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New Delhi: India's tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 1,08,26,363 with 12,059 new infections being reported in a day, while the daily deaths fell below 100 for the third time this month, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The toll increased to 1,54,996 with 78 daily new fatalities, the lowest recorded after nine months, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,05,22,601, pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.20 percent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.43 percent. The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 2 lakh. There are 1,48,766 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 1.37 percent of the total caseload, the data stated. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on 7 August, 30 lakh on 23 August, 40 lakh on 5 September and 50 lakh on 16 September. It went past 60 lakh on 28 September, 70 lakh on 11 October, crossed 80 lakh on 29 Octob

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is unlikely to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled programme at Haldia in Purba Medinipore district on Sunday evening, a top official at the state secretariat said. The exact reason for this uncertainty has not been specified, but the 'insult meted out to her' on 23 January, when 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans were raised at an event just before her speech, could be the cause, he said. Modi is set to inaugurate four projects in Haldia in oil, gas, and infrastructure sectors. "Madam (CM) is unlikely to attend this evening''s programme at Haldia where PM Modi will be inaugurating projects," the official told PTI . The TMC boss has also asked her party members to skip the programme, he added. Banerjee had on 23 January refused to deliver her speech at an event on the occasion of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary, after a section of the audience raised ''Jai Sh

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in West Bengal and Assam on Sunday for inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of several development projects and will also address public meetings on these occasions in the two poll-bound states. His office HAD said on Friday that Modi will lay the foundation stone of two hospitals and launch ''Asom Mala'', a programme for state highways and major district roads, at Dhekiajuli in Assam. He will later dedicate to the nation and also lay the foundation stone of key infrastructure projects at Haldia in West Bengal. In Bengal, Modi will inaugurate an LPG import terminal built by the state-run BPCL that has been constructed at an investment of around Rs 1,100 crore and has a capacity of 1 million metric tonnes per annum. "It will cater to the growing requirement of LPG in West Bengal and other states in eastern and north-eastern India and is an important step towards realising the vision of the Prime Minister t

Ghaziabad: Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday called on peasants across the country to join the “tractor revolution” as part of the ongoing protests at Delhi''s borders against the new agri laws introduced by the Centre. During a speech to supporters at the Ghazipur protest site, Tikait reached out to the farming community, many of whom especially in the Delhi-NCR region have been upset over the National Green Tribunal's ban on diesel vehicles, including tractors, that are over 10 years old. “The tractors which run in the farms will now run at the NGT's office in Delhi also. Until recently, they had not asked which vehicles are 10 years old. What is their plan? Phase out tractors older than 10 years and help the corporates? But the tractors older than 10 years will also run and the movement (for repeal of the new farm laws) will also be strengthened,” Tikait, 51, told the crowd amid cheers. He said more and more farmers across the country will participate in th

Mathura: A Mathura court on Saturday issued notices to the Shahi Idgah Masjid management committee and others, seeking their stands on a fresh plea for the removal of the 17th-century mosque from near the birthplace of Lord Krishna in the Katra Keshav Dev temple complex. Additional District and Sessions Judge Dev Kant Shukla issued notices after admitting the plea, ruling that the suit is maintainable and hence admissible for detailed hearing, District Government Counsel (Civil) Sanjai Gaur said. After admitting the civil suit, the court also issued notices to three other respondents — the president of Sunni Waqf Board, Lucknow and the managing trustees of Sri Krishna Janmabhumi Trust Katra Keshav Dev temple and Sri Krishna Seva Sansthan, Katra Keshav Dev temple. The court sought the stands of four respondents to the new plea by 8 March, the next date of hearing, DGC Gaur said. The fresh plea has been filed by priest Pawan Kumar Shastri of the old Keshav Dev temple on behalf of the

Ahmedabad:  Supreme Court Justice MR Shah on Saturday described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "our most popular, loved, vibrant and visionary leader". The praise for the prime minister by Justice Shah came during a function to celebrate the diamond jubilee of the Gujarat High Court. "I am proud and privileged to participate in the function to celebrate the diamond jubilee of Gujarat High Court and that too in the presence of our most popular, loved, a vibrant and visionary leader, prime minister Narendra Modi," Shah said in his address. "One of the essential features of the democratic republic established under the Indian Constitution is a division of powers between Parliament, executive, and the judiciary," the judge went on to say. He felt proud that the Gujarat High Court has never crossed the "Lakshman Rekha" (boundaries of power/code of conduct) and always delivered justice, he said. Last year, Justice Arun Mishra''s fulsome p

Indore: Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui walked out of Indore central jail late on Saturday night, a day after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a case for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Faruqui was released from the jail after the prison authorities received the order of the Supreme Court, an official of the jail said. Arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, Faruqui was in Indore jail since 1 January. On Friday, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail after the Madhya Pradesh High Court had rejected his bail plea on 28 January. The apex court also stayed the production warrant issued against Faruqui by a court in Prayagraj in connection with an FIR lodged there. Eyewitnesses said that the comedian walked out of the jail silently and quietly, possibly to avoid a backlash in the wake of accusations made against him. Media persons also flocked outside the jail after getting the news of his release. Sometime before his release , an official of the Ind

Amaravati: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said senior military commanders of India and China have held nine rounds of talks on the process of disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh and the parleys will continue in the future also. Addressing reporters in Vijayawada, he said so far there was no "visible expression" of the talks on the ground. "The disengagement talks, because it is a very complicated issue because it depends on troops, you have to know the geography (like) which position and what is happening, this is being done by the military commanders," he said. He was replying to a query on whether there would be any ministerial-level talks between both the countries on skirmishes between troops of the Asian giants. China and India are locked in a military standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5 last. The two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the face-off, but no significant headway has been

Protesting farmer unions Saturday said they are ready to resume talks with the government, but asked it to come up with a fresh proposal as the existing offer to put the three farm laws on hold for 12-18 months is not acceptable to them. The unions, however, made it clear that they would not settle for anything less than the repeal of the three contentious laws. Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border here, Samyukta Kisan Morcha's senior leader Darshan Pal said the ball is now in the government's court now. "We are ready to talk. The ball is in the government's court. We clearly told them that their last proposal (of suspending the farm laws for 12-18 months) was not acceptable to us. Now, they should come up with a new proposal," he told reporters. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farm unions leading the protests at the city border points, thanked all global personalities for their support to the protests. He said the farmers have bee

India's COVID-19 infection tally climbed to 1,08,14,304 with 11,713 new cases being reported in a day, while 1,05,10,796 people have recuperated so far pushing the national recovery rate to 97.19 percent on Saturday, according to Union Health Ministry data . Meanwhile, the country is also gradually improving its vaccine coverage. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that all states and Union Territories will complete the administration of first doses to all health care workers by 20 February and to all frontline workers by 6 March. The total number of beneficiaries has reached 56,36,868, including 52,66,175 healthcare workers and 3,70693 frontline workers, as of 6 pm on Saturday. Active cases under 1.5 lakh in India There are 1,48,590 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which accounts for 1.37 percent of the total caseload, the data stated. The toll from the novel coronavirus, however, climbed to 1,54,918 with 95 deaths reported in a span of 24 hours in

Madhya Pradesh jail authorities did not release comedian Munawwar Faruqi from jail on Saturday even though he was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in a case of allegedly hurting religious sentiments with objectionable remarks about Hindu deities during a show. Officials cited the execution of a production warrant issued by a trial court in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh court, in connection with an FIR lodged in the state, for not releasing the comedian. The top court had on Friday stayed a Madhya Pradesh High Court order of 28 January, which had refused to grant Faruqui the bail and had also stayed the production warrant issued against the comedian by the Uttar Pradesh trial court. Counsels of the comedian on Saturday submitted the order of the apex court in the Indore court, which directed that the comedian be released on a bond of Rs 50,000 and a similar amount of security. Asked why Faruqui was not released from the jail, an officer of the Indore Central Jail told PTI tha

Famers leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday gave the Central Government time till 2 October to repeal the contentious farm laws which saw farmers taking part in chakka jam   (roadblock demonstrations) across the country. "We have given time to the government till 2 October to repeal the laws. After this, we will do further planning. We won't hold discussions with the government under pressure," a report in Economic Times quoted the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader as saying while addressing farmers following the chakka jam protests. Tikait also asserted that the protesting farmers, who are demanding the repeal of the contentious farm marketing laws, "will stay put till 2 October" in the perseverance of their demand. "We will sit here till 2 October," said Tikait, who is camping with his supporters at the Ghazipur protest site on the Delhi-Meerut highway since November. The chakka jam , during which farmers blocked national and state highways in va

BJP president JP Nadda had a meal of khichdi seated on the floor with farmers as he reached out to peasants on Saturday in election-bound West Bengal, and excoriated the Mamata Banerjee government for depriving them of the benefits of the PM Kisan Scheme to "satisfy her ego". On a day when farmer unions have called a 'chakka jam' against three contentious agricultural laws, Nadda reaffirmed the BJP and the Narendra Modi government's commitment to the welfare of the farming community. Mocking Banerjee for agreeing to implement the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana only after realising that her party is fast losing ground among the farmers in the state, Nadda vowed justice for them once the BJP is voted to power in West Bengal. "What Mamata di did to the farmers of Bengal by depriving them of PM Kisan Scheme was an injustice. Due to her whims and to satisfy her ego, Mamata Ji did not allow the scheme to be implemented. This has affected over 70 lakh farmers who f

The Shiv Sena on Saturday appeared to disfavour ally Congress's decision to replace state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat with Nana Patole and the latter's resignation as Maharashtra Assembly Speaker. An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana  also said there was substance in NCP chief Sharad Pawar's reported view that the three coalition partners will take decision on the Speaker's post through negotiations now. Patole resigned as Speaker earlier this week to take over as state Congress chief even as the Budget session is to start from 1 March. The Congress shares power in the state with the Sena and the NCP. The Saamana editorial said the Congress had been given the post of Speaker for five years, and not for forcing an election for the post midway through which should have been avoided. "NCP chief Sharad Pawar said the three parties will sit together and decide what is to be done about the Speaker's post. One thing is certain, there is substance in Paw

The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has reopened the link to register for the Bihar Board Class 10 annual examination 2022. Candidates who will be appearing in the secondary board exams next year need to visit the dedicated site of BSEB to apply in the online mode. Interested and eligible candidates must go to secondary.biharboardonline.com and enter their names in the registration portal. According to a report by NDTV , students who are currently studying in Standard 9 and will be promoted to Class 10 next year will be able to apply through the recently opened link for Class 10 board exams in 2022. Students need to fill in the application form given on the site and submit it thereafter in order to complete the registration process. Follow these steps to apply for Bihar Board Class 10th annual examination 2022: Step 1: Visit the BSEB secondary exam site at secondary.biharboardonline.com Step 2: Click on ‘Registration./ Permission’ tab at the top of the homepage Step 3: Yo

The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) has declared the result of the preliminary exam conducted for the recruitment of CRP Clerks X on its official website. Candidates who appeared in the written exam can log in on ibps.in to check their marks online. The result link went live at ibps.in on 6 February and it will remain available on the site till 12 February. According to a report by Jagran Josh , the preliminary exam was conducted by IBPS on 5, 12 and 13 December, 2020. Follow these steps to check the prelims result online: Step 1: Visit the official site of IBPS at ibps.in Step 2: Find the link on the homepage that says ‘Click Here to View Your Result Status of Online Preliminary Examination for CRP Clerks X’ and click on it Step 3: You will be redirected to another page Step 4: Enter your Registration Number and Password in the given space and login Step 5: Once you have logged in, your result status will appear on the screen Step 6: Check the result,

Ahmedabad:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday praised the country's judiciary, saying that it has performed its duty well in safeguarding people's rights and upholding personal freedom, and added that it has also strengthened the Constitution. He said the Supreme Court in India has conducted the highest number of hearings via video-conferencing from among the top courts of all the countries in the world during the coronavirus pandemic. Modi also said that in order to make the country's justice system future-ready, the possibility of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) was being explored. He was speaking after virtually releasing a commemorative postage stamp on the Gujarat High Court for sixty years of its establishment. "Every countryman can say that our judiciary has worked with firmness to uphold our Constitution. Our judiciary has strengthened the Constitution by its positive interpretation," Modi said. "The Supreme Court has conducted the high

Amaravati: In a rare occurrence, the Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission on Saturday issued orders to the Director-General of Police to ensure that Minister P Ramachandra Reddy is "confined" to his home till 21 February for his alleged remarks against the commission. Panchayat polls in the state are scheduled to begin from 9 February and will go on till 21 February in four phases. SEC Ramesh Kumar, in his order said the Commission had carefully looked at various alternatives and avenues of remedial action and was invoking its plenary powers under Article 243K of the Constitution and directing the DGP to"confine" the Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development to his residential premises till completion of gram panchayat elections, which would conclude on 21 February. The orders issued are in the nature of reasonable restrictions and are essentially preventive measures, taken recourse to ensure free and fair elections and to enable the voters to exercis

Amaravati: India has so far supplied COVID- 19 vaccine to 15 countries and another 25 nations are in the queue at different levels for the jab, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said here on Saturday. He said there are three categories of countries which are keen to get the vaccine from India- poor, price sensitive nations and other countries which directly deal with pharmaceutical companies that make the antidote. "I think right now we have already supplied to about 15 countries (as per my recollection). I would say there would be another about 25 countries which are at different stages in the pipeline. But what it has done is today it has put India on the map of the world," Jaishankar told reporters in a press conference. The minister said some poor countries are being supplied the vaccine on a grant basis while some nations wanted it on par with the price that the Indian government pays to the vaccine makers. Some countries have direct contracts with the Indian va

Bhopal: In an apparent attack on Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar over the farmers' protest against three farm laws, senior RSS leader Raghunandan Sharma has said the arrogance of power has gone to his head. Sharma, a former BJP Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh, in his Facebook post written two days back, also suggested to the minister that he should work towards strengthening nationalism. In his social media post that starts with the line, "Narendraji, you are part and parcel of the government", Sharma said, "Your intention might be of helping the farmers, but if some people don't want to be helped, what is the use of doing such good?" "If someone wants to remain naked, what is the use of forcibly clothing him," he said. "If you are harbouring a thought that you are reaping the fruits of your hard labour, it is your illusion," the 73-year-old RSS leader said in the post. "...Today arrogance of power has go

In early 2020, India responded to COVID-19 with a strict lockdown , mask mandates, and a broad shutdown of schools and recreational centers . The disease burden- as the country with the second highest number of total COVID-19 cases- meant that India spent much of the year battling internal issues, but current lack of global leadership from the US and the EU means that India can no longer afford to focus inwards. Rather, the government must aim to export more vaccines and provide greater aid to struggling nations around the world. Science diplomacy is defined, nebulously, as a series of interactions that occur in the intersection of the two fields of science and diplomacy. A subset of science diplomacy is called vaccine diplomacy, which involves the convergence of vaccine development, import and export for furthering a country’s diplomatic goals. India has no specific framework for this particular kind of diplomacy, but are not hesitating to use vaccine diplomacy to drum up internatio

The admit cards for the February session of Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2021 are likely to be released next week online. The National Testing Agency (NTA) is responsible for conducting the national-level entrance exams and NTA will release the hall tickets on its official website soon. As per an official notification, NTA is scheduled to release the hall ticket for JEE Main 2021 February session in the second week of February. A report by Times Now suggests the tentative date of the release of admit cards is 10 February, 2021. Candidates set to appear in the engineering entrance exam are advised to visit jeemain.nta.nic.in regularly to stay updated. No personal intimation is going to be sent to the applicants. The hall ticket is likely to carry several important details about the exam. The admit card is going to have the name of the examination centre, slot assigned to a particular candidate and the reporting time. Once the link gets activated, follow these steps to down

New Delhi: Entry and exit facilities at several prominent Delhi metro stations were on Saturday temporarily closed in view of the 'chakka jam' protests by farmer unions agitating against the new agri laws. Farmer unions on Monday had announced a countrywide 'chakka jam' on 6 February when they would block national and state highways between 12 pm and 3 pm to protest the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues. However, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of the farmer unions protesting the three farm laws, on Friday said the protesters will not block roads in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand during the ''chakka jam''. The DMRC in a series of tweets informed commuters that multiple stations have been closed. "Security Update Entry/exit gates of Mandi House, ITO and Delhi Gate are closed," it tweeted. It later also tweeted that entry and exit gates

Kolkata:  West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday sought a vote-on-account for Rs 2.99 lakh crore as she opened the doors of state exchequer for common people ahead of the Assembly polls, showering the farm sector with sops and wooing the elderly and widows with pensions. The Opposition BJP staged a noisy walkout shouting 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan, while the Left-Congress combine boycotted her speech. Both termed the largesse an "election manifesto". Banerjee presented the vote on account in the absence of state finance minister Amit Mitra, who is not keeping well. The estimates for the first few months of the new fiscal, starting April, will be taken up for discussion over the next two days before the Assembly passes it. Banerjee, while criticising the Centre for not extending "necessary help", insisted the state tirelessly undertook welfare measures for its people. The TMC supremo, who is locked in a tug of war with challenger BJP ahead of the

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) declared the final results of the Combined Defence Services (I) or CDS (I) examination 2020 on its official website on Friday, 5 February. Candidates who have appeared in the UPSC CDS (I) 2020 exams are advised to visit the official site of UPSC at upsc.gov.in and check their final results. The final merit list has been published on the basis of the CDS (I) exam conducted by the commission and various interviews organised by the Services Selection Board of the Ministry of Defence. A report by Hindustan Times quoted an official notification to state that the UPSC had recommended a set of shortlisted candidates for different academies. As many as 2,614 candidates had qualified in the written test for the Indian Military Academy, 1,429 for the Indian Naval Academy and 632 for the Air Force Academy. The notice says that the number of candidates who have been finally allowed to qualify are those who managed to pass the SSB test conducted later

11:03 (IST) Delhi Police monitoring social media as security arrangement Elaborating about the security arrangements for the proposed ' chakka jam ', Delhi Police PRO Chinmoy Biswal said that in view of the violence that took place on Republic Day, adequate security arrangements have been put in place at the borders so that miscreants are not able enter the National Capital. While farmers have said that no chakka jam will be held in Delhi, the police said they have taken additional measures to deal with any situation emerging out of the protest. "We are monitoring content on the social media to make sure rumours are not spread against the police. The protestors are camping at the borders of Delhi. We are in touch with the police force of other states also," he added. A senior police officer said to prevent any kind of law and order situation and disruption of normal life during the 'chakka jam', adequate forces are being deployed across the outer-north di