Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, and Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Tripura today jointly inaugurated three projects in Bangladesh via video conferencing.

These include 500 MW additional power supply from India to Bangladesh, Akhaura - Agartala Rail Link and Rehabilitation of the Kulaura-Shahbazpur section of Bangladesh Railways.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Modi recalled Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s vision of restoring connectivity to the way it was before 1965.

He said that he is happy that in the last few years, there has been steady progress towards this goal. He said that today, both countries have increased power connectivity, and started two projects to increase railway connectivity.

Mr Modi recalled that during his visit to Bangladesh in 2015, it had been decided to supply an additional 500 MW power to Bangladesh. He said this is being done using the transmission link between West Bengal and Bangladesh, and thanked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her facilitation in completion of this work. He said that with the completion of this project, 1.16 Gigawatts of power is now being supplied from India to Bangladesh.

The Prime Minister said that Akhaura-Agartala rail connectivity will provide another link in the cross-border connectivity between the two countries. He thanked Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, for his facilitation in completion of this work.

LUCKNOW: As part of the ongoing Indo-US defence cooperation, a joint military training exercise "Yudh Abhyas 2018" will be conducted in the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand's Chaubattia from September 16-29, a spokesman of the Central Command said on Monday.

This will be the 14th edition of the joint military exercise hosted alternately by both the countries.

The two-week exercise will witness participation of about 350 personnel of the US Army and similar strength of ..

The Supreme Court on Monday asked additional sessions judge S.K. Yadav, who is hearing the Babri Masjid demolition cases against top BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders like L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and “lakhs of unknown kar sevaks”, to explain how he intends to complete the trial by April 2019, the stipulated deadline given by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court had on April 19, 2017, revived the criminal conspiracy charge against the top BJP leaders and transferred their case, languishing in the magistrate court at Rae Bareilly, to the additional sessions court (Ayodhya matters) in Lucknow.

In the Rae Bareilly case, the BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders are accused of having given speeches to promote enmity and threatening national integration.

Even as petrol and diesel climbed to all-time highs and the Opposition protested across the country Monday, the government ruled out any immediate reduction in excise duty in order to bring down the retail prices of auto fuels, and instead urged the states to take action. While Andhra Pradesh announced a Rs 2 per litre cut in VAT on petrol and diesel following poll-bound Rajasthan’s announcement of a 4 percentage point cut Sunday, states have been largely unenthusiastic.

Why is it so difficult for governments to cut taxes on auto fuels?

Taxes on petrol and diesel are a key revenue source for both the Centre and states, and a cut will hit their fiscal position.

The Centre mopped up Rs 2.29 lakh crore from excise duty on petroleum products in 2017-18 and Rs 2.42 lakh crore in 2016-17. Excise duty on petrol is currently Rs 19.48 per litre, and on diesel, Rs 15.33 per litre. The Centre raised excise duty nine times between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up its finances as global oil prices fell. It cut excise duty just once — by Rs 2 per litre — in October last year.

Crude petroleum attracts 20% oil industry development cess, and a National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) of Rs 50 per metric tonne. There’s no Customs duty on crude, but petrol and diesel attract a Customs duty of 2.5%.

The Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with the previous sanction of the Centre has notified the amendments to the Reserve Bank of India (Note Refund) Rules, 2009, on September 5.

Samir Ghosh, General Secretary of All India Reserve Bank Employees Association, has requested the RBI to advise the Department of Currency Management to instruct all its offices and designated branches of banks for quick adjudication and payment of mutilated notes lying with the public, who also may be notified.

According to the amendments notified, the value of a mutilated note of less than Rs 50 (rupees fifty) denomination may be refunded in full if the undivided area of the single largest piece of the note is as specified in column (5) of table 1 below.

Novak Djokovic produced an impeccable performance to beat Juan Martin del Potro in the US Open final and win his 14th Grand Slam title.

The 31-year-old Serb won 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to earn his third triumph in New York and equal American great Pete Sampras' haul of major trophies.

Djokovic, who won Wimbledon in July, will climb to third in the world after back-to-back Grand Slam victories.

Jack Ma, the executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has said he plans to step down in a year.

The news, in a letter sent by Mr Ma to Alibaba customers and shareholders, follows conflicting reports over the weekend on the timing of his exit.

Mr Ma, one of China's richest men, will hand over the reins to Daniel Zhang, currently chief executive.

Alibaba is one of the world's most valuable companies - its shares nearly doubled in value last year.

Five things about Jack Ma
Mr Zhang, who is 46, developed the company's Singles' Day promotion, which is the world's biggest one-day online retail event.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, along with daughter Aaradhya and mother Brinda Rai, attended the first Women in Film and Television (WIFT) India Award.

At the ceremony -- established to honour the best female talent in Bollywood and Hollywood -- the actor was bestowed with the inaugural Meryl Streep Award for Excellence. The Fanney Khan star looked stunning in a black-and-golden gown as she accepted the award.

The 44-year-old later took to Instagram to celebrate her win and shared pictures with the trophy in her hand and Aaradhya by her side.

A meeting of the International Executive Council, the highest decision making body of International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), at Saskatoon in Canada last month has accepted Telangana government’s nomination of Sadarmatt anicut across river Godavari in Nirmal district and Pedda Cheruvu in Kamareddy district in the ICID Register of Heritage Irrigation Structures.

The plaques presented by the council for the two over-century-old irrigation facilities were received by the Member Secretary, Indian National Committee on Surface Water as Indian representative at the meeting. The chairman of the committee has invited irrigation officials from Telangana to take them in New Delhi soon.

New Delhi: Residents of Delhi can now renew their driving licences or get their marriage registration done from home with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government on Monday launching the ambitious scheme for doorstep delivery of public services.

“Today is a historic day. So far people only got pizzas delivered to their house, but now you can make one phone call to the government and they will send a representative to your house to get your work done. This will change the administrative setup of the government,” Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener, said while launching the service.

Government appointed executives say that the scheme will also help curb corruption.

“You just need to call 1076 and a government official will visit your house. You can set an appointment for up to 10 pm. The form will also be delivered to your house. All for Rs 50,” Kejriwal added.

In the first phase, 40 public services, including the issuance and renewal of driving licences, registration of marriage, new water connection, birth, death and caste certificates will be available. The government plans to include 150 services in this scheme in a phased manner.