Author: Indus Dispatch
By Dr Oishee Mukherjee Governments across the world strive for a better future for their citizens. The past two decades though have seen that countries with high population growth face bigger challenges. In the Third World there is a race for catching up with development, which ends up disturbing sustainable norms. The outlook for human life by the year 2030 is expected to have a devastating impact on the poor and economically weaker sections. This is so that what was predicted way back in 1980 in the Global 2000 Report may just turn out true: “If present trends…
NEW DELHI : The Centre on Saturday told the states that the precaution dose will be of the same COVID-19 vaccine as the one used for the administration of the first two doses and that private vaccination centres can charge up to a maximum of Rs 150 per dose as service charge over and above the cost of the vaccine. The Centre announced on Saturday that the precaution dose of Covid vaccines will be available to everyone aged above 18 years at the private vaccination centres from April 10. All those above the age of 18, who have completed nine…
JAMMU : Former Jammu and Kashmir minister Jatinder Singh alias ‘Babu Singh’, the main accused in a case related to the recent recovery of Hawala money meant for subversive activities, was arrested from Kathua district on Saturday, a police officer said. Singh was at large since March 31 after police busted a Hawala racket here and issued a lookout notice for him on April 6. ”He (the former minister) was arrested from Kathua district and is being brought to Jammu for questioning,” Senior Superintendent of Police, Jammu, Chandan Kohli, told . Singh was a minister in the PDP-Congress government in…
LEH : As per the media bulletin released by the Directorate of Health Services UT Ladakh, 3 new positive sample reports of Covid-19 were reported. All of them were received by CMO Leh. No deaths were reported in UT Ladakh yesterday. While a total of 129 sample reports were tested in UT Ladakh. 110 sample reports in Leh and 16 sample reports in Kargil were found to be negative. With this, the total number of COVID-19 active cases in UT Ladakh is 09; 6 cases in Leh and 3 cases in Kargil district. The bulletin further informs that 1961 passengers…
New Delhi: A 21-year old Indian student was killed after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds following a shooting at the entrance of a subway station in Canada’s Toronto city while he was on his way to work, according to police in Toronto. The victim, identified as Kartik Vasudev, was shot on Thursday evening at the Glen Road entrance to Sherbourne TTC station in St James Town. Vasudev received medical attention from an off-duty paramedic and was taken to a hospital where he died during treatment, the Toronto Police Service said in a statement. The homicide squad of the Toronto Police Service has…
NEW DELHI : The Health Ministry on Saturday informed that over 17.54 crore unutilized COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union Territories (UTs) to be administered. The health ministry said that 1,88,47,90,495 vaccine doses have been provided to States and UTs so far through free of cost channels and through the direct state procurement category. “More than 17.54 crore (17,54,52,896) balance and unutilized COVID Vaccine doses are still available with the States/UTs to be administered,” the Ministry said. The nationwide COVID 19 vaccination started on 16th January 2021. The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination…
New Delhi : A ‘severe heatwave’ scorched Delhi on Friday with the city recording a maximum temperature of 41.6 degrees Celsius, seven notches above normal and the highest so far this year, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The meteorological office has issued an orange alert, warning of a ‘severe heatwave’ in the national capital on Saturday too. The IMD uses four colour codes for weather warnings — green (no action needed), yellow (watch and stay updated), orange (be prepared) and red (take action). Maximum temperature at most places in Delhi settled at least seven degrees above normal Barring…
New Delhi : Mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks Hafiz Mohammad Saeed’s son Hafiz Talha Saeed has been declared a designated terrorist by India. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 added Talha Saeed’s name to the list. Hafiz Talha Saeed was a senior leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and head of the cleric wing of the terror outfit. According to the MHA notification, Talha Saeed has been “actively involved in recruitment, fund collection, planning and executing attacks by LeT in India and Indian interests in Afghanistan. “The Central Government believes that…
NEW DELHI : Chief Justice N.V. Ramana on Friday orally observed that a new trend of the government maligning the judges has started and termed it “unfortunate”. A bench headed by the Chief Justice was hearing two special petitions, which included a plea by the Chhattisgarh government against high court order, which quashed the FIR registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the state’s former Principal Secretary Aman Kumar Singh saying that the allegations were prima facie based upon probabilities.The other petition was filed by activist Uchit Sharma against the high court decision. Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing a…
NEW DELHI : The NIA on Friday filed a charge sheet against 25 accused before a special court here for a conspiracy to recruit ”hybrid terrorists” for Pakistan-based terror groups to carry out attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. The case pertains to hatching a conspiracy, both on physical as well as cyberspace, for undertaking violent terrorist acts in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country, by cadres of Pakistan-based proscribed terrorist organisations like Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al-Badr and their affiliates such as The Resistance Front (TRF), People Anti-Fascist Forces (PAFF) among others, a spokesperson of…
NEW DELHI : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal to dispense with a norm that mandated armed forces personnel to furnish a ‘no accommodation certificate’ (NAC) to become eligible for house rent allowance (HRA). The defence ministry on Friday said the armed forces personnel, who have not been allotted government accommodation, will now be able to draw HRA without the requirement to produce NAC. ”With the aim to ensure the welfare of Armed Forces personnel, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal to dispense with the furnishing of no accommodation certificate to become eligible for house rent…
NEW DELHI : The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed 185.53 crore on Friday, the Union Health Ministry said. The ministry said over 12 lakh (12,82,597) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm. More than 2.16 crore (2,16,25,438) vaccine doses have been administered in the 12-14 years age group so far, it said. Also, more than 2.41 crore (2,41,82,818) precaution doses have been administered so far to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged above 60 years. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by…
NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the Union Cabinet’s decision of supplying fortified rice through government schemes is in line with the endeavours to improve nutrition levels and further the welfare of women and the young population. To address the issue of malnutrition among the poor, the Centre announced that it will supply fortified rice through government schemes such as PDS and PM-POSHAN in three phases by 2024, a move that will cost the central exchequer Rs 2,700 crore annually. A decision in this regard was taken at the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)…
SRINAGAR : Director General of J&K Police Dilbag Singh Friday stressed upon security officers to evolve more effective mechanism and ensure public safety while dealing with the elements inimical to peace. Singh, who visited Pulwama and Shopian districts, also stressed for strengthening communication within the forces at different levels to augment the security grids in their respective areas. The DGP, accompanied by Special DG CRPF Daljit Singh Chaudhary and Kashmir Zone IGP Vijay Kumar, interacted with police and CRPF officers. After assessments of the security situation and emerging challenges, the DGP said the masters of terror across the border and…
LEH : Advisor Ladakh (Chairman) convened a meeting on the 2nd State Level Advisory Committee (SLAC) on Safe Food and Healthy Diets. In the first SLAC meeting on the same held on Feb 17, 2021, certain action points were decided and the concerned officials gave a detailed briefing on the progress made so far. In the meeting, Advisor Ladakh emphasised the need for creating more awareness about food safety and informing people about the existing mechanism for redressing their grievances. He added that misbranding, substandard food and food adulteration are grave issues that need to be addressed and dealt with…
LEH : The Principal Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department, Dr. Pawan Kotwal chaired a meeting in his office chamber to review the progress on ‘Food Fortification’ in UT Ladakh. Welcoming the Union Cabinet’s decision to distribute fortified rice under all government schemes, the Principal Secretary said that it would help to tackle the issue of nutritional deficiency among the population. In the meeting, Senior Advisor, Food Fortification Resource Centre (FFRC) – FSSAI, Vivek Arora apprised the Principal Secretary that aspirational districts in addition to Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme would now be covered under…
NEW DELHI : Union Cabinet has approved the distribution of fortified rice under government schemes, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said on Friday. Addressing a press conference today, Thakur said, “PM Narendra Modi had announced on August 15, 2021, that the rice distributed under various schemes would be fortified. Cabinet has approved the distribution of fortified rice through the Targeted Public Distribution System.” The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, today has accorded its approval for the supply of fortified rice throughout the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) under the National Food Security Act (NFSA),…
.NEW DELHI : Precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccines will be available to all aged above 18 years at private vaccination centres from April 10, the Union Health Ministry announced on Friday. All those above the age of 18 who have completed nine months after the administration of the second dose will be eligible for the precaution dose, it said. ”It has been decided that the precaution dose of Covid vaccines will be made available to the 18-plus population group at private vaccination centres. This facility would be available at all private vaccination centres,” the ministry said. So far, about 96…
NEW DELHI : Japan has included Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in the list of recognised vaccines, a move aimed at facilitating travel between the two countries. ”The Government of Japan has included Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in the list of recognised vaccines to further facilitate travel from India to Japan starting April 10, 2022,” Bharat Biotech said in a tweet. Various countries including Australia, have recognised Covaxin for facilitating travel.
NEW DELHI : India’s tax collections soared to a record high of Rs 27.07 lakh crore in the fiscal year ended March 31 as mop-up from income and other direct taxes as well as indirect taxes jumped, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said on Friday. Gross tax collection of Rs 27.07 lakh crore during April 2021 to March 2022 compares with budget estimate of Rs 22.17 lakh crore, he told reporters here. Direct taxes, which comprise income tax paid by individuals and corporate tax, came in at Rs 14.10 lakh crore — Rs 3.02 lakh crore higher than the budget estimate.…