RIVANCH

The eighth round of negotiations between protesting farmers and Centre also ended without any conclusion, as neither parties agreed to budge from their stand on the key demand of repeal of the three contentious farm legislations. In fact, very little headway could be made in Friday's meeting, if the account of some of the members of the delegation is taken as an accurate representation of the day's events. As per the account of farm leaders, Union Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar stated at the outset that the government cannot and will not consider repealing the laws. Tomar, who had also met Home Minister Amit Shah before conducting talks with farmers, reportedly took a firm stand that the government was only interested in a clause-by-clause discussion on contentious topics within the laws. However, the farmers, who have been sensitive about the issue of total roll back of these legislations, took umbrage at this attitude and decided to dish out the silent treatment...

India conducted the second dry run to test the efficiency of its vaccine delivery system in 736 districts on Friday, as the number of new COVID-19 cases fell below 19,000 for the fifth time this month. The Centre and state governments also geared up to implement protocol for passengers travelling to India from the UK, where a new strain of the COVID-19 virus was detected in December 2020. Passenger flights from the UK to India, which were suspended for 16 days after the new strain was detected, resumed operations on Friday. The Delhi government said that passengers arriving in the National Capital from the UK will have to undergo a seven-day institutional quarantine even if they test negative for COVID-19. The number of people who have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 has climbed to 82 in India, the Centre said. The number of such people stood at 73 till 6 January. Meanwhile, in a bid to tackle a surge in cases, the UK approved its third vaccine...

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Friday flayed the contentious farm laws passed by the Centre, against which farmers are on the warpath in Delhi, saying it would undermine regulated markets and help the corporates. Khan read in full length the remarks against the farm laws, against which the Kerala Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution on 31 December demanding its immediate withdrawal. The governor also attacked the central investigating agencies, probing various allegations against the state government programmes, saying they have "overstepped the constitutional contours". The remarks against the farm laws and cenart of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government's policy address during the beginning of the budget session at the state Assembly, and Khan did not omit the portions critical of the Union government's policies and the actions of its probe agencies. "Actions of certain central government agencies have overstepped th...

NEET counselling 2020 stray vacancy round result has been declared by the Medical Counseling Committee on its official website -  mcc.nic.in . The result for the candidates has been declared in the PDF format. Separate eligible candidate list has been released for Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Delhi University, Employee State Insured Cooperation (ESIC), Deemed and Central universities. As per a report by NDTV , the NEET counselling stray round was conducted to fill 2,463 vacant seats for MBBS and BDS programmed offered by AIIMS, VMMC, DU, AMU, BHU, JIPMER, JMI, deemed universities, and ESIC. Students who have been allotted seat in the round will be required to report at respective college for verification of documents by 15 January. According to a report by Times Now , medical colleges in the country are expected to start session for the undergraduate courses from 2 February 2021. Students will have to download the NEET 2020 stray vacancy round result and carry it along with...

The spectrum auctions will be held on 1 March, after a gap of more than four years, offering 2,251.25 megahertz worth Rs 3.92 trillion, according to a notice issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) . The DoT has fixed 12 January for the pre-bid conference and 28 January as the last date for seeking clarifications on its notice. Spectrum will be offered in seven frequency bands — 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, and 2500 MHz. The spectrum bands from 3,300 MHz to 3,600 MHz, which are the 5G airwave bands, have been kept aside. The industry had been pitching for the 4G auctions, which was last held four years ago, as some licences in the bands were expiring in 2021. The auction was approved by the Union Cabinet on 16 December. The notice issued by DoT said: “A single auction process will be carried out for assigning spectrum blocks in various bands, however, it may be noted that the government reserves the right to use any other m...

CBSE Class 10 and 12 board examination 2021 will begin from 4 May. The dates were announced by Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on 31 December 2020. The theory papers of both secondary and higher secondary classes would continue till 10 June 2021. The practical exam will start on 1 March. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will declare Class 10 and 12 results on 15 July. The exams will be conducted adopting various safety measures amid COVID-19 pandemic. The CBSE board exam 2021 will be held in pen-and-paper (offline) mode. Students who will be appearing for the board examination have started preparing to score better in the test. The time-table of the CBSE Class 10 and Class 12 board exam 2021 is yet to be released by the board. As per a report by The Times of India , unlike the previous years, the date sheet will have more gaps between two papers so that students get adequate time to prepare. The theory paper will likely comprise of 80 marks, while...

Amid the bird flu (H5N8) outbreak in Kerala, six crows have died in the border district of Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka and their samples had been sent for tests to ascertain the cause of death, Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Thursday. Necessary precautionary measures have been taken in all districts sharing borders with Kerala to prevent bird flu, he said, adding there was no need for any worry. "Six crows have died in Dakshina Kannada district and their samples have been sent for testing. Officials of the Health and Animal Husbandry department will get the test reports," Sudhakar told reporters here. He said health and veterinary sciences officials have been maintaining a strict vigil in the border districts including Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Mysuru and Chamarajanagar. "Once we get the report based on it, we will discuss it with the union health ministry and come out with guidelines and necessary action... people need not worry but maintain caution," he s...