New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Indian airlines cancelled as many as 5,706 flights between January and June this year (H1 2025) because of regulatory and geopolitical issues, the Parliament was informed on Monday.The cancellations accounted for around 1 per cent of the total 5,72,079 departures during the same period, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.The data covered six carriers — Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Akasa Air, SpiceJet …

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Airtel customers across several parts of India faced a major network outage on Monday, with many reporting problems using mobile data, voice calls and SMS services.According to outage tracking website Downdetector, more than 2,300 complaints were registered by 4:32 PM — suggesting that the disruption was widespread and affected both mobile data and voice connectivity.Responding to a post on X that said Airtel users in Delhi-NCR were facing problems making calls, the com…

Kathmandu, Aug 18 (IANS) As many as 400 families depending on trade between Sikkim and Tibet are facing difficulties due to the prolonged closure of the border which has hit the common people on both sides, a report has highlighted. The thriving border trade through Nathu La and the other two routes – Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand and Shipki La pass in Himachal Pradesh – came to a halt in 2020 when the Chinese army violated a series of bilateral protocols in eastern Ladakh.”Officially, the reason…

Kabul, Aug 18 (IANS) Amid rising regional pressure on refugees, Iran is planning to deport around two million undocumented Afghan migrants, the authorities in Tehran said on Monday while assuring that the process will follow legal procedures with dignity. Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said that a new programme is underway to send back around two million undocumented Afghans to their homeland with “dignity and respect,” leading Afghan news agency Khaama Press reported.Speaking to repor…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) The ratio of gross non-performing assets in gold loans to the outstanding gold loans for scheduled commercial banks has increased marginally from 0.2 per cent in March 2023 to 0.22 per cent in March 2025, while for upper- and middle-layer NBFCs, it has increased from 1.21 per cent to 2.14 per cent over the same period, the Parliament was informed on Monday.Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, in a written reply to a question by the Leader of the Opposition in …

Aizawl, Aug 18 (IANS) Cases of women abuses, including violence against women, are rising in Mizoram, where female folk dominate in all aspects of Mizo societies, officials said on Monday. An official of the Mizoram Women and Child Development Department said that during the last financial year (2024-25), per month 1166 cases of women abuses were reported in the department’s helpline system, while over 1870 such cases were reported per month in the current financial year (2025-26) so far.Accor…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) The Centre allocated a sum of Rs 308.44 crore for promotion of Indian languages during 2024-25, the Parliament was informed on Monday.Replying to a question by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi in the Lok Sabha, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan provided details of the budget allocation over the last 10 years under the Grants for Promotion of Indian Language (GPIL).The statement shows that the allocation, which was Rs 288.88 crore in 2015-16, was enhanced subsequently. T…

Mumbai, Aug 18 (IANS) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said that a ‘Third Mumbai’ being developed in Raigad district will be a new chapter of economic development. The Chief Minister further stated that the state government is committed to development and it is working to create a ‘Third Mumbai’ in partnership with the private sector. An international university centre is being set up in ‘Third Mumbai’.“A medical college will also be set up, and an innovation hub will be set up h…

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday declined to restore the abetment of suicide case against Dadra & Nagar Haveli (DNH) Administrator Praful K. Patel and others over the death of former MP Mohan Delkar.A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran rejected a special leave petition (SLP) filed by Abhinav Delkar, son of the late MP, challenging the Bombay High Court decision to quash the FIR filed under Section 306 IPC (abetment of suicide) a…

Amaravati, Aug 18 (IANS) Union Minister for Health, Fertilisers, and Chemicals, JP Nadda, on Monday assured Andhra Pradesh that 29,000 metric tonnes of urea would be allocated to the state by August 21 to address the shortage.He gave the assurance when Andhra Pradesh Education, IT and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh called on him in New Delhi.Lokesh highlighted the severe shortage of urea amid the ongoing Kharif season and requested the Union Government to immediately allocate the required supp…