Author: Mike Harrison

The incident took place at the Grameen Bank located at Ogmuna area of Kunzer in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Unknown persons looted over ₹2 lakh from a bank in north Kashmir’s Baramulla on Friday.”The robbery case is being investigated. The bank manager claimed that he had gone to offer Friday prayers when the money was looted,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Baramulla, Abdul Qayoom said.The incident took place at the Grameen Bank located at Ogmuna area of Kunzer in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.The police are also investigating the claims of the bank officials that “some masked pistol-borne men looted the…

Mr. Floyd was declared dead on May 25 after Derek Chauvin, a former officer who is white, pressed his knee against his neck for about nine minutes The city of Minneapolis on Friday agreed to pay $27 million to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyd’s family over the Black man’s death in police custody, even as jury selection continued in a former officer’s murder trial.Also read: Family, friends prepare to pay final tribute to George Floyd in HoustonThe Minneapolis City Council emerged from closed session to announce the record settlement, which includes $500,000 for the neighborhood where Mr. Floyd…

Mr. Sullivan implied that the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was discussed by the Quad leaders as one of several examples of Chinese aggression U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters after the Quad leaders summit that China was discussed at the meeting but was not the focus. He also implied that one of the China-related challenges discussed was the India-China border situation.Also read: Quad meet: China says ‘exclusive blocs’ should not ‘target third party’“The four leaders did discuss the challenge posed by China and they made clear that none of them have any illusions about…

Vijayan Thomas, former general secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), joined the BJP in New Delhi on Friday. He blamed the unresolved question of national leadership and the factionalism within the Congress’s Kerala unit for his departure from that party.He met BJP president J.P. Nadda and Union Minister Amit Shah before joining the party in the presence of BJP general secretary Arun Singh and spokesperson Tom Vadakkan.“You know what is happening in the Congress. At the national level, they don’t even have a regional party’s presence. Senior leaders have formed the G23, so who is left to take…

China’s plans for electoral reform in Hong Kong, coupled with the imposition of a security law, amount to a “combination of punches” to quell unrest in the southern city, a top Beijing official said on Friday.Hong Kong was rocked by massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 against Beijing’s encroachment on its unique freedoms. The Chinese government has since cracked down on the opposition, arresting dozens of activists and smothering the street movement with a draconian national security law. On Thursday, it moved to ensure only “patriots” run the city, when an annual rubber-stamp Parliament voted for sweeping changes…

The World Health Organization said on Friday there was no reason to stop using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after several countries suspended the rollout over blood clot fears.The WHO, which said its vaccines advisory committee was examining the safety data coming in, stressed that no causal link had been established between the vaccine and clotting.The UN agency also said that after the injection of more than 260 million vaccine doses so far around the world, no deaths had yet been attributed to a COVID-19 jab.Denmark, Norway and Iceland paused the use of the AstraZeneca jab as a precaution after isolated reports…

A NITI Aayog paper has recommended reduction in National Food Security Act coverage. Once the new census data is available, the Centre may consider revising the number of people who get subsidised foodgrains under the National Food Security Act, Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said on Friday. He insisted there is no proposal under consideration as yet, but said the Food Ministry was having conversations on a NITI Aayog paper on the issue, which recommended a reduction in the NFSA coverage.The NFSA provides for five kg of foodgrains per month to be provided to two-thirds of the country at the subsidised…

The AIADMK, despite its considerable presence in the political landscape of UT, has been relegated to a junior partner in the NDA. The recent political churn in Puducherry, while altering the positions of the Congress and All India N R Congress, has also led to contrasting fortunes for the two Dravidian parties — AIADMK and DMK.While the AIADMK has been left with fewer seats in the wake of the BJP playing an assertive role in the NDA, which also comprises the AINRC, the DMK has driven a hard bargain with the Congress to garner a higher share of tickets. The…

It will come days after a conference in Moscow, which will include envoys from U.S., China, Pakistan, Qatar and the Afghan and Taliban leadership, but doesn’t include India Afghanistan Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar will travel to India on March 21 for talks on Strategic Partnership as well as the recent developments on the Intra-Afghan dialogue led by the U.S. and Russia, sources confirmed. The visit is significant as it will come days after a conference in Moscow, which would include envoys from the U.S., China, Pakistan, Qatar and the Afghan and Taliban leadership, but doesn’t include India as a part…

The norms that pertain to content template checks and balances for text messages came into effect on Monday Entities who need to send out bulk messages to their customers, such as those involved in banking, logistics and e-commerce, will need to complete the registration process within three days to comply with telemarketing rules, failing which they will be barred from sending out commercial communication to customers, telecom regulator Trai said on Friday. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Tuesday suspended the newly-implemented norms for commercial text messages for one week, following major disruptions in SMS and one-time password…