Delhi

Patna/Kolkata, Jul 11 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha is likely to crossover to Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress soon, sources close to him said on Sunday.

Though through a tweet in Hindi with pro-Narendra Modi flavour recently, Sinha had triggered guesswork that he might stage a "Ghar Wapsi" to the BJP, the sources said he is more inclined towards the TMC, which recently humbled the saffron party and Banerjee emerged as a potent rival of Prime Minister Modi in 2024 general election.

New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI) Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Shyam Rajak has met Lok Janshakti Party's Chirag Paswan and called for a united alliance against the BJP-led NDA in Bihar as the Dalit leader looks for his political options after being snubbed by the saffron party.

Paswan has also spoken to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, Rajak told PTI.

Rajak, once a close aide of JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and now in the RJD, said his visit to Paswan's house was "personal" in nature but added that political talks take place when politicians meet.

New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) Twitter has named Vinay Prakash as its Resident Grievance Officer for India, according to the company's website.

The US-based company has been in the eye of a storm over its alleged failure to comply with the new IT rules in India, which mandates, among other requirements, the appointment of three key personnel -- chief compliance officer, nodal officer and grievance officer by social media platforms with over 50 lakh users. All the three personnel have to be residents in India.

New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) India's coal import rose 20.4 per cent to 19.92 million tonnes (MT) in the month of May.

The country had imported 16.54 MT of coal in May last fiscal, according to data compiled by mjunction Services.

"On a year-on-year basis, however, India's coal and coke imports in May 2021 were up 20.4 per cent as against 16.54 MT clocked in May 2020," it said.

Import volumes of dry-fuel, it said, are expected to remain subdued in the ongoing monsoon season on account of lower demand, firm prices and high freight rates.

New Delhi, Jul 9 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held a telephonic conversation with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Gantz and conveyed that he looks forward to advancing the strategic partnership between the two countries.

In the talks, Singh congratulated Gantz on assuming the charge of deputy prime minister and defence minister in the new Israeli government headed by prime minister Naftali Bennett, according to the defence ministry.

New Delhi, Jul 9 (PTI) Of the 78 ministers in the Cabinet, 42 per cent have declared criminal cases against them with four having cases related to attempt to murder, according to a report by poll rights group ADR.

As many as 15 new cabinet ministers and 28 ministers of state were sworn in on Wednesday, taking the strength of the council of ministers to 78.

Of all the ministers analysed, 33 (42 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves, said the Association for Democratic Reforms report citing their poll affidavits.

New Delhi, Jul 8 (PTI) The national capital can ill-afford any repetition of riots witnessed last year, the Supreme Court Thursday said and stressed that

'unity in diversity' of India cannot be disrupted and the role of Facebook in this context must be looked into by the powers that be.

New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) As petrol price crossed the Rs 100-mark in Delhi, the Congress on Wednesday hit out at the government accusing it of "tax extortion" and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to either bring down inflation or quit.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi charged that the Modi government runs on "tax extortion".

Petrol prices crossed the Rs 100-a-litre mark after fuel prices were increased in line with international oil trends.

New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) Seven members of the Union Council of Ministers were elevated as cabinet ministers on Wednesday for their persistent performance in their respective portfolios.

At Wednesday's expansion and reshuffle of the council of ministers, Kiren Rijiju, Raj Kumar Singh, Hardeep Puri, Mansukh Mandaviya, G Kishan Reddy, Parshottam Rupala and Anurag Singh Thakur were elevated as cabinet ministers.

New Delhi, July 7 (PTI) Dharmendra Pradhan was on Wednesday inducted as India's new Education Minister while Annapurna Devi, Subhas Sarkar and Rajkumar Ranjan Singh will be the new Ministers of State for Education.

Son of former union minister of state for surface transport, Debendra Pradhan, Dharmendra was Petroleum Minister in the previous Cabinet.