Japan on Friday approved a bill that will allow Emperor Akihito to hand over the Chrysanthemum throne to his heir, Naruhito. The bill, which will make it possible to circumvent the imperial law that currently prevents the Emperor from abdicating, was approved during a cabinet meeting, Efe news reported. If approved, this will be the first abdication of a Japanese ...

The GST (Goods and Services Tax) Council on Friday finalised tax rates for services. Education and healthcare have been exempted from the GST regime. “India has finalised four tax rates that will apply to services including telecoms, insurance, hotels and restaurants under a new sales tax which should be rolled out on July 1,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said. The ...

PANAJI: Two people died and several others went missing as a bridge connecting Sanvordem and Curchorem villages in South Goa district of Goa collapsed this afternoon. As the luck would have it, the victims were standing on the dilapidated bridge watching an operation to rescue a youth who allegedly jumped into the river to commit suicide. The Portuguese-era bridge across ...

Scientists say the frozen continent is likely to ‘alter rapidly under future warming, leading to major changes in the biology and landscape of this iconic region’ Plant life is growing on Antarctica like never before in modern times, fuelled by global warming which is melting ice and transforming the landscape from white to green, researchers said Thursday. Scientists studying moss ...

Setting the stage for rollout of goods and services tax (GST) from July, the Centre and states on Thursday decided on rates for specific products which may lead to lower prices for a majority of products of mass consumption. The idea is to ensure that the impact of GST is not inflationary. Rates on 1,211 items were finalised by the ...

The Uttarakhand high court, on Thursday, stayed the state government’s decision of cancelling mining leases or licences in Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital and Haridwar districts. A petition filed by a company involved in the business from Ramnagar in Nainital district after the state government had on May 1, 2017 ordered cancellation of mining leases or licences. On March 28 ...

SIT to probe death of IAS officer, submit report in 72 hours On his 36th birthday, Anurag Tiwari, a 2007 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, was found dead under mysterious circumstances outside a government VIP guest house in Lucknow on Wednesday morning. Anurag, a native of Bahraich district in UP, was posted in January as Food and Civil Supplies ...