WhatsApp CEO gets India’s wish list

Stepping up efforts to clamp down on the spread on “sinister” messages through WhatsApp, the Union government on Tuesday asked the instant messaging platform to implement three measures in India: set up a local corporate entity; appoint a grievance officer in India; and find a solution to trace the origin of a fake message.

Taliban plans to take part in Afghan talks

The Taliban plans to take part in Afghanistan peace talks in Moscow on September 4, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency on Tuesday.

Committee reviews Kerala situation

The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) met for the sixth time in a row on Tuesday with Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha in the chair to review the rescue and relief operations in the State.

Kerala flood lesson for Assam: experts

Flood-experienced Assam can learn a lesson from the Kerala deluge to avoid large-scale disaster say water resources and ecology experts in the Northeast.

Centre rules out total ban on firecrackers

The Centre on ruled out a national ban on firecrackers and suggested production of “green crackers” community cracker bursting in major cities and a freeze on production of series crackers or laris as alternative measures to curb pollution during Diwali.

SC scraps NOTA option for RS polls

The Supreme Court scrapped the use of NOTA (none of the above) option for Rajya Sabha polls, saying it would usher back the “Satan of defections.”

Kashmir backs India-Pak. dialogue

Major political parties and the Hurriyat in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday expressed support for a Kashmir-centric dialogue between India and Pakistan, welcoming the intent for “constructive engagement” expressed by the former and “uninterrupted dialogue” by the latter.