Jakarta, Aug 5 (IANS) Indonesia and Belarus have officially agreed to elevate their bilateral cooperation in several sectors, including food security, agricultural modernization, technology development, and investment. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono met with visiting Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov at the ministry’s building in Jakarta on Tuesday, where they discussed various fields, Xinhua News Agency reported.Sugiono mentioned that the meeting marks Ryzhenkov’s first official…

Beijing, Aug 5 (IANS) Two to three typhoons are expected to make landfall in or affect China in August, the office of the national commission for disaster prevention, reduction and relief and the Ministry of Emergency Management said at a briefing on Tuesday.One of the typhoons is expected to affect areas north of the Yangtze River, according to the briefing.In August, all seven major river basins across China fully entered the main flood season of the year, the authorities said, adding that som…

Sanaa, Aug 5 (IANS) Yemen’s Houthi military group said it launched a new missile attack on the Ben Gurion Airport in central Israel on Tuesday, which was reportedly intercepted by Israeli defence systems.The Houthis fired a “hypersonic ballistic missile” targeting the Israeli airport in support of the Palestinian people, the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.Sarea said that the Houthi group would continue launching attacks against Isr…

Washington, Aug 4 (IANS) With his actions in the recent weeks, US President Donald Trump is now in the process of tanking the India-US relationship built over 25 years. His actions will affect the bilateral ties after more than 20 years of bipartisan effort to transform the relationship between India and the US, including during his own first term, US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace detailed in a report on Tuesday. Trump has threatened to substantially raise tariffs on India and…

New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) India’s e-Visa facility is presently available to nationals of 172 countries for entry through 32 designated international airports and six major seaports, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in a written reply, said that E-Visa is presently available under 13 sub-categories, i.e. e-Tourist Visa, e-Business Visa, e-Medical Visa, e-Medical Attendant Visa, e-Conference Visa, e-Ayush Visa, e-Ayush Att…

Hyderabad, Aug 5 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Tuesday demanded that the Election Commission of India bring back ballot papers to conduct elections in view of the doubts people have about Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and called for the withdrawal of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. A delegation of BRS leaders led by the party’s working president, K. T. Rama Rao, made the demand during a meeting with the Election Commission in New Delhi.The…

Mumbai, Aug 5 (IANS) The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly’s Privileges Committee will meet on August 6 to discuss the issue of a brawl between supporters of legislators Jitendra Awhad and Gopichand Padalkar in the premises of Vidhan Bhavan during the monsoon session of the state legislature held in July. According to the sources, the Privileges Committee will deliberate on the scuffle issue on Wednesday after the Assembly Speaker, Rahul Narwekar, on July 18 announced in he lower house to hand …

Chennai, Aug 5 (IANS) BJP Tamil Nadu President Nainar Nagenthran on Tuesday alleged that the Kuruvai paddy crop in the tail-end regions of the Cauvery delta is on the verge of withering due to the failure of the state government in ensuring proper irrigation facilities.In a strongly-worded statement, Nagenthran pointed out that although water from the Mettur reservoir was officially released on June 12 to irrigate the Cauvery delta districts, it has still not reached the tail-end areas of Nagapa…

Mumbai, Aug 5 (IANS) As the Bhoomi Pujan of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya marked its fifth anniversary, Shiv Sena spokesperson Krishna Hegde on Tuesday said the temple’s construction was the cherished dream of party founder Balasaheb Thackeray, and its realisation stands as a moment of immense pride for the nation. Krishna Hegde described the day as historically and spiritually significant.Speaking to IANS, Krishna Hegde said, “The Bhoomi Pujan of Ram Mandir is a matter of pride for the entire c…

New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that upcoming tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals could eventually rise as high as 250 per cent, as part of his push to bring drug manufacturing back to the United States.In an interview with CNBC, Trump said the tariffs would start at a lower rate — without specifying the exact figure — and then increase over the next year to 18 months.“We’ll be putting (an) initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals, but in one year, one-an…