US PRESIDENT CALLS INDIA TRUE FRIEND: OFFICIAL
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump calls India a “true friend”, a top American diplomat has said as she highlighted the steps taken by the US over the last two years to strengthen its ties with India for the benefit of a broader Indo Pacific region. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells’ remarks came at a farewell reception hosted by the State Department in honour of the outgoing Indian Ambassador to the US, Navtej Singh Sarna. “President Trump calls India a true friends and Secretary (of State Mike) Pompeo has characterise the Us-india bilateral relationship as one deeply bound by our shared values,” she said.
Outside agencies may get to accredit institutes
NEW DELHI: The government is open to the idea of roping in “outside” agencies for accreditation of educational institutions, and IITS and IIMS have also been approached in this regard, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said here Friday. “To improve the quality of education, we are making the accreditation process more scientific and tough. The government wants to increase the strength of the National Board of Accreditation and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council so that more number of institutions can be accredited,” Javadekar said during a conference on “Positioning India on the Global Education Map”.
CBI summons TN health minister in gutkha scam
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Tamil Nadu health minister C Vijaya Baskar and former state minister BV Ramanaa for questioning in connection with the alleged gutkha scam on Saturday, said an official of the agency. In all five people, including Baskar and Ramanna, have been asked to come for examination in the case in Chennai, the official added. The Tamil Nadu government had banned gutkha five year back and the CBI is probing whether bribes were paid to bureaucrats, ministers and politicians to allow its manufacturing and sale.
Yogi case: Court orders FIR against complainant
GORAKHPUR: A local court, which is hearing a hate speech case against chief minister Yogi Adityanath, has ordered an FIR against the main complainant after the investigating agency told the court that a doctored video was submitted as evidence. Chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Nusrat Khan, ordered the police to lodge an FIR against activist Pervez Parvaz, who is already serving jail sentence in a gangrape case lodged against him in June this year. Parvaz had filed a petition against the then Gorakhpur MP Adityanath and four others, accusing Adityanath of giving hate speech.