The joint secretary also said a high-level task force to work on frontiers of science related to vaccines and drug testing was formed on Sunday.
With Diwali coming up, everyone is making plans to get away from it all (or take it all with them) to weekend hotspots and we want suggestions from you. Help other readers discover new, exciting places closest to their cities by filling up this quick travel form.
'If the government was serious about co-opting the corporate sector meaningfully in the fight against COVID-19, it could have specified activities beyond cheque-writing,' notes Kanika Datta.
'Employees may well be expected to be on call at almost all times -- much like the standard Indian approach to the workday,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 9,272 and as many as 1,189 people have been cured and discharged, and one has migrated, it said.
Israel has warned its nationals against traveling to Goa during the next two weeks, saying that the tourist hotspot is a potential terror target during the New Year celebrations."The Goa region is a potentially tempting target for terror groups, particularly leading up to the New Year celebrations," Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau said in a statement.Over 40,000 Israelis visit India every year and Goa is one of the most favoured destination for them.
Two days before the end of the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced a slew of relaxations, including reopening of shrines from June 1.
ive websites such as 3D website and, SecondLife.com, are gaining popularity offering hassled company executives and CEOs a virtual identity to repackage their products.
Epidemiologists worry there's little or no data being shared on mortality by age group and contacts traced, which makes it difficult to understand how the effects of Covid-19 might be different in the Indian population, reports Ruchika Chitravanshi
Kolkata sheds its white-blue nocturnal hue with pink ball day-night Test.
'He couldn't hold himself from chanting 'Siyavar Ramchandra ki Jai'.'
In a zone-wise classification of districts in the country, the Union health ministry has designated all 11 districts of Delhi as red zone. The city has 272 wards.
In a letter to Fiona MacKeown, Scarlett Keeling's mother who wrote to Brown about her daughter's death in March, the British prime minister said that his government had raised the matter with the Indian officials. "While we cannot interfere with the investigation, British officials have continually worked to ensure the case is investigated thoroughly. I understand Scarlett's case was raised with a number of Indian officials," Brown said.
'China is constantly probing India's weaknesses.' 'The challenge is to implement a strategy that will allow India to buy time, gather its strength, and eventually counter China,' recommends Harsh V Pant and Vinay Kaura.
Also, the recovery rate in COVID-19 patients has progressively improved from 13.06 per cent to over 25 per cent in the country over the last 14 days. Addressing a press briefing, Joint Secretary in the ministry Lav Agarwal said the doubling rate of COVID-19 cases in several states is better than the national average.
The new-age tech-savvy buyer is seeking new shopping experiences. They need to be engaged. Indian retailers are still playing catch up with these customers.
AIIMS-Delhi is among the 12 sites selected by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting Phase I and II randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled clinical trials of Covaxin.
As with the Spanish flu, the world must be ready for a second and third wave as this start-stop-start-stop response plays out, recommends Rahul Jacob.
The destinations to bear the brunt of the changing weather include hotspots in Caribbean, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, Australia and New Zealand.
Getaway hotspots for the world's hottest supermodels, including Claudia Schiffer (who favors Badrutt's Palace in St. Moritz), Gisele Bundchen (Rio),and of course, Naomi Campbell (Jose Ignacio, Uruguay).
While you must have seen the 'Best 4G smartphones money can buy', here's another list for those who value money and yet don't compromise on quality of smartphones they buy!
In a report for the World Economic Forum in Dalian, PricewaterhouseCoopers has pointed out that many of India's successes have taken place in urban hotspots while the rural areas have lagged behind.
'We haven't flattened the infection curve, we may have merely smoothened it temporarily.'
'Mumbai is testing a lot compared to a lot of other places in the country.' 'Now that we exactly know where the hotspots are, and they've been converted into containment zones, there is a lot of testing, going on, from door to door and symptom screening.' 'In the last 10 to 15 days we have definitely done a good job.'
Cases of drunk-driving related injuries and deaths, mostly involving the youth, are on the rise. What can we do to prevent this serious problem? Tell us.
Nasscom estimates that the KPO industry is poised for a 45 per cent per annum growth till 2010. The current hotspots in KPO are engineering and design, basic data search, integration and management and biotech & pharma.
Singapore retains the title of the world's most expensive city.
Shahid Jameel, recipient of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, also said that the country had already reached community transmission a long time ago.
SpiceJet is the first Indian airline to operate on Kathmandu-Bagdogra route.
The Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command has launched an investigation and barricaded the Haymarket area.
The death of two Britishers at North Goa's Morjim beach by drowning has exposed the Goa government's tattered beach safety plans. The government figures reveal till date, this year, 16 foreigners have died due to drowning in Goa, a tourist hotspot where four lakh foreign visitors come to soak in the sun every year.
'Without doubt, India's success story will come up for close scrutiny when Modi's prime ministerial legacy is summed up in history.' 'A failure is simply unthinkable.' 'And the success will largely depend on national unity,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, a telecom and IT wing under the ministry, has selected the four railway stations for providing wi-fi connectivity. Within the next couple of weeks, passengers will be able to use their laptops at these stations, said senior officials of RailTel. The move is aimed at providing high-speed internet connectivity at railways stations. RailTel also plans to install wi-max facility to provide connectivity to remote railway stations at a later stage.
'You can see that in Chinese behaviour in the Yellow Sea, you can see it in their behaviour towards Taiwan, you can see it in their behaviour towards Hong Kong, you can see it on our border as well.'
The migrants said that they prefer trucks and tempos to go back to their native places as the trucks drop them close to their villages, while buses drop them only till the state border, from where they have to find another mode of transport to reach home.
It is time to shrug off the ideological shackles about the way we work, play and live, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
'In Mumbai the mortality rate was reaching a percentage of almost 8 plus in about April.' 'But now over last one month, we have come down.' 'We have drastically controlled mortality.' 'We are now about 3.9.'
More than 1.20 lakh Himachalis have already returned home in less than a week's time. There is a list of 21,000 others approved for return, and at least two lakh more are still awaiting official nod for their return. Will this influx see a spike in coronavirus numbers? That is the administration's main worry, reports Ashwani Sharma.
Britney Spears is currently in party mode.
