The World Health Organisation has said it is 'not yet clear' whether the newly-detected coronavirus variant Omicron is more transmissible or causes more severe disease compared to other variants, including the highly-transmissible and globally prevalent Delta variant.
HDFC Bank on Tuesday said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed an external IT firm for carrying out a special audit of its IT infrastructure in the aftermath of repeated service outages at the country's largest private sector lender over the past two years. "RBI has appointed an external professional IT firm for carrying out a special audit of the entire IT infrastructure of the bank under Section 30 (1-B) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949..., at the cost of the Bank under Section 30 (1-C) of the Act.
The total recoveries have surged to 58,27,704 while there are 9,02,425 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country.
The finance ministry has asked Infosys to provide within 15 days a plan for quick resolution of glitches on the GSTN portal, as it took strong note of the "unresolved" problems and "tardy" progress made over the last two years on multiple issues faced by taxpayers in filing returns. On Saturday, the revenue secretary A B P Pandey held a meeting with top Infosys officials on the persistent glitches seen on the GST network, and decided to ask Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani to make an urgent presentation before the GST Council on March 14.
Private sector lender HDFC Bank on Thursday said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked it temporarily stop all launches of its upcoming digital business-generating activities and sourcing of new credit card customers after outage at its data centre which impacted operations last month.
'Though we will raise our voices repeatedly, though we will not keep silent, this is a clear threat to us. What happened to Gauri Lankesh could happen to any of us,' says friend, and fellow journalist and activist Shashidhar Hemmady.
The Karnataka high court on Monday sought an explanation from the Indian National Congress for collecting Rs 10,000 as party fund from its members who are aspiring candidates.
The National Disaster Management Authority on Monday asked states to be more proactive on disaster management and appoint full-time chiefs for disaster management authorities. "The states have to become more proactive. The responsibility to respond to any disaster is with them. I know many states which are not aware of what funds are available with them for natural disaster. We need to really educate the states," said NDMA's Vice Chairman M Shashidhar Reddy.
Twenty bravehearts, who died in Tuesday's chopper crash while rescuing stranded people in flood-ravaged areas of Uttarakhand, will be given a 'guard of honour'-- a ceremonial mark of respect-- by the government on Friday in Dehradun.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday complimented senior officials of her government for successfully pressing into service disaster management mechanism in various metro stations, market places and key street intersections following the collapse of Northern Grid.
HDFC Bank on Thursday said network outages that led to a regulatory ban on new credit card sales were not due to transaction volumes, and affirmed that it continues to stay in touch with the RBI for restarting the services but giving a timeline for it will be difficult. The bank said it is on its way to creating a new technology architecture for the future as part of the "digital factory" and "enterprise factory" initiative. But, it conceded that outages will continue under the older system though it will be working to minimise the time taken to bring the service back. In December 2020, the RBI took the unprecedented step of stopping the largest private sector lender from selling any new credit cards and also launching new digital services, because of a series of network outages.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday dismissed rumours about his resignation, asserting that these were not at all true, and said Bharatiya Janata Party chief J P Nadda had told him to strengthen the party and bringing it back to power in the state.
Most of those who tested positive either recently arrived from African countries or were in contact with such people.
'A good 30 per cent of people will still get infected after getting the Covishield vaccine.'
'Bommai was a minister in my cabinet. It is not ethically correct.'
'It was not the individual's decision. It was the collective decision (that BSY should resign).'
The actor was the chief guest at the Peter England Mr India World pageant.
After some Governors, it was the turn of Vice-Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority M Shashidhar Reddy and five of its members to resign after the new government asked them to quit their posts.
This is what happens backstage at beauty pageants.
Weeks after the second wave peaked in many parts of the country, we are rapidly forgetting what happened to our hospitals, cautions Mihir S Sharma.
The 'sex scandal' allegedly involving Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and former Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi rocked the Karnataka Assembly again on Tuesday, with the Opposition Congress protesting in the well of the house, demanding an inquiry monitored by the Chief Justice of the high court.
A section of others raised objections as the news spread, leading to tension in the area. Those objecting, largely Marathi speaking, are opposed to the location where they want to install a statue of Maratha ruler Shivaji, after whom the circle is named.
Yediyurappa termed these two years as 'trial by fire', pointing out that he had to run the administration without a cabinet in the initial days, followed by devastating floods and the challenge of COVID-19 management, among other issues.
Karnataka Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi on Wednesday resigned from the state cabinet, following allegations of sexual harassment against him.
The cost of not vaccinating the entire population quickly will be far higher than bearing the entire cost of vaccination, points out Prosenjit Datta.
'We must not forget that the virus will continue to adapt itself to live with us.' 'The vaccine is the only one way we can prevent mortality.'
'Chances of getting the disease are not reduced, either after one dose or both doses of the vaccine.' 'And the probability of getting the infection -- you need to differentiate infection from disease -- by getting vaccinated is almost unaltered, be it single dose or two doses.' 'But your chances of developing moderate to severe disease, after getting infected, gets reduced with every dose you receive.'
Addressing the growing need for security of business process outsourcing employees, Bangalore-based Proficio Geo Technologies has come up with PRO-TMS
Publishers of yellow pages (directory) are feeling the blues as a blanket service tax has been levied on space sale for advertising in business directories and trade catalogues.
The filmmaker, who hasn't been keeping well for quite some time, died of heart attack around 8 am.
'Aggressively stepping up vaccinations will constitute the most enduring stimulus of all in the coming quarters,' observes Sajjid Z Chinoy, Chief India Economist at J P Morgan.
The agency acted swiftly on a reference from the government in Bihar, the home state of 34-year-old Rajput, where his family had lodged an FIR against Chakraborty.
'The reality of this virus is that as long as it is circulating, it can mutate into new variants and by the time you realise that this is a new virus, which is more dangerous, and more transmissible, it is too late.'
'How much rain fell on June 16 and 17 is NOT known because the area of Kedarnath is not covered by the Indian Meteorological Department,' M Shashidhar Reddy, vice chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority tells Sheela Bhatt. Because of this, the NDMA will not know "what exactly happened over there, in and around the Kedarnath temple."
'The world and India likely won't have a vaccine that is widely administered till the end of 2021.' 'In the meantime, clear communication would help,' observes Rahul Jacob.
According to the NDMA's recent data, rains and floods had affected 4,200 villages in Uttarakhand besides damaging 2,397 houses and 194 bridges.
Third seed B S Vidyadhar was given a fright by Joy T Anthony of Kerala before making the second round in the NSCI badminton tournament.
After 4 years, South Africa won the Miss Universe title. They had last won the title in 1978.
All members of the National Disaster Management Authority, appointed by the previous United Progressive Alliance government, have been asked to resign.
Massive evacuation has been undertaken in four districts of Andhra Pradesh before a severe cyclone hits the eastern coast on Thursday followed by very heavy rainfall.
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