Monthly Archives: September 2018

UN postal agency to issue special Diwali stamp next month

UN postal agency to issue Deepavali stamps The United Nations Postal Administration will issue special stamps here on October 19 to commemorate Deepavali. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin welcomed the announcement with a tweet: Nice Diwali gift from @unstamps coming next month.PTI Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/un-postal-agency-to-issue-special-diwali-stamp-next-month/article24906046.ece

Read More »

A new score for Vaishnava Jana To

As part of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is working on a new version ofVaishnava Jana To , the favourite bhajan of the father of the nation. Multiple singers will sing the bhajan at the Taj Mahal and other iconic …

Read More »

Transgender Odisha official plans marriage

She feels freed by SC judgment Emboldened by the Supreme Court’s verdict decriminalising homosexuality, the first transgender State- cadre civil servant of Odisha has announced plans to marry. Aishwarya Rutuparna Pradhan, 34, an officer of the Odisha Finance Service (OFS), had wanted to be recognised as belonging to the third …

Read More »

Nepal to skip BIMSTEC military drill in India

The Nepal Army has withdrawn from the first BIMSTEC military exercise to be held in India following a political row in the country over the participation in the event, a media report said on Saturday. Prime Minister K.P. Oli asked the national defence force not to participate in the drill, …

Read More »

Doubt if panchayat polls are on track: Mir

J&K Cong. to clear its stand next week Jammu and Kashmir Congress president G.A. Mir on Saturday expressed doubt over the holding of panchayat and local bodies elections in the State, saying the party would clear its stand after a review meeting next week. He said the administration had announced …

Read More »

Infrastructure crumbling in Bengal

Two days after a chunk of the Majerhat bridge, a key connector between south and southwestern Kolkata, collapsed, killing three persons and leaving more than 20 injured, the West Bengal government made a startling revelation. After a meeting with officials of different Departments, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said 20 bridges …

Read More »

is outbreak of fever a worry in Kerala?

What happened? Public health officials had warned of the likelihood of outbreak of infectious diseases in the aftermath of the Kerala floods, and the State is battling a disease called leptospirosis, commonly known as ‘rat fever.’ Officials have confirmed 143 cases, with six deaths in the first four days of …

Read More »

Tilonia’s ‘solar mamas’ are glowing

Diplomats praise new skills ofrural women A group of 45 women from 10 countries, ‘solar mamas’ who learnt the skills needed for the fabrication of solar panels, lights and photovoltaic circuits in a six-month-long training programme, were felicitated at a ‘graduation ceremony’ at the Barefoot College here on Saturday. Diplomats …

Read More »

DD Free Dish to get a second wind

Ministry, board to break impasse Seven months after the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and the state broadcaster Prasar Bharati locked horns over DD Free Dish, there is hope that the Ministry and the board will soon reach a solution. DD Free Dish reaches 2.4 crore households, which get 80 TV …

Read More »

INSA cuts funds for awardees

Annual research, travel grants to go Citing “continued limitations posed by the budgetary provisions from the Department of Science and Technology (DST)” the New Delhi-based Indian National Science Academy (INSA) has decided to “dispense with” facilities given to researchers who had won the Young Scientist Award given by the Academy. …

Read More »

Assam’s transgenders feel insecure

Most of their names don’t feature in the NRC, says activist-lawyer Baruah The Supreme Court’s judgment on Article 377 decriminalising same sex relationships may have been celebrated across the country but not by the transgender community of Assam. Rather, it was a “difficult and glum day”, said Swati Bidhan Baruah, …

Read More »

A shot in the arm for Manipur’s intrepid women

After their long battle, Supreme Court orders filing of chargesheets in 1,528 cases of extra-judicial killings under the contentious AFSPA September 8 was the grim anniversary of the imposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, (AFSPA) in Manipur in 1980. Allegations of extra-judicial excesses and killings by security …

Read More »

LEMOA fully operational now

The pact gives both countries access to designated military facilities in specific areas The India-U.S. foundational agreement for mutual logistics support, the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), has been fully operationalised over the past few months, official sources said. Earlier this week, India concluded the third foundational agreement, Communications …

Read More »

Aqua attack

A photo journey through pockets of unimaginable destruction in flood-ravaged Kerala A once-in-a-century natural disaster throws up macabre scenes that become part of the collective memory of a population. The recent floods and landslips in Kerala have devastated the State so much that a considerable part of its hard-earned physical …

Read More »

Maneka Gandhi bypassed; nutrition norms cleared

After PMO intervention, NITI Aayog approves guidelines The NITI Aayog has approved the supplementary nutrition guidelines, prepared by the Ministry for Women and Child Development, bypassing Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi following intervention by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), according to a person familiar with the development. …

Read More »