M Somasekhar

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said a new institution will be set up soon to replace the 64-year-old Planning Commission, of which he is chairman, since it had outlived its utility.

“In a short time, we will initiate a new institution that will work in the place of the Planning Commission,” Modi said in maiden speech from the Red Fort on Independence Day.

Being a former chief minister himself who had to knock on the doors of the commission for money, Modi said the importance of federalism in India was increasing and institutions must address this reality.

Wellington, United States President Barack Obama has sanctioned airstrikes in Northern Iraq against the Islamic State fighters to avoid a possible ‘genocide’.

According to Stuff.co.nz, Obama said that he allowed use of American air power to protect American workforce in the Kurdish capital Arbil.

The U.S., after withdrawing its forces from Iraq at the end of 2011, did not intend to get involvesd into a war again, said Obama. He added that the Iraqi government had requested help from the Unites States.

New York, : ‘Terrorists’ in the Gaza strip violated a ceasefire a few hours before it was to end as they fired rockets into the Israeli territory, said Israeli Defense Force in a tweet.

Hamas had threatened Israel a few hours before the ceasefire deadline that they would launch rocket attacks if the demands for removing a crippling barrier on Gaza were not met, reports the New York Post.

While indirect negotiations continue in Cairo, a senior Hamas official said that the discussions were not making any development.

Geneva, The World Health Organisation (WHO) Friday declared the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa as an International Health Emergency.

“A coordinated international response is deemed essential to stop and reverse the international spread of Ebola,” the WHO said in a statement issued after a two-day meeting here of its emergency committee.

“It was the unanimous view of the committee that the conditions for a Public Health Emergency of International

Concern (PHEIC) have been met,” it added.

Raipur, : Youth Congress members in Raipur held a protest in the city on Thursday, demanding that ration should be provided to the ration card holders.

The General Secretary of Indian Youth Congress (IYC), Vikas Upadhyay, said that the BJP leaders have not fulfilled their promise made at the time of campaign.

Upadhyay told ANI, “BJP has collected votes in the name of Ration card, both in Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha.

New Delhi,: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will undertake a four-day visit to Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, from today.

It would be her fourth visit to a neighbouring country since she assumed office. She had earlier visited Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Briefing reporters in New Delhi earlier this week, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said Swaraj will attend the India-ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting, the East Asian Summit meeting for Foreign Ministers, and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Myanmar.

New Delhi, : In a surprising incident, a nine-year-old boy studying in class three, was booked under Section 107 of the Indian Penal Code in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, for disrupting peace, reportedly after the police cleared his name following an inquiry.

While senior police officials have assured that action will be taken against the policemen found guilty of booking the minor student for disrupting the peace, political leaders have unanimously criticized the incident.

New Delhi: A Class X student was allegedly gangraped by five persons at gunpoint, including two minors, in Uttam Nagar area of west Delhi.

The girl alleged in her complaint that the accused also made an MMS of the act and threatened to upload it on the Internet if she revealed her ordeal to any person.

Police said the incident took place on July 19 when she was going to school.