MAHARASHTRA Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday inaugurated two dedicated COVID-19 health centres (DCHCs) developed by CIDCO in Kalamboli and Kanjurmarg.The Chief Minister virtually inaugurated the two DCHCs and the CIDCO Investment and Infras..

 THE Congress party’s fortunes in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to the polls next year, would not be revived despite all the “hype” generated around the Lakhimpur-Kheri incident, and the subsequent arrest of party General Secretary Priy..

  AROUND 200 troops of China’s People’s Liberation Army entered into Indian territory last week leading to a face-off with the Indian Army at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh, sources said.It happened during a routine..

THE IAF’s prompt actions in response to developments in eastern Ladakh last year were a testament to its combat readiness and its ongoing capability enhancement programme is aimed at achieving desired results “swiftly and decisively” acr..

 By Samya Kullab and Tameem AkhgarAN EXPLOSION went off on Friday among Shiite Muslim worshippers at a mosque in northern Afghanistan, killing or wounding at least 100 people, a Taliban police official said.There was no immediate claim of responsibil..

As many as seven people, including six men and one woman, were killed and fifteen others were injured in a road mishap happened on Bhind-Gwalior highway in Bhind district in Madhya Pradesh on Friday morning. MP Government has announced financial assistanc..

  AIR Marshal Sandeep Singh on Friday took charge as the new Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force.He succeeded Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, who became the 27th Chief of the Air Staff on Thursday. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Air ..

 THE Centre has approved release of the second installment of its share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) amounting to Rs 7,274.40 crore, in advance, to 23 States.The decision has been taken by Union Home Minister Amit Shah as part of the Mo..

INDIA was not taken into confidence on various aspects of the Doha deal inked between the US and the Taliban last year and the latest developments in Afghanistan will have “very, very significant consequences” for the region and beyond, Extern..

  TATA Sons has emerged as the top bidder for the takeover of debt-laden state-run airline Air India but the bid is yet to be approved by a Group of Ministers headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, sources said.Financial bids put in by the salt-to-s..

   PRESIDENT Ram Nath Kovind conferred the National Service Scheme (NSS) Awards for 2019-20 from Rashtrapati Bhawan through virtual mode on Friday.Addressing the ceremony, Kovind said, “India is called a young country. I congratulate ..

 UNION Home Minister Amit Shah will chair a high-level meeting with Chief Ministers of ten Naxal-hit States in Delhi on Sunday to review the current status as well as to discuss future road map for security and development issues, said official sourc..

  JAILED gangster Jitendra Gogi was shot dead on Friday inside a packed Rohini courtroom here by two assailants dressed as lawyers who were also killed in a police counter-fire, officials said. In video footage of the shootout involving the two ..

    IN A major confidence-building step, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday gave the green signal to reopen a majority of the day-schools in the State, with restrictions, from October 4 onwards.Accordingly, the schoo..

THE BSE Sensex made history on Friday by reaching the 60,000-mark for the first time ever as investors continued to accumulate banking, finance and auto stocks despite lacklustre global cues and concerns over frothy valuations.The 30-share benchmark rose ..

  PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a high-level meeting on the COVID situation and vaccination as the Government noted high caseloads in States like Kerala and Maharashtra to say that there can be no room for complacency.Modi revie..

THE Congress has refused to be a part of the proposed inquiry committee of MPs being set up to investigate the violent incidents that took place in the House during the monsoon session on August 11. According to sources, Leader of the Opposition Mall..

  RAINFALL in August, which recorded 24 per cent deficiency, was lowest in 12 years, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.Two major spells of weak monsoon prevailed over the country -- from August 9-16 and August 23-27 -- whe..

THE Government on Friday enhanced the scope of Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) scheme for specified agriculture products by including dairy products under its purview and increasing the rates of assistance.The scheme has been extended till March ..

  THE observations of the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter payloads have yielded discovery-class findings, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). There were eight scientific payloads hosted on the orbiter craft.They are: Chandrayaan-2 ..

AIR Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria attended a two-day-long commanders’ conference of the Eastern Air Command in Shillong which came to a close on Friday.“The conference reviewed the progress of operational goals set for the Command and highligh..

 DISCIPLINE is necessary to run the country successfully, and this must be why former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Sampurnanand set up the Sainik School in Lucknow, President Ram Nath Kovind said here on Friday.The only thing on Dr Sampurnanand..

 IN A veiled warning to the ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, Union Minister and BJP leader Narayan Rane, who is locked in a bitter fight with it, on Friday said he knew a lot of things about the party and its leaders and would bring out cases “..

 THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday attached assets of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Eknath Khadse and others worth more than Rs 5 crores in a money laundering case.As per the official statement by the law enforcement agency, it inf..

EQUITY benchmark Sensex climbed 175 points to close above the 56,000-mark for the first time on Friday, driven by strong buying in infrastructure, finance and pharma stocks despite lacklustre global cues. A strengthening rupee, which surged 53 paise again..

  RECALLING how the industry used to face “hardships” in securing permissions and “harassment from bureaucrats” 50 years ago, Chairman of the city-based vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII), Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, on Friday hailed the Modi Government saying that red-tapism and licence raj have come down under its rule. He also said that in the past, he had to “fall at the feet” of bureaucrats and drug controllers in order to get permissions, ..

 CHIEF of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat on Friday said that Indian Armed Forces will take strong action against organisations that will try to hamper our unity while adding that “we have to keep unity and integrity intact.”While addressing an event organised by the Ministry of Defence as part of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, Rawat said that after attaining freedom, India was forced to enhance the capabilities of its Armed forces in the wake of attacks. “After ..

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched the National Automobile Scrappage Policy and said the initiative will promote a circular economy and make the process of economic development more sustainable and environment-friendly.The policy, aimed at recycling old and unfit vehicles, will give new identity to India’s mobility and auto sector, Modi said in his address while virtually launching the initiative during ‘Investors Summit’ organised in Gandhinagar. The summit, which saw ..

  DEFENCE Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday virtually launched multiple major events to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. “Due to these programmes, not only there is a rise in national consciousness, but there is also an increase in the self-esteem the country has,” he said during a speech.One of the events launched was of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) whose 75 teams would be leaving Friday for 75 remote places in the border areas of the country ..

SECURITY forces achieved a major success as a Pakistani terrorist planning an attack along the National Highway in Jammu and Kashmir was killed in an encounter in Kulgam district, officials said Friday.They said the overnight encounter began after two terrorists, who had positioned themselves in a building, started firing “indiscriminately” on a BSF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. Kashmir Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said the slain ultra, identified as Usman from ..

 TWO Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists, including a top commander of the outfit, were killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in the Sopore area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district, police said on Friday.A police spokesperson said the security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Warpora area of Sopore on Thursday, following specific information about the presence of ultras there.“During the search operation, as the presence of terrorists got ascertained, ..

 EXTERNAL Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar on Friday held talks with top Afghan peace negotiator Abdullah Abdullah on the overall situation in Afghanistan amid a rise in violence there in the wake of quick withdrawal of the US troops.Abdullah, the chairman of the powerful High Council for National Reconciliation, has been playing a key role in negotiating with all the stakeholders to bring lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan. It is learnt that the influential Afghan leader is in India ..

 THE Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the applications filed by telecom majors, including Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, seeking rectification of the alleged errors in calculation of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) related dues payable by them.“All the miscellaneous applications are dismissed,” a bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao said while pronouncing the order.The telecom companies had submitted before the apex court that arithmetical errors in the calculation be rectified ..

  TRINAMOOL Congress (TMC) MP Santanu Sen was suspended from the Rajya Sabha for the remaining period of the monsoon session on Friday after a motion moved by the Government was passed by the House.Soon after the obituary references and laying of papers, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan moved a motion for Sen’s suspension after TMC member snatched papers from Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and tore those in the House on Thursday.The motion ..

AS MANY as 129 people have died in rain-related incidents including landslides in Maharashtra in the last 48 hours, a senior official from the State Disaster Management Department said on Friday .This included 38 deaths in a landslide in a village in the coastal Raigad district’s Mahad tehsil on Thursday, he told PTI.“The death toll in Maharashtra in the last 48 hours has reached 129. Most of the deaths are from Raigad and Satara districts,” the official said. Besides landslides, ..

  FOLLOWING Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s advice on Thursday, many newly-inducted Ministers in the Union Council of Ministers have called on their predecessors to seek their “guidance and relevant experience”. Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju met his predecessor and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad and ‘sought his guidance’.“Called on my senior colleague and predecessor as Union Law & Justice Minister Shri @rsprasad ji. Sought his ..

 INDIAN Navy on Friday prohibited flying of non-conventional aerial objects like drones and UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) within 3 kms of Naval Base, Naval Units and Naval assets. “Any non-conventional aerial object, including RPAs (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) found violating this prohibition, will be destroyed or confiscated without any liability, and additionally actions may be initiated under sections of IPC against the operator”, a Defence statement said. The decision ..

 MAHARASHTRA Government-appointed inquiry commission will record the statement of Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case.While speaking to ANI, Ashish Satpute, inquiry commission lawyer said, “Maharashtra Government-appointed inquiry commission will record the statement of NCP chief Sharad Pawar in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case. Witnesses’ statements to be recorded from August 2 and Pawar will be summoned as well.” Recently, Bhima ..

 THE Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay proceedings in connection with petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Centre’s new IT rules before various High Courts.The Centre had moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of all petitions to it, citing multiplicity of proceedings. Several High Courts, including Delhi, Bombay, Madras and Kerala High Courts are hearing petitions against the IT rules.In its plea, the Centre said, the issue of regulating the OTT platform was ..

 By Anisur RahmanAT LEAST 52 people were killed and scores wounded as a massive fire overnight engulfed a multi-storied food and beverage factory on the outskirts of Bangladesh’s capital, officials said on Friday. Fire service officials and witnesses said the blaze broke out on Thursday evening and tore through the factory at the Rupganj area of Narayanganj.Residents in the neighbourhood said most of the factory workers were teenagers. “Fifty two people have been killed so far but ..

MAHARASHTRA on Friday reported the first death from the ‘Delta Plus’ variant of COVID-19, with an octogenarian woman succumbing in Ratnagiri civil hospital, a senior official said.The woman hails from Sangameswar and was admitted to the hospital, over 330 kilometres from Mumbai, a few days ago, Sanjay Shinde, Additional Collector, Ratnagiri told PTI.He said, the woman’s death was being audited to see if she suffered from comorbidities.Shinde said, district officials have been told ..

 PAKISTAN continues to remain in the ‘Grey List’ of FATF as the global body against money laundering and terror financing on Friday said that Islamabad has failed to take action against UN-designated terrorists like India’s most wanted Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar.The FATF also said that Pakistan should continue to work to address its strategically-important deficiencies.Financial Action Task Force (FATF) President Marcus Pleyer said that the decision has been taken at the conclusion ..

THE sub-group constituted by the Supreme Court to audit Oxygen consumption in hospitals in national capital during the second wave of COVID-19 said that the Delhi Government “exaggerated” the consumption of oxygen and made a claim of 1140 MT, four times higher than the formula for bed capacity requirement of 289 MT.The five-member panel headed by AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria said the Delhi Government had made the claims for allocation of 700 MT oxygen on April 30 of medical grade Oxygen ..

AMID its strained relations with the Indian Government, Twitter on Friday briefly blocked IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from accessing his account over alleged violation of the US copyright law - a move that was immediately slammed by him as being arbitrary and against IT rules.This is the first instance of a Twitter account of a Union Minister getting blocked.While the exact nature of the violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was not immediately known, Prasad could not access ..

INDIA’S first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), INS Vikrant, will be commissioned next year and its combat capability, reach and versatility will add formidable capabilities in the country’s defence, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said here on Friday.In a statement to the media after visiting the IAC at Ernakulam wharf of the Cochin port to review its construction progress, Singh described it as India’s pride and a shining example of Atmanirbhar Bharat. “The project was originally ..

   PROMINENT neurologist and Padma Shri recipient Dr Ashok Panagariya died of post-COVID complications here on Friday. He was 71.Dr Panagariya was on ventilator support for the past several days at a private hospital.His condition deteriorated in the past two days and he died on Friday, hospital sources said.Expressing grief over his death, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet that his pioneering work in the medical field will benefit generations of doctors and researchers.“Dr ..

 THE daily COVID-19 count in India remained below the one-lakh mark for the fourth consecutive day with the country reporting 91,702 fresh cases, while the daily positivity rate dropped to 4.49 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.With the fresh cases, the total tally of cases has climbed to 2,92,74,823. The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 3,63,079 with 3,403 fresh deaths, the data updated at 8 am showedThe active cases further declined to 11,21,671 comprising ..

   By Sajjad HussainTHE Pakistan Government has rushed through the National Assembly a Bill to provide the right of appeal to Indian death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav amidst ruckus and boycott by the Opposition.The Lower House of Parliament passed the ICJ (Review and Re-consideration) Bill, 2020 on Thursday. The Bill is aimed at allowing Jadhav to have consular access in line with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) verdict. Jadhav, the 51-year-old retired Indian Navy officer, ..

  PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held deliberations with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J P Nadda amid speculation about a reshuffle in the Union Cabinet, an exercise Modi has not undertaken since forming the Government for a second time in May 2019.There is also a growing buzz about the Cabinet expansion in Uttar Pradesh after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met the BJP top brass during his two-day visit to the national capital. The deliberations among the top BJP leaders ..

 THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has issued a show cause notice to the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange for undertaking transactions worth over Rs 2,790 crore in alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).Mumbai headquartered WazirX is as a domestic crypto currency and bitcoin exchange start-up registered under the company name Zanmai Labs Pvt Ltd that was incorporated in December, 2017. The notice issued by the central probe agency under ..