PM Modi comes to rescue of rain-hit farmers, announces higher aid

Coming to the rescue of farmers hit by unseasonal rains and hailstorm, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced higher compensation for crop damage and eased criteria for them to avail government support. New Delhi will wrap up its air operations in Yemen on Wednesday with the last group of Indian nationals set to be evacuated from the war-ravaged country. In a show of strength, Arvind Kejriwal and Yogendra Yadav groups on Tuesday held parallel meetings in Chandigarh. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday asserted that his government has no plans to stop slaughter of animals other than bulls and cows for meat. Police shot dead 20 people, mainly from Tamil Nadu, in an Andhra Pradesh forest for allegedly smuggling precious red sanders wood, igniting charges of mass murder in Tamil Nadu.