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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said COVID-19 vaccination for children between the age of 15 to 18 years will begin from 3 January amid a steady rise in the cases of the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19. The prime minister also said precautionary doses will be given to healthcare and frontline workers from 10 January. For those above 60 years with comorbidities, precaution doses will also be given from 10 January, said Modi. My address to the nation. https://t.co/dBQKvHXPtv — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 25, 2021 Since the start of the year from 16 January till now, India has registered 141 crore vaccine doses, said the prime minister. He further added that 61 percent of India's population has received both the COVID-19 doses, while 90 percent received single dose. इसलिए Precaution की दृष्टि से सरकार ने निर्णय लिया है कि हेल्थकेयर और फ्रंटलाइन वर्कर्स को वैक्सीन की Precaution Dose भी प्रारंभ की जाएगी। इसकी शुरुआत 2022 में, 10 जनवरी, सोमव

Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, received approval from drug regulator DCGI for emergency use for children aged between 12-18 years on Saturday. Further regulatory process is being streamlined to make children registrations on CoWin platform, reported Moneycontrol . Bharat Biotech receives approval from DCGI for emergency use of its vaccine for children aged between 12-18 years: Offical Sources pic.twitter.com/WzRuUzqnUT — ANI (@ANI) December 25, 2021 With this, Covaxin becomes the second COVID-19 vaccine cleared for use for children in India. In August, Zydus Cadila's three-dose DNA jab was allowed to be used on all over the age of 12. Covaxin will be administered to children in two doses, with a gap of 28 days between the first and second doses. The gap and dosage of vaccine for adults and children will be the same according to the trial data submitted to the government. Bharat Biotech recently submitted the phase 3 clinical trial a

Clad in a denim suit over a black high neck T-shirt along with faded grey jeans, 72-year Edward finishes decorating the Christmas tree outside the gate. "How does it look?" he asks. Edward stays on the third floor of one of the red buildings of Bow Barrack, Kolkata. He stays alone here. His wife died two years back and his daughter stays in Canada. "She always tries to come here during Christmas but there are lots of travel restrictions right now, therefore, I am alone this winter," he says. Edward is not the only one. Bow Barracks, the home of over 100 Anglo Indian families of Kolkata has similar stories at every house. The families are breaking. But these families have organised a community Christmas celebration this year too, like every year.  After around 50 years finally, the West Bengal government under Mamata Banerjee and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation have done the renovation work of the area. Now the houses wear dark red colour and this was their first

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday heaped praises on Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the government led by him has taken decisions that are good for the people and not which people would like, even at the cost of political damage. Speaking at the event organised on the occasion of Good Governance Day in Delhi, Shah also attacked the previous governments saying the decisions taken by them were made keeping their "vote banks" in mind. "The last 21 governments have taken decisions keeping in mind their vote banks," he said. पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी जी की जयंती पर आयोजित ‘सुशासन दिवस’ कार्यक्रम को संबोधित करते हुए। #GoodGovernanceDay https://t.co/y3NES1n7Dw — Amit Shah (@AmitShah) December 25, 2021 "People have kept saying that we have got independence (swaraj) long ago but when will we get good governance (su-raaj)," he said. Shah said because of lack of good governance, people's faith in the country's democratic sys

Central teams will be deployed in 10 states which are reporting either an increasing number of Omicron and COVID-19 cases or a slow vaccination pace, said the Union Health Ministry. According to the order issued by the ministry on Friday, these states are Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Mizoram, Karnataka, Bihar and Jharkhand. Also on the list are Punjab and Uttar Pradesh — both are due to hold Assembly elections next year. "In view of rapid surge in cases and deaths because of COVID-19, as reported by various news channels, the state governments, and noted in internal reviews, it has been seen that the number of Omicron cases has emerged in some states. "It has also been observed that the pace of COVID-19 vaccination in these states is less than the national average. In wake of this situation, a decision has been taken to deploy multi-disciplinary central teams to 10 identified states some of which are either reporting increasing number of Omicron and COVID-

On the occasion of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birth anniversary, President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid floral tribute at 'Sadaiv Atal' Samadhi in the national capital. LS Speaker Om Birla and Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and others also paid floral tribute at 'Sadaiv Atal' on the occasion. Taking to Twitter, Modi said, "Tributes to respected Atal ji on his birth anniversary. Remembering Atal Ji on his Jayanti. We are inspired by his rich service to the nation. He devoted his life towards making India strong and developed. His development initiatives positively impacted millions of Indians." आदरणीय अटल जी को उनकी जयंती पर कोटि-कोटि नमन। Remembering Atal Ji on his Jayanti. We are inspired by his rich service to the nation. He devoted his life towards making India strong and developed. His development initiatives positively impacted millions of Indians.

There are many reasons for my close familiarity with Mathura-Vrindavan, a holy district of Uttar Pradesh, a pot brimming with colour, music and swirling dance forms of Krishna, a land where women do have a relatively upper hand within families due to what they describe as ‘Radha power’ irrespective of the stench of patriarchy all around the state. Being excited to have been reading about its smart city initiatives through newspapers, a chance to visit after two years of pandemic woes could not be missed. I couldn’t wait to reach there, but the visit left me disappointed despite road widening, multi-level parking and flustered yet dutiful policemen spooking intemperate traffic round the clock. The city seems to be ignored, misunderstood and exploding with adamant visitors and dictating locals. If pilgrimage is considered tourism, visitors to the place are livelihood generating factories for locals as well as conservators of cultural heritage, but are they treated with care, respect and

The Modi Gambit, by economist and BJP national spokesperson Sanju Verma, is a massive book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his outstanding body of work. It is divided into three parts. The first part of the book talks about Modi’s economic policies, bold reforms including denationalisation of coal, labour code, asset monetisation, eRUPI, IBC, banking consolidation, Air India privatisation and other reforms undertaken during his second term in office, which sum up the essence of Modinomics. The second part of the book is an exhaustive analysis of the Prime Minister’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and how despite brazen attempts by the Opposition, Modi successfully steered the world’s largest vaccination drive. It not only gives an inside track of how the world’s largest democracy won the war against COVID-19 but also exposes the hypocrisy of international media that never came out in support of India’s mega vaccination drive, despite the fact that India managed the pandemic e

India remembers Atal Bihari Vajpayee - one of the most admired politicians and the 10th prime minister of the country - on his 97th birth anniversary. To mark the day, several events are being organised across the country. According to a Times of India report, the BJP has planned a motorcycle rally in all 403 assembly seats of Uttar Pradesh. The rally, ‘Atal Yuva Sankalp Yatra’, is themed around ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and comes ahead of the Assembly polls in the state. Born in 25 December, 1924 in the family of a school teacher in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior, Vajpayee is remembered for his strong speeches, oratory skills, and friendly behaviour. The former prime minister of India was also a poet and a compassionate leader. One man many names Atal Bihari Vajpayee had good relations with leaders from all political parties, despite ideological differences. When he was a part of the Opposition for many years, political leaders used to call him ‘right man in the wrong party’. During

Amid Omicron scare, Maharashtra government imposes fresh COVID-19 restrictions today, prohibiting gathering of more than five persons in public places between 9pm to 6am. The new guidelines, issued ahead of Christmas, will come into force from midnight, an official release said late Friday evening. The state recorded 1,410 new coronavirus cases and 20 Omicron infections during the day. The daily COVID-19 cases went up by more than 200 compared to Thursday. Restaurants, gyms, spas, cinemas, theaters will have 50 percent capacity attendance. All of them will have to declare their full potential as well as 50 per cent capacity. In addition, the District Disaster Management Authority may impose restrictions wherever it deems necessary and will require the public to have an idea before doing so. The District Disaster Management Authority may impose stricter restrictions where necessary, taking into account local conditions. Even so, owning one is still beyond the reach of the average p

A shorter or normal duration election with curbs from the onset or the so far unlikely option of postponing polls — the Election Commission of India will take a final call on Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and four other states after an assessment of the COVID-19 situation with the government. The debate whether to hold or postpone elections has been triggered after an Allahabad High Court judge , in an unrelated case on Thursday, offered advice to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone the elections in the light of the threat from the new Covid variant, Omicron "The final call is of the Election Commission. They will be discussing the Covid situation with the Health Ministry next week ahead of the impending announcement of the election schedule. But we believe there are options on the table," a senior government official told News18 . One of these options may be to have a shorter election with strict curbs from the onset in place to disallow any big rallies or gath

The results of the Nirmal NR-256 lottery will be declared at 3 pm today, 24 December, by the Kerala State Lottery Department. Ticket holders can check their results on the department’s official website - https://ift.tt/2K4yhLe. The detailed results of the Nirmal NR-256 lottery can be checked on the official website from 4 pm onwards. As per Times of India, the first prize of the Nirmal NR-256 lottery is Rs 70 lakh. The second prize winner will take home an amount of Rs 10 lakh while the third prize money amounts to Rs 1 lakh. Similarly, the fourth and fifth prize winners of the Nirmal NR-256 lottery will get Rs 5,000 and Rs 1,000, respectively. Apart from that, a consolation prize of Rs 8,000 for the NR-256 lottery will be given to some tickets holders. The Nirmal NR-256 draw will be held at Gorky Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram. The cost of a single Nirmal NR-256 lottery was Rs 30. To claim the prize money, ticket holders need to verify their ticket numbers against the NR-256 lott

Delhi University will conclude the online application process today, 24 December for the recruitment to the posts of more than 200 Assistant Professors in various departments. Interested candidates can apply for the post on the official website of DU - http://www.du.ac.in . DU Recruitment 2021: Steps to apply for Assistant Professor post Visit the official website of the Delhi University - http://www.du.ac.in On the homepage, go to ‘Work With DU’ section – ‘Advertisement - Department’ Then click on Assistant Professor option Click on the link which reads - ‘Online Application’ Register yourself on the portal to fill the recruitment form Apply for Assistant Professor post and upload the required documents Pay the application fee and submit the DU Recruitment 2021 form Candidates are advised to save DU Recruitment 2021 application form Take a hard copy of the same for future reference Candidates can check the official vacancy notice by clicking here DU Recruitment 2021:

The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has initiated the application process for the Combined Graduate Level Examination 2021 (CGL) for filling up various Group ‘B’ and Group ‘c’ posts. Candidates who are eligible may apply for the CGL exam 2021 by visiting the official website of the Staff Selection Commission - https://ssc.nic.in/ How to apply for the examination: -Visit the official website - https://ssc.nic.in/ -Go to ‘Login’ section and click on ‘register now’ -Create registration profile and get registration number -Login to the SSC portal with the registration number and password -Click on Latest Notification tab to apply on link that reads ‘CGLE 2021’ -Complete the application form and upload the mentioned documents -Pay the fee and keep a copy of the submitted form to use in the future According to the official notification released on the website, the last date to apply for CGLE 2021 is 23 January, 2022. The online fee for the registration process can be paid till 25

Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu made a major announcement regarding the teacher eligibility test (TET). Taking to his social media handle, Pegu informed that candidates of General TET (Lower Primary schools (LP) and Upper primary schools (UP)) 2021 who are desiring to apply for regular teachers’ vacancies can do so under the Directorate of Elementary Education (DEE) recruitment 2021. “However, till they receive their certificate and mark sheet issued against their TET qualification, they will be allowed to enter the TET roll number in the field kept for certificate number and to upload the scorecard in place of the mark sheet in the online application module,” the tweet read. Important notification for the successful candidates of General TET (LP & UP) 2021 desiring to apply for the posts of regular teachers under Directorate of Elementary Education. pic.twitter.com/dJ1hGMGqCN — Ranoj Pegu (@ranojpeguassam) December 23, 2021 This recruitment was announced on 19 Septembe

A controversial religious event held in Haridwar last week where speakers allegedly made hate speeches and called for violence against Muslims and Christians, which has sparked outrage, has led the Uttarakhand police to take action. The Uttarakhand police has registered a first information report (FIR) against Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi, formerly known as Waseem Rizvi, and others for allegedly giving a “provocative speech” against “a particular religion” at a Dharma Sansad held in Haridwar between 17-19 December. We examine what exactly was said at this controversial event and why hate speeches continue to dominate Indian polity. The Haridwar event The event in Haridwar, held from 17-19 December, saw several leaders making inflammatory speeches and also calling for killing members of the minority community. The event was organised by Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, head priest of a temple in Ghaziabad who has several cases registered against him. At the religious event, he called

Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged for over a month on Friday, 24 December. The Delhi government had earlier decided to reduce the Value-Added Tax (VAT) on petrol, bringing down the price of the fuel in the city by about Rs 8 per litre. The decision was taken in a meeting of the Delhi cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. At a cabinet meeting chaired by Kejriwal, it was decided that the VAT on petrol will be reduced from the present 30 percent to 19.4 percent, leading to a cut of around Rs 8 per litre, officials said. The price of petrol after the VAT cut will go down from the current Rs 103 per litre to Rs 95 per litre, sources told PTI . Earlier, the petrol price in Delhi was higher as compared to the NCR cities in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, where the state governments had announced a VAT cut following the Centre reducing the excise duty on fuel prices. The Centre had on the eve of Diwali, announced excise duty cut on fuels resulting in a sharp decrease in

Averting a major tragedy, the Jammu and Kashmir police found and destroyed approximately five kilograms of improvised explosive device (IED) planted on the Newa Srinagar road in the Wanpora area of Srinagar. The police, in its release, informed that acting on intelligence reports, in a joint search operation of the Pulwama police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), "IED weighing approx 5 kgs was found assembled in a container." Pulwama Police averted major tragedy. Acting on a specific information Pulwama Police along with 50 RR & 183 BN CRPF found an IED of approx. 5kg assembled in a container planted on Newa Srinagar road. However, BD squad of Police & Army destroyed it on spot @JmuKmrPolice — Pulwama Police (@ssppul) December 23, 2021 "Bomb disposal team of police and army destroyed the IED on spot through a controlled detonation," the police added. A case has been registered in connection with the incident and an investigation has been

The result of the Combined Defence Services (CDS) exam 2021 was announced by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on its official website on 22 December. Aspirants who have appeared for the exam can check their results on UPSC’s official website - upsc.gov.in . The Commission conducted the CDS (II) 2021 examination on 14 November this year. As many as 6,845 candidates has been shortlisted by the UPSC. These candidates will soon be called for the interview, as per the official data available on the commission's official website. UPSC CDS (II) Result 2021: Here’s the steps to check the result Visit UPSC’s official website - upsc.gov.in On the homepage, go the the ‘Written Result’ section Click on the link for 'Combined Defence Services Examination (II), 2021' that is given on the main page A PDF file of UPSC CDS (II) Result 2021 will be displayed on your screen Check and download the CDS (II) Result 2021 Also, take a hard copy of UPSC CDS (II) Result 2021 for futu

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has extended the last date for submission of online applications for PhD courses for the academic session 2021-22 to 30 December. Candidates can apply for various PhD courses till 11.50 pm on 30 December on the official website of IGNOU - ignou.ac.in . The extension has been made by National Testing Agency (NTA) following a large number of requests for the same. Procedure to apply Visit the official website - ignou.ac.in Click on the link that reads ‘IGNOU PhD registration 2021’ Fill the PhD application form with the required details Upload documents and pay the mentioned IGNOU application fee Download a copy of the duly filled IGNOU PhD form to use in the future Direct link to apply for PhD courses As per the notice released by National Testing Agency , the last date for payment of application fee for PhD courses is 31 December up to 11.50 pm only. Earlier, the last date to submit online applications for PhD courses was 22

The dates of the Bihar Police Constable Physical Efficiency Test (PET) have been announced by the Central Selection Board of Constable (CSBC). As per the latest update, the Bihar Police Constable PET will be held from 28 January, 2022, onwards. Candidates can check the official notice regarding the same by visiting the official website at https://ift.tt/30Gz1yZ. Those interested can find the official notification CSBC Bihar Police Constable PET here. Applicants should note that those who qualified for the constable exam, which was conducted in March this year, are eligible to appear for the Physical Efficiency Tests. The written exam was held on 14 and 21 March; with the results being declared on 6 December. The Board will release the admit cards for PET from 5 January onwards on the official website. Following which the candidates will be able to download the hall tickets. If anyone is unable to download the e-admit card, they should contact the CSBC on 24 and 25 January regarding

The National Farmers' Day or Kisan Diwas which commemorates the birth anniversary of the fifth prime minister of India, Chaudhary Charan Singh, also coincides with the death anniversary of another former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao. The ninth prime minister of the country, Rao presided over the economic reforms that liberalised the Indian economy. Rao was born on 28 June, 1931, in Karimnagar, Telangana. He assumed the post of prime minister after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Along with then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, Rao led the country through the liberalisation of the Indian economy and its re-integration with the global economy. On the occasion of his death anniversary, leaders from across the political spectrum, paid tribute to PV Narasimha Rao. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari: Humble homage to Former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao ji on his death anniversary. pic.twitter.com/oTCRR9vPFW — Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) December 23, 2021 Union