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9:43 PM

Odisha govt to reopen schools for Standard X and XII students from Jan 8

Odisha government Saturday announced that schools will reopen for students of standards X and XII from January 8 and will follow the detailed standard operating procedure to be strictly implemented by the authorities, a senior official said.

 

However, hostels will not reopen now and the school buses will not be available for the students. The parents can make their own arrangements to take their wards to school, the official said.

 

A maximum of 25 students will be allowed to attend one class and each student will have a specific seat in the class as is usually done during examinations. Schools across Odisha are closed since March in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The school and mass education department has, however, been holding online classes.

9:02 PM

Dummy incidents created in dry run to test preparedness for adverse events

As part of the dry run for COVID-19 vaccination, conducted at 39 locations in all 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday, health authorities created some dummy incidents to test the preparedness for adverse events following immunization (AEFI), a senior official said

 

Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar said some 32 minor and 26 major events were created during the dry run in all districts.

 

"These are not real, but we created dummy events to test the preparedness for AEFI. These were immediately addressing and everything went as planned. We are now geared up for the actual vaccination programme as and when it starts," Bhaskar told PTI. READ ON...

8:12 PM

Driverless operations to begin in Delhi Metro's pink line by mid 2021

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Saturday announced that Pink Line will also have driverless operations by mid of 2021. "After starting driverless services on the 37 km long Magenta Line (Janakpuri West - Botanical Garden), another major corridor of the Delhi Metro, the 59 km long Pink Line (Majlis Park - Shiv Vihar) will also have driverless operations by the mid of 2021," DMRC tweeted.

 

In December last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India's first-ever driverless train operations on the Delhi Metro's Magenta Line (Janakpuri West-Botanical Garden).

 

After both lines become driverless, Delhi Metro will have a driverless network length of about 94 kilometres, which will be approximately nine per cent of the world's total driverless metro network. READ ON...

7:46 PM

Pakistan Army opens heavy fire and shells mortars at forward posts along LoC in Nowshera sector of J&K

7:24 PM

Tata Sons surpasses Centre as the largest promoter of listed companies

At a time when Indian equity market rallied to record high levels, Tata Sons emerged as the largest promoter of listed companies in India. It overtook the Centre, in terms of promoter of listed companies, by the end of 2020. Notably, the Central government has ceased to be the largest promoter of listed entities after 20 years.

 

The development comes both on the back of rising stake of Tata Sons in its listed entities and declining market capitalisation of state-run companies, media reports said.

 

Tata Sons' stake in the conglomerate's listed companies has increased over 34 per cent in the past one year to Rs 9.28 lakh crore, which is higher than the Government of India's stake in public sector undertakings, Rs 9.24 lakh crore. READ ON...

6:54 PM

CDS Bipin Rawat visits forward bases along China border, says those fighting against India will be destroyed

General Rawat is visiting forward air bases in Eastern Sector including Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. He interacted with Army, ITBP, and other forces' soldiers deployed in the area. He visited the forward most air-maintained post in Dibang Valley and Lohit Sector of Arunachal Pradesh and witnessed the high morale of Indian troops,

 

"Jawanon ka buland honsla dekh kar yakeen hota hain ki Bharatiya Sena se mukabla karne wale tut kar barbad ho jayenge (After seeing the high morale of troops, I am confident that those fighting the Indian defence forces will be destroyed)," the CDS remarked during the visit.

 

He complimented soldiers for the innovative measures adopted to maintain effective surveillance and enhanced operational readiness. "Only Indian soldiers can remain vigilant under such challenging situations. They are ever willing to go well beyond the call of duty to safeguard the borders," General Rawat said.

 

"Nothing can deter the Indian Armed Forces on remaining steadfast in their call for duty," he added.

 

6:40 PM

Sourav Ganguly is fine now, he even spoke to me: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

6:00 PM

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar arrives at Hospital where Sourav Ganguly is admitted

5:51 PM

Jammu and Kashmir: Pakistan violates ceasefire along Line of Control in Nowshera sector of Rajouri

Jammu and Kashmir: Pakistan violates ceasefire along Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector of Rajouri.

5:25 PM

Mumbai attack mastermind, LeT operations commander Lakhvi arrested in Pak

Mumbai attack mastermind and Lakshar-e-Taiba (LeT) operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was on Saturday arrested in Pakistan on terror financing charges, an official said.

 

Lakhvi, who was on bail since 2015 in the Mumbai attack case, was arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD). However, the CTD did not mention his place of arrest.

 

"Following an intelligence-based operation conducted by the CTD Punjab, proscribed organisation LeT leader Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was arrested on charges of terrorism financing, it said.

 

4:37 PM

Kashmir seeks $4 billion in investments, to provide security

India's federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir plans to attract investments worth up to $4 billion in the next two three years and would provide security to businesses setting up shop in the insurgency-hit region, its chief said on Saturday.

 

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was India's only Muslim-majority state until August 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi carved out a Buddhist-dominated enclave and designated both as federally-administered territories.

 

Tens of thousands of security forces guard the region where India has been fighting an armed-insurgency for decades, especially in the disputed Kashmir valley that is also claimed by Pakistan.

4:24 PM

60 million GST e-invoices generated in December

As many as 6.03 crore GST e-invoices were generated in December 2020, higher than 5.89 crore in November, according to an official release.

 

The government had made it mandatory for businesses with turnover of over Rs 500 crore to generate electronic invoice or e-invoice for B2B transactions, from October 1, 2020.

 

In a statement, the IT ministry on Saturday said that GST e-invoice system, "the game changer in the GST system", has completed journey of three months and facilitated smooth transition of the tax payers to the new platform.

4:11 PM

Congress revamps Tamil Nadu unit, sets up key poll panels

The Congress on Saturday announced a major rejig in its Tamil Nadu unit ahead of the Assembly polls this year and set up key election-related panels including senior leaders P Chidambaram and Mani Shankar Aiyar in them.

 

The party has named 32 vice presidents, 57 general secretaries and 104 secretaries in the jumbo state unit.

 

Ruby R Manoharan has been appointed the treasurer of the party's state unit, a statement issued by Congress general secretary in-charge of organisation K C Venugopal said.

4:03 PM

Wishes pour in from Indian cricket fraternity for Ganguly's recovery

Indian cricket fraternity, led by skipper Virat Kohli, on Saturday wished Sourav Ganguly a speedy recovery after the BCCI president and former India captain was hospitalised following a mild cardiac arrest.

 

The 48-year-old complained of dizziness during the morning workout and was rushed to a private hospital where doctors said his condition was "stable and would need coronary angiogram".

 

He is currently admitted to the crictical care unit (CCU) of the hospital.

 

"Praying for your speedy recovery. Get well soon @SGanguly99," tweeted Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who is on paternity leave for the birth of his first child.

4:00 PM

Modi's high approval rating a matter of pride for all Indians: BJP

Noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's approval rating is the highest among world leaders in a survey conducted by a US data firm, BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday said this is a testimony to his able leadership and a matter of pride for all Indians.

 

While Nadda tweeted to laud Modi's leadership, the BJP also held a press conference wherein Union minister Prakash Javadekar said it is a "rare phenomenon" that the prime minister's public approval has been rising over the past six years, defying the general trend of fluctuating ratings for most leaders.