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"My dad has left us. He passed away on December 31 at 6 pm as per Canadian time due to prolonged illness. He slipped into a coma in the afternoon. He was in the hospital for 16-17 weeks. We are thankful to everyone for their blessings and prayers," his son Sarfaraz said.

Ticking the right boxes before a big tournament is extremely important. The Indian team management, which bungled with selection issues in South Africa as well as England in 2018, must look to instill confidence in the group of players who are in the running to make the cut for the World Cup. India bid adieu to 2018 in style by defeating Australia at the MCG.

"Go New Horizons!" said lead scientist Alan Stern as a crowd cheered at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland to mark the moment at 12:33 am (0533 GMT) when the New Horizons spacecraft aimed its cameras at the space rock four billion miles (6.4 billion kilometers) away.

In a report submitted to Medical Council of India (MCI), Dr Indrajit Khandekar said the test, which can be psychologically devastating for women, continues to be perceived as a clinical tool by virtue of being taught in medical schools, and therefore in certain instances has even been ordered by courts to decide cases. The doctor’s letter, based on a study of nearly 30 MBBS and forensic medicine postgraduation textbooks, has also been sent to the Union health ministry on December 26.

Shyam Bhaskaran of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory was born in 1963 at a clinic in Matunga.

The period till September has seen a decline in gross NPA ratios, the first such dip in three years. According to the FSR, gross NPAs ratio declined to 10.8 per cent in September 2018 from 11.5 per cent in March 2018, while for the state-run lenders, the same improved to 14.8 per cent in September 2018 from close to 15.2 per cent in March 2018.

The Madras high court has suggested the central government to bring in appropriate amendments in the Passport Rules, so that banks and financial institutions can demand surrender of passports from those availing loans and prevent defaulters from fleeing the country.

In a note verbale, the Indian mission conveyed to the Pakistani foreign ministry that there was no electrical fault at the residence of the second secretary, suggesting that power was cut deliberately, the sources said. It also referred to a separate communication sent to the Pak foreign ministry on Dec 21 regarding snapping of power supply at the diplomat's residence.

BSP Supremo Mayawati has said that her party can consider withdrawing support to the newly-elected governments in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan if they do not withdraw the cases "against the innocent persons framed in Bharat Bandh". BSP has two members in MP's 230-member assembly, while in Rajasthan her party has six seats in the House of 200 MLAs.

Investor wealth eroded by Rs 7.25 lakh crore in 2018. The market capitalisation (m-cap) of the BSE-listed companies slumped by Rs 7,25,401.31 crore to Rs 1,44,48,465.69 crore this year.The BSE benchmark Sensex has gained 2,011.5 points, or 5.90%, in 2018.From its all-time peak of 38,989.65 scaled on August 29 this year, the Sensex has fallen by 7.5%.

On the 18th day of the operation, the navy divers stayed inside the shaft for three hours with a hi-tech gadget, Under Water Remotely Operated Vehicle (UWROV), and found visibility to be very poor – only one foot. The search would be feasible only after the water level inside the shaft is reduced to a safe diving limit of 30 metres. The depth of water is expected to be over 150 ft.

The images shown on A-Haber television late on Sunday feature three men carrying five suitcases and two large black bags into the home of the Saudi consul general in Istanbul.The residence lies a short distance from the Saudi consulate where Khashoggi was murdered in October. A-Haber said Khashoggi's dismembered body was inside the cases and bags.

This was announced by Union housing and urban affairs minister, Hardeep Singh Puri. "The growth and performance of credit linked subsidy scheme for middle income group has been very good and we are on course to having about one lakh beneficiaries by the end of this year," Puri said.

Public Provident Fund (PPF) account has a 15-year lock-in. Funds can be accessed only at the end of that period. However, partial withdrawals are allowed subject to certain conditions. One is allowed withdrawal of up to 50% of balance in the account after completion of five years from the end of the year in which the initial subscription was made.

Inching closer towards the Indians who were allegedly paid bribes in Rs 3,700 crore VVIP chopper scam, the CBI has recovered documents which establish payment of at least 54 million (Rs 431 crore according to current rates) of the total 58 million by AgustaWestland to Christian Michel and Guido Haschke for further payments in India.

Former Congress leader and a convict in 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, Sajjan Kumar surrendered on Monday in Delhi's Karkardooma Court. On December 17, Kumar was sentenced to life for the "remainder of his natural life" by the Delhi High Court. The high court had on December 21 declined his plea to extend the time of his surrender by a month.

The crime branch has blown the lid off a drug supply module that ordered consignments from other countries through the dark web and received them in Delhi via international courier firms. Two suspects have been arrested. The police have recovered consignments containing imported marijuana worth several lakhs of rupees. These were to be sold for New Year parties.

"Army foiled a major BAT attempt to strike a forward post along the LoC in Naugam Sector in the early hours of Sunday," an Army spokesman said. He said the intruders attempted to come in by exploiting the thick jungles close to the LoC and were assisted by heavy covering fire of high calibre weapons such as mortars and rocket launchers from the Pakistani posts.

Two days ahead of New Year, two labourers of Panna district in Madhya Pradesh received a gift turning them into crorepatis. A big diamond mined by the duo of Motilal and Raghuveer Prajapati almost two months ago fetched a price of Rs 2.55 crore in an auction held on Friday.

Petrol price in Delhi was cut to Rs 68.84 from Rs 69.04 per litre while diesel dipped to Rs 62.86 from Rs 63.09, according to notifications of state-owned oil firms.

Barely hours after the win at the MCG, Rohit Sharma had already boarded the flight to Mumbai when news arrived that wife Ritika had been blessed with a baby girl.

India, who have thrice shared series honours in Australia - in 1980-81 (1-1), 1985-86 (0-0) and 2003-04 (1-1) - will be looking to press home the advantage they hold and make it a memorable new year in Sydney.

The Naresh Goyal-controlled airline, which has posted three consecutive quarterly losses of over Rs 1,000 crore each since March, already has as much as Rs 8,052 of debt on its books as on September 30. Rating agency Icra has already cut the rating on Jet Airways borrowing programmes.

Did Pakistan just score a self-goal in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case? In what may provide India fresh ammunition in the case, Islamabad has at the UN voted in favour of an International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgement which was one of the mainstays of India's submissions before ICJ when it challenged the death sentence and denial of consular access to the alleged Indian spy.

​IIM-Bangalore has sought to add 425 seats while IIM-Ahmedabad wants to increase its intake by 380 seats. If the proposal is given a heads-up, ​IIM-B will have 1,646 students against its present 1,221. IIM-Indore with 1,907 students is the biggest in terms of intake​.

The ruling Awami League-led grand alliance bagged 266 seats and its ally Jatiya Party secured 21. Bangladesh's opposition NUF alliance, with BNP as its key partner, rejected the outcome of the general election and demanded fresh polls under a neutral caretaker government.

Cases pending for more than 30 years are as high as 66,000 in district and subordinate courts as on December 28, 2018. And those pending for more than five years add up to 60 lakh. There are about 1,800 cases still in hearing or argument stages for the last 48-58 years.

Bigg Boss 12 winner: After months of being locked up inside, Dipika Kakar has finally emerged as the winner of Bigg Boss 12.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party won Sunday's controversial general election, local TV said. Hasina's alliance easily crossed the 151 seats required to form a government, according to Channel 24, which is compiling results from around the country.

In a purported video, which went viral recently, Professor Raja Ram Yadav - VC of the Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University- can be seen telling students not to come crying if they get into a fight, rather beat up the person or maybe kill. Taking cognizance of the statement made by Yadav, the UP government has asked him to present his side of the story.

Bigg Boss 12 grand finale began at 9 pm today (December 30). Karanvir Bohra is out of the finale race. Now, Sreesanth, Dipika Kakar, Deepak Thakur and Romil Chaudhary are left in the house. After battling it out for more than three months, one of them will be crowned as the Bigg Boss 12 winner tonight. The grand finale began with high volate performances of Salman Khan along with all the contestants. Sreesanth and Dipika, who are the best of friends now, danced on a number from ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’. Similarly, Karanvir, Sreesanth and Romil grooved to a sensational Bollywood song. All the evicted contestants of the season are a part of tonight’s episode, and cheer the 5 finalists. Their journey has been long yet worth it. Catch all the LIVE updates of Bigg Boss 12 here:

Early results showed Hasina racing into a clear lead, winning each of the first 29 seats declared- some by tens of thousands of votes. Bangladesh's opposition rejected election results and demanded a new vote. Hasina, 71, has been lauded for boosting economic growth in the poor South Asian nation during her decade in power.

"The stone pelting incident yesterday in Ghazipur was a failure on the part of the administration. The administration and the intelligence department knew who is protesting and where. Despite this, the unfortunate incident took place," Akhilesh Yadav said. He also said in the garb of taking action against the culprits, some innocent people are being harassed.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli hailed "outstanding" pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah on Sunday and declared batsmen around the world should be scared of the young hotshot fast bowler.

The Navy divers and their equipment arrived at the site around 1.30 pm Sunday after which the Navy personnel started measuring the actual level of the water in the mine shaft. The 10 pumps brought by the rescue team from Odisha have been kept on standby. The 10 pumps brought by the rescue team from Odisha have been kept on standby. Meanwhile, the divers have also been kept on standby, the officials said.

A policy drafted by the Railway Board's transformation cell has said that offers of goods and services in exchange for publicity on running trains have been discussed in the board and a decision has been taken to implement it on a trial basis. A directive in this regard was issued to all general managers of railways on December 27.

The contentious triple talaq bill seeking to criminalise the practice of instant divorce among Muslims is set to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, even as the Congress has said it will not allow its passage in the present form. The bill was cleared by Lok Sabha -- 245 voting in favour and 11 opposing it -- on Thursday amid a walkout by the opposition.

Eleven people have been arrested and several others detained in connection with the killing of a police constable in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district, a senior police official said on Sunday.

Petrol price on Sunday was cut by 22 paise per litre to its lowest level in 2018 while diesel rates were reduced by 23 paise to a nine-month low. Petrol price had touched a record high of Rs 84 per litre in Delhi and Rs 91.34 in Mumbai on October 4. Diesel on that day had peaked to Rs 75.45 a litre in Delhi and Rs 80.10 in Mumbai.

Addressing the last episode of the year of his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio address, PM Modi said," ... let's come together to make positivity viral. I do believe that by doing so, more and more people will get to know about our heroes who brought a change in society. Spreading negativity is fairly easy. But some really good work is being done around us ..."

The year 2018 saw several women triggering much-needed change, like writer Angela Saini who took-down gender stereotypes in science in her new book; Sister Anupama and four other nuns who broke their vow of obedience to act against sexual harassment in Chruch; disability rights activist Virali Modi who started #MyTrainToo petition; cybercrime warrior Shobha Saju among others.

"Our first-class cricket is amazing, which is why we won. Credit must go to first-class set-up in India, which challenges our fast bowlers in India, and that helps them abroad," Indian skipper Virat Kohli said without taking names.

Panel probing the circumstance of J Jayalalithaa’s death has accused Tamil Nadu health secretary J Radhakrishnan and Apollo hospitals of collusion and conspiracy in the medical treatment of the late chief minister, and former chief secretary Rama Mohana Rao of purposely giving false evidence.

India, denied victory on day four by the tail-end resistance of Pat Cummins, were forced to wait nearly two-and-a-half hours for play to begin due to rain at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but when the weather cleared their bowlers wrapped up the Australia innings for 261 in 22 minutes.

Check live cricket score, scorecard and ball by ball commentary of 3rd Test match between India and Australia on Times of India

​US is one of the biggest arms supplier to India, having bagged contracts for direct sales worth $17 billion just over the last decade. Both Indian and US officials have privately admitted “disappointment” over the progress made under the DTTI of 2012.

​​The deceased, Suresh Vatsa of Karimuddinpur police station, along with SO Karimuddinpur and four other constables was returning to police station after the end of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public meeting at ITI Ground.

Islamabad has given a 59-page document with 14 key recommendations to New Delhi. The recommendations call for Indian pilgrims to be given free entry and that facilitation centres and security check-posts to be set up on both sides of the border. The pilgrims shall be allowed in groups of a minimum of 15 people and Pakistan shall issue special permits to them.

Sahib Ali, hailing from Assam's Chirang district, is one of the five men who narrowly escaped the flooding coal mine a fortnight ago. He said four others who made it alive had fled to their homes in West Garo Hills district. "There is no way the trapped men will be alive. How long can a person hold his breath underwater?" he added.

The undated video clips, which have been posted by dissident Pakistani columnist Gul Bukhari, shows Pervez Musharraf seeking covert US support to regain power and telling American lawmakers that he was "ashamed" of the ISI being negligent about the al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden's whereabouts. The former army chief has been living in Dubai since March 2016.

AgustaWestland chopper scam accused Christian Michel took the name of "Mrs Gandhi" and also spoke about "the son of the Italian lady" who is going to be "the next PM of the country," the ED told the court. Alleging that Michel was being tutored from the outside, ED also sought a ban on lawyer access to Michel.

In the course of his conversation with Turkey's Erdogan, US Prez Trump reshaped US policy in the Middle East, abandoning a quarter of Syrian territory and handing Ankara the job of finishing off Islamic State in Syria."Trump asked: 'If we withdraw our soldiers, can you clean up ISIS?'", to which Erdogan replied that Turkish forces were up to the task.

The ministry did not say whether the suspected terrorists were connected to Friday's attack but said its forces killed 30 people during raids on their hideouts in Giza. Security forces also killed 10 suspected terrorists in North Sinai, where the country is fighting an insurgency led by IS. It published photos of bloodied bodies with their faces concealed.

After early morning drizzle, India started an overcast fourth day in Melbourne with a 346-run lead and with five wickets in hand on a wearing pitch becoming increasingly difficult to bat on. Australia were teetering on the brink of defeat in the third Test.

The high court gave the order while rejecting a petition of Divya Pharmacy against the Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board (UBB) and upholding the provisions of fair and equitable benefit-sharing as provided under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

Indian wicketkeeper, Rishabh Pant, gave it back to Tim Paine a day after the Australian joked about recruiting Pant to a Big Bash franchise, Hobart Hurricanes, with an offer to baby-sit while Paine takes his wife out for movies."Have you ever heard of a temporary captain, Mayank?" asked Pant in front of Paine.

UP cops identified Prashant Nutt and four others responsible for killing the inspector Subodh Kumar Singh. None of the five had been named in the original FIR. The sixth person, Kalua, who allegedly first attacked the officer with an axe is still absconding. Singh was allegedly attacked with an axe and stones by a mob before being shot during the Bulandhshar violence.

The new policy that takes effect on Feb 1, a seller having equity participation by the e-commerce marketplace entity or its group companies will not be permitted to sell its products on the platform run by such a marketplace entity. Now the biggest challenge is to dispose inventory worth Rs 2,000-2,500 cr that Amazon India and the Walmart-owned Flipkart have.

Based on a book by Manmohan Singh’s former media advisor Sanjaya Baru, showing the UPA in poor light, BJP’s social media handles were quick to share the trailer of the film. BJP said it was a “riveting tale of how a family held the country to ransom for 10 long years”. While Congress leaders said the movie was a bid to distract attention from the failures of the Modi govt.

Check live cricket score, scorecard and ball by ball commentary of 3rd Test match between India and Australia on Times of India

After the killing of Burhan Wani, the incidents of rioting and stone-pelting dropped from around 3,000 per year to 700. On average, there have been two rioting incidents a day this year. However, casualties of rioters went up by six times, from 6 in 2016 to 37 in 2018.

​The amendment will sentence a minimum of 20 years extending upto life in prison or even death in sexual assaults during communal and sectarian violence or in the midst or aftermath of a natural calamity. Law minister said the amendments are required to “deter the rising trend of child sex abuse in the country”​

​India would contribute Rs 4,500 crore to Bhutan’s 12th five-year economic plan. India would continue to play the role of a reliable friend and partner for Bhutan, PM Modi assured. The new five-year plan of Bhutan began this year and will end in 2022​.

​The court said the entire chain of circumstances surrounding Sohrabuddin’s death could not be established. The judge also stated that several hostile witnesses had broken down in court and had said they were pressured or coerced by the CBI to depose falsely​.

Based on inputs provided by a military intelligence unit in J&K, the Telangana Police have unearthed an illegal internet telephony exchange in Hyderabad. The facility was allegedly being used by Pakistan-based ISI sleuths to target Indian defence personnel and obtain sensitive information while posing as senior Army officials.

After an inexplicable delay of over a fortnight, divers from the Navy have finally been drafted to join the ongoing operations to rescue the ill-fated 15 workers trapped in a flooded “rat-hole” coal mine in Meghalaya since Dec 13. The state and central authorities concerned have faced a lot of criticism for the huge delay in mounting an effective rescue operation.

Minister of state for external affairs VK Singh told Rajya Sabha that National Central Bureau of Manchester conveyed to Indian agencies that their investigations have led to the location of Nirav Modi in the UK. In June, the MEA had written to several European countries seeking help in tracing Nirav Modi. He is wanted in connection with the PNB fraud case.

Actor Anupam Kher said the film should be seen as a creative endeavour and not an attempt to support a political party. He dismissed that the film is his way of supporting the BJP. The actor also confessed that he was initially reluctant to take up the project as he was aware it will land into controversies.

The government on Friday said action has been taken against more than 6,000 officers of nationalised banks last fiscal in cases of lapses that led to bad loans. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said that minor and major penalties have been imposed against erring officials. These include dismissal, compulsory retirement and demotion.

The government has approved amendments to the POCSO Act and introduced stringent measures to check circulation of child pornography and administration of hormones to children to attain early sexual maturity. New provision under the act also includes death penalty for aggravated sexual offence on a child.

The Congress-led government in Madhya Pradesh Friday said it has not banned the film 'The Accidental Prime Minister', in which Anupam Kher plays former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Banks could take a hit of more than $3 billion from loans and corporate guarantees provided to diamond companies at the centre of a fraud at PNB. As of March 2017, banks had extended loans and guarantees worth Rs 17,632 crore to companies tied to billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, the tax department said in a note seen by Reuters.

"On one hand, you are asking for investments and on the other, these policy changes are announced overnight without a basic consultation. This is detrimental to the concept of ease of doing business," said a senior executive at Amazon India. If the policy is strictly followed it could mean an end of the road for discounts and lucrative cash backs.

Jafrabad hid its anxieties under an appearance of calm on Thursday morning. Residents of this north-east Delhi locality comprising Chauhan Bangar and Babarpur actually expected more National Investigation Agency raids. Indeed, the anti-terrorist sleuths have reason to believe that for the past few years operatives of several terror groups have lived here.

Called a "genius" on air by Australia's former captain Michael Clarke, pacer Jasprit Bumrah's career-best figures of 6/33 in 15.5 overs also made him the first bowler from the subcontinent to take a five-for or more in South Africa, England and Australia in the same year.

"We can't change the facts," said veteran actor Anupam Kher, who plays the role of Dr. Manmohan Singh in the upcoming biopic 'The Accidental Prime Minister.'

A note, suspected to have been written by Michel, starts with the mention of a lunch organised to discuss the deal, sources said. The note thanks GH (Guido Haschke) for the lunch "yesterday", while saying "hope the dog liked the bone".

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) will come out with technical specifications following which the airports can install these machines. Trails runs have been successfully conducted at some of the airports, BCAS chief Kumar Rajesh Chandra said.

According to a fire officer, the building, which was recently redeveloped, its firefighting system wasn’t working. The fire broke out on the 11h floor after a suspected short circuit that killed five people among whom were four women. Three of the victims seem to have died of smoke inhalation. Narrow access lanes for fire brigade is being seen as a major factor behind Thursday’s casualties.

Two PIO men and two children remain in hospital in Reykjavik after the horrific accident in which a Toyota Land Cruiser fell 20 feet from a bridge close to Iceland’s famous national park on Thursday, just days after Christmas. No other vehicles were involved. Two British Indian women and one of their daughters were killed when the Toyota Land Cruiser crashed through the railings of a single track bridge in Skeiðarársandi, a popular tourist area in south Iceland.

Five persons, including four senior citizens, died and five others were injured after a major fire broke out in a 15-storey residential building in Tilak Nagar on Thursday. Four of the five deceased were women. Three of the victims seem to have died of smoke inhalation. The fire is suspected to have caused due to short circuit, a fire officer said. The building’s firefighting system wasn’t working, said a fire officer.

Check live cricket score, scorecard and ball by ball commentary of 3rd Test match between India and Australia on Times of India

The bill relaxed some of the stringent provisions of the legislation cleared by the House a year ago which was thereafter stuck in Rajya Sabha amid opposition. The Centre brought forward an ordinance in September which made the bill effective in law as it argued cases of triple talaq were being reported despite the Supreme Court ruling it to be unconstitutional and bad in law.

Sources said this entity is recruiting and radicalising youth across south-east Asia to join the “Islamic State”. After initial contact on Facebook, the youths are brought on to closed groups on chat platforms like Threema and Telegram. Sources in an intelligence agency said that deep tracking of this handle has led them to believe that Huzaifa is a highly trained Pakistani national who has been radicalising Indian youths, possibly on behalf of Pakistan’s spy agency, the ISI.

Women government servants were entitled to CCL in three spells in a year that could be availed for up to two children. A 'single' male government employee has been defined as "an unmarried or widower or divorcee government servant". Though the number of eligible single male parents is likely to be limited, the move signals a shift from considering women as the principal care-givers for children.

Several rounds of discussions have been held and the view emerging within the government favours a limited direct benefit transfer scheme to help small and marginal farmers meet expenses for seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and labour. Sources said the cost of such a scheme would work out to about Rs 1.25 lakh crore and could be jointly borne by the Centre and states. Some of the participants suggested a 70:30 split of the cost between the Centre and states.

The software can instantly determine the location of the caller and send out a message to the victim or the caller with information about the actual time the nearest ambulance will take to reach the spot of accident. This could likely prove crucial in saving lives of such victims. In 2017, over 1,46,000 people were killed in road accidents in India.

Fire officials said that the blaze is now under control but thick smoke has engulfed the building hampering rescue operation. The blaze was initially declared as 'level-2' but fire department officials later raised it to 'level-3'.

Sources said the agriculture ministry has prepared a road map and made a presentation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting both short and long term "sustainable" solutions to various issues that are impacting farmers and causing agricultural distress in the country.

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting found India's slow batting baffling in the third Test and feels that Cheteshwar Pujara's 106 off 319 balls may end up being the reason for their defeat.

Lok Sabha is now debating triple talaq bill. Stay here for live updates

Tim Paine's banter with Virat Kohli became a talking point in the Perth Test and the Australian captain was at it again from behind the stumps with Rohit Sharma at the receiving end at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Paine was caught on the stump microphone telling team-mate Finch that he would join Mumbai Indians IPL team if the stylish Indian hits a six.