Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) India and Indonesia began a three-day mega naval wargame on Monday in the Sunda Strait, in reflection of their growing maritime cooperation.

Officials said the Indian Navy deployed its two frontline warships Shivalik and Kadmatt for the third edition of the exercise 'Samudra Shakti'.

The two ships arrived in Jakarta on Saturday. The Sunda Strait lies between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra.

New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) Facebook India on Monday said it has appointed ex-IAS officer and former Uber executive Rajiv Aggarwal as the Director of Public Policy.

He succeeds Ankhi Das, who quit in October last year. She was embroiled in a controversy for opposing enforcement of hate-speech rules against right-wing leaders in the country.

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) Ustad Amjad Ali Khan is widely credited with putting the sarod on the world map but the musician, amongst India's best known, says his first love is the tabla and not the stringed instrument.

Khan, in an interview to Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor on Sansad TV, said he was so drawn to the tabla as a child that his "worried father" hid the musical instrument from him for a few months.

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) The Supreme Court has quashed criminal proceedings against a man accused of forcible conversion, noting that the person who was stated to have been forced to convert to Christianity has denied the allegation.

A bench comprising justices U U Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and C T Ravikumar set aside the order passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court which refused to grant any relief to the accused, George Mangalapilly.

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud arrived here on Saturday on a three-day visit during which he is expected to discuss with Indian leaders the situation in Afghanistan as well ways to boost bilateral ties.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Al Saud will hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday and call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) Amid a decline in Covid cases in the country, India may soon reopen its doors for foreign tourists for the first time in one-and-a-half years, officials said.

First five lakh foreign tourists will be issued visas free of cost in an attempt to revive the tourism, hospitality and aviation sectors badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020 when a nationwide lockdown was announced.

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) BJP MP and former minister Babul Supriyo, who recently announced that he was quitting politics, joined the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata on Saturday.

"Today, in the presence of national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and RS MP Derek O'Brien, former Union Minister and sitting MP Babul Supriyo joined the Trinamool family," the party said in a tweet.

New Delhi/Beijing, Sep 17 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that the two sides should work for an early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas as this has been an essential basis for progress in Sino-India ties.

New Delhi, Sep 17 (PTI) Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday constituted the party's screening committee for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections with Jitendra Singh as its chairman.

Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda and Maharashtra MLA Varsha Gaikwad have been appointed as members of the panel, which also has the party general secretary in-charge for Uttar Pradesh as its member.

New Delhi, Sep 17 (PTI) Two Delhi Metro stations near Tikri border with Haryana, one of the sites of the ongoing farmers' protests, were on Friday closed owing to security reasons, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said.

The two stations in Haryana -- Pandit Shree Ram Sharma and Bahadurgarh City -- fall on the Green Line of the network.

The DMRC tweeted to alert commuters: "Security Update Entry/exit for Pandit Shree Ram Sharma and Bahadurgarh City have been closed".