In an effort to provide quick services and responses to Indians abroad and in the country for passport and other services, the Ministry of External Affairs has launched “Twitter Seva” platform, enabling the quick resolution of grievances. In the past two years, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj often used Twitter to help Indians who’re caught in difficulties abroad. Now, the ...

Cyanogen, the original Operating Software and rival of Google Android which was installed in One Plus first series of phones way back in 2013 has finally shut down its services with effect from Dec. 23, 2016. In a statement, the company said: "As part of the ongoing consolidation of Cyanogen, all services and Cyanogen-supported nightly builds will be discontinued no ...

In its farewell to the outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Security Council today acknowledged his contribution to international peace, security and development, in particular his exceptional efforts to solve global problems in economic, social, environmental and cultural fields. Adopting a resolution by acclamation, the Council also acknowledged his endeavours to meet humanitarian needs and to promote and encourage ...

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that an experimental Ebola vaccine has been found to be highly protective against the deadly virus in a major trial in Guinea. WHO said that an international vaccine-focussed organization, GAVI, provided $5 million to Merck, and the medical firm committed to ensure that 300,000 doses of the vaccine are available for emergency use ...

The government has launched a trilingual website www.haj.gov.in for Haj Matters on Tuesday in Hindi, Urdu and English to facilitate online application for Haj, besides giving information about the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Haj Department, Haj Pilgrimage, rules and regulations. It may be noted that Haj affairs are being looked after by the Ministry of Minority Affairs now, not the ...

Bringing to memory the Classic win in 2001, India celebrated winning the FIH Junior Hockey World Cup clinching a 2-1 victory against Belgium in the final. Last time India won the cup in Hobart in 2001 with the likes of Gagan Ajit Singh and Yugraj Singh then. This time India scored two field goals in the first half through Gurjant ...

A capacity addition of 14.30 GW of renewable energy has been reported during the last two and half years under Grid Connected Renewable Power, which include 5.8 GW from Solar Power, 7.04 GW from Wind Power, 0.53 from Small Hydro Power and 0.93 from Bio-power.  As of 31st October, 2016, Solar Energy Projects with an aggregate capacity of over 8727.62 ...

The Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba, has paid an official visit to Japan from 19 December 2016 in a bid to consolidate existing Maritime Cooperation initiatives as well as explore new avenues. Defence cooperation between India and Japan is currently robust and is primarily focused towards Maritime Cooperation ever since the commencement of the India-Japan Comprehensive Security ...

PPAP: Japan’s Gangnam Song Goes Super Viral It’s called PPAP in short and the full form reads Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen, written in Japanese katakana as ペンパイナッポーアッポーペン, a parody song written by Pikotaro, a fictional singer-songwriter created and portrayed by Japanese comedian Daimaou Kosaka. It has become a rage in Japan and elsewhere to match Gangnam fame in 2016. Though it was released ...

Union power minister Piyush Goyal and US Ambassador Richard Verma launched on Friday a new joint venture of US-India Clean Energy Finance (USICEF) Initiative which would help in unlocking OPIC financing and mobilize public and private capital to expand access to distributed clean energy projects. Letter of Intents were signed and exchanged between MNRE and OPIC in presence of Piyush ...

A revised Agreement between India and Cyprus for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal evasion (DTAA) with respect to taxes on income, along with its Protocol, was signed last month on 18th November, 2016 in Nicosia, which will replace the existing DTAA that was signed by two countries on 13th June 1994. The Protocol was signed ...

The Income Tax Department has carried out investigations since the de-monetisation of Old High Denomination (OHD) currency announced by the Government on 8th November, 2016 and unearthed  Rs.2,600 crore in 291 cases across the country. In addition, open enquiries have been effected in more than 3,000 cases. Approximately Rs. 393 Crore including Rs. 316 Crore cash and Rs. 77 Crore worth ...

A 14 days joint training exercise of the Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Force commenced today with the Opening Ceremony at in Maldives. The training contingents comprised of a platoon strength from BIHAR Regiment and a similar strength of the Maldivian National Defence Force. Senior military observers of both the countries will be witnessing the validation phase of ...

On the sidelines of International Civil Aviation Negotiations (ICAN) – 2016 held recently in Nassau from 5th to 9thDecember, 2016, R.N. Choubey, Secretary, Civil Aviation said that India signed agreements with six nations on air aviation. The Conference was attended by 106 countries out of ICAO membership of 191 countries. India held negotiations with 17 countries and “Memorandum of Understanding” ...

Union Minister for State for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines Piyush Goyal in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Thursday said that a comprehensive scheme including Intra-State and Inter-State transmission system has been identified as a part of ‘Green Energy Corridors’. The German air agency KfW Germany is providing soft loan to be funded as 20% ...

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said India attaches high importance to Indonesia’s success as a pluralistic democracy with an open society based on the shared values of syncretism, tolerance and respect for diversity. Hostin a banquet to the visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Mr Mukherjee said, “We see India and Indonesia as two countries providing a bulwark against radicalism and intolerance. ...

President-elect Donald Trump is meeting the IT honchos known as “Technology Roundtable” on Wednesday, December 14th, reportedly organized in part by Paypal co-founder and Trump supporter Peter Thiel. The list of invitees include Alphabet (Google) CEO Larry Page; Apple CEO Tim Cook; Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella; Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg; Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins; IBM CEO Ginni Rommetty; Intel CEO ...

In less than a week after the demise of J.Jayalalithaa, Tamil Nadu is bracing for the worst storm on Monday, Dec. 12, called Cyclone Vardah with heavy rains and strong winds lashing the coast, forcing shut down of schools and cancellation of flights. In Andhra Pradesh, the storm is feared to damage the paddy crops and orchards in Ongole and ...

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj underwent a kidney transplant at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Saturday and her condition is stable, said a statement. It said the minister, 64, is safe and is in Intensive Care Unit after the six-hour-long surgery. “A dedicated team of 50 personnel comprising transplant surgeons Prof. M. Minz and Prof. V. K. ...

President of India Mr. Pranab Mukherjee marked his 81st birthday by launching a ‘100 Million for 100 Million’ Campaign organized by the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (December 11, 2016). Speaking on the occasion, the President said that he was delighted to launch the campaign led by Nobel peace prize winner, Shri Kailash Satyarthi, from Rashtrapati Bhavan, ...