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Indians stranded in Saudi Arabia: All you need to know about the issue Nearly 10,000 Indians stuck in   Saudi Arabia   are set to be evacuated and provided with food in the meanwhile, Sushma Swaraj,   External Affairs   Minister, informed the Parliament on Monday. Minister of State, VK Singh, will be travelling to Saudi Arabia soon to oversee the operation, which involves airlifting people. The minister was making a statement in the House after other members of Parliament (MPs) raised concerns over the plight of workers there. Here’s a gist of the entire issue and the Centre’s issue to provide relief to such workers. What is the issue? The Saudi government was forced to cut its spending last year on the back of plummeting oil prices As a result, it created pressure on the financials of local construction companies. Such firms employ foreign workers and rely on state contracts. The resultant strain on the firms led to nearly 10,000 workers being laid o...

Who is Irom Sharmila? Ten things to know Fifteen years after civil rights activist,   Irom Sharmila , began a fast seeking the repeal of AFSPA, she is set to end it on August 9. She also announced her decision to fight elections as an independent candidate in the   Manipur   polls, early next year. “I will end my fast on August 9 and contest elections on an independent ticket," Sharmila said. She had just come out of a local court after attending a trial for attempting suicide. Business Standard lists out ten things to know about the   Iron Lady   of Manipur. How did it all start? Read More

'Pakistan group uses disfigured celebrity faces to campaign against use of pellet guns in Kashmir' Pellet   guns were first introduced to   Jammu and Kashmir   police in 2010 during   Omar Abdullah   government. The use of such guns, however, has shot to the forefront after protests against the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani saw the use pellets for crowd control. ( more )

Pune businessman who became famous for 'gold shirt' murdered A 48-year-old businessman from Pune, who shot into the limelight after buying a 'gold shirt' worth over Rs one crore some years back, was allegedly bludgeoned to death in front of his son, police said today. Datta Phuge, the businessman from the industrial township of   Pimpri-Chinchwad   in the district, had become the talk of the town after he presented himself a 'gold shirt' weighing about 3.5 kg and worth Rs 1.27 crore in 2012. At least 12 persons attacked Phuge at an open ground in Dighi area here at around 11.30 PM last night with stones and a sharp weapon, killing him on the spot. "As per preliminary information, Phuge and his son were invited by one of the suspects, who know each other, to celebrate a birthday. However, we are investigating how   Datta Phuge reached the open ground where he was murdered," Dighi police station inspector Navnath Ghogare said. Phuge's 2...

Kashmir gets out of hand Funerals of militants have become a public expression of rage and alienation in   Kashmir . While the Union home ministry’s official estimate for the number of militants in the Valley is now a little less than 200, against over 3,500 in the 1990s, the army and paramilitary report an unprecedented rise in local support to insurgency. This is manifested in efforts by villagers to hamper counter-insurgency operations in the Valley, including by women. Army units have been reporting efforts to snatch weapons, something unprecedented. Earlier north   Kashmir Valley   used to be the centre of insurgent activity. It is now south Kashmir. Militants, dead and alive, are present in public consciousness everywhere. Burhan Lions, Aabid Khan Qalandars and Khalid Aryans were the names of cricket teams that played IPL-type matches in south Kashmir this April. These teams were named after militants from the region killed in army action. The cricket matc...

Indian worker in Australia tells court his pro-ISIS post was 'sarcastic' An Indian-origin aviation worker in   Australia   who was sacked last year for posting pro-Islamic State messages on   Facebook   has told a court   that his comments were "sarcastic". Nirmal Singh was facing the 'Fair Work Commission' to argue that his dismissal was 'unfair' by his previous employer Aerocare and was seeking $7,000 in lost wages. The Commission heard Singh had written "We All Support   ISIS " above a shared post from HT (Hizb ut-Tahrir) Australia about the shooting of police account Curtis Cheng by Islamic youth Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar in Sydney. There were five posts in total that concerned Aerocare, two of which included pictures of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Under cross-examination by solicitor Stephen Hughes for Aerocare, Singh said he made the posts on Facebook under a different name and believed he was conversing with a ...

KFC, Pizza Hut, Domino's, McDonald's outlets selling toxic breads: CSE study Major multinational fast food outlets — KFC, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Subway and McDonald’s — are selling pizzas and burgers made of breads laced with toxins such as potassium bromate and potassium iodate, says the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). “Except   Domino’s , others have denied use (of these chemicals) in a response to CSE,” went its press statement on the study, limited to the geographical area of Delhi. Domino's did not respond to the CSE queries Potassium bromate is a Category 2B carcinogen, meaning it can cause cancer. Potassium iodate could trigger thyroid disorders. According to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report, the   Food Safety   and Standards Authority of India said it had decided to remove potassium bromate from the list of permitted additives, while it was examining evidence against potassium iodate before restricting its use. CSE had urged the food regulat...

Assam: How BJP learnt from past mistakes and Rahul Gandhi let it slip In Assam, the Congress might blame its defeat on a 15-year anti-incumbency. However, it was worsted as much by the effective strategy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the nonchalance of its Vice President Rahul Gandhi in retaining talent. A more audacious leader could have tried harder to keep Himanta Biswa Sarma and his group of rebel legislators in the party. After he quit the Congress last year, Sarma bitterly spoke about how   Rahul Gandhi   would show more interest in petting his dog than focus on the discussion at hand when Sarma met him over several meetings in 2014-15. In contrast, the BJP leadership had an eye on the Assam Assembly polls ever since it won seven of the 14 seats and 37 per cent vote share in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. BJP chief Amit Shah underlined the importance of the victory on Thursday. He said it was a huge achievement for the party as Assam is a border state,...

4000 people rendered homeless due to flood in Tripura Around 4,000 people from 800 families were rendered homeless due to flood at Dharmanagar, the headquarters of North  Tripura  district, while the arterial Assam-Agartala National Highway remained water logged cutting the state off from the rest of the country. Due to incessant rain since Tuesday night, entire Dharmanagar town and its periphery were waterlogged and 4000 people took shelter in five relief camps, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Pradip Acharya told reporters. He said 10 boats were pressed into service to rescue the people in the affected areas and added that the water had started receding. Acharya said neighbouring Karimganj district in Assam was also affected by the flood and no vehicles could enter Dharmanagar from that side since yesterday and no long-distance buses plied from Dharmanagar. Tripura was cut-off from the rest of the country as the Assam-Agartal...

ViratKohli set a new record by scoring his fourth century Man-of-the-match  Virat Kohli  set a new record by scoring his fourth century (113 in 50 balls with 8 sixes and 12 fours) in this  IPL  season and Chris Gayle returned to form by hitting 73 in 32 balls with 8 sixes and four boundaries. Desperate efforts by Vijay to break the partnership or get either of them out early failed as Kolhi and Gayle were in full cry and batted with disdain. While the first 50 came in 4.4 overs of the six-over power play, the first 100 of RCB's innings came in 8.5 overs. Though Vijay used as many as five bowlers to contain the openers, there was no respite for Kings till Gayle got caught by David Miller of Arshad Patel ball in 11 over when RCB score was 147 on the board. After in-form AB de Villiers was bowled for a duck in 12th over, keeper K.L. Rahul joined Kohli to take the score to 199 when the skipper was caught by Miller off Sandeep Sharma ball at 113 comprisin...

The discounted tickets can be booked Tuesday through Thursday and are valid for one-way domestic travel from June 15 to September 30  SpiceJet airlines on Tuesday announced it is offering one-way fares starting at Rs 511 (excluding taxes) over a two-day sale offer to celebrate its 11th anniversary. Fares on foreign routes (excluding taxes) begin at Rs 2,111. The discounted tickets can be booked Tuesday through Thursday and are valid for travel from June 15 to September 30 (domestic bookings) and June 1 to July 20 (international bookings).   SpiceJet   said limited number of discounted tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. The June-September quarter is traditionally a lean season for travel as schools and colleges reopen after summer break. Discounts help push sales and increase load factors. In fact, SpiceJet has been consistently reporting 90%-plus load factors for the past 11 months.   Read More