A total of 27,920 people have been cured of the disease with 1,685 in the last 24 hours, taking the recovery rate to 34.06 per cent, the ministry said.
'An armed helicopter equipped with counter-drone systems will provide the airborne counter-drone capability and flexibility needed to protect India's critical assets.'
'We cannot be naughty and expect the government to do good!' 'We have to behave ourselves and then we can expect the government to support us.' 'If we are able to protect ourselves well, then we should not be having deaths.' 'Unfortunately, people have gotten into this super scary event participation (mode) -- birthday parties, large gatherings.' 'Among the people who have attended those, 80 to 90 per cent of them have come down with COVID-19.'
'Under Section 79 of the IT Act, Facebook is mandated to exercise care. Once you have a duty, you do not have the right to silence; you need to show compliance.'
In an apparent attempt at assuaging his feelings in the wake of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's denunciation of the government, Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi on Sunday praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying schemes launched under his leadership have helped millions of people from the marginalised sections.
Where Ms Chawla seems to have erred is that she has not been able to build the desired credibility required to champion the cause she took to court.
Former Watson Fellow and social entrepreneur Srikar Gullapalli talks about the issues affecting India's growth and tells us why he wants more people to actively participate in building a bright future and put India on the global map.
'This offers us many opportunities to meet people in different ways, and we will do this with full respect to India.'
The lockdown should have been used to drum into Indians' head the reasons for social distancing and the necessity for it, and the costs of not applying it in our daily lives and it should have been used to set up the systems that would manage large numbers of infected, observes Mihir S Sharma.
Prime Minister Modi felt there were too many silos with no arrangement to take a comprehensive view on national security. The PM has entrusted NSA Ajit Doval to evolve a comprehensive roadmap and get it implemented, reveals Nitin Gokhale, Editor-in-Chief, Strategic News International.
Sajjid Chenoy, India economist at JP Morgan is the new part-time member.
The National Technical Research Organisation, the ambitious project to protect India's cyber space, is all set to roll out in May. However, experts are sceptical on how the government will maintain a balance between cyber security and civil liberties, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
While some experts believe that a large part of India is still vulnerable to the virus that could trigger a third wave, others feel the country is not likely to be engulfed by another deadly wave unless a new variant emerges.
'India needs offensive and defensive security measures to protect itself.'
Colonel Ajay Kothiyal, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra, is one of the most decorated soldiers to join politics. He still has two bullets lodged inside his body sustained in a gun battle with terrorists in J&K.
'The men in black suits and hair dye in Beijing have not only completely blown the cover story of "peaceful rise," but have managed to antagonise regional powers in the Indo-Pacific.'
Three experts on cyber security, digital forensics, networks and hardware were roped in by the Supreme Court on Wednesday to "enquire, investigate and determine" whether Pegasus spyware was used for snooping on citizens and their probe would be monitored by former apex court judge R V Raveendran.
Yale University has issued a statement saying that Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani attended a weeklong programme and received a certificate from the university last year, along with several other lawmakers from India. George Joseph/Rediff.com reports from New York
It is not the job of regulators to ensure that users make profits. It is not the job of regulators to prevent people from making losses. It is not the job of regulators to prevent people from doing stupid things, argues Ajay Shah.
National artificial intelligence unit stuck for lack of anchor department
The real battle for NEET abolition can take much more time and energy, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Economic issues do not matter during elections; it is the emotional connect that helps swing votes.'
'We should not minimise the seriousness of Chinese encroachments because their perception is different.' 'Nor should we fall into the trap of accepting so-called 'buffer zones' in areas of overlapping claims. We cannot have buffer zones in our own territory,' asserts Ambassador Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary.
If international crude oil prices zoom past the current level of about $90 per barrel and move towards $100 and beyond, middle-class consumers are not going to keep quiet about their discomfort, points out Arun Balakrishnan, former chairman and managing director, Hindustan Petroleum.
'Give cash assistance of Rs 75 per person per day and an android phone and you will see the economy reviving.'
The nominations were made by President Ram Nath Kovind on the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the PMO said.
Whether the third wave will ravage us depends on the pace of vaccinations, careful and calibrated opening up of establishments, and a strategy to contain the spread in specific states or pockets.
Colombo seems to be veering to the middle path between China and the US on global matters, but in regional matters of strategic security, it is increasingly identifying with India, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Of the 1,000 surveyed by IIM-A, only five were aware about the government-sponsored gold schemes
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented the Budget for 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha that is expected to provide relief to the pandemic-hit common man as well as focus more on driving economic recovery through higher spending on healthcare, infrastructure and defence amid rising tensions with neighbours, As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth Budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.
Labour law changes for three years may not be enough as it takes a couple of years for factories to build and operations at a proper scale start only in the third or fourth year.
Chief Minister MK Stalin has shown that he is cut from a different cloth when it comes to embracing what is current, modern and absolutely necessary. Thus, even while retaining the spirit and content of the pan-Tamil, Dravidian socio-political and socio-economic ideology to the 't', his government has also acknowledged the need to accepting scientifically-proven facts in operational matters, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Will a time come when people will look beyond what they see as Modi'S strengths and begin to wonder why they have got poorer or sicker under his rule, asks Vir Sanghvi.
'The protests have forced the government to announce that the NRC is not an immediate priority.' 'Even if they are trying to pursue this policy in a different guise, through the NPR, the fact that they have been forced to pause and backtrack at least temporarily shows the positive impact of the protests.' 'Moreover, various state governments have opposed the NPR which cannot be carried out without their cooperation. That is also a success of the protests.' 'The state governments would not have taken this stance against the central government if their hand had not been forced by the popular mood.'
...Is this a virus more dangerous than Covid-19, asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
A workshop has been organised in Mumbai to come up with suggestions.
Since 2000, India has had three serious droughts.
'The attack on the Pathankot base constituted an act of war. Yet Modi's only public comment up until now on that attack has been to blame it on "enemies of humanity".' 'Modi came to power talking tough about Pakistan. But in office, he has pursued a Pakistan policy that has lost both direction and purpose,' argues Brahma Chellaney.
'Let me talk about young Indian startups with their hearts in the right place and how they are proving that innovations that represent 'affordable excellence' -- breaking the myth that 'affordability' and 'excellence' cannot go together -- is indeed possible!' says Dr R A Mashelkar, the eminent scientist, in this fascinating feature.
'We have often heard the mythical argument that patents block access to life-saving drugs, but only 5% of medicines from multinational companies are under patent protection in India.' 'Where these patented products are beyond the reach of Indian patients, the companies have programmes to facilitate access to their drugs, for free or for a fraction of the price,' points out Ranjana Smetacek, former director general, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India.
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