exalogic ‘masappadi’ (monthly payment) case to examine whether Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd. received undue favours from the erstwhile LDF government, even as it subjected T. Veena, daughter of former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan,...

New Delhi: Senior IPS officer Mahesh Dixit was Thursday appointed as the new chief of the Intelligence Bureau, succeeding Tapan Kumar Deka. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cleared Dixit's appointment. He will have a two-year tenure. Dixit,...

New Delhi: In a move aimed at strengthening safeguards against counterfeit and substandard medicines, the Union government has expanded the ambit of the QR code-based track-and-trace mechanism to cover all antimicrobials, vaccines, anti-cancer medicines, and narcotic and psychotropic drugs, according to a notification issued by...

Chennai: The death toll following an ammonia gas leak at a private seafood processing facility in Tiruvallur has risen to 11, even as a high-level probe committee flagged critical safety lapses, including the failure of the emergency alarm system, and raised concerns over the cramped...

Ayodhya: An FIR was lodged Thursday over allegations of embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple, officials said. The FIR comes amid an ongoing probe into the matter by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which submitted a preliminary report of its findings to the Uttar...

New Delhi: In a major relief to industrial and commercial LPG consumers, the government Thursday removed all sectoral restrictions on the supply of non-domestic packed LPG and restored supplies to the levels prevailing before the West Asia crisis. The restrictions have been lifted due to...

New Delhi: Election Commission officials Thursday said that Indian passports continue to be among the 12 valid supporting documents required by voters to prove their eligibility to be on the voters' list under the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls. They were responding to...

New Delhi: Passport has never been a citizenship proof and no new decision was taken on the document by the Modi government in the last 12 years, government sources said Thursday. On media reports on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarifying that a passport...

Kolkata: The toll in the Taratala warehouse collapse in south Kolkata rose to 11 Thursday as rescue teams, aided by the Army's advanced ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system, continued intensive search operations through the rubble for over 24 hours after the incident, officials said. Five more...

New Delhi: The government has revised the passport fee structure through an amendment to the Passports Rules, 1980, increasing application fee for an ordinary fresh passport containing 36 pages from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500. The new rules will come into force with effect from...