Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 6 (PTI) BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Monday sought a ban on cryptocurrencies, asserting that they are based on dark net technology and would be used for drugs, prostitution and terrorism.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, he likened the situation prevailing in the country with respect to cryptocurrencies with 'Tulip mania' in Holland in 1600s.

New Delhi, Dec 6 (PTI) India and Russia on Monday vowed to deepen collaboration in the space sector, including in the human spaceflight programme, and signed an agreement for cooperation in the building as well as operation of launch vehicles.

The pact was signed during the India-Russia summit held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin

New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday demanded in the Lok Sabha that the next of kin of farmers who lost their lives during the agitation against farm laws be given compensation as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Making a Zero Hour mention, Gandhi also slammed the Modi government for its inability to maintain data on the death of farmers during the year-long agitation and tabled in the House a list of farmers from Punjab and Haryana who died during the stir.

New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday attacked the Uttar Pradesh government over the reported lathi-charge by police on a group of protesters in Lucknow, saying the Yogi Adityanath dispensation has become synonymous with misrule.

Her attack on the BJP government came over media reports that claimed the Lucknow Police on Saturday evening used batons on a group of protesters holding a candlelight march alleging irregularities in the 2019 Uttar Pradesh teachers' entrance test.

New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will soon become a clone of the BJP as it is imitating the saffron party.

"Imitation is the best form of flattery. The more the AAP imitates the BJP, the less relevant it will become. Soon, the AAP will become a clone of the BJP," he said on Twitter.

The former Union minister also hit out at the BJP for changing three chief ministers in Uttarakhand in five years.

Kolkata, Dec 5 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday condoled the death of veteran journalist Vinod Dua.

Sixty-seven-year-old Dua died in a hospital in Delhi on Saturday, his daughter Mallika Dua had said.

"I deeply mourn the death of prominent journalist Vinod Dua. He had made imprints of success for a long time. He was one of the torchbearers in news reading on television," Banerjee said in a statement in Bengali.

New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) A 37-year-old man who arrived in Delhi from Tanzania has tested positive for Omicron, making it the first case of the new COVID-19 variant in the national capital and the fifth in the country.

The patient, currently admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, has mild symptoms, hospital officials said.

New Delhi, Dec 3 (PTI) All 28 ships and submarines commissioned into the Indian Navy over the last seven years have been built in India, Chief of Naval Staff R Hari Kumar said on Friday, emphasising the force's focus on indigenisation.

Addressing a press conference ahead of Navy Day on December 4, he said 39 ships and submarines are currently under construction out of which 37 are being built at Indian shipyards.

New Delhi, Dec 3 (PTI) Seven aircraft of the Indian Air Force have crashed in the last two years, the government said in Lok Sabha on Friday.

Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt, replying to a question, said every aircraft accident in the IAF is investigated by a separate Court of Inquiry (Col).

"A total of seven aircraft of Air Force have crashed in the last two years, including the Mirage 2000 which crashed recently in Madhya Pradesh," he said.

New Delhi, Dec 3 (PTI) In a setback to PepsiCo India, the plant varieties protection authority PPV&FR on Friday revoked its varietal registration certificate which was granted to the food and beverages major on a potato variety 'FL-2027' in the country.

Reacting to the development, PepsiCo said it is in the process of reviewing the order passed by the Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Authority.

PPV&FR is a statutory body set up under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001.