Category: NATIONAL

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to hike salaries of about 8 lakh teachers and equivalent academic staff in higher educational institutions under the UGC and in centrally funded technical institutions. The revised pay package will cover teachers of 119 central-funded technical institutions such as IITs, IISc, IIMs, IISERs, IIITs, NITIE, Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With the cabinet decision, 7.58 lakh teachers of central and state universities and aided colleges will get the benefits of the 7th…

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By: Vijay Kumar Verma (Editor-ICN Group) SHIMLA: In an important development, the Himachal  cabinet of Ministers in a meeting held today has decided to cut GST on petrol and diesel by one percent.  The decision has been taken to ease the  increasing prices of the petroleum products thus impacting the pocket of “common people”. The step is also bound to  impact the VAT income of the state. The cabinet meeting was chaired by the Chief minister of Himachal Pradesh. It is pertinent to mention that the state is going to polls later this…

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The Prime Minister expressed happiness that he had got to inaugurate projects related to the health sector, particularly Intensified Mission Indradhanush.   The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today visited his home town, Vadnagar, for the first time since assuming office of Prime Minister. Residents of the town thronged the streets to welcome the Prime Minister. He offered prayers at the Hatkeshwar Temple. He also stopped briefly at the school in which he had studied as a child. The Prime Minister visited GMERS Medical College, Vadnagar, and unveiled a plaque to…

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NEW DELHI: The GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, met in New Delhi today.Finance minister Arun Jaitley said GST rates on 27 items have been reduced. The focus being, relief for small, medium traders and exporters. Many states have backed demands to relax rules that require businesses to file three returns every month.GST rate on some stationery items, diesel engine parts reduced to 18% from 28%, says finance minister. GST on unbranded ayurvedic medicines to reduced from 12% to 5%. Tax on food items like sliced dry mangoes,…

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Three teams will be making their Under-17 World Cup debut in this edition- India, Niger and New Caledonia.The 52 matches will be played across six cities – Guwahati, Margao (Goa), Navi Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Kochi. India will play in a World Cup for the very first time, having qualified as the host nation. They did qualify for the FIFA World Cup proper in 1950, but to travel to Brazil, just three years after independence, seemed too much of an ask for the federation at that time. Instead, the…

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By: Debraj Deb (Bureau Chief-ICN Tripura) AGARTALA: Durga Puja, biggest festival and religious event of Bengalees ended peacefully in Tripura with ostensibly long queues of devotees and pandal hpppers seen every single day. According to the Police, Durga Puja was organized at 2436 pandals across Tripura this year. These include 954 Durga puja organizing clubs and individual puja organizers in urban areas and 1482 in rural areas. Durga Puja was held in 482 pandals in Agartala and its suburbs alone. According to officials in the Agartala Municipal Corporation, nearly 1600 idols…

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The travel time to Shirdi from Mumbai is expected to reduce to 40 minutes as against five hours by road at present. MUMBAI: President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the newly-built Shirdi Airport in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district on Sunday. He also flagged off the first Alliance Air commercial flight from Shirdi to Mumbai.The year 2018 marks the 100 anniversary of the samadhi of Shri Sai Baba, one of the most revered saints of the globe. The airport project is part of the Maharashtra Government’s effort to promote religious tourism at Shirdi, known for…

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Elphinstone station is usually crowded during peak hours as it caters to office-goers in the Lower Parel area.  MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announces Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the victims in a tragedy. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal ordered officials to cut the red tape and start working on shorter deadlines. At least 23 people died and over 30 were injured in the stampede that took place on a narrow foot-over-bridge (FoB) that connects the Elphinstone Road on the Western Railway to Parel on the Central line. The Railway…

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The veteran theatre, television and film actor Tom Alter best known for his performances in “Shatranj Ke Khilari”, “Junoon” and “Kranti”, passed away last night in Mumbai. MUMBAI: The renowned actor and Padma Shri awardee Tom Alter who had been battling stage four skin cancer, died last night at his residence here. The actor was diagnosed with skin cancer last year and was treated for the same but earlier this month he suffered a relapse and was admitted in Saifee hospital. “It is with sadness we announce the death of…

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