CHANDIGARH, APRIL 1 (IANS): The Punjab government said on Thursday that it has created a record with zero pendency in the state treasury during the 2020-21 fiscal after a gap of almost 15 years. An official spokesperson said the Treasuries and Accounts of Finance Department has cleared Rs 3,556 crore related to payments to various departments during the last two days of the previous fiscal. The spokesperson pointed out that 10,295 bills were cleared on March 30 with an amount of

NEW DELHI, APRIL 1 (IANS): The Covid pandemic has affected education all over the globe, but in midst of all this disruption, an Indian mechanical engineering student has drawn over two dozen research offers in both sciences and mathematics from top institutions in the US, the UK, Europe and elsewhere. This is apart from the offers from leading Indian institutions, with many of which he has already collaborated on several key projects. It is a rarity for students to receive resea

NEW DELHI, APRIL 1 (IANS): Nuclear escalation between India and China was not only unlikely but also unthinkable, a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report on 'South Asia's Nuclear Challenges', released on Thursday, said. "Among Chinese and Indian experts, there was a prevailing view that they shared the same stance on no first use, and that nuclear escalation between the two countries was not only unlikely but also unthinkable," the Swe

NEW DELHI, APRIL 1 (IANS): The coronavirus pandemic has deepened the inequities in accessing and benefiting from education, especially for the underprivileged students in India, who are more likely than others to be engaged in remote schooling. According to the World Economic Forum, nearly 320 million learners in India were adversely affected by the pandemic, and have transitioned to the e-learning industry. The virtual learning system has its own vulnerabilities, as it increases

New Delhi, April 1 (PTI): India launched COVID-19 vaccination for all people aged 45 years and above from Thursday, which reported this year's highest single day rise of 72,330 new infections in a span of 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally of cases to 1,22,21,665. Seeking to exponentially expand the countrywide anti-coronavirus inoculation drive, the Centre has decided to keep all public and private sector COVID-19 vaccination centres (CVCs) operational throughout April, incl

Nandigram/ Kolkata, April 1 (PTI): A large voter turnout of more than 80 per cent despite sporadic incidents of violence and allegations of vote fraud on Thursday marked the second phase of West Bengal assembly polls. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also accused central forces deployed in Nandigram constituency, where she is locked in battle with her former lieutenant, Suvendu Adhikari now with the BJP, of helping the saffron party under instructions from Union Home Minis

GORAKHPUR, APRIL 1 (IANS): She did not count her chickens before they hatched but now, she just cannot stop counting. From someone who was trying to make ends meet for her family, she has come a long way today. Nirmala, a resident of the Pachauri village in Sahajanwan block of Gorakhpur, was finding it difficult to fend for her family of 12 members, till about two years ago. The male members of her family had already migrated to other cities in search of jobs. She pondered ove

BAHRAICH, April 1 (IANS): A young man, upset over the adverse comments his friends had made on a photograph he posted on his Facebook page, invited them home for a Holi party and then stabbed them. According to reports, the friends had ridiculed a photograph that the accused Ashish Singh had posted on the social media. SHO Kotwali Dehat, Om Prakash Chauhan, said that the three youth -- Shivendra, Durgesh, and J P Yadav -- had posted comments on a Facebook update made by their fri

SRINAGAR, APRIL 1 (IANS): That all the four kidnappers and killers of his son have been killed by the security forces is little consolation for 56-year-old Manzoor Ahmad Wagay, who is still digging up mother earth just to find the last resting place of his son, Shakir Manzoor. Shakir was a soldier of the Territorial Army, who belonged to the Harmain village of Shopian district. He had been travelling in his car to join duty when four militants kidnapped him on August 2, 2020. The

New Delhi, April 1 (PTI): India recorded its highest daily rise in COVID-19 cases this year with 72,330 new infections being reported in a span of 24 hours, taking the total tally of cases to 1,22,21,665, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Thursday. The single-day rise in cases is the highest recorded since October 11, 2020, while the death toll increased to 1,62,927 with 459 daily new fatalities, the highest in around 116 days, the data updated at 8 am showed.

New Delhi, March 31 (PTI): As India prepares to open up its COVID-19 vaccination drive to people above 45 from April 1, the Centre on Wednesday asked states and union territories to identify low vaccine-coverage pockets, particularly in districts reporting a surge in new infections, and take corrective action. National Health Authority (NHA) CEO and Empowered Group on COVID Vaccination chairperson Dr R S Sharma and Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan chaired a high-level meeting w

New Delhi, March 31 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday filed a charge sheet against 124 people, companies and firms in connection with its probe into the Adarsh Credit Cooperative Society Ltd (ACCSL) case. The ED, in a statement, said that it filed a charge sheet against 124 individuals, companies and firms including ACCSL, Mukesh Modi and directors or partners or persons responsible for Adarsh Group of Companies or firms or LLPs, the Riddhi Siddhi Group of Companies o

Panaji, March 31 (IANS): Everyday two drug raids are conducted in Goa by police and related agencies in a bid to crack down the narcotics trade in the state, according to statistics tabled during the Budget Session of the Goa Assembly that showed even in the pandemic year there were around 900. Most of these are from the coastal police stations in North Goa district -- Calangute, Anjuna and Pernem which have popular beaches in their respective jurisdictions like Baga, Morjim, Arambo

New Delhi, March 31 (IANS): The Indian Army shut down military farms -- which were functional for the last 132 years -- across the country on Wednesday. "After 132 years of glorious service to the nation, curtains were drawn on this organisation," said the Indian Army. The force said that all the officers and workers emplyed in the military farms have been redeployed and would continue to serve the organisation. During the closing ceremony of the farms in Delhi, Lieu

Mumbai, March 31 (IANS): Posing tough questions to former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday pointedly asked him why he did not file a First Information Report (FIR) against the alleged malpractices of state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh before bringing the matter to the courts. Warning that the court could pull up Singh, the Chief Justice Dipankar Datta said that police officer was failing in his duties if he didn't lodge a FIR despi

Chandigarh, March 31 (IANS): Women in Punjab will get to travel free of cost in all government-run buses within the state from Thursday, with the Cabinet giving its formal approval to the scheme, announced by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh earlier this month. The Chief Minister had announced the free travel scheme in the Assembly on March 5, as part of his government's efforts to empower women and girls in the state. The scheme will benefit over 1.31 crore women and girls acr

New Delhi, March 31 (IANS): As per the directives of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), it is mandatory for all Permanent Account Number (PAN) card holders to link their Aadhaar with PAN on or before March 31. 'If your Aadhaar is not linked then your PAN will be considered inoperative and this will have an impact on the TDS rate at the time of receiving any policy payouts', insurance companies have informed policy holders. If PAN and Aadhaar are not linked, then th

Kolkata, March 31 (IANS): Fifty days after they sailed out of Bangladesh's coastal region of Cox's Bazar, more than 80 Muslim Rohingya refugees were reported stranded in a boat in the Andaman sea. "But there is no news from the boat in the last 10 days. The Indian coastguard seem to have snatched the one satellite phone on the boat. There are rumours that the Indians have pushed the boat into Bangladesh or Myanmar territorial waters while some say it remains anchored of

New Delhi, March 31 (IANS) India recorded 53,480 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, 4.8 per cent lower than the day before, taking the total tally to 1,21,49,335 on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the country had recorded 56,211 cases, while on Monday, it logged 68,020 cases, the highest single-day spike in daily new cases since October 11 last year. According to the ICMR, 24,36,72,940 samples have been tested up to March 30 with 10,22,915 samples being tested on Tuesday. On M

Bengaluru, March 30 (IANS): The woman who has accused former Karnataka minister Ramesh Jarkiholi of raping her twice, appeared before a magistrate here on Tuesday and recorded her statement in what has come to be known as the Sleaze CD case. Prior to her arrival at the court, her legal counsel Jagadesh K. N. Mahadev said his client will record her statement under the relevant provisions of law and that it cannot be revealed at this point of time. Since it emerged on March 2, the