New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) The government on Friday appointed senior diplomat and India’s Ambassador to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria as High Commissioner to Canada. In a tweet, Bisaria said he was privileged to be appointed as India’s High Commissioner to Canada at a time when the Indo-Canadian “strategic partnership is[Read More…]
Author: IANS
PBL: Pune 7 Aces look to continue winning streak
Hyderabad, Jan 31 (IANS) Riding on the high of their big 5-2 win over table toppers Chennai Superstarz, Pune 7 Aces will aim for their fourth win in a row as they meet North Eastern Warriors in the first tie of the second double header of Star Sports Premier Badminton[Read More…]
AAP to hold silent marches against ‘terrorist’ remark (Lead)
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will hold silent marches across all the 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi to protest against BJP MP Parvesh Verma’s “terrorist” remark targeted at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The silent marches started on Friday and will continue till Sunday. Apart from[Read More…]
Rani earns SAI promotion after World Games Athlete of the Year award
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Indian hockey captain Rani Rampal was promoted to a level-10 coach by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) after she won The World Games Athlete of the Year award, SAI announced on Friday. Rani, it said, had joined the SA as assistant coach in 2015.[Read More…]
AI plane leaves for Wuhan on evacuation mission
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Air India moved into action to evacuate Indian nationals stranded in China due to novel coronavirus. An Air India 423-seater jumbo B747 plane left for Wuhan from the Delhi airport on Friday afternoon. Government officials said the plane, with five doctors belonging to the Health[Read More…]
Indonesia offers reward for plucking tyre off giant crocodile
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) A photo of a saltwater crocodile with a motorcycle tyre stuck around its neck in Indonesia is doing rounds on the internet. The photo has grabbed the attention of Tweeple. The 13-feet long crocodile has been carrying the tire around its neck since 2016, according[Read More…]
Sensex, Nifty ends lower, metal stocks slip over 2%
Mumbai, Jan 31 (IANS) Indian markets closed lower on Friday after the Economic Survey suggested relaxing fiscal deficit target to revive growth. The benchmark Sensex closed at 40,723.49 lower by 190.33 points or 0.47 per cent while the Nifty closed below the 12,000 point level. Metal stocks were the top[Read More…]
Centre to SC: Make victim & society-centric guidelines in death penalty cases (2nd Lead)
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) At a time when the four convicts in the Nirbhaya case are making last-ditch attempts to delay hanging, the Solicitor General of India contended before the Supreme Court on Friday that “it is every essential to lay down guidelines which are victim and society-centric in[Read More…]
European Investment Bank to invest 600 mn euros in Pune Metro (Lead)
Mumbai, Jan 31 (IANS) The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest 600 million euros (Rs 4,800 crore) in the upcoming Pune Metro Rail (PMR) project, the Maharashtra government announced here on Friday. A Memorandum of Understanding for the first tranche of 200 million euros (Rs 1,600 crore) was signed in[Read More…]
Centre to SC: Make victim & society-centric guidelines in death penalty cases (Second Lead correcting intro)
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) At a time when the four convicts in the Nirbhaya case are making last-ditch attempts to delay hanging, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta contended before the Supreme Court on Friday that “it is every essential to lay down guidelines which are victim and society-centric[Read More…]
Congress slams CEA on ‘Lutyens Delhi’ remark
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) The Congress has lashed out the Chief Economic Advisor for not putting the facts in the Economic Survey but also on the reference to “Lutyens’ Delhi” in the document while comparing the affordability of a ‘Thali’ or plate of food. The opposition party said that[Read More…]
Extra borrowing from market can be an option to push growth: CEA
By Anjana Das New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) The need of the hour in the current time is to focus on growth rather than on fiscal prudence and if there is a need for extra borrowing from the market in the current and next fiscals to meet growth, it should[Read More…]
ZIM vs SL 2nd Test: Mendis ton helps SL grind out draw
Harare, Jan 31 (IANS) A century from Kusal Mendis and defiant innings from Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal helped Sri Lanka secure a draw in their second Test against Zimbabwe on Friday. Sri Lanka ended their innings on 204/3 with Mendis unbeaten on 166 off 233 balls in Harare. They[Read More…]
India’s core industries output rises in December
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) After four months of contraction, the output pace of India’s eight major industries mildly accelerated in December. The Index of Eight Core Industries showed that December’s growth came in at 1.3 per cent. On a sequential basis, the expansion rate in November had fallen by[Read More…]
India’s Apr-Dec fiscal deficit at 132.4% of budgetary target
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) India’s budgetary fiscal deficit for the April-December period was Rs 9.31 lakh crore, or 132.4 per cent of the budget estimates (BE). The government has targeted fiscal deficit to be at Rs 7.03 lakh crore for 2019-20. As per Controller General of Accounts (CGA) data[Read More…]
Industrial sector only saw 0.6% growth in Apr-Nov: Survey
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Sounding an alarm, the Economic Survey 2019-20 on Friday said the industrial sector registered a growth of 0.6 per cent in 2019-20 (April-November) as compared to 5 per cent during 2018-19 (April-November) raising an alarm. The industrial sector, as per Index of Industrial Production (IIP),[Read More…]
Eco Survey lauds Delhi’s PPP model in C&D waste management
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Lauding Delhi’s public-private partnership (PPP) model in construction and demolition (C&D) waste management, the Economic Survey presented in the Parliament on Friday said that the same can be replicated in other states as well. Days ahead of the Assembly elections in the nationl capital, the[Read More…]
Coronavirus: Worldwide cases overtake 2003 Sars outbreak (Lead)
Beijing, Jan 31 (IANS) Even as the number of deaths from the new coronavirus in China touched 213, infection in nearly 10,000 other persons took such cases worldwide beyond those reported during the Sars epidemic in over two dozen countries in 2003. As compared to nearly 10,000 people infected with[Read More…]
Govt loses 23 paise on each Re of taxpayer money used in PSBs
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Each rupee of taxpayers’ money invested by the government in NPA-heavy public sector banks as equity are resulting in a loss of 23 paise. “Over Rs 4,30,000 crore of taxpayer money is invested as Government’s equity in PSBs. In 2019, every rupee of taxpayer money[Read More…]
Last living member of Rani Jhansi regiment at MIFF 2020
Mumbai, Jan 31 (IANS) Rama Khandwala, the last living member of the Rani Jhansi regiment of the historic Azad Hind Fauj, attended the ongoing Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) 2020, to attend a screening of the documentary short, “Elephants Do Remember”. The docu-film “Elephants Do Remember” narrates the life story[Read More…]
‘Nirbhaya convicts delaying execution, need strong law’
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday lamented that the convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case are finding ways to delay their execution and said the law should be amended so that rape convicts are hanged within six months. “I am sad[Read More…]
Presidential address projected CAA as success: Ghulam Nabi Azad
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday told mediapersons outside the Parliament that the opposition boycotted President Ram Nath Kovind’s address as it referred to the most divisive action taken by the government. “It is extremely shameful that the government projected Citizenship Amendment Act[Read More…]
Our Meena chatbot better than others: Google
San Francisco, Jan 31 (IANS) Google has claimed that its new chatbot, called Meena, can chat just about anything and is better than other similar conversational agents. In a paper published on pre-print repository arXiv.org, Google scientists showed that Meena can conduct conversations that are more sensible and specific than[Read More…]
Pro-biz policies needed to become $5 tn economy: Survey
New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) India requires “pro-business” policies to fulfill its aspiration to become a $5 trillion economy, the Economic Survey 2019-20 said on Friday. The survey was tabled in Parliament by Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. “India’s aspiration to become a $5 trillion economy depends critically[Read More…]
Public safety important: Arbaaz Khan on ‘Mumbai 24 Hours’ policy
Mumbai, Jan 31 (IANS) Actor Arbaaz Khan has welcomed Maharashtra state governments new policy, Mumbai 24 Hours, by saying that it is a good thing as long as it is in the commercial areas and not the residential areas. He also added that concerned ministries and agencies need to take[Read More…]