Delhi

New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that lakhs of families have suffered pain due to the government's "incompetence and myopia" as the unplanned lockdown continues to haunt the country.

The government had imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 24 last year to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Gandhi has been attacking the government for the lockdown, saying the poor and migrants have suffered due to it.

"The unplanned lockdown disaster continues to haunt the country," he said on Twitter.

New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI) Rajya Sabha on Thursday approved a bill to raise the foreign investment limit in the insurance sector to 74 per cent with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying while control will go to foreign companies, the majority of directors and key management persons will be resident Indians who will be covered by law of the land.

"The laws of the land are fairly mature. They can control every operation which happens in this country. (No one can) take it (money) away and make us sit and watch," she said replying to a debate on the bill.

New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) Over 14,500 children in the country have been adopted since 2017, including 2,094 by foreign citizens, the Women and Child Development Ministry said on Friday.

In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said 12,867 children were adopted by Indians and 2,094 by foreign citizens from 2017 to 2021 (till March 16).

In 2017-18, 3,276 children were adopted by Indians while 651 were adopted by foreign citizens.

New Delhi, Mar 19 (PTI) India saw 39,726?new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, the highest single day rise recorded so far this year, taking the nationwide COVID-19?tally of cases to 11,514,331,?according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday

The daily rise in infections (39,726) was the highest recorded in 110 days, while the death toll increased to 159,370 with 154 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

New Delhi, Mar 18 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday held wide-ranging talks with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah to elevate bilateral relations.

The Kuwaiti foreign minister arrived here on Wednesday evening on a nearly 18-hour visit.

"Glad to welcome this morning, along with @MOS_MEA, FM @anmas71 of Kuwait. Productive discussions on our bilateral agenda & regional developments," Jaishankar said on Twitter.

New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) A Group Captain of the Indian Air Force was killed in an accident involving a MiG-21 Bison aircraft at an airbase in central India on Wednesday, the IAF said.

The accident took place when the aircraft was taking off for a combat training mission, the IAF said on Twitter.

New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) India on Wednesday said its engagement with China is "complex" and the two countries agreed that the future direction of ties should be built upon respecting each other's sensitivities, concerns and aspirations.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan also said in the Lok Sabha that India will continue discussions with China to resolve the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh to achieve the objective of disengagement from all friction points.

New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) India recorded its highest daily tally of coronavirus cases this year with 28,903 new infections, taking the total COVID-19 tally to 1,14,38,734, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The death toll increased to 1,59,044 with 188 new fatalities, the highest in around two months, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Shimla/New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) BJP MP from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh Ram Swaroop Sharma was found hanging from the ceiling in his official residence in New Delhi on Wednesday, police said.

Delhi Police PRO Chinmoy Biswal said his body was found hanging from a ceiling fan. He was taken to a hospital where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

Sixty-two-year-old Sharma had been suffering from various ailments.

Prima facie, it appears to be a case of suicide, the police said, adding that no suicide note was found from the spot.

New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) Bank strike continued for day-two on Tuesday, led by nine unions of public sector banks (PSBs) in the country, opposing government's policy to privatise the lenders.

Customers will be inconvenienced to get services such as cash withdrawals, deposits, cheque clearances, remittance services. Government transactions related to treasury as well as business transactions will also be impacted.

United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), an umbrella body of nine unions, had given a strike call for March 15 and 16.