The number of cases of the killer disease climbed by 2 million to 219 million in 2017 The World Health Organisation on Monday said global efforts to fight malaria have hit a plateau as it reported there were more cases of the killer disease in 2017 than the previous year. …
Read More »Yearly Archives: 2018
RBI carries the bat
The Reserve Bank of India seems to have carried the day, after all, in Monday’s marathon 9-hour board meeting. Going by the brief statement that it put out, of the six deliveries that it had to play, the RBI has shouldered arms to two — PCA relaxation and capital framework …
Read More »Talks on with 150 nations to reform WTO: Prabhu
Multilateral trading system is under stress, says Minister Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu on Monday said he was in talks with at least 150 countries to work out the way forward for reforming the World Trade Organisation (WTO). He said that the multilateral trading system was under stress and a number …
Read More »SC upholds tribunal order backing UltraTech’s Binani bid
NCLAT had ruled in favour of the revised resolution plan for Rs. 7,950 crore The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT) order that approved the revised bid of Aditya Birla group firm UltraTech Cement for acquiring debt-ridden Binani Cement at Rs. 7,950 crore. A …
Read More »Republicans expand Senate majority
With their Florida victory, they now have 52 seats; Mississippi will see a run-off Bill Nelson, incumbent Democrat Senator from Florida, conceded the Senaterace to his Republican opponent, Governor Rick Scott, on Sunday afternoon after a prolonged and bitterly fought battle. A Statewide manual recount of votes left Mr. Nelson, …
Read More »May reaches out to businesses
Cites Indian software developers, JLR in bid to convince industry of Brexit deal British Prime Minister Theresa May continued to defy her critics as she reached out to businesses, with an attempt to focus on her vision for the post-Brexit immigration regime. EU nationals, regardless of skill level, could no …
Read More »Sri Lanka House adjourned till Friday
MPs aligned to Ranil seek the suspension of state funds to the PM’s Office, now occupied by Rajapaksa The Sri Lankan Parliament, which met on Monday following violence and disruption last week, was adjourned minutes after it convened, without a resolution to the ongoing political crisis. Lawmakers aligned to ousted …
Read More »Make elephant corridors eco-sensitive zones: NGT
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to consider declaring all elephant corridors in India as eco-sensitive zones. Following a plea that sought legal recognition for elephant reserves and corridors in the State of Assam, a Bench headed by NGT Chairperson …
Read More »HC grants time to UIDAI to file response on plea raising concern over Aadhaar data security
UIDAI gets more time for response on privacy plea The Delhi High Court on Monday granted four more weeks to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to file its response on a plea raising concerns about the security of Aadhaar data, in the wake of a reported leak of …
Read More »Bihar to be declared ODF before state’s foundation day next
Bihar to be declared ODF before March 22: Sushil Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday said the entire Bihar should be declared Open Defecation Free before State’s foundation day on March 22 next year. The target has been set to declare the entire country ODF by October 2, …
Read More »Army selects Russian Igla-S missile
India has picked Russia’s Igla-S missile system as the choice for the Army’s multibillion dollar contract for man-portable air defence systems, officials said on Monday. “The Igla-S bid from Rosoboronexport of Russia has been declared the L1 in the Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) deal,” said a defence official …
Read More »Govt., RBI call truce after board meeting
“The Board also advised that the RBI should consider a scheme for restructuring of stressed standard assets of MSME borrowers with aggregate credit facilities of up to Rs. 250 million [Rs. 25 crore] , subject to such conditions as are necessary for ensuring financial stability,” the RBI said. On the …
Read More »Viewing Kartarpur via telescope
Govt. to instal instrument for across-the-border view of the gurdwara India plans to install a “high-powered telescope” in Punjab’s Gurdaspur for Sikh devotees to view Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib across the border in Pakistan, the Home Ministry said on Monday. This is part of a series of projects planned to commemorate …
Read More »A new bank scam using Google Maps loophole
Con artists edit bank details, get customers to share PINs Scamsters seem to have stumbled upon a gold mine in the form of a loophole in the Google Maps interface. Taking advantage of the fact that on Google Maps, an establishment’s contact details can be edited by anyone, a group …
Read More »‘Literacy levels in rural India suffer from migration of families’
UNESCO report says that 80% of seasonal migrant children in seven cities lacked access to education and 40% were likely to end up in work Literacy levels in rural households of India dip with seasonal migration, the UNESCO global education monitoring report 2019 has observed, bringing out the educational challenges …
Read More »Maratha quota is a betrayal: OBC groups
‘The community can’t be included in SEBC category’ A day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a new Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) category under which Marathas will be given reservation, organisations of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) said on Monday that this was an attempt to give …
Read More »Dharmapuri bus burning convicts set free
Governor clears request for release of 3 AIADMK men Three AIADMK men, serving life sentences for setting ablaze a bus in Dharmapuri resulting in the death of three girls of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), were granted remission and set free from the Vellore Central Prison on Monday. Jayalalithaa …
Read More »If you dump garbage, be ready to go to court
Though the fine is not more than Rs. 500, police hope the legal process will act as a deterrent If the beat policeman catches you dumping garbage on the roads, be prepared to go to the court to battle charges of “spreading disease”. In the past 10 days, as many …
Read More »Govt., RBI call truce after a marathon board meeting
Expert panel to review economic capital framework for future earnings The tension between the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appeared to have defused for the time being with both agreeing to settle for a middle ground at the end of an over nine-hour board meeting on Monday. …
Read More »Defaulters list: CIC pulls up PMO
Severely admonishing the RBI and the PMO, the Central Information Commission has again directed them to disclose the list of wilful defaulters and former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan’s letter on bad loans. The panel pulled up the PMO for not complying with its directive to disclose the letter from Dr. …
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