NEWS

New Delhi: Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamyand JD(S) leadersaid that he was ready with the guidelines on farm loan waiver, details of which will be disclosed on Wednesday. The Karnataka leader said that he was committed to waive farm loans or else he will retire from politics.Kumaraswamywas sworn-in as Karnataka chief minister last week after the Congress extended unconditional support to his party.

Kumaraswamy was talking to reporters in the national capital today after meeting Prime Minister NarendraModi. "I have clearly said that I will waive farm loans. I had promised during election that I will do it in 24 hours. That is true. At least you should give time to breathe. Today, I have limitations." "If I don't do it, have clearly said that I will retire from politics and I will resign as chief minister. Why cannot you wait for some time?," Kumaraswamy told reporters.

New Delhi: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister DharmendraPradhan said on Monday that the government was planning a ‘holistic strategy’ to find ‘long-term solution’ to a spike in petrol and diesel prices triggered by a spurt in international rates, However, he did not share any details of the strategy. Petrol and diesel prices were today hiked for the 15th day in a row, taking the cumulative increase this month to the highest in at least five years.

Petrol price has been hiked by Rs 3.64 a litre and diesel by Rs 3.24 in Delhi since state-owned oil firms ended a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus to resume daily price revision on May 14.

The prices are at an all-time high. "I have already categorically stated (on) this issue several times. The present oil price hike is due to three main factors. Hike in the international price of crude, fluctuation in the dollar and Indian currency ratio, and some of the tax issues are also there," he told reporters here.

New Delhi:  Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence minister NirmalaSitharaman has accorded approval for the procurement of equipment for the Defence forces worth over Rs 6,900 crore on Monday.

This is a major boost to indigenisation and in realisation of India's growing technological prowess, the DAC approved procurement of Thermal Imaging (TI) Night Sights for the Rocket Launcher (RL) used by the Army and the Air Force under 'BUY (Indian) IDDM' category through established Indian Vendors.

New Delhi: The stage is set for four Lok Sabha and ten assembly bypolls across the country on Monday however all eyes will be on Kairana Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, where a joint opposition will take on the BJP. The result could control the tone and tenor for the 2019 general elections for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition.

The opposition hopes to repeat the success of the Gorakhpur and Phulpur by-elections in March in which the ruling BJP suffered unexpected defeats.Kairana, around 630km from Lucknow, has five assembly segments and an electorate of nearly 1.7 million with a significant number of Muslims, Jats and Dalit voters.