LIVE: India took various steps to offset Covid impact, FM tells World Bank

The finance ministry on Friday kicked off the exercise to prepare the annual Budget for 2021-22 amid the urgency to push economic growth hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Stay tuned for LIVE updates:

5:23 PM

North Delhi civic body to be fined Rs 1 crore for no action against garbage burning: Gopal Rai

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday issued directions for imposition of Rs 1 crore fine on North Delhi Municipal Corporation for not taking action against garbage burning in Kirari village in northwest Delhi.

He said regular incidents of large-scale garbage burning had been brought to his notice.

"Delhi's air quality has been worsening gradually, but the agencies are still not taking it seriously. Environmental norms are being flouted brazenly here. Garbage burning is rampant," Rai told reporters.

4:37 PM

Gadkari inaugurates, lays foundation stones of Rs 15,592-cr projects in Andhra Pradesh

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of highways projects worth Rs 15,592 in Andhra Pradesh, an official statement said.

These include 16 highway projects stretching over 1,411 km.

"Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of 16 national highway projects with a total length of 1,411 km worth Rs 15,592 crore in Andhra Pradesh," the road transport and highways ministry said in a statement.

Addressing an event through video-conferencing on the ocassion, Gadkari said the length of national highways in Andhra Pradesh before May 2014 was 4,193 km, which has now increased to 6,860 km, registering an increase of 2,667 km, or 64 per cent, in length in six years.

4:15 PM

Record turnout in early voting for US presidential election despite Covid-19

US states have witnessed a record turnout in the early voting, both in-person and by mail, for the November 3 presidential election despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it was reported.

According to the US Election Project, which tracks early voting statistics in real time, as of Thursday, more than 17,800,000 Americans have cast their ballots either through the mail or in person, The Hill news website reported.

The figure equates to almost 13 per cent of the total number of voters in the 2016 presidential election.

Voter turnout in some swing states also broke records.

4:14 PM

Puja grant to be used on Covid-19 equipment, public-police bonding: Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court directed the community Durga Puja organisers in the state on Friday to spend 75 per cent of the Rs 50,000 grant given by the West Bengal government on the procurement of Covid-19 protection equipment and the rest on strengthening public-police bonding.

A division bench comprising justices Sanjib Banerjee and Arijit Banerjee directed that the money given by the state to the Durga Puja committees cannot be used for any other purpose, and purchase bills have to be submitted to the authorities for audit.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced on September 24 the Rs 50,000 grant for each of the 36,946 Durga Puja committees in the state.

3:30 PM

Plan to implement New Education Policy by June next: Goa CM

The Goa government plans to implement its New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 by June next year, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Friday.

The three sub-committees formed to examine educational infrastructure and finalisation of new syllabi in sync with the NEP have been asked to submit reports by February 2021 said Sawant, who also holds the education portfolio.

"The three panels will make recommendations for pre-primary, secondary and higher secondary education after studying the infrastructure available in Goa. They will also examine the issue of new syllabi," Sawant said.

3:12 PM

Dinesh Karthik steps down as KKR captain, Morgan takes charge

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik on Friday stepped down as captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders team, handing over the reins to his English deputy Eoin Morgan hours before the IPL match against Mumbai Indians here.

Karthik told the KKR management that he wants to "focus on his batting and contributing more to the team's cause." Appointed skipper in 2018, the 35-year-old led KKR in 37 matches.

2:52 PM

Covid-19: Central teams sent to Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, WB

High-level central teams have been deputed to Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, which have been reporting a surge in COVID-19 cases, to support them in management of the disease.

The Union Health Ministry on Friday said these teams will support the state towards strengthening containment, surveillance, testing, infection prevention and control measures, and efficient clinical management of the positive cases.

"The Central teams shall also guide in effectively managing the challenges related to timely diagnosis and follow up," it said.

Each team comprises a joint secretary (nodal officer for the respective state), one public health expert to look after the public health aspects, one clinician to look after infection prevention practices and clinical management protocol being followed by the State.

2:42 PM

No exclusivity clause dampens railway route privatisation: Report

Railway route privatisation is not as rosy it looks as there is no bar on competition on one hand and demand risks outweigh the benefits on other, even though the private operator is free to fix the tariffs, warns a report.

Currently, the railways cross-subsidises passengers by overcharging freight to minimise the losses generated in running passenger trains.

Learning from previous public-private partnership models, the government has drafted a new concession framework for private train operators giving them autonomy to fix tariffs.

2:36 PM

Twitter partners with EC, launches dedicated search prompt for Bihar polls

The micro-blogging site Twitter on Friday announced a partnership with the Election Commission of India and launched a new search prompt that makes it easy to find credible and authoritative information related to Bihar Assembly elections.

The new search prompt will provide information about the candidate lists, voting dates, polling booths, EVMs voter registration, among other election-related topics.

The 'Get the Latest Updates' prompt will get activated in over 30 hashtags across English and Hindi languages.

2:24 PM

Passenger vehicle sales in India rise 17% in Sept quarter: SIAM

Passenger vehicle wholesales in India increased by 17 per cent in the second quarter of the current fiscal year as buying sentiment improved and companies stocked up to cater to enhanced demand in the festive season, auto industry body SIAM said on Friday.

According to the latest data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), passenger vehicles sales in the July-September quarter increased to 7,26,232 units from 6,20,620 units in the same period last year.

Similarly, two-wheeler sales during the September quarter this fiscal rose marginally to 46,90,565 units as compared with 46,82,571 units in the same period last fiscal.

2:17 PM

After petrol, diesel demand returns to pre-Covid-19 levels

After petrol, diesel demand has returned to pre-Covid-19 levels as sales rose 8.8 per cent in the first half of October from a year ago, preliminary industry data showed.

This is the first annual increase in sales of diesel - the most consumed fuel in the country - since the nation imposed lockdown in late March to curb the spread of the pandemic.

While demand for petrol has been more resilient than diesel due to an increased preference for using personal vehicles instead of public transport to follow distancing norms, October 1-15 sales number showed better than anticipated recovery.

1:33 PM

SC appoints retired judge to monitor stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana, UP amid rising pollution in Delhi NCR

1:18 PM

New farm laws to boost farmers' income: PM Modi

12:47 PM

I have written to Union Education Minister seeking amendments in Delhi University Act so that more colleges can be established: CM Kejriwal

12:46 PM

India has potential to increase Covid testing 10-fold: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

India has the ability to aggressively ramp up coronavirus testing capacity, a move that will help it check a wave of new active cases hitting hospitals and skirt an economically unviable lockdown, according to the head of one of the country’s largest drug makers.

 

With pooled testing that can include as many as 10 people in one go, India “could potentially scale up its testing 10-fold,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the founder and chairman of Biocon Ltd. Pooled testing increases the number of people that can be tested using the same amount of resources but it works well in clusters with low prevalence. Shaw suggested using this technique in combination with the more prevalent rapid antigen and RT-PCR tests. Read on...