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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tributes to Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore on his 160th birth anniversary. Tagore was born on 7 May but his birthday is celebrated in West Bengal, where he was born and is revered, according to the traditional Bengali calendar, and this year it falls on Sunday. "On Tagore Jayanti, I bow to the great Gurudev Tagore. May his exemplary ideals keep giving us strength and inspiration to build the India he dreamt of," he said, paying tributes to the man of many talents. On Rabindra Jayanti, the people of West Bengal hold cultural events to celebrate the social reformer's enduring legacy. In Santiniketan, Tagore's abode, elaborate celebrations mark the day with the students and teachers of Visva-Bharati paying homage to the founder. Tagore was a playwright, philosopher, composer and poet. He became the first Asian to win the Nobel prize for literature in 1913 for his epoch-making collection of poems,  Gitanjali.  Most of hi

New Delhi: India recorded 4,03,738 fresh COVID-19 cases in a day, which pushed the tally to 2,22,96,414, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll climbed to 2,42,362 with 4,092 deaths in the past 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 37,36,648, comprising 16.76 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 82.15 percent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,83,17,404 with 3,86,444 patients recovering in a day, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.09 per cent, the data stated. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the 1-crore mark on December 19. India cros

10:03 (IST) Coronavirus Latest News LIVE Updates India records 4,03,738 new cases, 4,092 deaths Single day rise of 4,03,738 COVID-19 infections, 4,092 fatalities push India's tally of cases to 2,22,96,414 and toll to 2,42,362, reports news agency PTI quoting the Union health ministry.  09:36 (IST) Coronavirus Latest News LIVE Updates ICMR says 30.22 cr samples tested till 8 May COVID-19 Testing Update. For more details visit: https://t.co/dI1pqvXAsZ @MoHFW_INDIA @DeptHealthRes #ICMRFIGHTSCOVID19 #IndiaFightsCOVID19 #CoronaUpdatesInIndia #COVID19 #Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/x4AGtbINeW — ICMR (@ICMRDELHI) May 9, 2021 09:35 (IST) Coronavirus Latest News LIVE Updates Mizoram records 169 new cases   At least 169 people, including 12 policemen who had returned from West Bengal after election duty, have tested positive for novel coronavirus in Mizoram, pushing the state's COVID-19 caseload to 7,551, an official said on Sunday. So far 287 police perso

Medical journal The Lancet on Saturday severely criticised the Narendra Modi government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis , saying that its actions in attempting to stifle criticism and open discussions are 'inexcusable'. Referring to the large number of people seeking emergency assistance on social media, the editorial said, "...Before the second wave of cases of COVID-19 began to mount in early March, Indian minister of health Harsh Vardhan declared that India was in the “endgame” of the epidemic. The impression from the government was that India had beaten COVID-19 after several months of low case counts, despite repeated warnings of the dangers of a second wave and the emergence of new strains." It further noted, "Modelling suggested falsely that India had reached herd immunity, encouraging complacency and insufficient preparation, but a serosurvey by the Indian Council of Medical Research in January suggested that only 21 percent of the population had

Puducherry: With the Union Territory of Puducherry witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases, the territorial government on Saturday imposed a two-week lockdown starting from 10 May, in a bid to curb its spread. The Secretary to Government (Relief and Rehabilitation), Ashok Kumar, in an order, said the lockdown would be in addition to the night curfew already in force from 10 pm to 5 am the next day. The lockdown was being imposed as there was no let up in the increased cases of coronavirus in the Union Territory, he said "The lockdown will be in force for two weeks from 10 May midnight to 24 May," he said in the order. In addition to the Corona night curfew, there shall be lockdown with effect from 10th May (midnight) up to 24th May (midnight): Government of Puducherry pic.twitter.com/ybDo2G07Q8 — ANI (@ANI) May 8, 2021 During the period, beaches, parks, gardens would remain closed to the public, as also all places of worship and religious centres Petrol bunks, pow

New Delhi: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Saturday said that the Union health ministry should "wake up" and respond to mitigate the growing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The doctors' body, in a statement, also alleged that the ministry has not taken appropriate action to deal with the second COVID-19 wave. "IMA demands the health ministry to wake up from its slumber and respond to mitigate the growing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. IMA is astonished to see the extreme lethargy and inappropriate actions from the ministry of health in combating the agonising crisis born out of the devastating second wave of COVID-19 pandemic," it said. The statement said for the last 20 days, the IMA has been insisting on a complete and well-planned national lockdown to ramp up health infrastructure and replenish both material and manpower. "The collective consciousness, proactive cognisance, and requests made by the IMA and other professional learn

Bengaluru:  Two southern states in India became the latest to declare lockdowns, as coronavirus cases surge at breakneck speed across the country and pressure mounts on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to implement a nationwide shutdown. At over 300,000, Karnataka's capital of Bengaluru has the highest active caseload of any Indian city. But experts warn the worst is still ahead as India's third-largest city buckles under oxygen shortages, overrun hospitals and crowded crematoriums. In Tamil Nadu state, the lockdown announcement followed a daily record of more than 26,000 cases on Friday. Infections have swelled in India since February in a disastrous turn blamed on more contagious variants as well as government decisions to allow massive crowds to gather for religious festivals and political rallies. On Saturday, India reported 401,078 confirmed cases, including a record high of 4,187 deaths. Overall, India has more than 21.8 million confirmed infections and ne

With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise at breakneck speed across India, pressure is growing on states to announce lockdown. On Saturday, as India's tally exceeded 4 lakh, several more states either imposed stricter restrictions or extended the existing ones. In south, Tamil Nadu announced a 15-day lockdown from 10 May, while in northwestern part of the country, Rajasthan said that it will be imposing stricter restrictions from Monday. Here is a look at coronavirus-induced restrictions imposed by states and Union Territories across India: *Delhi: The national capital has been under lockdown since 19 April and it was last extended till 10 May. *Haryana is under a seven-day long lockdown from 3 May. Earlier, weekend curfew was enforced in nine districts. *Bihar on 4 May imposed a lockdown till 15 May. *Uttar Pradesh has extended the duration of the weekend lockdown till 7 am on 10 May. *Odisha is under a 14-day lockdown from 5 to 19 May. *Rajasthan has decided to implement a s

The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to remedy the situation forthwith and to ensure the availability of 700 MT of oxygen to Delhi on a daily basis, pending further orders. It said that the Centre is under an obligation to ensure a daily supply of 700 MT of oxygen to meet the existing requirements of the national capital and directed that there shall be no reduction in the allocation and availability of medical oxygen to Delhi. A bench of justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah said that the Centre has on record stated on April 21 that there is no dearth of oxygen and a quantity of 16,000 MT of liquid medical oxygen is available in the country. "We direct the Union of India to remedy the situation forthwith and to ensure that the direction issued by this court for the availability of 700 MT is strictly observed on a daily basis, pending further orders," the bench said in its order passed on May 6 and uploaded on Saturday. It noted that on 6 May, the total quantity of oxy

Kerala and Tamil Nadu on Saturday joined the list of states imposing tougher restrictions in a bid to curb the exponential rise of COVID-19 cases. On the national front, India's numbers continued to be grim with a record 4,187 deaths in 24 hours. A total of 4,01,078 new cases were reported during the same period, taking the caseload to 2,18,92,676. The Kerala government imposed a complete lockdown from Saturday morning, while the newly-elected DMK government in Tamil Nadu announced a 15-day total shutdown from 10 May. On Friday, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had tweeted that "no one will go hungry" during the nine-day lockdown and announced measures to provide food for people. Nobody will go hungry during the lockdown. Next week onwards free food kits will be distributed for all families and guest workers. Food will be delivered to the needy from People's Restaurants and Community Kitchens through Local Self Government Institutions. — Pinarayi Vijayan

With oxygen shortages continuing across the country, the Supreme Court Saturday constituted a 12-member National Task Force of top medical experts to formulate a methodology for allocation of oxygen to states and Union Territories and to facilitate a public health response to the pandemic. "We expect that the leading experts in the country shall associate with the work of the task force both as members and resource persons as this will facilitate a meeting of minds and the formulation of scientific strategies to deal with an unprecedented human crisis," the top court said. "The establishment of this Task Force will enable the decision makers to have inputs which go beyond finding ad-hoc solutions to the present problems. The likely future course of the pandemic must be taken into contemplation at the present time," a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah said. It added that this will ensure that projected future requirements can be scientifically mapped in

Mother’s Day 2021:  Every year, the special occasion of Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May . This year, the day will be marked on 9 May. It is observed to honour all the mothers who dedicate their lives to their children and families. Officially, this day was established by the 28th US President Woodrow Wilson. On this occasion, children give presents and flowers to their mothers. They also give their mothers an off from all the household chores and do the work themselves. Here are a few messages and greetings for the occasion of Mother’s Day 2021 which you can share to wish your mother: - Thanks for being my mom, mom. Happy Mother’s day! - I am grateful for everything you’ve done for me. Happy Mother’s Day! - You deserve a medal for putting up with me for all these years. Thank you for everything. - A mom bears all the pain and faces all the difficulties to make her kids happy. Wish you a heartfelt Mother’s day! - I hope to become as graceful, as strong,

Mumbai: Mumbai police deployed humour in its tweets along with a dose of Tom and Jerry, the legendary cat and mouse cartoon strip, to ask people to adhere to COVID-19 norms in the metropolis, especially wearing masks inpublic, in order to "ride out this storm together". Indicating that violators will have the police after them, a tweet from the force said, "Please don't go out without a cause or a mask on your face... let's not make it a cat and mouse chase. We really dont like 'Tom-Tomming' about the consequences." The tweet, with hashtags like #MasksNecessaryJerry #WhatsTheHurryJerry #TakingOnCorona, was accompanied by a six-second video of perennial 'frenemies' Tom and Jerry, which soon went viral on social media, garnering praise for the men in khakhi for their wit. With over five million followers, the Twitter handle of Mumbai police was soon at the centre of sizeable tweet traffic, with users like Shachii Manik and Gaurav Nawathey u

The Civil Services Exam, Rashtriya Indian Military College Entrance Exam, and Combined Engineering Subordinate Services Examination, scheduled to be held in May and June, have been postponed by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.  The announcement has been made on the official website https://tnpsc.gov.in/ . The TNPSC Civil Services Exam was set to be held from 28 to 30 May. Along with this, Rashtriya Indian Military College Entrance Exam was supposed to take place on 5 June while the Combined Engineering Subordinate Services Examination was to be conducted on 6 June. The new dates for these examinations will be declared later. Candidates should regularly visit the official website, tnpsc.gov.in, to check for updates related to the exams. The Civil Services Exam will fill as many as 69 vacancies. There are 18 vacancies for Deputy Collector while 19 for Deputy Superintendent of Police (Category-I). For Assistant Commissioner

More than 84 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and union territories and over 53 lakh doses will be distributed to them in the next three days, the Centre said on Saturday. In an official statement, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that so far over 17.49 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states/UTs, out of which around 16.7 crore doses have been consumed. "Of the vaccine doses provided, the total consumption, including wastages, is 16,65,49,583 doses (as per data available at 8 am on Saturday). More than 84 lakh COVID vaccine doses (84,08,187) are still available with states/UTs to be administered," the ministry said. It said that states with a negative balance are showing more consumption (including wastage) than vaccine supplied as they have "not reconciled the vaccine they have supplied to the armed forces". "Furthermore, more than 53 lakh (53,25,000) vaccine doses will be received in addition by states/UTs

The Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE) has deferred the practical exams for classes 10 and 12 until further notice. The practical exams were set to begin from 20 May but now stand postponed due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the state, as per the notice shared on the official Twitter handle of the School Education Department, Madhya Pradesh. #Covid19 के संक्रमण को दृष्टिगत रखते हुये 15 मई 2021 तक प्रदेश में Corona Curfew (लॉक डाउन ) होने के कारण मण्डल की प्रायोगिक परीक्षायें आगामी आदेश तक स्थगित की जाती है। स्थगित प्रायोगिक परीक्षाओं के आयोजन संबंधी तिथियां पृथक से घोषित की जाएगी। pic.twitter.com/YFvgwDSwhi — School Education Department, MP (@schooledump) May 7, 2021 Along with classes 10 and 12, the board has also postponed the practical examinations for Physical Education Training and Diploma in Pre-school Education (DPSE) and Higher Secondary Vocational Courses till further notice. The new dates for practical exams will be announced separately, the tweet

Shutting shops, suspending public vehicle transport and strictly restricting the on-road movement of people, Kerala came under complete lockdown from Saturday morning to contain the massive spread of COVID-19 pandemic. The restrictions came into force by 6am and would be extended up to 16 May midnight, official sources here said. The state government decided to impose a 9-day complete shut as the weekend restrictions and lockdown-like curbs imposed earlier failed to create any desired impact in terms of the daily caseload of the infected persons. The number of daily cases had crossed the 42,000 mark earlier this week but registered a slight dip on Friday-38,460 cases- in the southern state, according to government figures. As lockdown is in place, only essential services are exempted and people are strictly warned against coming out in public places or travel unnecessarily. Police intensified patrolling in every nook and cranny of the state since morning to ensure that nobody is ven

The National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhubaneswar has invited applications for the positions of Scientific Officer ‘D’ and  Scientific Officer ‘C’ for the Centre for Medical and Radiation Physics. The recruitment drive aims at filling a total of six vacancies. The last date to apply is 10 June. Those who want to apply can do it by visiting the official website niser.ac.in . Aspirants can follow these simple steps to apply: Visit https://www.niser.ac.in/ On the homepage, go to the ‘Latest News’ section and click on the ‘Apply Online’ link Fill in all the information and register yourself After registration, log in using credentials, and start filling the application form Upload passport size photograph, signature, and scanned copy of the certificates Pay the fee, verify all the information, and submit the form Save a copy. If required, take a printout for future reference Here’s the direct link to apply: https://ims.niser.ac.in/OnlineRecruitmentApp

New Delhi: An anti-COVID oral drug developed by the DRDO has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe coronavirus patients, the defence ministry said on Saturday. Clinical trials of the drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) showed that it helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence, it said. The approval to the drug has come at a time when India has been grappling with a record-breaking wave of coronavirus pandemic that has stretched the country's healthcare infrastructure to its limit. "In the ongoing second COVID-19 wave, a large number of patients are facing severe oxygen dependency and need hospitalisation. "The drug is expected to save precious lives due to the mechanism of operation of the drug in infected cells. This also reduces the hospital stay of COVID-19 patients," the ministry said. It said the anti-COVID-19 therapeutic applic

New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the number of COVID-19 vaccination centres will be increased and demanded that the Centre supply of around 2.6 crore vaccine doses for inoculation of all people in the National Capital in the next three months. Currently, vaccination is going on at 100 centres in Delhi. The number of centres will be increased to 250-300 by the Delhi government, he said in an online briefing. दिल्ली में चल रहे अब तक के सबसे बड़े कोरोना वैक्सीनेशन अभियान पर महत्वपूर्ण प्रेस वार्ता | LIVE https://t.co/leUHSH6Krr — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 8, 2021 In order to vaccinate all people in Delhi, over three crore doses will be required, out of which around 40 lakh have already been received, he said. The chief minister urged the Centre to provide it 85 lakh doses per month so that all the Delhiites could be vaccinated in the next three months. He said that due to good arrangements in Delhi, people from NCR towns like Noida, G

The alternative criteria based on which students of Class 10 will be allotted marks this year has been released by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha. BSE Class 10 exams have been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore, students will be assessed based on their performance in Class 9 and 10 combined. The board has selected 2,766 mentor schools and has attached nearby schools to them. The results will be declared by 30 June. As per the notification , BSE Odisha has said that the board will take into consideration the marks scored in each subject in Class 9 half-yearly and final exams along with the marks scored in second, third, and fourth practice exams. Forty percent weightage will be given to the highest marks scored in Class 9 in each subject. However, in case a student has not appeared in any of the practice tests of the Class 10 exam then 100 percent weightage will be given to the Class 9 tests. The highest marks scored in two subjects of the Class 10

The final year exams for postgraduate courses have been postponed by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS). The exams were scheduled to start from 24 June. The PG exams have been delayed in order to use the services of the resident doctors (who are in their final year) for COVID-19 work. The increasing number of coronavirus cases in the state is also the reason behind the delay. The recommendation for postponing the medical exams came from the Directorate of Medical Education and Research. A government official was quoted by The Times of India that doctors require study leave of at least 45 days before the exams and at this point, it would not be possible to relieve them of their duties. The official added that although Mumbai is doing better, the situation is different in other parts of Maharashtra and that is why final year doctors cannot be relieved because it will cause a shortage of manpower. The Centre had also issued an advisory asking state governments to

The Gauhati University has decided to conduct all the undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) exams in the Open Book System in online mode next month. The decision was taken during an online meeting held on 7 May which was chaired by Vice-Chancellor Professor Pratap Jyoti. The meeting was attended by the heads of the teaching departments, the Registrar, the Controller of Examinations, among others. In view of the current COVID-19 situation in the state, the PG exams will now be held from 1 to 15 June while the UG examinations will commence from the second week of June. The respective principals and the heads of departments (HODs) of the colleges will decide about the necessary study break. A committee has been constituted to streamline the entire online exam process. It will offer necessary suggestions to the Controller of Examinations. The university has also opened its academic as well as administrative offices from Saturday, 8 May with only 50 percent of employees, keeping in

Ten labourers were killed after an explosion in a limestone mine in Andhra Pradesh's Kadapa on Saturday. There were at least 40 workers present at the site and the toll is likely to rise, reports said. Kadapa district Superintendent of Police K Anburajan was quoted as saying by PTI that the blast occurred when a consignment of gelatin sticks (explosive material) was being unloaded at the limestone mine on the outskirts of Mamillapalli village. The vehicle was fully mangled under the impact of the explosion. The gelatin sticks were brought from Budwel. "It is a licensed limestone mine and certified operators had brought the consignment. The blast occurred when the sticks were being unloaded," Anburajan said. Most of the deceased are reported from Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's native village, Pulivendula, Hindustan Times reported . The explosion also created tremors in nearby villages, the report added. Relief and rescue operations for the workers trapped

CRPF GDMO Recruitment 2021:  The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has started the recruitment drive to fill 50 General Duty Medical Officers (GDMO) posts in various CRPF units/GC/CHs/Institutions across the country.  The walk-in interviews are scheduled to be held on 13 May. The recruitment will be on a contractual basis for one year and the remuneration for shortlisted candidates has been finalised at Rs 75,000 per month, the official notification said . The posts are open for both male and female aspirants. Important Instructions: 1. A candidate should report to the centre on time i.e. at 9:00 am on 13 May. 2. Aspirants should bring both original and photocopies of all the relevant documents. This includes a medical degree, age proof, experience certificate, etc. 3. They should submit an application on plain paper mentioning the post he/she has applied for. 4. Along with the application, five passport size photographs should also be submitted. 5. Those who clear the intervi

The Indian Coast Guard has announced the result for February 2021 examination held for Navik and Yantrik posts. Aspirants, who have appeared for Stage I examination for Navik (General Duty and Domestic Branch) and Yantrik (Electrical/ Electronics/ Mechanical), can check their scorecard on the official site joinindiancoastguard.gov.in. Candidates who have successfully qualified for the Stage I examination will move to the next stage of scrutiny, i.e. Stage II examination. Applicants can follow these simple steps to check the results: 1. Visit https://ift.tt/2R3Jkbq 2. On the homepage, go to the ‘News and Events’ section and click on the ‘Result’ notification 3. Read all the instructions carefully 4. Now, click on ‘CGEPT 02/21 Result’ link 5. Use your email id and password to log in 6. The result will appear on the screen 7. Save a copy. If required, take a printout Direct link for the result: https://ift.tt/38KPffN The result page will show the following messages for successf

With Tamil Nadu witnessing a sharp increase in the COVID-19 cases, the government on Saturday announced a two-week 'total lockdown' across the state to curb the spread of the pandemic. Chief Minister MK Stalin said in a statement that the lockdown was being enforced due to 'unavoidable reasons' and pointed out that the decision was taken based on inputs received at a review meeting he had with district collectors on Friday, besides consultations with medical experts. "The total lockdown will be enforced from 4 am on 10 May to 4 am on 24 May," he said. During the lockdown, all shops and commercial establishments including malls and big format stores selling anything other than groceries, vegetables, meat and foods products will remain shut, News18 reported . Food delivery services such as Swiggy and Zomato can pick up orders between 6-10 a.m. during the day, for three hours after noon and between 6-9 p.m. through the day. Restaurants and eateries and tea sh

09:47 (IST) Coronavirus Latest News LIVE Updates India's COVID-19 toll crosses 2.38 lakh The 4,187 new COVID-19 deaths take India's toll to 2,38,270 on Saturday. With another 401,078 new cases in the past 24 hours, the country's caseload is nearly 2.19 crore, said the Union health ministry. 09:37 (IST) Coronavirus Latest News LIVE Updates India records over 4 lakh daily cases for third straight day India reported 4,01,078 fresh COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, pushing the tally over 2.18 crore on Saturday, said the Union health ministry. 09:34 (IST) Coronavirus Latest News LIVE Updates At 4,187, India records highest single-day COVID-19 deaths India's COVID-19 wave crossed another grim milestone on Saturday after the country reported more than 4,000 deaths from the virus in a single day. The daily cases stayed over 4 lakh for the third straight day. 09:32 (IST) Coronavirus Latest News LIVE Updates More than 16.71 crore vaccine doses adminis