NEWS

New Delhi:On the occasion of the second death anniversary of HizbulMujahideen commander BurhanWani authorities imposed restrictions in parts of the Valley, normal life was disrupted in response to a strike called by separatists.

Clashes between the security forces and groups of youths trying to defy the official restrictions occurred at some places in Tral area, the ancestral town of Wani, who was killed in an encounter in Kokernag area of Anantnag district on July 8, 2016.

Security forces used tear smoke shells to chase away the protesting youths at some places in south Kashmir areas.The Amarnath pilgrimage was also suspended for a day following the call for a shutdown.

New Delhi:JD (U) general secretary KC Tyagi said that the party would contest upcoming elections in Manipur, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh on its own. The decision to this regard was taken at the national executive meeting of the JD(U) which was held in New Delhi on Sunday.

"Some media reports say we are helping BJP but we are neither supporting them nor opposing them, we are not helping them," said Tyagi.

This assumes significance amid reports that keen on expanding the party beyond Bihar. There were also reports that all is not well in the JD (U)-BJP alliance. On the issue of One Nation One Election, Tyagi said, "We are in the favour of simultaneous elections but we don't think it is easy to be conducted. However, we cannot oppose it as it is a step towards less expensive election, curbing black money and better governance.

New Delhi: In a major setback, the recent social audit of the direct benefit transfer (DBT) of food subsidy in Ranchi’s Nagri block found a majority of the beneficiaries wanting subsidized food grains instead of cash transfer.The government decision to introduce conditional cash transfers in a key nutrition programme for children, pregnant and lactating mothers instead of take-home ration in the country’s 10 districts on a pilot basis has hit a roadblock.

Citing the adverse feedback from beneficiaries in the state to the cash-transfer scheme, the Union women and child development (WCD) ministry has decided to seek views of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and federal think-tank NitiAayog on whether the ministry should go ahead with the pilot.

New Delhi:India has conveyed to Russia that it is not interested to go ahead with the joint development of a fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) primarily due to high cost involved in the project. However, negotiations are still on.

The official sources said that they, however, said the negotiations between the two countries on the much ambitious project have not yet been shelved as India was ready to have a re-look at co-development of the jet if an appropriate cost sharing formula between the two countries was arrived at.

India and Russia had signed an inter-governmental agreement for the mega project in 2007, vowing to take the military ties between the two strategic partners to the next level. However, the project has been stuck for the last 11 years as there have been serious differences between the two sides on sharing cost of developing the jet, technologies to be used in it and number of aircraft to be produced.