Bureaucrat-turned-politician K J Alphons, who tried to convince U.S. lawmakers to revoke visa restrictions on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, has failed to receive any firm commitment on the issue. However, he exuded confidence that the U.S. may change its stand soon. A national executive member of the BJP, Mr. Alphons primarily came to the U.S. to attend the Annual Prayer Breakfast with U.S. President Barack Obama on February 7. In addition […]

As public evidence mounts that the Chinese military is responsible for stealing massive amounts of U.S. government data and corporate trade secrets, the Obama administration is poised to spell out specific trade actions it may take against Beijing or any other country guilty of cyber-espionage. According to officials familiar with the plans, the White House is eyeing fines, penalties and other trade restrictions as initial, more-aggressive steps the U.S. would take in […]

Under attack from BJP, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Wednesday issued a statement on the eve of Budget session of Parliament, expressing regret over his “Hindu terror” remark and saying his comments had been misunderstood. Mr. Shinde, who is also Leader of the Lok Sabha and faced the prospect of boycott by BJP, underlined that he had no intention to link terrorism with religion or political organisations. “My statement given […]

New Delhi: Sri Lanka’s envoy to India said on Wednesday that photographs showing the late LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran’s son alive before being killed were morphed. “Prabhakaran’s son could have been killed in crossfire while he was in a little bunker. There is no need for an international probe. The photos are morphed,” Prasad Kariyawasam told a news channel. A section of the media carried photographs of 12-year-old Balachandran Prabhakaran seated […]

olkata: Industry body Assocham today said the loss to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) due to the strike by central trade unions could be about Rs. 26,000 crore, higher than its initial estimate of Rs. 15,000-20,000 crore. “Against initial estimates of Rs. 15,000-20,000 crore, the GDP may be eroded by about Rs. 26,000 crore,” the industry body said in a release. “In the wake of a more than expected […]

David Cameron has become the first serving UK prime minister to pay his respects at the scene of one of the bloodiest massacres in British history. Mr Cameron is visiting Amritsar in the state of Punjab on Wednesday, at the end of a three-day trade trip to India. This was where hundreds of people at a public meeting were shot dead by British troops in 1919. The prime minister described […]

An asteroid as large as an Olympic swimming pool will race past the Earth on Friday at a distance of just 27,700km (17,200mi) – the closest ever predicted for an object of that size. It will pass closer even than the geosynchronous satellites that orbit the Earth, but there is no risk of impacts or collisions. Its closest approach will be 19:25 GMT. For regions in darkness around that time, […]

The theory that public smoking bans cut the number of children born prematurely has been strengthened by new research. The study of 600,000 births found three successive drops in babies born before 37 weeks – each occurring after a phase of a public smoking ban was introduced. There was no such trend in the period before the bans were put in place, the British Medical Journal reported. The study, by […]

The temple was discovered in one of the wings of the main pyramid at the ancient site of El Parais. Archaeologists in Peru say they have discovered a temple at the ancient site of El Paraiso, near the capital, Lima. Entry to the rectangular structure, estimated to be up to 5,000 years old, was via a narrow passageway, they say. At its centre, the archaeologists from Peru’s Ministry of Culture […]

The Indian army says that its troops have killed a Pakistani soldier who strayed over the border in the disputed territory of Kashmir on Thursday. He was killed in a gun battle after the Indian army opened fire when it detected “suspicious movement”, it says. Two Indian soldiers were wounded. Last month several deadly cross-border attacks plunged the neighbours into the worst crisis in relations in years. Claimed by both […]