LIVE: PM Modi lays foundation stone for development projects in Kutch

Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

1:49 AM

Saudi Arabia says 2020 budget deficit will surge to $79 billion amid pandemic

1:02 AM

Biden picks Buttigieg as transportation chief

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to pick former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg to head the transportation department, according to three people familiar with the plans.

 

Buttigieg, one of Biden's rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, was a breakout star of the primaries, sharing victory in the nation's first caucus with Bernie Sanders. He suspended his campaign before Super Tuesday and endorsed Biden.

 

Biden has compared the 38-year-old Buttigieg to his late son, Beau.

 

"To me it's the highest compliment I can give any man or woman. And, like Beau, he has a backbone like a ramrod," Biden said during the March event, as Buttigieg stood behind him, bowing his head.

11:41 PM

US hits alleged Iran-backed Bahrain group with sanctions

The Trump administration on Tuesday slapped sanctions on an alleged Iranian-backed Shiite group in Bahrain that it accuses of trying to overthrow Bahrain's government and plotting terrorist attacks on Americans in the country, which is home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet.

 

The State and Treasury departments announced the sanctions as part of an administration-wide push to ramp up pressure on Iran before President Donald Trump leaves office next month.

 

The sanctions freeze any assets the Saraya al-Mukhtar group has within US jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing any business with it or its members.

10:56 PM

Govt considering reprinting some books written by Subhash Chandra Bose, starting fellowships for students to commemorate his 125th birth anniversary celebrations

9:56 PM

Maharashtra Assembly adjourned till March 1, 2021. The budget session will be held on the same date.

9:29 PM

Facebook, Twitter will face UK fines if they fail to limit harmful content

Facebook, Twitter and Chinese-owned TikTok face fines of up to 10 per cent of turnover if they fail to remove and limit the spread of illegal content such as child sexual abuse and terrorist material under laws proposed by Britain on Tuesday.

 

Tech platforms will also need to do more to protect children from being exposed to grooming, bullying and pornography, the government said.

 

"We are entering a new age of accountability for tech to protect children and vulnerable users, to restore trust in this industry, and to enshrine in law safeguards for free speech," Britain's Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said.

 

Governments are wrestling over measures to better control illegal or dangerous content on social media, with the European Union set to unveil its own package on Tuesday.

9:05 PM

US court terminates $100 million lawsuit against PM Modi, Amit Shah

A US court has dismissed a USD 100-million lawsuit filed against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah after the litigants - a separatist Kashmir Khalistan outfit and two associates - failed to appear before it at two scheduled hearings.

 

The suit was filed on September 19, 2019, days before Modi's historic "Howdy, Modi!" event in Houston, Texas. It challenged the Indian Parliament's decision on Jammu and Kashmir that abrogated the special privileges of the state and carved out two union territories and sought a compensation of USD 100 million from Modi, Shah and Lt. Gen. Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon.

 

Dhillon is currently serving as the Director-General Defence Intelligence Agency and Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff under the Chief of Defence Staff. READ MORE...

8:51 PM

Exports dip 8.74% in Nov; trade deficit narrows to $9.87 billion: Govt data

8:39 PM

Gujarat mega energy park to attract Rs 1.5 trillion investment: PM Modi

The upcoming hybrid renewable energy park in Kutch district is expected to attract an investment of Rs 1,50,000 crore and create employment opportunities for 1 lakh people, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday. Modi, who was on a day-long visit of Gujarat, was speaking after virtually laying foundation stones for three big projects in Kutch district, which borders Pakistan, from a function at Dhordo village.

 

These projects are - a 30,000 megawatt capacity hybrid renewable energy park along the Indo-Pak border at Khavda, a desalination plant at Mandvi and a milk processing and packaging unit at Anjar.

 

The hybrid energy park, being touted as the biggest such facility in the world, will be capable of producing 30,000 megawatt, or 30 gigawatt, of electricity using both solar panels and wind farms installed at one place. Spread over 72,600 hectares of waste land, the first of its kind energy project is expected to play a major role in fulfilling India's vision of generating 450 gw (4,50,000 mw) of power by 2030.

8:26 PM

SC asks states to give Rs 2,000 per month for education of children restored with families

Observing that COVID-19 has affected normal life since March and children did not had the opportunity to attend classes, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed all the states to provide Rs 2,000 a month for the education of each child who was in a child care institution (CCI) and has now been restored to his or her family during the pandemic.

 

The apex court was told that 2,27,518 children were in CCIs when the COVID-19 pandemic started and 1,45,788 have been restored with their families or guardians. Taking note of the plight of children who are residing in CCIs during pandemic period, the top court stressed on the need to provide them requisite infrastructure for education and said that states should ensure that required number of teachers are made available to teach them.

 

A bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao also said state governments should provide necessary infrastructure, including books and stationery, to CCIs for the online classes of children living there on the basis of recommendation from district child protection units within 30 days.