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Par passes bill to give statutory status to aviation regulators. Maha: Death toll in Bhiwandi building collapse rises to 20. The death toll in the Bhiwandi building collapse in Maharashtra rose to 20 on Tuesday, with the recovery of seven more bodies overnight, police said.
Bodies of a two-and-a-half-year-old boy and a young couple were recovered 24 hours after the crash, police said. The number of those rescued has gone up to 25, with five more persons being pulled out from the debris, police said. The dead include nine children, among them two toddlers, an official said. Those rescued are being treated at hospitals in Bhiwandi and Thane, he added.
The 43-year-old Jilani building collapsed at 3.40 am on Monday. Two civic officials have been suspended in connection with the collapse and an offence has been registered against the building owner, an official said. The building in the powerloom town - which is around 10 km from Thane - had 40 flats and around 150 persons lived there, an official said. The building, located at Narpoli's Patel Compound near Dhamankar Naka, collapsed while the residents were asleep. Payal Ghosh meets Athawale, minister threatens protest if Anurag Kashyap isn't arrested. Hathras & Balrampur: Same act, different reactions. Caste is in the DNA of India and parties doing caste politics do everything to exploit caste dynamics in every aspect of life, especially in villages.
Therefore, any social tension that builds on the caste dynamics yields dividends for such parties In December 2012 and early 2013, when Nirbhaya’s gangrape and murder galvanised a nationwide protest and forced the slumbering political class for action, the nation exuded confidence that the promised stringent legislation will instil fear in the minds of potential sexual predators. Seven years later, however, the National Crime Records Bureau data — year 2019 saw 32,033 cases of rape, about 34 per cent jump from 2012 — on sexual assault cases and the recent Hathras and Balrampur rapes have dashed that hope.
It has now dawned on the masses that more battles lie ahead in the war against the rape culture. Dalits are vulnerable to caste-based discrimination at the hands of OBC and the upper caste communities in impoverished rural India. Anti-nuclear activist Sister Ardeth Platte dies at 84. Indians’ lifespan rises to 70.8 years. Over the last three decades, Indians have been increasingly living longer.
On an average, Indians now are living a decade more than those during the early nineties. The life expectancy in India has risen from 59.6 years in 1990 to 70.8 years in 2019. There’s a disparity in Statewise life expectancy increase though. An average Keralite now lives for 77.3 years while his counterpart in Uttar Pradesh for 66.9 years. Nevertheless, both, as also from many other States, share a commonality — the quality of life is missing as they live more with illness and disability, according to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study, published in the Lancet journal on Friday. Global Covid-19 cases top 41.1mn: Johns Hopkins. The overall number of global coronavirus cases has increased to 41.1 million, while the deaths have soared to more than 1,130,400, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
As of Thursday morning, the total number of cases stood at 41,148,042, while the death toll surged to 1,130,405, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update. Pak to remain in 'grey' list of FATF till Feb 2021. Pakistan will remain in FATF's 'grey' list till February 2021 as it has failed to fulfil six key obligations of the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog that include failure to take action against two of India's most wanted terrorists — Maulana Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed, officials said on Friday.
The virtual plenary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), held in the last three days, concluded that Pakistan will continue in its 'grey' list. The decision has been taken after a thorough review of Pakistan's performance in fulfilling the global commitments and standards on the fight against money laundering and terror financing. "Pakistan remains in the increased monitoring list or the grey list," FATF president Marcus Pleyer said at a virtual press conference from Paris.
Pakistan failed to fulfil six of the 27 mandates so far as a result of which the country continues to be in the grey list of the FATF. French Prez's posters stuck on Mumbai road, cops remove them. Biden says he's on track to 'win this election' Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden has asked his supporters to "keep the faith" and expressed confidence that he's on track to "win this election" as all eyes are on the outcome in Midwestern battleground states.
"We knew this was going to go long," 77-year-old Biden told a crowd in his hometown of Dilware. "Keep the faith guys. We are going to win this," he said. "We believe we are on track to win this election. " Meanwhile, Republican incumbent Donald Trump tweeted that he will soon make a statement as he alleged that the opposition was trying to “STEAL” the Election. "I will be making a statement tonight. "We are up BIG, but they are trying to STEAL the Election. Biden has maintained his lead mid-way through the counting of votes, as Trump appeared to be fast catching up. As per Fox News, Biden has 237 of the 538 electoral college seats, while Trump has 210. Global coronavirus case total tops 50 million. Nitish, 13 Ministers to take oath on Monday. Apart from Nitish Kumar who will take oath as the Bihar Chief Minister and 13 Ministers from NDA parties will be sworn in by Governor Phagu Chauhan here on Monday afternoon.
Apart from Nitish Kumar, Tarkishore Prasad (Deputy CM), Ashok Chaudhary, Vijay Chaudhary, Mewa Lal Chaudhary, Bijendra Yadav, Renu Devi, Mangal Pandey, Prem Kumar, Samrat Chaudhary, Nitish Mishra, Nandkishore Yadav, VIP President Mukesh Sahani, and Hindustani Awam Morcha President Jitan Ram Manjhi's son Santosh Kumar Sharan are to be sworn in at a ceremony scheduled at 4.30 pm at the Governor's House.
Even as a Pro-Tem Speaker is to be sworn in, it is not yet clear if he or she will be from among these persons or not. On Sunday, Nitish Kumar was chosen as leader of the NDA by the newly elected MLAs and MLCs of all four parties which are alliance partners. Nitish Kumar presented the list of all 125 MLAs to Governor Phagu Chauhan on Sunday, after which Chauhan invited him to form the new government. COVID-19 caseload in India breaches 90-lakh mark. India's COVID-19 caseload surpassed the 90-lakh mark on Friday with 45,882 new cases, while the recoveries surged to 84.28 lakh pushing the national recovery rate to 93.6 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The total coronavirus cases mounted to 90,04,365 and the death toll climbed to 1,32,162 with the novel coronavirus virus claiming 584 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country, the data updated at 8 am showed. The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further declined to 1.46 per cent. There are 4,43,794 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 4.92 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated. Nivar weakens into cyclonic storm. Top Indian diplomat in Pak wants to explain India's stance on Jadhav's counsel appointment: IHC. The counsel for the Indian High Commission in Pakistan has informed the Islamabad High Court that Deputy High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia wants to explain India's stance over appointment of a lawyer for death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav, according to a media report on Wednesday.
Appearing before the IHC larger bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, the counsel for the Indian High Commission, Barrister Shahnawaz Noon, on Tuesday said the matter related to the appointment of a lawyer for Jadhav had been discussed in detail and Ahluwalia could explain the stance of the Indian government before the court, the Dawn News reported.
Justice Minallah said in order to implement the ICJ judgement, the IHC had been waiting for a response from the Indian government since “it is our duty to ensure fair trial”. If the diplomat wanted to appear before the court, “he is always welcome”, he added. Fight to the finish. The Govt, which could have avoided the stir with a consensual approach, is ready to amend laws but farmers are adamant The farmers’ protests are no longer confined to a sectoral concern.
As the agitators have descended on Delhi, hoping to be heard justly in the corridors of power, they have gathered traction from transport, taxi unions and civil society. And they have held their own admirably, shunning all politicians and even Government hospitality, choosing to drink their own tea, having their own food, sleeping in their own shelters and even making their own presentation on gaps in the contentious new farm laws. In fact, such is the spontaneous combustion that the stir is turning into a people’s movement that, though leaderless, has a beehive unity about it and tugs at most who have chased big city dreams, coming as they do from farming families themselves.
Sisodia lays foundation stone for 'Kala Kunj' Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday laid the foundation stone for 'Kala Kunj', a cultural centre that will also serve as an archive. "Kala Kunj will have a state-of-the-art auditorium with a capacity of 500 people with excellent audio-visual facilities. It will also host art exhibitions, archives, libraries, a café, and offer a mix of cultural activities," Sisodia said.
WhatsApp Pay now live with 4 top banks in India. WhatsApp Pay on Wednesday announced it is now live with State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank for its up to 20 million users in India. After two years of waiting, Facebook-owned WhatsApp payment service received approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in November to go live on Unified Payment Interface (UPI) with over 160 supported banks. WhatsApp can expand its UPI user base in a graded manner starting with a maximum registered user base of 20 million. "UPI is a transformative service and we jointly have the opportunity to bring the benefits of our digital economy and financial inclusion to a large number of users who have not had full access to them before," Abhijit Bose, Head of WhatsApp, India, said during the Facebook 'Fuel for India' virtual event. The peer-to-peer (P2P) payment feature is available now in 10 Indian regional language versions of WhatsApp.
S-400 deal intact despite US sanctions threat: Russia. Air defence deal with India moving on its schedule, says Russian envoy The six billion dollar deal for S-400 air defence systems between India and Russia is moving as per schedule despite the USA threat of sanctions. This assertion from the Russian Ambassador to India on Monday came days after the USA imposed sanctions against Turkey for going ahead with a deal for S-400 missile system manufactured by Russia. China has already bought more than six such systems from Russia. India and Russia inked a deal for five S-400 systems in 2018 worth over 5.6 billion dollars. These air defence systems will enable India to detect and destroy incoming missiles and aircraft after picking up their flight path more than 400 km away. Brushing aside the USA caution to India over the past two years about the possibility of sanctions for procuring weapons from Russia, Ambassador Nikolay Kudashev said ongoing deals with India for military hardware are advancing well.
Kejriwal visits Singhu Border. Joins ‘Safar-e-Shahadat' Kirtan Darbaar Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited Singhu border and joined the 'Safar-e-Shahadat' Kirtan Darbaar organized by the Punjabi Academy of the Delhi government at Guru Tegh Bahadur Memorial in the memory of the martyrdom of four Sahibzaade and Mata Gujri Kaur Ji.
Addressing the farmers protesting against the three farm laws of the Central government, Kejriwal said that more than 40 people have lost their lives protesting against the contentious farm laws of the Centre. The chief minister said that these farmers are being called terrorists and anti-nationals without thinking that if these farmers are terrorists, who will feed the nation? Kejriwal said that various parties and leaders have only betrayed the farmers for the last 70 years and now they want to take farming away from the farmers and hand it over to big companies. Farmers' protest: Several Delhi border points remain closed. Thousands of farmers stayed put at their protest venues near Delhi's border on Thursday as their talks with the government remained deadlocked over the main contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP.
Undeterred by cold weather, rains, protesting farmers threaten to intensify stir further. Gorillas test positive for coronavirus at San Diego park. DTC to induct 1,000 low floor AC buses after 12 years. Trump leaves White House, skips Biden's inauguration ceremony. Rioters in farmers’ garb tried to reach India Gate. COVID-19: India reports 8,635 new cases. Vehicle scrapping plan will create jobs, lower costs: Gadkari. Mental health worries in a post-Corona world. Whatever done was sacred duty fulfilling constitutional and moral responsibilities: Bedi. Night curfew in Pune, no gathering in Maharashtra. COVID-19: India records 16,738 new cases, 138 fresh fatalities. Shreya Ghoshal announces pregnancy.
Kareena Kapoor Khan shares first picture with new born. UN chief Guterres appalled by escalating violence in Myanmar by military junta. Delhi Govt can’t use NFSA grains for its scheme: Centre. Mehbooba questioned by ED in money laundering probe. US court allows Tahawwur Rana to file additional reply in extradition case to India. PM to interact with CMs on Thursday over COVID situation, vaccination drive. India bans virus drug Remdesivir’s export. 2020 Delhi riots: Court grants bail to Umar Khalid. Delhi likely to be under curfew from Monday night: Sources. Another hospital, another fire: 13 die in Virar ICU blaze. Vaishno Devi tourism on back foot. Exempt GST on oxygen concentrators: Sisodia urges FM Sitharaman. Nirav Modi's appeal against extradition awaits UK High Court judge decision. Army sets up 100-bed COVID hospital at Faridabad.
57 US Congressmen urge Biden to bolster COVID-19 assistance to India. Portals of Kedarnath open in U'khand. Rise in black fungus cases among Covid survivors. Taiwan's worst outbreak of the pandemic grows. COVID-19: New cases dip to 2.22 lakh, death toll crosses 3-lakh mark. Sanjay Dutt remembers father and mentor Sunil Dutt on 16th death anniversary. Twitter sticks to its guns, cries threat to freedom of expression. Delhi likely to get Sputnik V in June: Kejriwal. Norms for clearing foreign-made COVID-19 vaccines eased by DCGI. Twitter restores verified blue tick of Vice Prez's personal handle.
National award-winning film director Buddhadeb Dasgupta dies at 77. Disturbing dissent in both national parties. OnePlus ropes in Bumrah as brand ambassador for its wearables. Jharkhand extends lockdown-like restrictions till July 1. Twitter website displays distorted map of India; J&K, Ladakh shown as separate country. WB Post-poll violence: SC seeks Centre's response for imposing President Rule in state. Economy on roller coaster; Indian losses bolster China. Covid: Only 22,360 vaccine doses administered in Delhi on Wednesday. US COVID-19 cases rising again, doubling over three weeks. ‘Why is colonial sedition law in use in free India?’ UP set to become solar energy production hub in India.
Dell partners Blue Dart, provides infra. The growing burden of neurological disorders in India. Musk wants to bring Tesla to India, blames high import duties. No proposal to review new IT rules: Govt. Sena workers damage 'Adani Airport' signboard in Mumbai. MCD monitoring compositing in Government colonies. India, China pull back from Gogra. India at the Olympics over the decades. My target is to achieve 100 km per day of highway construction: Gadkari. HIV patients protected from Covid-19 after shots: Study. Sena dubs Maha Guv Koshyari as 'political agent' of Union Home Ministry. India's national security challenges becoming complex: Rajnath. Afghan situation raises new security questions: Rajnath Singh. NINL disinvestment to be completed by Dec. Mullah Baradar to head Afghan Govt. Taliban could hand over airbases to China, Pak.
Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya resigns. Kejriwal re-elected AAP convenor for 3rd time. 300 units free electricity if voted to power in UP: AAP. COVID-19: Active cases lowest in 184 days. ‘Govt committed to provide health insurance to scribes’ Covid caused biggest fall in life expectancy since WWII: Oxford. Remove Punjab DGP, AG, reiterates Sidhu. Commission set up to probe Lakhimpur Kheri incident. 100 reasons for NDA govt to go, price rise biggest reason: Chidambaram. Army chief Gen. Naravane witnesses culmination of military exercise between India and Sri Lanka. New Zealand hits virus high, pushes vaccination as way out.
C’garh bags ‘India Green Energy Award’ Project to curb air pollution from dispersed sources soon. 2-week UN climate summit formally opens in Glasgow. 25 more test +ve for Zika in Kanpur. After the Jinnah fiasco, SP cautious on Muslim issues.