OVER 82.7 lakh vaccine doses, the highest in a single day, were administered across the country on Monday as the revised guidelines for COVID-19 vaccination came into effect, the Union Health Ministry said. India’s cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage has reached 28.33 crore since January 16, it said. “Today’s record-breaking vaccination numbers are gladdening. The vaccine remains our strongest weapon to fight COVID-19. Congratulations to those who got vaccinated and kudos to all the front-line ..

THE Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)on Monday filed an additional affidavit before the Supreme Court informing that the results for class XII board exams would be declared by July 31. The CBSE in the affidavit said that the disputes regarding the result computation will be referred to a committee. The Board said that the optional examinations will be held tentatively between August 15-September 15, when the situation is conducive, and marks in the optional exam is to be treated as final ..

YOGA is a ray of hope and source of strength in the fight against COVID, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday as tens of thousands of people across the globe touched their toes, stretched towards the skies and breathed in and out mindfully to mark the seventh International Day of Yoga. From mountains to beaches and town squares to neighbourhood parks, and in homes in distant corners of the world and country, people spread out their mats to perform ‘asanas’ and ‘pranayama’ breathing exercises, ..

POPULAR Odia playback singer Tapu Mishra died due to post-COVID complications while undergoing treatment at a private hospital here, family sources said on Sunday. She was 36. Her father had also succumbed to COVID-19 on May 10. The singer breathed her last on Saturday night. She was put on ventilator support two days ago after her oxygen level drastically dropped to 45...

THE Centre has told the Supreme Court that ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh cannot be paid to the families of those who have died of COVID-19 as it is beyond fiscal affordability and the finances of Central and State Governments are under severe strain. In an affidavit filed before the top court, the Ministry of Home Affairs said the Centre submitted that it has by ways of “Minimum Standard Relief”, under section 12 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, taken several steps providing for substantial ..

INDIA recorded less than 60,000 new coronavirus infections after 81 days taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,98,81,965, while the active cases further reduced to 7,29,243, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. A total of 58,419 fresh infections were reported in a day. The death toll climbed to 3,86,713 with 1,576 fresh fatalities, the lowest in 63 days...

SHIV Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, who is under the Enforcement Directorate’s scanner for alleged money laundering, has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appealing to him to reconcile with the BJP “before it is too late”. In the letter dated June 10, Sarnaik said even though the alliance with the BJP has broken, personal and harmonious relations between leaders of the ‘yuti’ (Shiv Sena-BJP) remain...

SPORTS Minister Kiren Rijiju has expressed condolences on the demise of track legend Milkha Singh. “Today is a very sad day for the entire sports fraternity of our country. We are deeply saddened by the passing away of the legendary Milkha Singh. I feel that a big chapter in the world of sports has come to an end today,” Kiren Rijuju told ANI. Kiren Rijiju has backed the Indian Olympic 2020 squad to complete the dream of Milkha Singh to win a medal in athletics/track and field. “We will leave no stone ..

THE track, to him, was like an open book in which Milkha Singh found the “meaning and purpose of life”. And what a life he made for himself. Before his 91-year-old body lost to COVID-19 on Friday after fighting it for a month, Milkha won the kind of battles that not many would have survived, forget about living long enough to tell the world about them. “Don’t worry, I am in good spirits...I am surprised, How could I get this infection?...I hope to get over it soon,” Milkha had said in his last ..

IF COVID-appropriate behaviour is not followed and crowding not prevented, the next wave of the viral infection can strike the country in the next six to eight weeks, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria warned on Saturday. Until a sizeable number of the population are vaccinated, COVID-appropriate behaviour needs to be followed aggressively, he said and stressed on the need for stricter surveillance and area-specific lockdowns in case of a significant surge. Guleria reiterated that till now, there is no ..

THE easing of COVID-related lockdown norms has led to crowding in some markets and other places, the Centre said on Saturday, as it urged States to ensure the “extremely important” five-fold strategy of COVID-appropriate behaviour, test-track-treat and vaccination to prevent the spread of the disease. In a communication to all States and Union Territories (UTs), Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also said that vaccination against COVID-19, in the present scenario, is critical to break the chain of ..

FOUR days after West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleging that the State Government has been inactive and indifferent about the sufferings of the people due to post-poll violence, the Calcutta High Court on Saturday criticised the Mamata Banerjee Government and observed that the state has not taken any concrete steps to address the complaints pertaining to post-poll violence. “In a case where the allegation is that life and property of the residents ..

ICONIC sprinter Milkha Singh was on Saturday cremated with full State honours here, marking the end of an era in which his pioneering accomplishments on the track galvanised a newly-Independent India. Milkha, who was 91, was bid a tearful adieu in the presence of his family and dignitaries, including Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju. ‘The Flying Sikh’, died on Friday night due to COVID-19. His son and ace golfer Jeev Milkha Singh lit the funeral pyre. Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore, Punjab Finance ..

AMID a tussle between the Union Government and Twitter over the new IT rules, members of a parliamentary panel on Friday strongly objected to Twitter India officials’ observations that they abide by their policy and categorically told them that the rule of land is supreme. ..

STUDIES have shown that following vaccination the chances of hospitalisation among healthcare workers reduce by 75-80 per cent even after contracting COVID and oxygen requirement comes down to 8 per cent, the Government said on Friday. ..

SUPPLYING food to schools under mid-day meal scheme, pre-schools and anganwadis is exempt from GST, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has said. Issuing a set of clarification on certain decisions taken by the GST Council in its 43rd meeting on May 28, the CBIC said it had received representations regarding applicability of GST on the issues as to whether serving of food in schools under mid-day meals scheme would be exempt if such supplies are funded by Government grants and/or ..

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi’s approval ratings stand at 66 per cent and continue to be ahead of other global heads, according to a survey conducted by an American data intelligence firm. The Morning Consult shows PM Modi is ahead of other world leaders of 13 countries including the US, the UK, Russia, Australia, Canada, Brazil, France and Germany. ..

THE Supreme Court on Thursday refused to stay its order directing Haryana and the Faridabad Municipal Corporation to remove encroachments, consisting of around 10,000 residential constructions, in Aravali forest area near Khori village, saying, “we want our forest land to be cleared”. A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari asked the State and the civic body to comply with its June 7 direction in this regard. “We want our forest land to be cleared. We have given enough time, if you ..

IN A statement seen as an implicit message to Beijing, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that though India is a peace loving country, it has the capability to reply to aggression. Dedicating 12 strategic roads constructed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to the nation here, Singh described India as a priest of world peace but added that any serious disturbance to peace and tranquility in border areas would have adverse implications...

TWITTER India MD Manish Maheshwari was questioned by the Delhi Police last month in connection with its probe into the ‘COVID toolkit’ case, officials said Thursday. They did not divulge further details, but said he was also questioned about the company’s policy behind flagging tweets by users as “manipulated media”. This came after Twitter labelled as “manipulated media” a tweet by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on a ‘COVID toolkit’, attributed to the Congress, on how to target the Modi Government ..

THERE is no question of reversing earlier decision to cancel class 12 board exams, the Supreme Court said on Thursday and approved the assessment schemes of the CISCE and the CBSE, which has adopted 30:30:40 formula for evaluation of marks for students based on results of class 10, 11 and 12 respectively. The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) said however that it would consider the performance of students for last six classes, unlike CBSE which is taking note of performance ..

LOK Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan on Thursday rejected his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras’s election as the party President, saying the meeting organised in Patna was ‘unconstitutional’ and lacked even minimum attendance of its national executive members. He told PTI that his party has also written to the Election Commission, urging it to stop the Paras-headed faction from using its symbol and flag in its meeting. LJP’s Secretary General Abdul Khaliq said a physical meeting of its national executive ..

ACTIVE since 2014, RedFoxtrot predominantly targets aerospace and defence, government, telecommunications, mining, and research organisations in India among other countries. The other countries are Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, aligning with the operational remit of PLA Unit 69010. Recorded Future, the world’s largest provider of Intelligence for enterprise security, on Thursday, revealed cyber espionage activity attributed to a suspected Chinese state-sponsored ..

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called for focus on ‘repair and prepare’ as the nation emerges out of a devastating pandemic. “Over the past year, we have witnessed a lot of disruption in different sectors. Much of it is still there. Yet, disruption does not have to mean despair,” he said at VivaTech Summit. “Instead, we must keep the focus on the twin foundations of repair and prepare,” he said referring to the need to augment healthcare infrastructure in the country as well as prop up ..

INDIA is likely to have 330 million 5G subscribers by 2026 and the monthly data consumption per smartphone is expected to grow over 3-fold to 40 gigabyte per smartphone, telecom gear maker Ericsson said in a report on Wednesday. Average data consumption per smartphone at 14.6 GB per month in India continues to be the second-highest in the world, according to the Ericsson Mobility Report 2021. “In the India region, 4G subscriptions are forecast to rise from 680 million in 2020 to 830 million in 2026. ..

FLAGGING India’s concerns over security challenges in the maritime sphere, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday called for a rule-based order in the Indo-Pacific and underlined the need for ensuring freedom of navigation, overflight and unimpeded commerce in the international waterways including the South China Sea. In a virtual address at the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), Singh said that the developments in the South China Sea have attracted attention in the region and ..

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi will launch a customised crash course programme for COVID-19 frontline workers on Friday through video conferencing, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. The launch will commence the programme in 111 training centres spread over 26 States, the PMO said. Prime Minister Modi will launch ‘Customised Crash Course programme for COVID-19 Frontline workers’ on June 18 at 11 am through video conferencing, it said. The launch will be followed by the Prime Minister’s address...

CONGRESS President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday asked the Government to come clean on the Galwan Valley incident in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives a year ago and sought to know the progress made in restoring status quo ante at the border. She said no clarity is yet available on the Chinese transgressions at the border, which PM Narendra Modi has denied. Gandhi said the Congress has patiently waited for the Government to come clean and inform the nation about the circumstances in which the unprecedent..

THE Central Government will procure 75 per cent vaccines produced in India directly from the manufacturers, who will be allowed to sell the remaining 25 per cent to the private healthcare sector, officials said on Tuesday. Addressing the press conference on vaccination and COVID pandemic situation in the country, NITI Aayog’s Member (Health) Dr V K Paul said that the State Governments will not procure vaccines directly from the manufacturing units. “The Centre will provide vaccines to all States and ..

SHIROMANI Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal along with several legislators and leaders were detained by Punjab police on Tuesday when they were marching towards the residence of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh near here to lodge their protest. The Akali Dal-BSP combine was demanding the dismissal of Health Minister Balbir Sidhu and a CBI probe into irregularities in sale of vaccines and medical kits for COVID patients. “There is a scam in COVID-19 vaccination, there is a scam in Fateh Kit, there is ..

CHIEF of Army Staff Gen M M Naravane on Tuesday led the force in hailing the valour of the 20 soldiers who laid down their lives while defending the country’s territorial integrity in the face of “unprecedented” Chinese aggression at the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh a year ago. On the first anniversary of the deadly clashes, the Army said the supreme sacrifice of the soldiers while fighting the adversary in the “most difficult” high altitude terrain will be “eternally etched” in the memory of the ..

DAYS after the Centre issued a notice to Twitter, a Parliamentary panel headed by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has summoned top officials of the micro blogging site to depose before it on Friday and give a representation on prevention of misuse of the social media platform...

MORE than 1.05 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with States and Union Territories while over 47,43,580 doses are in the pipeline and will reach them within the next three days, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday. So far, the Government of India has provided 26,69,14,930 vaccine doses to the States and UTs. Of these, the total consumption, including wastage, is 25,67,21,069 doses, according to data available at 8 am on Tuesday...

BOLLYWOOD personalities Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, producer Ekta Kapoor and filmmaker Abhishek Kapoor on Monday paid tributes to actor Sushant Singh Rajput on his first death anniversary. Rajput, 34, was found dead at his Bandra house on June 14, 2020. Ekta Kapoor shared a series of pictures on her Instagram page and hashtagged the caption, “Remembering Sushant Singh Rajput.” “Wished on the stars with you... Now I wish on a star knowing it’s you,” she wrote. Abhishek Kapoor, ..

A YEAR after the violent face-off with Chinese troops in the Galwan valley on June 15, 2020, the Indian defence forces have strengthened themselves in the entire Ladakh sector through multiple initiatives. These include building infrastructure to enhance connectivity and deploying additional troops to tackle any possible aggression by the Chinese. The strengthening of positions has taken place at all levels in the Indian Armed Forces including both the Indian Army and Air Force. The biggest achievement ..

THE overall number of nuclear warheads in global military stockpiles appears to be increasing this year, a new finding released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday reveals. “The nine nuclear-armed states - the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) - together possessed an estimated 13,080 nuclear weapons at the start of 2021. This marked a decrease from the 13,400 ..

FIVE of the six Lok Janshakti Party MPs in the Lok Sabha have joined hands against their leader Chirag Paswan and elected his paternal uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras in his place, causing a big churn in Bihar politics. Paras on Monday lauded Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as a good leader and “vikas purush” (development-oriented man), highlighting the deep fault lines within the party as his nephew Chirag Paswan has been a strong critic of the JD(U) president. “I have not broken the party but saved ..

THREE-year-old Ayaansh Gupta from Hyderabad, suffering from a rare disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), has been administered with the world’s most expensive medicine ZOLGENSMA, after his parents mobilised Rs 16 crore through crowd-funding. Ayaansh, son of Yogesh Gupta and Rupal Gupta, who is suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) was given Zolgensma on June 9 at Rainbow Children’s Hospital, Secunderabad, under the supervision of Dr. Ramesh Konanki, Consultant Pediatric Neurologist. ZOLGENSMA ..

ZIONA Chana, who is believed to head one of the world’s largest families, with 38 wives, 89 children and 33 grandchildren from Mizoram, passed away at a private hospital here on Sunday. He was 76. An official of Aizawl district administration said that Chana was unwell since June 7 and a few days back admitted to a private hospital in the capital city after his diabetes, hypertension and other old age related problems deteriorated and breathed his last on Sunday afternoon. “The last rites and other ..

MORE than 50 shanties were gutted in a fire that broke out at a Rohingya refugee camp near Kalindi Kunj Metro station in South-East Delhi, officials said on Sunday. The incident took place on Saturday and the fire department received information about it around 11.55 pm, a senior fire official said. No one was injured in the fire, the official said. Five fire tenders were rushed to the spot near Kalindi Kunj Metro station, Madanpur Khadar. The fire was brought under control around 3 am, the official ..

THE Congress must bring widespread reforms across all levels of the organisation to show it is no longer in a state of inertia and to present itself as a viable political alternative to the BJP, party veteran Kapil Sibal said. Sibal, who was among the G-23 leaders whose letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi last year demanding a meaningful overhaul of the party had triggered a storm, hoped the organisational polls, recently postponed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, will “happen sooner than ..

THE Indian Army rescued 41 civilians stranded at blocked Mughal Road in Jammu following heavy rains, informed Defence PRO, Jammu on Saturday night. During a 3-hour-long night rescue operation, the stranded civilians were evacuated. According to Defence PRO, the Mughal Road was blocked due to heavy rainfall, uprooted trees and lightning. “In swift 3 hrs long night rescue ops, #IndianArmy rescued 41 civilians, stranded at blocked #MughalRoad due to heavy rainfall, uprooted trees and lightning at between ..

IN A sign of relief from the sweltering summer heat prevailing in most parts of the country, the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) on Saturday also forecast “no heat wave conditions likely over any part of the country during the next five days”. As per the MeT department, the conditions are favourable for further advancement of south-west monsoon into some more parts of Madhya Pradesh, remaining parts Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar, and some parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh ..

SENIOR Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday courted a fresh controversy during a ‘Club-House Chat’ in response to a question from a journalist of Pakistani origin saying that the Congress would restore Article 370 in Kashmir when it returns to power. “Democracy was not there in Kashmir when they revoked Article 370. Then ‘insaniyat’ (humanity) was not there because they put everyone behind bars and ‘Kashmiriyat’ is something which is basically the fundamentals of secularism. Because in a Muslim-majo..

THE Shiromani Akali Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party formed an alliance on Saturday for the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, coming together after a gap of 25 years. Under the tie-up, the BSP will fight 20 of the 117 Assembly seats while the rest will be contested by the SAD, said Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal while announcing the alliance here. The SAD-BSP alliance had contested the 1996 Lok Sabha polls together and won 11 out of 13 seats in Punjab. While three seats were won by the BSP and the ..

TWO policemen and as many civilians were killed and at least three others injured on Saturday when militants opened fire targeting security forces in Sopore town of Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Militants fired upon a joint party of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and police near Main Chowk Sopore in north Kashmir district around noon, they said...

AMID calls for lower levies on items and medicines required in COVID-19 treatment, the GST Council on Saturday decided to slash rates of several COVID-relief items to 5 per cent from existing 12-18 per cent levels, although it kept the much talked-about tax rate on vaccines unchanged at 5 per cent. Addressing the media post the GST Council meet, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the council agreed to go with the recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM) that was single point agenda ..

CHINA’S “artificial Sun” recently broke the world record as achieved a plasma temperature of 120 million Celsius for 101 seconds and 160 million Celsius for 20 seconds, setting new records in the field of nuclear fusion, media reports said. The experiment was achieved by Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) device, or the “Chinese artificial Sun,” located at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the ‘Global Times’ reported. EAST is part of ..

THE Maharashtra Government on Thursday said farmers who repay crop loan up to Rs 3 lakh regularly will be charged zero per cent interest. A decision to this effect was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray here. Earlier, there was 1 per cent concession in interest rate if crop loan between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh was repaid on time. The concession has been now raised by 2 per cent (total 3 per cent which has been waived), a statement from the Chief Minister’s office ..

A CALL from a Pakistani spy agency to an Army installation in eastern India has led to the unravelling of an illegal telephone exchange in Bengaluru, raising questions whether similar systems were operational in other parts of the country, officials said on Thursday. The entire racket was busted by the Military Intelligence wing of the Army’s Southern Command which had intercepted the call received at the Army installation in eastern India a few weeks back. During the call, a spy from Pakistan ..