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The companies based in Kanpur have turned towards European and American firms to procure raw materials to build body armour and jackets which save lives of soldiers. Earlier this week, Niti Aayog member V K Saraswat had said that Indian companies manufacturing bullet proof jackets should avoid importing raw materials from China because of “inconsistencies in the quality” of the shipments. “Many times raw materials imported from China (to produce bullet proof jackets) are not of good quality... We should avoid importing from Chinese sources because of inconsistencies of the raw material quality,” Saraswat told. Saraswat, also a former Defence…

New Delhi: The Indian Railways on Thursday said it would refund all tickets booked for regular trains between July 1 and August 12 as coronavirus cases in the country surged a month after the government started relaxing some of the restrictions imposed in March. Only special trains announced in May and June will run, the railways said. Rail services, apart from the movement of some essential cargo, were abruptly halted in late March ahead of efforts to contain the virus that froze almost all economic activity, putting crores out of work overnight. Earlier this month, the railways had increased the number…

Pakistani opposition parties criticized Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday after he told parliament that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been "martyred" in 2011 by U.S. forces. Osama Bin Laden, who masterminded the 9/11 attacks on the United States, was killed in a raid on his hideout in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad after eluding detection for nearly 10 years. Pakistan was not aware of the operation, which involved U.S. helicopters flying deep into the country from Afghanistan. Opposition leader Khawaja Asif, the foreign minister in the last government, was among those who objected to the remark. He…

London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called on India and China to engage in dialogue to sort out their border issues as he described the escalation in eastern Ladakh as "a very serious and worrying situation" which the UK is closely monitoring. The first official statement of Mr Johnson came during his weekly Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons on Wednesday. Responding to Conservative Party MP Flick Drummond on the implications for British interests of a dispute between a "Commonwealth member and the world's largest democracy on the one side, and a state that challenges our notion…

New Delhi: China's repeated incursions into Indian territory this year has been in "complete disregard of all "mutually agreed norms", the foreign ministry said today in a strongly worded statement that shredded Chinese claims that India is to be blamed for last week's violence at Galwan Valley in which 20 soldiers died. In its hardest statement ever since the Ladakh standoff began, the Ministry of External Affairs today said, "Since early May, the Chinese side has been amassing a large contingent of troops and armaments along the LAC". Army sources tell that there has been no disengagement on the ground since…

New Delhi: A 16-year-old girl who had a large number of followers on social media platforms Instagram and TikTok was found dead at her home in Delhi, the police said on Thursday. The police have confirmed suicide. The teen lived with her family. She was found dead in her room around 9 pm last night. No suicide note was found, the police say. The teen had more than 11 lakh followers on TikTok and reportedly last posted a dance video on Instagram six days ago. The tragic case has emerged nearly two weeks after actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death left the…

New Delhi: As Congress allegation of the government "surrendering" India to China has intensified, the BJP has hit back with a strong political allegation -- that the Chinese are funding the Congress. The BJP has accused the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation of receiving donations from the Chinese embassy in India. The party alleges that these donations were made in 2005-06. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of the RGF and its board has Dr Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, P Chidambaram and Priyanka Gandhi. The BJP alleged that according to the annual report of 2005-06, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation received a donation…

New Delhi: All coronavirus patients in Delhi will not have to visit a quarantine centre for evaluation, the government said on Thursday, with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal withdrawing his order after strong protests from the Aami Aadmi Party administration. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had requested the centre to withdraw the directive, saying that the order was "not correct" and likened it to "15-day detention". Delhi has displaced Mumbai as the worst hit-city in India with over 70,000 coronavirus cases. This is the second time that Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, who represents the centre, withdrew an order linked to the coronavirus…

Three more Maharashtra Police personnel succumbed to the infectious Covid-19 disease in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll in the force to 54, officials said on Thursday. At least, 38 police personnel have tested positive for the coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, the Maharashtra Police said. Till date, about 3,239 police personnel have been cured and discharged and another 991 more security personnel are undergoing treatment for the pathogen.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday asked people to cooperate by following the measures put in place for the control of COVID-19 if they don't want another lockdown or sealing in Bengaluru. Amid talks about re-imposing lockdown in the city following the recent spike in cases, the Chief Minister said he will hold discussions on Thursday and Friday regarding the strict measures that need to be taken to control the virus. "COVID pandemic is increasing, we are making all efforts and we have even sealed some areas. Today afternoon at Krishna (the CM's home office) I have called a…