India targets Rs 3 lakh crore defence production by 2029: Mansukh Mandaviya

IANS | December 18, 2025 5:49 PM

New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) India has set an ambitious target of achieving Rs 3 lakh crore in defence production and Rs 50,000 crore in defence exports by 2029, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday, underscoring the country’s push towards Aatmanirbharta in the strategic sector.

NIA arrests ninth accused Yasir Ahmad Dar in Delhi blast case

IANS | December 18, 2025 5:23 PM

New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday arrested another key accused in connection with the Delhi bomb blast that killed 11 persons and injured several others in the area around Red Fort last month.

Explained: India-Oman CEPA advances new era of economic partnership

IANS | December 18, 2025 5:16 PM

Muscat/New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Oman offers unprecedented market access for Indian goods with zero-duty access on 98.08 per cent of Oman’s tariff lines, covering 99.38 per cent of India’s exports by value, the government said on Thursday.

India's defence production reaches all-time high in FY25: Shripad Naik

IANS | December 18, 2025 4:49 PM

New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) India's defence production reached an all-time high of Rs 1.54 lakh crore in FY 2024–25, rising from Rs 46,429 crore in 2014–15, demonstrating the scale, depth and maturity of India’s indigenous defence manufacturing base, Union Minister of State for Power and New and Renewable Energy Shripad Yesso Naik said on Thursday.

‘Democracy reduced to mob rule’: Shivraj Singh Chouhan blasts INDIA Bloc over VB-G RAM G Bill ruckus

IANS | December 18, 2025 4:24 PM

New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) Minutes after Parliamentary proceedings in the Lok Sabha were disrupted on Thursday after Opposition members, including MPs from the Congress and the INDIA Bloc, created a ruckus during the discussion on the Viksit Bharat–G RAM G Bill, 2025, which proposes to replace the existing MGNREGA framework, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan strongly condemned the conduct of the Opposition and blamed them for reducing the democracy to "mob rule" and "hooliganism".