Delhi

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) refused to provide details of extradition request to Malaysia to extradite Di Zakir Naik, who is now a permanent resident of that country.

The request was made by a PTI correspondent, in accordance with Section 8 (1) (a) (f) and (h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

MEA said the information cannot be provided because it would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders.

New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) In a major decision, the Defence Ministry today gave its nod to acquisition of 111 utility helicopters for the Navy at a cost of over Rs 21,000 crore besides approving separate procurement proposals worth nearly Rs 25,000 crore, according to officials.

A meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the ministry's highest decision-making body on procurement, cleared the proposals.

A 24 old man, identified as Prakash, has been arrested in South West Delhi for raping a 9 year old girl, in a portable toilet.

The girl described the man as “a tall, dark-complexioned uncle” to her counsellors.

It has been alleged that Prakash attempted to kidnap another minor girl hours before he raped the nine-year-old.

Karuna Shukla, a former BJP cadre but now a Congress leader, says that BJP is trying to cash in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s death.

Shukla, Vajpayee’s niece,  accused the BJP of trying to capitalise on her uncle’s death for “political gains” in Assembly elections.

“I am stunned and pained to see the way BJP is trying to use the name of Atal-ji after his demise for political gains,” Shukla said in a statement.

NEW DELHI, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- China and India pledged on Tuesday to further strengthen ties between the two countries and their militaries.

When meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the two countries, sharing a friendship dating back to ancient times with broad common interests, should join hands and support each other in striving for win-win cooperation of mutual benefit.

New Delhi, Aug 20 (PTI) The CBI's Special Investigation Team (SIT) today told the Supreme Court that it had filed another charge sheet in connection with the alleged fake encounters by the Army, Assam Rifles and police in Manipur.

On July 30, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed the apex court that its had filed two charge sheets before the competent court in connection with the cases.

New Delhi, Aug 20 (PTI) Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today called upon the people to reflect on how to work together and contribute in arresting "disturbing trends" of intolerance, communal polarisation and incidents of violent crimes propelled by hate groups and mobs being witnessed in the country.

Addressing the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award function, he said such "unsavoury" trends can only harm national interests and are an anathema to the promotion of peace and communal harmony.

New Delhi, Aug 20 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to his newly elected Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan, conveying New Delhi's commitment to pursue "meaningful" and "constructive" engagement with Islamabad and emphasising the need to work for a terror-free South Asia, official sources said today.

In a letter to Khan on August 18, the day he was sworn in as Pakistan's 22nd prime minister, Modi also expressed India's commitment to building good neighbourly relations between the two countries while congratulating him, the sources said.

New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) Swami Agnivesh was allegedly heckled and assaulted near the BJP headquarters here today by some people, who the social activist said were BJP workers, when he was on his way to pay homage to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

A video of the alleged attack that circulated on social media showed some people heckling the 79-year-old social activist.

New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi today and requested him to increase the deployment of Army and Navy in flood-hit Kerala and give special financial assistance to the state.

Gandhi spoke to the prime minister over phone and announced it on Twitter. He noted that the tragedy is unparalleled in Kerala's history and the state is in "great pain".