New Delhi, January 8 (PTI): As the eighth round of talks between the Centre and protesting farmers on Friday failed to break an over-a-month-long deadlock, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said no decision could be reached as unions did not give alternatives to their demand for the repeal of laws. Speaking to reporters after the meeting that lasted for little over two hours, Tomar said the government is still hopeful that union leaders will come with alternatives to discuss

New Delhi, January 8 (IANS): Days after getting Drugs Controller General of India's (DCGI) nod for India's first indigenously-made coronavirus vaccine, Bharat Biotech has again knocked on the doors of the drug controller seeking permission to conduct clinical trials of their intranasal vaccine for the viral disease. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has applied to the DGCI for permission to start Phase 1 and 2 trials of their nasal coronavirus vaccine, top sources privy to the

New Delhi, January 8 (IANS): The Central government on Friday said that a total of 82 persons have been detected with the new 'more transmissible' UK coronavirus mutant strain. They have been kept in physical isolation in health facilities. Earlier on the day, a flight from the US landed in Delhi with 246 passengers on board amid concerns about the mutant strain that emerged in Britain. The flights from the UK resumed on Friday after the government suspended services between

Kanpur, January 8 (IANS): Sarla Devi, the mother of slain gangster Vikas Dubey, has apologised for the deeds of her son during a visit to her ancestral village Bikru, earlier this week. Vikas Dubey, accused of killing eight policemen in an ambush on July 3 last year, was killed in an encounter with the police, a week later. "I really regret giving birth to a crook and I apologise to each and every one who have lost their near and dear ones because of Vikas. However, I h

New Delhi, January 8 (IANS): Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday slammed NCW member Chandramukhi Devi for her remark a day earlier that the gang rape and murderous assault on a woman in Badaun would not have happened if she had not stepped out alone in the evening or if she were accompanied by a child. "Do you think that women's safety will be ensured after this kind of statement? The NCW member is blaming the victim for the crime. The administration

Lucknow/Meerut, January 8 (IANS): A retired Armyman was arrested on Friday in Uttar Pradesh on the charge of working for a Pakistani spy agency since 2016, official sources said. The sources told IANS that retired Signalman Saurabh Sharma was apprehended by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) following inputs from the Military Intelligence (MI) Unit in Lucknow. The ex-serviceman was allegedly working for Pakistani intelligence handlers based in Karachi. In November la

New Delhi, January 8 (IANS): Flight services between the UK and India recommenced on Friday, with national carrier Air India flying in over 250 passengers from that country. An AI-112 flight landed at Delhi's IGI Airport from the UK. The special flights would be operated under strict supervision. As per the latest government guidelines, all passengers arriving from the UK would have to undergo mandatory RT-PCR test in the UK as well as in India. In a tweet, the Delhi airpo

January 8 (PTI): Vanita Gupta is one of the most respected civil rights lawyers in America and a 'proud daughter' of immigrants from India who has fought for greater equity, United States President-elect Joe Biden has said as he nominated the Indian-American to be his associate attorney general. If confirmed by the Senate, Gupta, 46, would be the first woman of colour to serve in this role. "As associate attorney general, the number three job at the department, I nom

New Delhi, January 8 (IANS): With 18,139 new coronavirus infections and 234 deaths in the last 24 hours, India's overall tally stood at 1,04,13,417, while the death toll touched 1,50,570, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Friday. India continued its streak of low daily new cases. Till now, 1,00,37,398 have recovered. Currently, there are 2,25,449 active cases. The recovery rate stands at 96.36 per cent while the fatality rate is 1.45 as per cent. The total num

New Delhi, January 7 (PTI): The Ministry of Railways has extended the time limit for cancellation of counter tickets for train journeys between March 21 and June 31, 2020 from the present six months to nine months in view of the coronavirus crisis. The ministry had earlier extended the facility from three days to six months when the coronavirus pandemic had led to the cancellation of all regular trains. "Ministry of Railways has decided to extend the time limit beyond six mo

New Delhi, January 7 (PTI): The JEE-Advanced test for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology will be conducted on July 3, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' announced on Thursday. The relaxation in the eligibility criterion pertaining to class 12 marks will be offered this year too, he said. "JEE-Advanced will be conducted by IIT Kharagpur on July 3. The relaxation in admission requirement of 75 per cent marks in class 12 which was announced la

New Delhi, January 7 (PTI): The Union health ministry has informed states and union territories that they are likely to receive the first supply of COVID-19 vaccine shortly and asked them to remain prepared to accept these consignments. In a communique, the ministry said vaccine will be supplied to the identified consignee points of 19 states and union territories -- Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Ma

New Delhi, January 7 (PTI): Ahead of talks with the government, thousands of farmers on Thursday took out tractor-march from protest sites of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders and Haryana's Rewasan against the three agriculture laws amid heavy police deployment. According to the protesting farm unions, this is just a "rehearsal" for their proposed January 26 tractor parade that will be moved into the national capital from different parts of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar P

New Delhi, January 7 (IANS): With 20,346 new coronavirus infections and 222 deaths in the past 24 hours, India's overall tally stood at 1,03,95,278 on Thursday, while the death toll touched 1,50,336, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. India continued its streak of low daily new cases. Till now, 1,00,16,859 have recovered. Currently, there are 2,28,083 active cases. The recovery rate stands at 96.36 per cent while the fatality rate is 1.45 as per cent. The total n

Hyderabad, January 6 (IANS): The University of Hyderabad (UoH) School of Medical Sciences and the Fernandez Foundation, Hyderabad have been identified as partners by the principal investigator, Prof. Soo Downe of University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), UK as part of the prestigious Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Research grant on appropriate use of Caesarean Section. In this globally networked initiative, the UoH is with WHO-Geneva and partners in Brazil and Canada to implement

New Delhi, January 6 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked a lawyer from where has he learnt that voting is a fundamental right, as it declined to entertain his plea seeking a direction to the poll panel to stop using EVMs in elections. A bench headed by Chief Justice S. A. Bobde got irked when the lawyer insisted during the hearing that the right to vote was a fundamental right and the Election Commission decision to use EVMs in elections infringes on this right. "From

New Delhi/ January 6 (IANS): The Congress has attacked the Uttar Pradesh government after a 50-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district. As per reports, the crime was committed when the woman had gone to a temple to offer prayers. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi said on Twitter: "In Hathras the government machinery did not listen to the victims, saved officers and suppressed voices... in Badaun the Station Incharge of the police

New Delhi, January 6 (IANS): The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Wednesday that it has deployed multi-disciplinary teams to Avian Influenza affected Alappuzha and Kottayam districts in Kerala and Panchkula district in Haryana. The Department of Animal Husbandry on January 4 had notified the detection of Avian Influenza (H5N8) in samples of dead ducks from Alappuzha and Kottayam districts in Kerala. A similar report of Avian Influenza has also been received from t

New Delhi, January 6 (IANS): Even as many in the Congress still seem to be in denial about Prime Minister Narendra Modis popularity and the fact that he has earned his victories, former President late Pranab Mukherjee in his memoir clearly says that Modi earned and achieved his success. Recently, excerpts from 'The Presidential Years', the fourth and concluding volume of Mukherjee's memoirs, have started doing the rounds. There are many interesting excerpts that show the

New Delhi, January 6 (IANS): The Central government on Wednesday said that a total of 73 persons have been detected with the new "more transmissible" UK coronavirus mutant strain, and they are being kept in physical isolation in health facilities. Out of these total cases, eight have been detected by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Delhi, 20 at the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in Delhi, and 11 at the National Institute of Ment