Category: NATIONAL NEWS

In a major push to transform Kerala as an investment-friendly destination, the CPI(M)-led LDF government has banned the obsolete ‘Nokku Kooli’ practise used by headload workers to extract exorbitant wages without doing any work. “The order, which was issued last night, comes into effect from today on Labour Day,” an official statement said. NokkuKooli, which literally means ‘gawking wages,’ is a euphemism for extortion by organised labour unions in the state under which wages have to be paid to trade union workers for loading and unloading works done by other…

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Buoyed by GST collections exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore in April, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said it is a landmark achievement and a confirmation of increased economic activity. The government mopped up Rs 1.03 lakh crore in GST collection in April, indicating stabilisation of the new indirect tax regime which was rolled out on July 1 last year. While Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in entire 2017-18 stood Rs 7.41 lakh crore, in March the figure was Rs 89,264 crore. “GST collections in April exceeding Rs 1 lakh…

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Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, along with top district officials, took a casual stroll around Subhash park in Marine drive here today. During his morning walk, Naidu discussed the infrastructure development of the city with the officials, including Mayor Soumini Jain and Ernakulam district collector K Mohammed Y Safirulla, official sources said. Naidu, who reached the city yesterday after inaugurating the new Kasaragod campus of Central University, also had a brief chat with the sanitary workers and public, they said. “Vice President of India took a morning walk at Subash Park,…

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The AIIMS today discharged RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, saying his condition has improved significantly, even as the former Bihar chief minister alleged a “political conspiracy” behind his discharge. The Rashtriya Janata Dal president also wrote to the institute’s director, asking him to continue his treatment at the facility till he recovers fully. Supporters of Prasad created ruckus in the hospital premises protesting the AIIMS’ decision, with his party alleging that there is a conspiracy to “murder” their leader by “forcing him out” of the premier hospital even though he continues…

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Hitting out at the Congress over its ‘Jan Akrosh’ rally, BJP president Amit Shah today said it was in fact a ‘Parivar Akrosh’ rally that highlights increasing irrelevance of a “dynasty and their courtiers”, who have been sent out of power from one state after another in elections. The Congress has organised a ‘Jan Akrosh’ rally in the national capital today to highlight “failures” of the Modi government. In a series of tweets, Shah took a dig at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and hoped that Gandhi would apologise to the…

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Congress president Rahul Gandhi launched a fusillade on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government on Sunday, questioning why the country’s “chowkidar” (gatekeeper) was silent on issues of graft and weakening of institutions Addressing his party’s ‘Jan Aakrosh’ rally, Gandhi said the prime minister also did not speak on the case of judge BH Loya and agrarian distress “Modi ji did not speak a single word on Doklam during his visit to China. What kind of prime minister is he?” asked Gandhi at the rally held at Ramilia Maidan in…

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi will address a public rally at the Ramlila Ground in Delhi on April 29, the party’s Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken said today. Mr Maken said that the ‘Jan Aakrosh Rally’ – Mr Gandhi’s first in the national capital since assuming the top party post, will be “historic”. The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee or DPCC chief in a statement said that 40,000 forms for identity cards from party workers have been received, while around one and a half lakh to two lakh Congress workers are expected…

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 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have decided to issue strategic guidance to their respective militaries to strengthen communication and to build trust and understanding, a top Indian diplomat said today. Briefing reporters at the end of the two-day informal summit between the two leaders in the central Chinese city, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said the two leaders underscored that it is important to maintain peace and tranquillity in all areas of the India-China border region. “And to this end, the two leaders decided that they would issue strategic…

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Police investigating the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua say that Sanji Ram, one of the main accused, has told them during interrogation that he learnt about the rape four days after her abduction, and decided to have her killed because his son was also involved in the sexual assault. The investigators say the girl, who was kidnapped on January 10, was first raped the same day by Ram’s nephew, a juvenile, and was killed on January 14. Her body was found on January 17 in a…

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The strike called by the resident doctors of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), after one of their colleagues was assaulted by a senior doctor partially affected healthcare services at the premier institute today. Emergency and ICU services remained operational, but all routine surgeries have been cancelled, out-patient clinics being run in a restricted manner and all academic activity and exams postponed indefinitely, a senior officer of the administration said. The hospital administration has put in place a contingency plan for patient care services, as a part of…

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