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Bush dinner tastes sour for Obama - PMO decision to entertain former President causes hurt in Washington K.P. NAYAR Washington, Oct. 24: Preparations for Manmohan Singh’s visit to Washington on November 24 have begun on a negative signal to the Obama administration with a decision by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to host former President George W. Bush for dinner at Singh’s residence at the end of this month. Bush is visiting New Delhi on October 30 and 31 at the invitation of an Indian newspaper and will speak at a conference organised in New Delhi on October 31 on...

New Delhi, India's capital, recorded 25,500 cases of coronavirus in 24 hours, and approximately one in three people tested positive, warned Arvind Kejriwal, the local chief executive. He urged the government to provide more hospital bed capacity. Fewer than 100 intensive care beds were available Saturday in India's capital of more than 20 million people, Kejriwal said, as social media was flooded with complaints about a lack of beds, medical oxygen, and medicines. "The most worrying thing is that in the last 24 hours, the positivity rate has gone up to about 30 percent from 24 percent (...) Cases are...

Tehran, Iran — Iran's president warned Wednesday that European soldiers in the Mideast "could be in danger" after three nations challenged Tehran over breaking the limits of its nuclear deal. Tehran's top diplomat meanwhile acknowledged that Iranians "were lied to" for days following the Islamic Republic's accidental shootdown of a Ukrainian jetliner that killed 176 people. President Hassan Rouhani's remarks in a televised Cabinet meeting represent the first direct threat he's made to Europe as tensions remain high between Tehran and Washington. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's admission that the Islamic Republic lied to its own people, meanwhile, came...

Four days ago, the United States military executed a flawless precision strike that killed the worst remaining terrorist on Earth, Qasem Soleimani. The next day, President Donald J. Trump delivered a statement on the successful operation. “As President, my highest and most solemn duty is the defense of our nation and its citizens,” he said. “Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him.” “Under my leadership, America’s policy is unambiguous: To terrorists who harm or intend to harm any American, we will find you. We...

Justin Trudeau has been caught on camera dancing the bhangra at a private dinner in New Delhi. The Canadian Prime Minister was back in traditional dress when he made a dramatic entrance at the event on Thursday night despite facing ridicule from Indians for his 'annoying' outfits during the trip. Trudeau walked out on stage at the Canadian High Commission to the sound of drums before breaking out his dance moves, to the approval of the crowd.

Saudi Arabia has granted Air India approval to operate direct flights from Delhi to Tel Aviv, sources in the Israeli flight industry told Haaretz. If confirmed, this would be the first time the Saudis are allowing commerical flights to Israel to use their airspace. According to Reuters, a spokesman for Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation denied the report, saying the agency had not granted Air India permission to operate direct flights from Delhi to Tel Aviv. If true, Riyadh's approval would mean that the duration of flights from India to Israel will be shortened by two-and-a-half hours, compared...

In a fillip to India’s highway development programme, the Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday approved a plan to build thousands of kilometres of roads and highways over the next five years at a cost of about Rs 7 lakh crore, a spending push that could help generate jobs and lift the economy. Announcing the Cabinet decision, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley called this public expenditure on infrastructure projects as “unprecedented” and “something which has not happened in the country till date.” The plan involves constructing 83,677 km of roads, highways, green-field expressways and bridges in...

Seeking to provide protection to dignitaries including the President and Prime Minister as well as the national capital territory from enemy cruise missiles, drones and aircraft, India is considering an American system under the Delhi Area Defence project. "The National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS) is being considered for the Delhi Area Defence project to provide aerial protection to the Capital from airborne threats," government sources told Mail Today. The programme is being undertaken as the threat perception from incoming enemy missiles, drones and aircraft is on the rise because of their increasing use by terrorist organisations such...

Old notes will be accepted at government hospitals, petrol stations and toll booths for 10 more days. A day after Prime Minister Narendra chaired a meeting to review the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes and its impact, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Monday announced that the now defunct currency would be accepted at government hospitals, petrol stations and toll booths till November 24. The Prime Minister’s meeting came amid continuing chaos and growing public anger across the country over limited cash availability following the surprise demonetisation of the two higher value notes. On Sunday, the cash...

Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit on Monday said how come a country that is the biggest victim of terrorism be isolated, adding that Pakistan would not be isolated in the world. The Pakistani HC to India was delivering address at New Delhi’s Indian Institute of Peace and Conflict, where he said that all the issue could be solved between the two countries through negotiations. He said that Kashmir is the bone of contention between Pakistan and India, adding that the 2003 Ceasefire should be made formal.

NEW DELHI: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has pledged to kick off one project every week in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh as part of the central government's ambitious development agenda for the state. This will add up to new road projects worth Rs 1.3 lakh crore in the state, where elections are scheduled to be held early next year. Gadkari and Home Minister Rajnath Singh will formally announce the road plans on Friday in Lucknow. "I will lay foundation stones for highway projects across UP every week from now," Gadkari told ET. "My ministry will complete highway construction projects...

My eye is on the sparrow but do you not see? The coming catastrophe, For your sustainment does not come from man, But from My very hand, And so it is with your soul, That I created so only I know, What it takes for you to be sustained, It is found in My Blood, My Spirit, My very name, JESUS IS LORD must be your call, For Truly I AM your all, so come to your Creator for it is Me, I AM your Tree and River of Life come eat and drink and be set free, Free from...

China's move to construct five tunnels to open up a new section of the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) last month has signalled Beijing’s intent to go forward with ambitious projects despite India’s increasingly vocal concerns and rising security concerns in the restive disputed region. In a major project that will ensure year-round land connectivity linking China and Pakistan through PoK, the China Road and Bridge Corporation has constructed five seven km-long tunnels on the Karakoram Highway. Earlier, this particular section had been cut off on account of a barrier lake formed at Attabad, which had blocked access since...

Gurgaon: In a shocking narrative, a 20-year-old woman from Nepal said she and her 44-year-old mother were sexually abused every day for the last four months by a Saudi diplomat in a flat in Gurgaon. The diplomat at the Saudi Arabia embassy in New Delhi has been booked for rape while his wife and daughter have been booked for torturing domestic helps in the Millennium City, the Haryana Police said. The mother-daughter, who were brought to India with the lure of a better future, today claimed they were not being paid wages for the last four months and now wish...

Rajendra Pachauri, one of the world’s most famous climate officials, is being investigated under three sections of the Indian Penal Code relating to sexual assault, harassment, and stalking. He has resigned as longtime chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), resigned from the Indian Prime Minister’s climate council, and has been disinvited from speaking at a conference at Harvard University. Currently on leave from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the New Delhi-based entity he has led for three decades, Pachauri has been banned by the courts from entering TERI facilities and from contacting anyone who works...

The chairman of the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, has pulled out of a four-day meeting of the body in Nairobi next week after being accused of sexually harassing a 29-year-old employee at the New Delhi research institute he heads. **SNIP** A 29-year-old researcher, who has worked at Teri since September 2013, filed a police complaint in Delhi last week, alleging Mr Pachauri had harassed her with inappropriate emails, text messages, and unwanted advances. The Delhi Police have opened a preliminary file regarding the matter according to Indian media. In a Delhi High Court petition seeking...

A valet at the five star Le Meridien Hotel in New Delhi, India is in a certain amount of trouble after he wrecked a guest's precious Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder recently, causing damages of up to $330,000 to the luxury vehicle. Captured on CCTV for all the world to see, the valet, Arun Kumar drives the car from the parking area at the hotel to the busy valet area. He briefly gets out of the car. Then, after climbing back in, the car suddenly lurches forward, sending other valets running for cover as it hits a wall head-on. The valet managed...

New York Officials Argue for Flexibility with Gun Law Violators… As Long as They're on the City's PayrollSome of New York's most strident gun control advocates have rushed to the defense of an unwitting traveler who was arrested at an airport for a technical violation of a draconian gun law. Has a new era of sanity arrived in the Big Apple? Not really. This defendant happens to be an NYPD officer who is alleged to have violated India's strict firearm regulations. On March 10th, NYPD Officer Manny Encarnacion was arrested when officials at the airport in New Delhi discovered three...

Suspected Iranian Blew Off His Own Leg In A Botched Terror Attack In Bangkok Robert JohnsonFeburary 14, 2012 One day after bombs targeting Israeli embassy staff went off in India and Georgia, another botched attack played out this morning in Bangkok. Through several reports, the incident appears to have played out something like this: Saeib Morabi, a suspected Iranian, was fleeing an explosion that rocked through his rented home in central Bangkok. While he was on the road looking for transportation, another explosion went off "on a nearby road." When Morabi finally managed to flag down a cab, the driver...

New Delhi An Israeli official said an explosion was hit an Israeli diplomat's car in New Delhi on Monday. He said one person was hurt in the blast, but did not identify the victim. Israeli Embassy spokesman David Goldfarb said the car was near the embassy when the blast went off. Indian police said only that a car was on fire on the street outside the embassy.