LIVE: Govt invites proposals for developing EV charging infra on highways

Indian economy to dip 10.3 per cent in 2020; rebound with 8.8 per cent growth in 2021, says IMF

9:07 PM

Hathras victim's late-night cremation was violation of human rights of the woman and her family: Allahabad High Court

8:59 PM

Shocked by tone of Maharashtra Governor's letter to CM: Pawar to Modi

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing shock over the kind of language used by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over reopening places of worship amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his letter to Modi, the Rajya Sabha MP, whose party is a key ally in the Shiv Sena-led MVA government, said he was pained by the erosion of standards of conduct by the high Constitutional office of the Honourable Governor.

In the letter to the chief minister on reopening of temples, Koshyari had asked, "Have you suddenly turned secular, the term you hated?" Read on...

8:25 PM

New Education Policy will prepare youth for future challenges: Nishank

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said Tuesday that the New Education Policy enables the intellectual development of the youth to deal with the challenges of a fast-changing world.

"The government has made a great effort to bring significant changes in the education system keeping in mind the rapidly changing world and future challenges and needs. The New Education Policy has presented a new framework for intellectual development of the country's youth," Nishank said at a programme via video conference at IIT-Roorkee.

He hoped that NEP-2020 will empower students and provide a path to make India a developed, digital and self-reliant country as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

8:04 PM

Norway to provide Covid-19 vaccine free of cost as part of health programme

Norway will provide a vaccine against Covid-19 free of charge to its inhabitants when one becomes available, the government said on Tuesday, and this would become part of the country’s national vaccination programme.

Norway, which is part of the European single market but is not a member of the European Union, said in August it would get access to the vaccines that the EU obtains via deals negotiated with pharmaceuticals companies. Read more...

7:57 PM

Covid-19: Postpone board exams to May next yr; further reduce syllabus, Delhi govt tells CBSE

The Delhi government has urged the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to not conduct the board exams next year before May and further reduce syllabus as schools still continue to remain closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a letter to the CBSE, the Directorate of Education (DoE) said due to the Covid-19 pandemic a major chunk of time of 2020-21 academic session (approximately seven months) could not be utilised for classroom teaching learning process as schools in Delhi are closed till October 31.

"Though online, semi-online teaching learning activities are being conducted through live classes as well as worksheets or activity sheets but it cannot replace the physical classroom teaching learning process," the DoE said in the letter.

7:30 PM

'Jan andolan' launched to spread awareness among people about precautions against Covid-19

In view of reopening of economic activities amid the Covid-19 pandemic, an intensive 'jan andolan' has been launched to spread awareness among people about precautions against the virus, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said on Tuesday.

During a joint press briefing with the Ministry of Health and Niti Aayog, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting secretary Amit Khare said within its first week of launch, the 'jan andolan' campaign garnered 2.33 billion impressions and trended on Twitter with the hashtag Unite2fightCorona.

"I would like to thank the media on behalf of the ministry for its valuable contribution in spreading information about Covid-19 in the country. I do feel and appreciate that the media has been prominent in taking the message of precautionary steps to be taken against Covid-19 throughout the country. It has played a very important role, Khare said.

7:06 PM

China plans to offer experimental Covid vaccine to students going abroad

One of China’s leading vaccine developers is working on a plan to inoculate students going overseas with Covid-19 shots that are yet to get regulatory approval, according to people familiar with the matter, as the country pushes scientific boundaries in the race for a viable immunisation.

China National Biotec Group Co., or CNBG, a subsidiary of state-owned Sinopharm Group Co, is in talks with the Chinese government about giving students headed abroad to study its experimental vaccines, said the people, who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorised to speak publicly. Various government agencies are still working on the plan and no final decision has been made, the people said.

6:50 PM

Delhi's air quality worst in 8 months

The national capital's air quality hit an eight-month low and was recorded just a notch shy of the very poor category on Tuesday, largely due to calm winds and low temperature that allowed accumulation of pollutants.

According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences' Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, an increase was also observed in farm fires in Punjab, Haryana and neighbouring regions of Pakistan, but its impact on the capital's air quality was marginal.

The city's air quality index (AQI) hit very poor levels in the morning and stood at 306 at 11 am. Thereafter, the pollution levels dipped slightly due to an improvement in the ventilation index.

6:35 PM

FM's revival package will not result in any meaningful, durable push to economic activity: CPI

The CPI on Tuesday hit out at Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's recently announced revival package, terming it "a move to hoodwink people".

The party issued a statement saying that the finance minister's announcements on October 12 were aimed to divert the attention of the people from the government's failures.

"CPI terms the announcement of a set of measures by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on October 12 for reviving consumption and investment activity in the economy as nothing but a move to hoodwink the people from the real problems facing the people and country.

6:12 PM

World economy in deep recession in 2020, growth to be -4.4 per cent: IMF

The IMF on Tuesday predicted a deep global recession this year and the world growth to be - 4.4 per cent, asserting that the global economic crisis is far from over mainly due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the International Monetary Fund also said the swift recovery in China has surprised on the upside while the global economy's long ascent back to pre-pandemic levels of activity remains prone to setbacks.

This crisis is however far from over. In our latest World Economic Outlook, we continue to project a deep recession in 2020. Global growth is projected to be -4.4 per cent, an upward revision of 0.8 percentage points compared to our June update, Gita Gopinath, the Chief Economist of the IMF, said.

6:04 PM

Indian economy to contract by 10.3% in 2020; to bounce back with 8.8% growth in 2021: IMF

The Indian economy, severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic, is projected to contract by a massive 10.3 per cent this year, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

However, India is likely to bounce back with an impressive 8.8 per cent growth rate in 2021, thus regaining the position of the fastest growing emerging economy, surpassing China's projected growth rate of 8.2 per cent, the IMF said in its latest 'World Economic Outlook' report.

Released ahead of the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, the report said global growth would contract by 4.4 per cent this year and bounce back to 5.2 per cent in 2021.

America's economy is projected to contract by 5.8 per cent in 2020 and grow by 3.9 per cent the next year, the IMF said.

5:46 PM

Coal India's e-auction allocation jumps 65% in Apr-Sept

State-owned CIL on Tuesday said the total coal allocation under its four e-auction windows registered about 65 per cent year-on-year rise during the first half of the current financial year.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) booked 41.4 million tonnes (MT) raw coal in e-auctions during April-September 2020, compared with 25.1 MT booked in the corresponding period last fiscal," the company said in a statement.

The increase in volume terms stood at 16.3 MT, it added.

With the industrial and commercial activities reviving after the unlock, CIL is hopeful that the demand sustains and the sales get boosted soon.

5:27 PM

Pollution plus coronavirus getting lethal for people: Manish Sisodia

Rising pollution levels and the threat of coronavirus have become lethal for people, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Tuesday.

"Pollution plus corona has become lethal for people. Pollution, especially that related to stubble burning, is not an issue for Delhi alone, it is for entire north India" Sisodia said at a press conference here.

His remarks came on a day air quality in Delhi was in "very poor" category.

Sisodia accused the central government of inaction on tackling the recurrent problem of pollution in the national capital and adjoining areas. He said the Centre will have to play a role in reducing pollution prevailing in the northern parts of the country.

5:20 PM

CBI team meets family members of Hathras victim, examines crime scene

A CBI team on Tuesday met the family members of the 19-year old Dalit victim in the gangrape and murder case in Bulgarhi village in Hathras and examined the crime scene, officials said.

The team, which reached the crime scene on Tuesday morning after registering the FIR two days back, took the brother of the victim to record his statement, they said.

The victim had died a fortnight after an alleged brutal assault, including gangrape, by four men of the village on September 14.

5:14 PM

Govt does not look crime from the prism of caste or creed: MoS Home Reddy

The NDA government does not believe in viewing crime from the prism of caste, creed or region as any crime is against humanity and peace, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said Tuesday.

Reddy also said the government would never tolerate crime against women and the downtrodden and would take all measures to ensure speedy and decisive justice for all victims.

The comment by the union minister of state for home came about a fortnight after the alleged gang rape and killing of a Dalit women in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh sparked nationwide outrage. Read more...