Over 4,700 varsity faculty posts vacant: President

Central universities suffer from an acute shortage of faculty with over 4,700 posts vacant, President Pranab Mukherjee said Thursday. The president added that India could be a world leader in education if “we discover the will and leadership to take us to that pinnacle”. Addressing a conference of vice chancellors of central universities at Rashtrapati […]

14 killed in Nepal bus accident

14 killed in Nepal bus accident

Fourteen people were killed and seven injured when their bus plunged into a river in western Nepal, police said Thursday. The bus fell into a river at Chidipani village in Palpa district early Thursday morning, Xinhua reported. The identities of the deceased are yet to be established. The injured passengers have been rushed to a […]

Indian-origin men jailed for robbing, beating pensioner

Indian-origin men jailed for robbing, beating pensioner

Two Indian-origin men in the British city of Leicester have been jailed for three years and eight months for attacking an elderly man in a robbery bid. The Leicester Crown Court sentenced Harbans Singh and Varinder Singh for robbing and knocking to the ground an 80-year-old pensioner, leaving him with injuries on his hands and […]

Indian Navy accidents a concern: Antony

Indian Navy accidents a concern: Antony

Accidents suffered by some Indian Navy vessels over the past few months was a “matter of concern”, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Thursday. Interacting with the media at Defexpo 14′ here, Antony said he cannot provide “100 percent satisfaction certificate” although standard operating procedures were being largely followed. Every accident, he added, needed to be […]

India, Germany should continue efforts for UNSC reform: Mukherjee

India and Germany, members of the G-4 grouping, have a strong partnership on regional and international issues and should continue their efforts for a fundamental reform of the UN Security Council, President Pranab Mukherjee has said. In his banquet speech for visiting German President Joachim Gauck at Rashtrapati Bhavan Wednesday night, Mukherjee said: “India attaches […]

ISI didn’t contact riot-hit youths: Home minister

ISI didn’t contact riot-hit youths: Home minister

The government has no reports of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency approaching riot-affected youths in Muzaffarnagar, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said Thursday. “As per available information from central intelligence agencies, they do not have any input to suggest that Pakistan’s ISI contacted youths of families belonging to the minority communities who were affected during the […]

Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party enforces nationwide strike

Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party enforces nationwide strike

Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party enforced a nationwide dawn-to-dusk strike Thursday in protest against the death sentence handed down to its chief in a 10-year-old arms smuggling case. Fourteen people, including two former Bangladeshi ministers and Indian separatist leader Paresh Baruah, were awarded death penalty by a court in the country’s southeastern port city of Chittagong […]

BJP suspends two MLAs for praising Nitish Kumar

BJP suspends two MLAs for praising Nitish Kumar

The BJP Thursday suspended two of its legislators in Bihar for choosing to back Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and not the party’s prime ministerial hopeful Narendra Modi, as the next prime minister. Bharatiya Janata Party’s state president Mangal Pandey said the party has suspended two legislators – Rana Gangeshwar Singh and Avanish Kumar Singh – […]

HC dismisses plea against ordinance on convicted lawmakers

HC dismisses plea against ordinance on convicted lawmakers

The Delhi High Court Thursday dismissed a plea seeking quashing of the government’s decision to bring an ordinance to shield convicted lawmakers from being unseated. A division bench of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justice Manmohan, giving relief to jailed legislators and parliamentarians, said if an individual’s the right to stand for an election if […]