Jeddah: India and Saudi Arabia on Sunday signed a bilateral agreement under which New Delhi has been allocated a quota of 1,75,025 pilgrims for the annual Haj pilgrimage in 2024. Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani accompanied by Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan signed the Bilateral Haj Agreement 2024 with Saudi Minister of…
Dhaka: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday secured a record fourth straight term as her Awami League party won two-thirds of the seats in the general elections marred by sporadic violence and a boycott by the main opposition BNP and its allies. Hasina’s party won 200 seats in the 300-seat parliament while counting is…
Male: The Maldives government on Sunday suspended three ministers over their derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha Shareef and Mahzoom Majid were suspended over their remarks against PM Modi, which triggered a massive backlash. Earlier in the day, the Maldves government in a statement had distanced itself from the remarks, calling them…
Kathmandu: India will extend a financial package of USD 75 million for the reconstruction of infrastructure in Nepal’s western district affected by last year’s quake, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday. Jaishankar’s remarks came as he jointly inaugurated with his Nepalese counterpart N P Saud the Tribhuvan University Central Library and other reconstruction…
Kathmandu: Nepal on Thursday signed a long-term agreement that will facilitate the export of 10,000 MW of electricity to India in the next 10 years during the two-day visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the Himalayan nation. The agreement on power export was inked in the presence of Jaishankar and Nepalese Minister for…
Tehran: At least 103 people were killed and another 170 injured in Iran Wednesday, as two bombs in quick succession struck a crowd commemorating slain general Qasem Soleimani on the anniversary of his killing, state media reported. The blasts, which state television called a “terrorist attack”, came with tensions running high in the Middle East…
Wajima (Japan): A series of powerful earthquakes that hit western Japan left at least 57 people dead and damaged thousands of buildings, vehicles, and boats. Officials warned on Tuesday that more quakes could lie ahead. Aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas a day after a magnitude 7.6 temblor slammed the area. The…
London: International students, including Indians, starting courses at British universities this month will no longer be able to bring family members on all but postgraduate research courses and courses with government-funded scholarships under tougher UK visa norms effective from Monday. The UK Home Office said the changes, first announced by former home secretary Suella Braverman…
Tokyo: The Indian Embassy in Japan on Monday set up an emergency control room for Indians wanting any assistance in the wake of the tsunami alerts issued by the authorities after a series of strong earthquakes jolted the country’s western coastline. Japan issued tsunami alerts and told people to evacuate seaside areas after a series…
London: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is keen to clinch a free trade agreement (FTA) with India in time for Easter, which falls at the end of March 2024, according to a UK media report. The India-UK FTA talks began in January last year, aimed at significantly enhancing the GBP 36-billion bilateral trading partnership. A…
