A team of six trekkers from New Delhi and Shimla is missing in Kinnaur district, officials said. A rescue operation will be launched.
The Centre on Monday earmarked a separate Rs 2,217 crore for 42 urban centres to tackle air pollution and announced the much-awaited voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and polluting vehicles, even as it shrunk the budgetary allocation for the environment ministry from the last fiscal by nearly eight percent. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech for 2021-22, announced a total of Rs 2869.93 crore for the ministry, Rs 230 crore less than the last fiscal. Officials said the outlay has been lesser this time as the economy is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lakshmanan contracted polio when he was only three months old. 'I didn't want to go for the swayamvar, but my uncle convinced me to attend.' He sat close to the door at the swayamvar. And then, Rohini walked in. Both her legs, too, were afflicted with polio.
The Tamil Nadu assembly on Tuesday once again adopted the anti-NEET Bill, returned days ago to the government by Governor RN Ravi, with the ruling Dravida Munentra Kazhagam and principal opposition All India Anna DK reaffirming their opposition to the test.
Nearly a decade ago, the first fully electric vehicle (EV) caught fire on the road in the US. It was a model from Tesla, the world's most admired EV maker. A metal fragment punctured the underbelly of the vehicle, penetrating its battery pack, leading to a fire. Indian lawmakers and automakers have had nine years to study the incident (in fact, three Tesla Model Ss caught fire in two months in 2013) but seem to have learnt little.
Santosh Patkar of Devgadh Taluka Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra is a worried man these days. Devgadh, which is known as the home to world famous Alphonso variety of mangoes, has seen an unusual drop in yields which is affecting farmers' income. Being one of the primary agricultural produce from the area, Santosh is not untouched by this somewhat rare phenomenon. He said in his own mango garden, yields have come down by a third from most trees.
Using drones and remote-sensing equipment, rescue teams intensified efforts on Wednesday to reach the 25-35 men trapped in a sludge-choked tunnel since the Uttarakhand glacier disaster three days ago and more than 170 remained missing, hopes of finding them alive fading with every passing hour.
A day after the Congress brainstormed over its electoral reverses, senior leader M Veerappa Moily on Monday said Sonia Gandhi should take "full control" of the party with a free hand to change non-performing leaders, and asserted that a "mere culture of tweets and social media propaganda" would not take the organisation forward.
Over the last four days, the Indian arm of US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Pune-based Serum Institute of India and Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech have applied to the Drugs Controller General of India seeking emergency use authorisation for their COVID-19 vaccines.
The culture of freebies burdens coming generations with the huge bill for the flagrant abuse of power by preceding governments, points out Virendra Kapoor.
In India, as elsewhere, veganism has spawned an industry of plant-based products such as tofu, tempeh, peanut curd, cashew cheese, almond butter, flax eggs, sauerkraut, seitan, mock meats, apple honey, vegan chocolates, nutritional yeast and plant-based milks. There are vegan cafs and restaurants such as About Vegan (Jaipur), Bodhi Greens (Dharamsala), Carrots (Bengaluru), Earthlings (Mumbai) and Elysian Delights (Gurugram), vegan cooking classes, vegan tours, vegan conferences and vegan e-tailers such as vegandukan.com and veganmall.in. "Plant-based milks such as soy milk, almond milk and oat milk have made promising inroads with Indian consumers. "Estimated at $21 million vs the animal-derived dairy industry at $140 billion, plant-based dairy in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of 20.7 per cent to reach $63.9 million by 2024," write Dhruvi Narsaria and Rajyalakshmi in their 2020 report, "Insights on plant-based milk category in India", published by the Good Food Institute India and Ipsos India.
It's raining IPOs, with eight issues hitting the market in a span of six days. However, the pace of new filings points to a deluge during the latter part of the year. So far this year, 58 companies have filed their draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the market regulator for initial public offerings (IPOs), exceeding the combined tally of 50 in the last two years. Industry participants said the filing count could cross 100 this year, setting a new benchmark in terms of amount mobilised in a calendar year.
The existing restrictions due to coronavirus in Pune district of Maharashtra were extended till March 14 on Sunday, an official said.
'I've always wanted to be a pilot; setting records is the icing on the cake.'
'This chauvinistic attitude, what they call nationalism in the name of religion, is sad.' 'It is a tragic state that we are all in currently.'
Meanwhile, China has denied plans to construct a tunnel to divert Brahmaputra river waters.
On February 19, India's largest private low-fare airline IndiGo announced the resignation of one of the two founders, Rakesh Gangwal, from the airline's board and his intentions of offloading his stake in the airline over the next five years. The announcement came on a Friday, giving the stock markets the weekend to absorb the news but the markets registered a tepid response on Monday's opening. In contrast, in July 2019, when the fight between the two founders and erstwhile friends first became public, the markets reacted savagely. The IndiGo scrip at the time fell 19 per cent, wiping out millions of rupees of shareholder wealth before bouncing back. For readers who may be hazy on the details of the dispute, here is the context.
The state government has declared a holiday on Wednesday and Thursday for all private institutions, offices, non-essential services within Outer Ring Road here in view of rains.
'This is probably why the late General Bipin Rawat, who hails from the Garhwal Himalaya, said that the existing roads are fine with the army.'
Dr Samar Sen Popuri from Hyderabad tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar what he would like to see in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget.
Silverline seems symptomatic of how Kerala -- its claimed education, awareness and all -- overlooks its real problems, notes Shyam G Menon.
Quinoa is said to play a role in the treatment of as many as 20-odd ailments, including liver problems, angina, notes Surinder Sud.
Stalin's personal intervention in the Adheenam row may have contained the avoidable political damage and social tensions at least for now, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The government currently holds 87.40 per cent stake in IRCTC. To meet Sebi's public holding norm, it has to lower its stake in the company to 75 per cent.
'I saw an opportunity to provide people with employment, enabling them to sustain themselves and, in the process, help alleviate society's suffering.'
'I consider myself a pilgrim who is here to shape tomorrow.'
In the changed circumstances and attitudes in Britain, we must let bygones be bygones, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Every religion is sacred and beautiful. There's no reason for people to hate each other because they practise different faiths.'
Besides Uttar Pradesh, the other six states where bird flu is confirmed are Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat.
People should include nutrient-dense foods that are rich in fibre and proteins, says Hardik Shukla.
Terming the comments 'factually incorrect and without basis', HUL said Pureit was the world's largest-selling water purifier brand and had been approved for sale by regulatory authorities in countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia.
Indian economy is likely to rebound with an 8.9 per cent growth in the fiscal year beginning April 2021 after economic activity showed significant improvement in the last quarter, IHS Markit said on Friday. The National Statistical Organisation (NSO) on Thursday predicted that the economy will contract 7.7 per cent in the current financial year ending in March, the worst performance in four decades.
Beginning with the bird's eye view of itself -- a narrow state of hills, rivers and high population density, in a tapering part of the Indian subcontinent. It can be a beautiful place shaped by aesthetic founded in appropriate lifestyle and progressive views, or a junkyard shaped by money and what money buys. The choice is Kerala's, notes Shyam G Menon.
Darul Uloom Haqqania madrassa, one of Pakistan's largest and oldest seminaries and dubbed as a 'university of jihad' by its critics for helping sow violence across the region for decades, has educated more Taliban leaders than any school in the world and its alumni now hold key positions in Afghanistan, according to a media report.
The Congress used Raj Bhavans to topple legally elected governments. The BJP is letting governors get away with all manner of impropriety, notes Aditi Phadnis.
'The present government swears by Hinduism. But we lost three of our sants during earlier BJP regimes.'
In Gujarat, of the 12.5 million hectare of area under cultivation, while six million is dependent on rainfall, two million is covered by groundwater, a bulk of which is said to be in north Gujarat. Scanty rainfall in the last one and half years has not only depleted groundwater level but also affected dams.
The Budget would have been the perfect vehicle to introduce some bold initiatives.
That opportunity has been lost through this Budget, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
Manjula Chimbalkar, a health coordinator from Mumbai's COVID-19 hotspot Dharavi, speaks about her concerns and fears
Indian evacuation flights are operating out of Bucharest and Budapest. The government is not charging the rescued citizens for the evacuation flights.
