Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) Over Rs 49,000 crore in foreign funds were received by more than 18,000 NGOs in the country in the last three years, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said Rs 16,940.58 crore were received by the NGOs in 2017-18, Rs 16,525.73 crore were received in 2018-19 and Rs 15,853.94 crore in 2019-20.

New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) The Congress asked the government on Wednesday why was it "quiet" and "running away" from a caste-based census, which was mooted by a woman MP of the ruling BJP in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday and even by the chief ministers of Bihar and Odisha.

A caste-based census is required to assess the exact ground situation because in at least 30 states and Union territories, the reservation for backward classes has crossed the upper limit, the opposition party said.

New Delhi, Aug 10 (PTI) India is evacuating its staff from its consulate in Afghanistan's Mazar-e-Sharif in view of the rapidly escalating violence by the Taliban around the capital city of Balkh province, people familiar with the development said on Tuesday.

The Indian-based staff of the consulate and a number of Indians residing in Mazar-e-Sharif are being evacuated due to the deteriorating security scenario in the city as well as areas around it, they said.

New Delhi, Aug 10 (PTI) The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has shown an income of over Rs 3,623 crore in 2019-20 and it earned Rs 2,555 crore from electoral bonds.

According to the BJP's audited annual accounts for 2019-20 put in public domain by the Election Commission, the party's receipts stood at Rs 3623,28,06,093.

Its expenditures stood at Rs 1651,02,25,425.

The BJP received Rs 2,555 crore (Rs 2555,00,01,000) from electoral bonds in 2019-20.

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday said information on all tourist spots in the national capital will be available on a mobile application being developed by the government's Tourism department.

The app will also provide all necessary services to tourists, he said.

"Reviewed the Delhi Tourism's upcoming mobile app. Tourists' travel experiences in Delhi will be transformed with this app, which will provide them with all the services they need in one click," Sisodia said in a tweet.

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) After Rahul Gandhi's account was temporarily suspended and a tweet deleted, the Congress on Monday accused Twitter of adopting "double standards" and violating the freedom of expression "under the diktat of the Modi Government".

The action by Twitter was condemned at a meeting of party general secretaries on Sunday evening, where the leaders decided to take up this matter at all levels.

New Delhi, Aug 8 (PTI) Air India Express said it has made final compensation offers to all 165 passengers, who were injured and the next of kin of 19 flyers who died in the plane crash, in Kerala's Kozhikode district last year.

According to the airline, 80 out of the 165 injured flyers have taken up the offers as on August 6. The airline is awaiting acceptance of the offers from the remaining 85 injured flyers and the next of kin of the 19 deceased passengers.

New Delhi, Aug 7 (PTI) Congress president Sonia Gandhi Saturday congratulated Neeraj Chopra for winning the country's first-ever track-and-field Olympic gold and expressed hope his victory will motivate all sportspersons to excel further.

"I join the nation in congratulating the Golden Boy, Neeraj Chopra for winning the first ever Olympic Gold medal for India in track and field," she said in a statement.

She also extended special congratulations to his coach, family members and well wishers.

New Delhi, Aug 7 (PTI) The railways has invited bids for hydrogen fuel cell-based technology by retrofitting on the Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) in 89 km Sonipat-Jind section of the Northern Railway, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

This is an attempt by the national transporter to explore whether existing diesel-run trains can be retrofitted to use hydrogen instead.

New Delhi, Aug 6 (PTI) A bill that aims to end all retrospective taxation imposed on indirect transfer of Indian assets was passed by the Lok Sabha on Friday amidst continuous protests by opposition over the alleged snooping through the Pegasus spyware and other issues.

When the 'The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021' would be passed by Rajya Sabha too, all tax demands made on companies like Cairn Energy and Vodafone using a 2012 legislation on indirect transfer of Indian assets prior to May 28, 2012 will be withdrawn.