Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has offered his resignation just days after one of his main coalition partners quit in a row over migration.

Mr Michel lost the backing of the nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) over his support for a UN migration deal signed in Marrakesh last week.

He announced his intention to resign after opposition parties refused to support his minority government.

Mr Michel told King Philippe of his decision late on Tuesday.

The king has yet to announce whether he will accept the resignation.

Belgians were due to go to the polls in May and the king will meet party leaders on Wednesday to decide whether there is any support for early elections.

Interim CBI director M Nageswar Rao, who took over the charge of the agency after its No 1 and No 2 were sent on leave by the government in October, was on Tuesday promoted to the rank of an additional director by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

Interestingly, Rao, a 1986 batch officer of the Odisha cadre, was not considered for the rank of the additional director in November 2016 when a review of this batch took place in April 2018. Rao had joined the CBI as a joint director in 2016.

Earlier, while hearing CBI Director Alok Verma’s petition challenging the October 23 government order sending him on leave and divesting him of all responsibilities, the Supreme Court had clipped Rao’s wings and told him not to take any policy decisions until further orders. Despite a restraining order, reports emerged last month that Rao passed an order on November 11 to close a case against chartered accountant Sanjay Bhandari and Income Tax officials.

Before being appointed interim chief, Rao was No. 3 in the pecking order and was handling the Chandigarh branch along with certain branches in South India. After his appointment, the Congress had questioned the reason behind him superceding other officials for the position.

Former Prime Minister of Nepal Tulsi Giri passed away at his residence in Kathmandu on Tuesday. He was 93. 

Dr. Giri was suffering from liver cancer for a long time and he was recently discharged from the hospital. 

Dr. Giri had a long political career. He twice served as the prime minister of Nepal first from 1962 to 1964 and again from 1975 to 1977. 

Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and other senior leaders from various political parties have expressed condolences on Dr. Giri's demise. 

Actor Sonam Kapoor, a vegan, has been named People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India’s Person of the Year for 2018.

Sonam has been feted as she sings the praise of eating vegan diets and because she keeps animal skins out of her handbag line for her fashion brand Rheson, apart from taking other action for the welfare of animals.

“Whether she’s enjoying vibrant vegan meals or rallying her fans to do their part to stop animal suffering, Sonam Kapoor never hesitates to help animals any way she can,” PETA India Associate Director Sachin Bangera said in a statement.

“We encourage everyone to take a page out of her book and live with compassion and respect for all beings,” he added.

In 2016, Sonam was named PETA India’s Hottest Vegetarian Celebrity, and she earned a Compassionate Business Award from the group a year later for her cruelty-free handbag line.

Over three decades after the mass murder of Sikhs in 1984 following the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, the Delhi High Court on Monday sentenced senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar to imprisonment for the rest of his life.

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said that the riots were a crime against humanity perpetrated by those who enjoyed political patronage and were aided by an indifferent law enforcement agency.

Citing a pattern of mass killings in India since Partition, like in Mumbai in 1993, Gujarat in 2002 and Muzaffarnagar in UP in 2013, the court said the common thread was the targeting of minorities by the dominant political actors, facilitated by the law enforcement agencies.

“This loophole needs to be addressed urgently,” the court said adding that Delhi Police had turned a blind eye and blatantly abetted the crimes committed by the rioting mob.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reaching here Tuesday on a day’s visit to Maharashtra in which he will launch infrastructure and housing projects worth about Rs 41,000 crore in the state, officials said. Soon after landing at Mumbai, Modi will attend an event organised by a TV channel and later release the book ‘Timeless Laxman’ at Raj Bhavan.

The PM will then lay the foundation stone for the Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan metro 5 and Dahisar-Mira Bhayander metro-9 at Kalyan in adjoining Thane district.

The Kalyan event will also see the launch of Navi Mumbai town planning authority City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra’s (Cidco) mass housing scheme worth Rs 18,000 crore, which offers around 89,771 affordable homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Modi will later proceed to Pune, where he will lay the foundation stone for the third metro line between Hinjewadi and Shivajinagar, being implemented by the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority on a public-private partnership basis.

Uday Shankar has been named vice president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) for the year 2018-19, a statement from the apex body said.

Shankar is currently president, 21st Century Fox, Asia, and chairman and chief executive officer of Star India. Last week, he was appointed chairman, Star and Disney India, and president, The Walt Disney Co. Asia Pacific as part of a leadership reorganization strategy by the company.

Shankar is the first Indian media and entertainment industry executive to assume a leadership position in a national industry chamber like FICCI.

Previously a political journalist with The Times of India, Shankar has served as chief executive officer and editor of Star News, besides spearheading the launch of Hindi news channel Aaj Tak in 2000, and English news channel Headlines Today in 2003. He was also editor and news director of the TV Today Group.

In the past, he has served as chairman of the FICCI media and entertainment committee and president of the Indian Broadcasting Federation, playing a key role in pushing for changes in self-regulation in the media and access for consumers to the digitized distribution.

The government Monday cleared the name of advocate Madhavi Goradia Divan as an Additional Solicitor General for India.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Ms. Madhavi Goradia Divan, Advocate, as Additional Solicitor General of India (ASGI) in the Supreme Court of India with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post till 30.06.2020 or until further orders,” an official communication said. She will be the third woman law officer to be appointed by the NDA government. Divan will be representing the government in the Supreme Court.

Prior to her, the NDA government had appointed senior woman advocates Pinky Anand and Maninder Acharya as ASGs.

And the first set of awards of 2018 was declared last night by the Star Screen Awards! Goes without saying, the show was a rather glamourous affair with who's who of Bollywood in attendance right from newlyweds Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone to Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Shraddha Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Rajkummar Rao among others. The red carpet was dazzled by some stunning looks and so was the stage lit up with some amazing performances. But of course, the highlight of the night was when the winners were declared...

Considering it was such a productive year in terms of content, it obviously must have been a tough task to pick one best actor, actress, film etc. So who has been awarded with which title and are they deserving enough? Let's find out by scrolling down through this winners list of Star Screen Awards 2018.

India on Monday announced a $1.4 billion financial assistance package for the Maldives, a move seen as aimed at drawing the atoll nation closer into New Delhi’s sphere of influence after a period of estrangement that saw the former leadership of the Maldives leaning closer to China.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the package after talks with visiting Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in New Delhi. Solih who arrived on Sunday, is on his first three-day visit to India, which comes a month after he was sworn into office. Solih, who was backed by the combined Maldivian opposition, defeated the former China-leaning President, Abdulla Yameen, in the 23 September elections and was sworn in on 17 November. According to news reports, the Maldives is weighed down by $3 billion in debt to China and is looking to India and Saudi Arabia, besides others, for help. Maldives owes the money to China for infrastructure projects undertaken by Chinese companies during Yameen’s tenure in office.

New Delhi, which had tense relations with Yameen over the way he dealt with his political opponents as well as the close ties he nurtured with China, is rolling out the red carpet for Solih in its bid to re-embrace Maldives.