New Delhi, September 27 (IANS): In the wake of 88,650 more coronavirus cases and another 1,124 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, India's total tally on Sunday neared the 60-lakh mark. Of the total 59,92,532 cases, 9,56,402 are still active. As many as 49,41,627 patients were cured and discharged, whereas 94,503 succumbed to the viral disease. About 75 per cent of the new cases were from 10 states and UTs. India's recovery rate is 82.46 per cent while the fatality r

New Delhi, September 27 (IANS): Former Defence Minister Jaswant Singh passed away early Sunday, said an official statement from the R&R Hospital here. He was 82. "Major Jaswant Singh (Retd), former Cabinet Minister, passed away at 6.55 a.m. today. He was admitted on 25 June and was being treated for Sepsis with Multiorgan Dysfunction Syndrome. He had a cardiac arrest this morning. His Covid status is negative" said the statement. The former Union Minister was a clos

Chandigarh, September 26 (PTI): The Shiromani Akali Dal has quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over the farm Bills issue, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal announced Saturday night. He made the announcement after holding a core committee meeting of the party here. “The highest decision-making body of the Shiromani Akali Dal core committee at its emergency meeting here tonight decided unanimously to pull out of the BJP -led NDA alliance,” he said. Accordi

Adar Poonawalla: Will Govt have 80,000 crores available over the next one year? New Delhi, September 26 (IANS): Rs 80,000 crore will be the cost of vaccinating everyone in India with the Covid-19 vaccine whenever it is available. Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SII) on Saturday asked the Indian government whether Rs 80,000 crore will be available over the next one year to buy the Covid vaccine and distribute it to everyone. SII is the world's larg

New Delhi, September 26 (IANS): Amid protests by farmers across the country over the three agriculture-related Bills passed by Parliament, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday slammed the proposed legislations as "big blunders" and demanded their immediate withdrawal. In a video message under the party's campaign titled 'Speak up for Farmers' against the Bills, Rahul Gandhi said: "Attacks on you have started -- first it was demonetisation, then GST and

Patna, September 26 (IANS): Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said the NDA will win the Bihar Assembly elections in a convincing manner and again form the government in the state under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. "We have worked for the people of Bihar and they know it. The Prime Minister has given a package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for various purposes. It has reached the common man. Rs 1,500 each has been given to each of the 2.5 crore farmers

NEW YORK, September 26 (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged at the United Nations on Saturday that his country's vaccine production capacity would be made available globally to fight the COVID-19 crisis. "As the largest vaccine-producing country of the world, I want to give one more assurance to the global community today," Modi said in a pre-recorded speech to the U.N. General Assembly. "India's vaccine production and delivery capacity will

New Delhi, September 26 (PTI): The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 surged to 48,49,584 on Saturday with 93,420 patients recuperating from the disease in a day which is more than the number of fresh cases recorded during the same period, the union health ministry said. With the recovery rate rising to 82.14 per cent, the ministry said India has maintained its top global ranking in total recoveries with such high successive single-day numbers. "As India records more r

New Delhi, September 26 (IANS) : After wide-spread violence ravaged the national capital and led to death of 53 people and colossal property destruction, the Delhi government has settled over 1,661 claims sought by riots victims amounting to over 21 crore. According to data in the charge sheet filed by the Delhi Police in a riots case, the government has disbursed a total of Rs 21,93,29,050 rupees till now. About 1,661 claims of the victims have been settled, while 185 are still pen

Mumbai, September 26 (IANS): The Municipal Commissioner of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation I.S. Chahal and Mayor of Houston, Texas, Sylvester Turner were among the Covid crusaders from India and the US, who were honoured with the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce awards, by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, officials said here. Chahal and Turner received the top 'Covid Crusader Award-2020' in the Bureaucrats category of the award, instituted by the IACC and

Jammu, September 26 (IANS): Pakistan army on Saturday targeted Indian positions by using small arms and mortars on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, officials said. "At around 11.15 a.m. today, Pakistan initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and shelling with mortars along the LoC in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district," Defence Ministry spokesperson Colonel Devender Anand said. "Indian army is retali

Thiruvananthapuram, September 26 (IANS): After questioning Bineesh Kodiyeri, the son of CPI-M Kerala State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on September 9 for over 11 hours, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday sent him a notice under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The ED has asked him to give the list of his assets and has also directed the State Registration Department to prepare a list of his assets and to see that there is no transfer or sale of his assets (prope

New Delhi, September 26 (IANS): With a spike of 85,362 coronavirus cases and 1,089 deaths in 24 hours, India's tally on Saturday reached 59,03,932 cases, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. Out of the total cases, 9,60,969 are currently active, 48,49,584 have been discharged, while 93,379 lost the battle against the viral disease. While the recovery rate stands at 81.74 per cent, the fatality rate has come down to 1.59 per cent. Maharashtra continues to be the

United Nations, September 26 (PTI): The "only crowning glory" that Pakistan has to show to the world for the last seven decades is terrorism, ethnic cleansing, majoritarian fundamentalism and clandestine nuclear trade, India said in a scathing response on Friday, slamming Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan''s "incessant rant" and "venom" in the UN General Assembly. "This august forum witnessed a new low on its 75th anniversary. The leader

New Delhi, September 25 (IANS): The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is all set to return to power in Bihar, according to the IANS C-Voter Bihar opinion poll survey . The survey suggests that the NDA is likely to get 151 seats in the 243-member Bihar Assembly, the UPA is likely to get 74 seats while others may win 18 seats. This will be a big improvement from its 2015 tally when the NDA secured 58 seats. The Janata Dal (United) later broke away from the grnad alliance and forme

Dhaka, September 26 (IANS): Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Riva Ganguly Das has said Dhaka and New Delhi are partners in development and that the cooperation transcends mere transactions and is built on trust and mutual respect. She also said that India looked forward to the joint commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation War and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two neighbouring countries. The envoy made the rema

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 25 (IANS): The renowned medical journal, Lancet has criticised India on the danger of presenting the current situation in India with too positive a spin. It not only clouds reality but also hampers vital public health initiatives. It said that perpetuating unrealistic claims or failing to honestly report negative news creates uncertainty among the public and health-care professionals, discouraging people from taking preventive action or taking public health mess

New Delhi, September 25 (IANS): The NDA government in Bihar is cruising comfortably to an almost two-third majority in the Assembly elections even though the electorate is angry with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and more than half want to change the government, as per the IANS C-Voter Bihar opinion poll survey. This contradiction will define the Bihar mandate for 2020. A chunk of Bihar is angry with Nitish and wants to change the government, but as the opinion poll shows, people wil

New Delhi, September 25 (PTI): India's total COVID-19 recoveries have surged to over 47.5 lakh with 10 states and union territories including Maharashtra, Delhi and West Bengal accounting for 73 per cent of the new recovered cases, the Union health ministry said on Friday.        A total of 81,177 patients have recuperated from COVID-19 in a span of 24 hours taking the total recoveries to 47,56,164 and pushing the recovery rate 81.74 per cent.    &n

New Delhi, September 25 (PTI): United States President Donald Trump hoped that India and China would be able to resolve their current border disputes as he reiterated his offer to help the two Asian giants. "I know that China now, and India, are having difficulty, and very very substantial difficulty. And hopefully, they will be able to work that out," Trump told reporters at the White House. "If we can help, we would love to help," he said. The US presiden