All India

The mega "Howdy, Modi!" Indian-American community event in Houston on Sunday to greet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump would provide the world a glimpse of the valuable contributions of Indian-Americans to the cultural, intellectual and social landscape of the United States, the organisers said.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh wore a G-suit this morning as he readied himself to fly in the homemade light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas in Bengaluru. He will be the first defence minister to fly in this aircraft.

The Election Commission on Wednesday ruled out the use of ballot paper in next month's Maharashtra Assembly elections, terming them "history" and defended the use of Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs, saying these machines cannot be tampered with.

The clash between Alka Lamba and the Aam Aadmi Party erupted again on Wednesday with her claim that the Delhi Assembly Speaker refused to consider her resignation on Twitter, while the party claimed she herself had urged the Speaker to not take it seriously.

All schools and junior colleges in Mumbai will remain closed today after the weather office forecast "extremely heavy rainfall" over the next 48 hours, the government said. The weather office has issued a red alert--indicating "extremely heavy rainfall"--for Mumbai and neighbouring Raigad, news agency PTI reported quoting weather officials.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump are scheduled to meet twice in less than a week this month, India's Ambassador to the United States has confirmed, asserting that the India-US strategic relationship has the "potential to become the "defining partnership within this century".

More than three years after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar rolled out an ambitious prohibition policy, its success remains a matter of debate. But one thing it has achieved is an alarmingly high pile of excise cases. Now, the Patna High Court has asked the state government to present a plan for how it plans to dispose these cases.

Two pilots of state-run Pawan Hans Limited were suspended for three months by aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday for not extending the ''landing gear'' of a helicopter while landing at Guwahati airport, causing damage to its belly, officials said.

The Congress on Wednesday welcomed the Centre's move to ban e-cigarettes but claimed the decision was taken to appease the United States.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra paired up on Wednesday to take aim at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mega event in the United States that will be attended by US President Donald Trump, saying all the spectacle in the world was not enough to cover up the economic crisis at home.

The United Nations on Wednesday indicated its acknowledgement of the Indian stance that Jammu and Kashmir is a bilateral issue and said dialogue between India and Pakistan is an "absolute essential element for the solution". India had reiterated its stand on Jammu and Kashmir at the UN Human Rights Council last week and accused Pakistan of attempting to "politicise" the forum with "hysterical statements with false narratives".

BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, known for making controversial comments, on Wednesday called journalists in Madhya Pradesh's Sehore district dishonest.

After Andhra Pradesh, the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan is also planning to grant 75 per cent reservations for locals in private sector jobs.

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh Wednesday said he is happy that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's "good sense" has prevailed and she has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi during the day.

The Centre on Wednesday said it will certainly take up the issue of "hefty" GST on hotel rooms' tariff in the meeting of its council as it impacts the tourism industry.