Category: NATIONAL NEWS

The loss and damage to Kerala due to the devastating deluge would be much more than the primary estimate of Rs 20,000 crore, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said today. Rescue operations were over and the thrust now is on rehabilitation and rebuilding the state ravaged by the rain fury that claimed 322 lives since August 8, Vijayan told reporters after holding a meeting here to review the post-flood situation.”Rehabilitation process of the displaced is progressing in the right direction,” he said.The chief minister rejected the Congress-led UDF opposition charge that…

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The law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh is the best the state has seen in the last 15 years, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed today as he lashed at the Opposition for disrupting the state Assembly on the issue of handling crime. “Not just in the state but in the entire country it has been accepted that law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh has improved and an indicator of this is that investment is flowing in,” Mr Adityanath said as he accused the opposition parties of working with…

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New Delhi, Aug 26 (DIN NEWS) Describing the debate on holding the Lok Sabha and assembly polls together a healthy sign for democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said it was an appropriate tribute to former premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee who changed the country’s political culture He said efforts were afoot and discussions being held about simultaneously holding the Lok Sabha and assembly polls “The government and the opposition ? both are putting forth their view points. This is a good development and a healthy sign for our democracy…

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New Delhi, Aug 25 (DIN NEWS) Gearing up for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Congress today formed three crucial committees to look after coordination, manifesto and publicity in the polls, with the old guard maintaining its position in the core set up under party president Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi formed the key nine-member Core Group Committee comprising A K Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad, P Chidambaram, Ashok Gehlot, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel, Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala and K C Veugopal. While all those in the Core Committee have worked under the…

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Putting to rest all speculation, Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat today emphatically ruled out the possibility of holding simultaneous elections to the state assemblies along with the Lok Sabha polls anytime soon.Rawat also said a legal framework is needed to be in place for holding simultaneous polls.There has been some speculation in the recent weeks that Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram due this year end may be deferred and held simultaneously along with the Lok Sabha elections, scheduled for April-May 2019.While the term of the…

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A fire broke out on the 12th floor of a posh high-rise residential building in Dadar here today morning, killing four people and injuring 16, fire officials said Dozens of people were rescued from different floors of the 17-storey Crystal Tower building near Hindmata Cinema The blaze has been brought under control and cooling operations are underway, officials said The fire brigade control room got a message at 8.32 am about the blaze on the 12th floor. The smoke from the raging fire spread rapidly, trapping the residents in the…

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New Delhi, Aug 20 (DIN NEWS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to his newly elected Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan, conveying New Delhi’s commitment to pursue “meaningful” and “constructive” engagement with Islamabad and emphasising the need to work for a terror-free South Asia, official sources said today. In a letter to Khan on August 18, the day he was sworn in as Pakistan’s 22nd prime minister, Modi also expressed India’s commitment to building good neighbourly relations between the two countries while congratulating him, the sources said. In Islamabad, Pakistan Foreign…

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New Delhi, Aug 19 (DIN NEWS) The rainfall intensity over Kerala has decreased over the past two days, the meteorology department said today, adding that there is no alert of heavy precipitation for the next four days in the state. India Meteorological Department’s Additional Director General Mritunjay Mohapatra said, yesterday the state recorded 9 cm of rainfall. On August 16 and 17, the state recorded 19 cm and 11 cm of rainfall respectively, he said. “Over the past three days, we have seen a gradual decrease in rainfall in the…

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced today an immediate financial assistance of Rs 500 crore to the rain-battered Kerala, after reviewing the flood situation in the state.Modi also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh per person to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those seriously injured from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF), a Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) statement said”The prime minister announced a financial assistance of Rs 500 crore to the state. This is in addition to Rs 100 crore announced by Home…

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New Delhi, Aug 17 (DIN NEWS) President Ram Nath Kovind today described Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s demise a personal loss for him and said it was the former prime minister’s stature and dignity that attracted him to public life by giving up his legal profession. Conveying his condolences on the passing away of Vajpayee, the president in his letter to the former prime minister’s adopted daughter Namita Kaul Bhattacharya said that working with him was an unforgettable experience. “Atalji’s death is of course a personal loss for you and others at…

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