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Citizenship Amendment Act internal issue of India: Maldives Parliament Speaker

New Delhi, Dec 14 (ANI): Terming Citizenship (Amendment) Act an "internal issue" of India, Maldives Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed on Friday exuded trust in Indian democracy and said that the Bill was democratically passed through both the houses of the Parliament. Speaking to ANI, Nasheed said, "Well it is an internal issue of India. We have trust in Indian democracy. The process went through in both the houses of the Parliament. It is not for us to comment upon it. It's an internal issue." Nasheed, former president of Maldives, is currently on a five-day visit to India on the joint invitation of Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

Chinese debt trap a 'serious case': Maldives Parliament Speaker Mohd Nasheed

New Delhi, Dec 14 (ANI): Maldives Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed called Chinese debt trap a "serious case". Speaking on it, Nasheed said, "During last 6-7 years, a large amount of Chinese funds have gone into Maldives as projects and most of these projects have inflated prices. Inflated to the extent that the business plan of any of these projects would fail. So, the assets created by debt are not equal to it, so we can't pay the debt." He further said, "When you are unable to pay debt, they ask for equity and with equity we very often relinquish land and sovereignty. It is a serious case. There is a pattern for this. We are worried and want Chinese authorities to address issue appropriately and only announce debt figure that is equivalent to the assets created in Maldives."

Bright future for India-Maldives ties, says former President Mohamed Nasheed

New Delhi, Dec 14 (ANI): Maldives Parliament Speaker and country's former president, Mohamed Nasheed, has affirmed that the governments of India and Maldives are "on the same page" and the future of ties between the two countries is "bright". "We have declared an India first foreign policy. India has been next to us since time immemorial. We read the same book. We eat the same food. We watch the same films, we do the same things. We are the same people," Nasheed told ANI. "There are times when perhaps the governments might not be able to get on with each other but I will only consider our relations to be bad if Maldivians stop watching Bollywood. If we stop eating biryani and gulab jamun, then, of course, there is a serious deterioration of relations but that's not happening any time soon," Nasheed said. "Our relationships are very strong and the government is on the same page," the former president further said, adding that the future of India and Maldives is "going to bright".

Fire breaks out in Delhi's Mundka area

New Delhi, Dec 14 (ANI): A fire broke out at a wooden godown in West Delhi's Mundka area on Dec 14. At least 20 fire tenders reached the spot. Fire extinguishing process is underway. More details are awaited.

Sleeping more may increase your stroke risk: Study

New Delhi, Dec 14 (ANI): Sleeping is known to be the best medicine to treat a lot of human ailments, but a new study suggests that people who sleep more than required have an increased risk of getting a stroke. A study published in the medical journal Neurology has indicated towards such a possibility. The conclusion drawn out of the study was that people who slept for nine hours or more during the night were 23 per cent more susceptible of getting a stroke as compared to people who slept for seven or fewer hours in the night. The study found out that people who were both long sleepers and long nappers had 85 per cent likelihood of having a stroke than people who slept in moderation.

Amit Khanna's new book 'Words Sounds Images' released

New Delhi, Dec 14 (ANI): Bollywood celebrities and other known personalities attended the book launch of the noted lyricist Amit Khanna. The book 'Words Sounds Images: A History of Media and Entertainment in India' was released on December 13 in Delhi. Javed Akhtar, Jaya Bachchan reached at the event. Several other dignitaries including Rajat Sharma, Smita Prakash and Prasoon Joshi also attended the book launch.

India, ASEAN have stood united for centuries due to our shared ocean: Indonesian Foreign Minister

New Delhi, Dec 14 (ANI): The 11th edition of Delhi Dialogue commenced on December 13. Retno LP Marsudi, Foreign Minister of Indonesia, drew attention towards Mahatma Gandhi's ideologies on his 150th birth anniversary during the address. She also mentioned that India and ASEAN have stood united for centuries due to the shared ocean."India and ASEAN have stood united for centuries due to our shared ocean. For India, for ASEAN and for Indo-Pacific region, the ocean is our future and prosperity," said Marsudi. The theme for this year's Delhi Dialogue is "Advancing Partnership in Indo-Pacific" and is being organised with the assistance of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries.

You can now ask Alexa to play podcasts on Spotify

New Delhi, Dec 14 (ANI): Spotify free and Premium users will now be able to ask Amazon Alexa to play podcasts of their choice. Until now, users were able to ask Alexa to play music, but not podcasts. As the official blog notes, the feature is currently live for Amazon Alexa users in the US. To enable the feature, ensure you set Spotify as your default podcast and music provider in the Alexa settings. Then, you can simply say "Alexa" followed by the command with the podcast name on Spotify for a hands-free listening experience. Users can also request specific podcast, restart an episode, request the latest episode, navigate by time frame and more using Alexa.

'I got my first break in television from Amit Khanna': Smita Prakash

New Delhi, Dec 14 (ANI): Editor at Asian News International, Smita Prakash during the book launch event of Amit Khanna, stated that she got her first break through Amit Khanna. Speaking at the event, Smita Prakash said, "It has got something for everybody. For students of media, it is absolutely a must, I think. I got my first break in television from Amit Khanna." Bollywood celebrities and other known personalities attended the book launch of the noted lyricist Amit Khanna. The book 'Words Sounds Images: A History of Media and Entertainment in India' was released on December 13 in Delhi. Javed Akhtar, Jaya Bachchan reached the book launch event. Rajat Sharma, Smita Prakash and Prasoon Joshi also attended the book launch.

BJP women delegation moves EC against Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi, Dec 13 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) women Members of Parliament moved to Election Commission against Rahul Gandhi over his 'Rape in India' remark. Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani said that they have registered objection against the remark of Rahul Gandhi to Election Commission. "Election Commission has assured us that they will follow the legal procedure and do justice," BJP leader further added.

There's nothing to worry, rumours are being spread: Gadkari on Citizenship Amendment Act

Nagpur (Maharashtra), Dec 13 (ANI): Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari while talking to ANI highlighted Citizenship Amendment Act's motive and said, "People of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Christian communities who don't find place in any other country, will be given citizenship." "We're neither against Muslims nor are we asking anyone to go to Pakistan. There's nothing to worry. Rumours are being spread," he added.

We believe in speedy justice, stringent punishment in rape cases: Andhra HM on Disha Act

Amaravati (AP), Dec 13 (ANI): Home Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Mekathoti Sucharitha announced that Andhra Pradesh Cabinet has approved the enactment of the Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law (Amendment) Act. "We seriously believe speedy justice and stringent punishments are critical in this aspect. It resulted in our government in enacting 'Disha Act 2019' which provides stringent penal provision, time bound investigation and trial all within 21 days in special courts in every district," said Home Minister. Andhra Pradesh 'Disha Act' enables quick trial and judgments in cases of rape and acid attacks in which there is clinching evidence against the accused.

Tourists enjoy snowfall in Kufri

Kufri (HP), Dec 13 (ANI): Tourists thronged Himachal Pradesh's one of the favourite tourist spots Kufri after the fresh snowfall in the region. Kufri is fully covered with a thick white blanket of snow. Tourists are enjoying every bit of moment by throwing snow balls onto each other. Himachal Pradesh continued to record shivering temperatures on December 13 after rains and snowfall across many places in the state. State administration is clearing the snow from the road to maintain the vehicular flow.

Govt, Opposition in Kerala unite to protest against Citizenship Amendment Act

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Dec 13 (ANI: Kerala Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on December 13 said that all the Ministers and leaders of opposition in Assembly will sit together on protest against Citizenship Amendment Act. He said, "Constitution is going to be weaken by this act and religion is not the basis of citizenship."

Fewer billionaires: Some of yesterday's big boys are no more so

The upheaval in the broader economy has reshuffled the ranks of India’s billionaire promoters. Changes in the market value of promoter stake in top private sector companies suggest that the number of billionaires is on the decline, after hitting a high in March last year. The gap between the rich and the not-so-rich promoters also widened in 2019. There are now 80 promoters with net worth of a billion dollars or more. In December last year, there were 82; and in March last year, there were 91.

Delhi Govt includes 30 more services at your doorstep: CM Kejriwal

New Delhi, Dec 13 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on December 13 held a Cabinet Meeting in the national capital. After the meeting, CM Kejriwal informed about the decisions which were taken in the meeting. He said that 30 more State Government services have been included in the 1076 number. 30 extra services include departments like, Transport Labour Department, Women and Child Development, Delhi Pharmacy Council and Drugs Control Department.

Govt taking steps to import and bring onions to the market: FM Sitharaman

New Delhi, Dec 13 (ANI): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reacted over onion price hike across the country. "Onions are a fast perishable commodity. Due to rain in some places, flooding in some other, crop extent was less and hence the less output. Due to this it has gone out of certain reasonable level. Government is taking steps to import and bring onions to the market as soon as possible, said Finance Minister," said FM Sitharaman. Finance Minister further added, "The price of onions has started going down at several places. It is not completely less, but it is going down. We've had a Group of Ministers' meeting which is reviewing on almost every 1-2 days' gap basis and deciding on how to further take up the import related issues."

Refunds of direct tax, indirect tax amount to Rs 2.2 lakh Crore this year: Revenue Secretary

New Delhi, Dec 13 (ANI): Union Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said that total refunds of direct tax and indirect tax this year amounted to almost 2.2 Lakh Crore. "If you sum total both direct tax and indirect tax, total refunds that have been issued this year is amounting to almost Rs 2.2 Lakh Crore," said Revenue Secretary, Ajay Bhushan Pandey in during press conference held by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Delhi college, school students to take pledge of respecting women: CM Kejriwal

New Delhi, Dec 13 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on December 13 held a Cabinet Meeting in the national capital. After the meeting, CM Kejriwal said that the Delhi government is going to start a campaign to stop crime against women. In the campaign, in every college, private and government schools, it will mandatory for the boys to pledge that they will not commit any crime against women and respect them. The pledge will be repeated in intervals of three to six months.

Evidence of measures to boost investment can be seen in record FDI inflows: CEA Subramanian

New Delhi, Dec 13 (ANI): Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) KV Subramanian on December 13 said that measures to boost investment have been fruitful and it can be seen with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows. "Evidence of measures to boost investment is actually seen in the record FDI inflows - US$ 35 Billion in the first half of 2019-20 as against US$ 31 Billion during the same period last year. It's a good sign of foreigners seeing India as a very important destination," said Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) said during his presentation in a press conference, which was held by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.