Indian Sub-continent

New Delhi, May 14 (PTI) India has banned wheat exports with immediate effect as part of measures to control rising domestic prices, according to official notification.

However, the export shipments for which irrevocable letters of credit (LoC) have been issued on or before the date of this notification will be allowed, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said in a notification dated May 13.

"The export policy of wheat is prohibited with immediate effect ," the DGFT said.

Udaipur, May 14 (PTI) Asserting that the state of the economy is a cause of "extreme concern", senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said taking into account global and domestic developments, it may be necessary to contemplate a reset of economic policies.

Addressing a press conference, Chidambaram said a slower rate of growth has been the "hallmark" of the present government in the last eight years, and the post-pandemic recovery has been "indifferent and halting".

Jaipur, May 14 (PTI) Two people have been arrested in Rajasthan's Bhilwara for marrying off their minor children, police said on Saturday.

Bhilwara Superintendent of Police Adarsh Sidhu said the marriage of Sadapur village resident Kishan Lal's minor son with Jassu ji Ka Kheda resident Prabhu Lal Balai's daughter had taken place in the Jahazpur area on May 11.

The SP said a special police team arrested Kishan Lal (33) and Prabhu Lal Balai (40) with the technical assistance of the cyber cell.

Srinagar, May 14 (PTI) It is imperative for a healthy democracy that people feel their rights and dignity are recognised and protected, Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said on Saturday, stressing that denial of justice would ultimately lead to anarchy.

Addressing a function in Srinagar, the CJI urged lawyers and judges to create a congenial environment for litigants who are often "under a lot of psychological stress".

Agartala, May 14 (PTI) Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Saturday said he has submitted his resignation to Governor SN Arya.

Deb made the announcement after meeting the governor at the Raj Bhavan here.

He went to New Delhi and met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda on Thursday for a confabulation on the party's affairs in the Northeastern state.

There have been rumours of infighting within the BJP's state unit.

Udaipur, May 13 (PTI) Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, charging that it has become clear that his mantra of 'minimum government, maximum governance' means keeping the country in a permanent state of polarisation, "brutalising" minorities and "threatening" political opponents.

In her inaugural address at the party's 'Chintan Shivir' here, she urged delegates to deliberate with an open mind and send out a clear message of strong organisation and unity.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Police arrested two owners of a company that manufactures and sells security cameras after a massive fire reportedly started in their office in a four-story commercial building in the Indian capital, killing 27 people and injuring 12 others, police and fire officials said Saturday.

The police registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and a criminal conspiracy that is punishable with life imprisonment or 10 years in jail.

Kanpur: Despite the distinctly harsh weather the students do not flee from appearing at the Kanpur University examinations.

Yet they are failing to bear the heat at the exam centres, as they pointed out.

The examinees desire at least an airy room where seating arrangements are done. How can it be negated?

Telling their woes a few girl examinees appearing at the city's one older degree college in an outstanding area, said the room was large but they were perspiring badly.

ISLAMABAD, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen people were injured when a blast went off inside a market area in the capital city Karachi of Pakistan's southern Sindh province late Thursday night, hospital authorities said.

Many among the injured were in critical condition and most of them got wounded after being hit by ball bearings from explosive materials, Shahid Rasool, medical superintendent of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) where all the injured were shifted, told the media.

COLOMBO, May 12 (Reuters) - Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka's new prime minister, is no stranger to politics.

This is the sixth time the opposition lawmaker has held the post, and he is known domestically as an effective operator. He now faces the daunting task of leading the country out of its worst economic crisis since independence. 

Leader of the opposition United National Party (UNP), Wickremesinghe was sworn in by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at a ceremony at the president's house on Thursday.