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Second wave not yet over
The second wave of Covid, which caused an unprecedented number of infections in March-April, is not yet over, the government warned today, urging people to keep following precautions like avoiding crowds and wearing masks. “The war is not over yet,” said VK Paul, who heads the government’s Covid...
WhatsApp tells court new privacy policy on hold
WhatsApp has informed the Delhi High Court that they have voluntarily put updated privacy policy on hold. Senior Advocate Harish Salve made the submission on behalf of WhatsApp before a Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh. “Government has asked to shut down the policy. We have said we will not...
Kerala reports first Zika virus infection
Kerala, which has been reporting a surge in coronavirus cases, has officially confirmed its first case of Zika virus – a mosquito-borne viral infection. Samples of 13 persons, suspected to be positive for Zika virus, have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune. The symptoms...
Exits outweigh entries in Modi’s Cabinet overhaul
The jumbo recast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet appears to have been based as much on damage control as a look to the future in states where the BJP hopes to expand. The exits have made a bigger impact than the entries and the one that has...
Facebook not answerable to law and order issues: Supreme Court
Facebook can’t be compelled to answer on the issues of law and order, which are looked after by the central government, the Supreme Court said today as it asked the social media giant to appear before the Delhi Assembly panel in 2020 riots probe. The Delhi Assembly committee...
Law of land supreme and Twitter must follow rule, says new IT minister
New IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shot off a warning to Twitter on Thursday afternoon, telling the social media giant “the law of the land is supreme” and warning it to follow the rules. Mr Vaishnaw also took charge as the new IT minister today, replacing Ravi Shankar Prasad,...
Vet takes charge at health ministry at its most crucial time
Mansukh Mandaviya, India’s new Health Minister, takes over the Covid fight at a critical time when the government is working on a strategy to stave off a third wave of Covid by ramping up vaccinations. The 49-year-old, who famously rode a bicycle to parliament, is among the seven...
Virbhadra Singh dead
Shimla: Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister and senior Congress leader Virbhadra Singh died in Shimla in the early hours of Thursday after a prolonged illness. He was 87. The veteran leader died at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) at 3.40 am, senior medical superintendent Indira Gandhi Medical College...
36 new ministers of Modi Cabinet take oath
Thirty-six new ministers were sworn-in today in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first cabinet expansion after returning to power for a second consecutive term in 2019. The new cabinet includes 36 new ministers while seven got promotions. Prominent BJP leaders like Narayan Rane, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sarbananda Sonowal and Bhupendra Yadav...
Harsh Vardhan, Prasad, Javadekar, Pokhriyal quit ahead of Cabinet rejig
Some of the government’s most high profile ministers quit ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet reshuffle, with 36 new ministers joining the government and seven getting promotions. The exits of IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar stood...
Mamata fined Rs 5 lakh for doubting court’s impartiality
The Calcutta high court on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for seeking recusal of Justice Kaushik Chanda from her Nandigram election petition over the judge’s alleged links with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The application of the Trinamool Congress...
Outpouring of tributes to legend Dilip Kumar
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a nationwide outpouring of tributes this morning as India mourned the loss of one of the most legendary Bollywood actors – Dilip Kumar. He was 98. The Bollywood veteran died at Mumbai’s Hinduja Hospital this morning after a prolonged illness. His iconic movies,...
Upper House to help Mamata remain CM without polls
Bengal will soon have an upper house — the Legislative Council — a resolution for which was passed by the state assembly on Tuesday amid BJP opposition. Of the 265 MLAs present in the House, 196 voted for a Vidhan Parishad, which the opposition claimed has no legal...
Kumaramangalam’s wife found murdered at Delhi home
Kitty Kumaramangalam had served as a Supreme Court lawyer. (Representational photo) New Delhi: Former Union Minister P.R. Kumaramangalam’s wife was murdered last night at her Delhi home, police said. Kitty Kumaramangalam, 67, was found dead at her house in south Delhi’s Vasant Vihar. She was suffocated to death...
Modi’s new Cabinet to be ‘youngest’ ever
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet will be the youngest ever in India’s history after big changes likely anytime now, top government sources have told NDTV. The average age will be the lowest ever and the educational qualification will also be higher, with “PhDs, MBAs, post-graduates and professionals”, the...
New Ministry Of Cooperation created ahead of reshuffle
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government today created new ‘Ministry of Cooperation’, looking to provide more heft to the cooperative movement in the country. The move came a day before the Union cabinet was scheduled for a reshuffle, with some new faces expected to join the Centre in key...
Germany lifts ban on travellers from India, UK, Portugal
Germany’s health agency said on Monday five so-called virus variant countries would be reclassified as “high incidence areas”, lifting a ban on entry for travellers from those nations who were not German residents or citizens. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said India, Nepal, Russia, Portugal and Britain would...
An intercontinental effort to bring ailing student home
New Delhi: In a rare humanitarian gesture, authorities in India and Australia came together to help repatriate a 25-year-old Arshdeep Singh, suffering from a chronic renal ailment, to India. He was airlifted from Melbourne in a special flight that is being flown by Qantas – Australia’s largest airline...
