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.
Modi has appointed P K Sinha, who superannuated as cabinet secretary on Friday, as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), he said.
The department will impose a penalty, which could be between 30 per cent and 120 per cent.
Bharatiya Janata Party has issued a whip to its members in the Lok Sabha to support a Bill to amend the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, which seeks to remove a legal hurdle in the appointment of former TRAI chairman Nripendra Misra as principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Critics who cannot stop gloating, pronouncing Modi to be a lame-duck prime minister, may be making a huge mistake, predicts Virendra Kapoor.
The top 10 in terms of the number of MSMEs is dominated by the larger states with Uttar Pradesh at the top.
The fatwa was issued against the Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief by Mufti Mohammed Saleem Barelvi, an Islamic seminary in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.
From making 'COVIDIOTS' (a term coined for those flouting restrictions) squat on the road and do sit-ups, to making them pose with pamphlets admitting their fault, police officials have pulled out all the stops from their kitty of creativity to drive home the message.
'Government shouldn't be in the business of running airlines, instead it should develop the ecosystem of civil aviation.'
'Whom do I want to marry and what decisions I make for marrying the person I love are totally personal decisions, in which neither the State nor the courts have any right to interfere.'
Two pleas were filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday over the tractor rally violence on Republic Day, with one seeking the setting up of a commission, headed by a retired apex court judge, to inquire into the incident, while the other urged it to direct the media not to declare farmers as "terrorist" without any evidence.
The tumultuous Winter session of Parliament ended on Wednesday a day before schedule with proceedings in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha marred by repeated disruptions by the opposition over which the government and the Congress traded charges and the presiding officers expressed their anguish at the conduct of some MPs.
Several states that imposed prohibition in the past lifted it once revenue loss began to pinch
A limited number of activities will remain prohibited across the country, irrespective of the zone, including travel by air, rail, metro and inter-state movement by road, running of schools, colleges, and other educational and training/coaching institutions.
The court also directed the state not to take any coercive action till pendency of petitions or three months against traders who have been found in possession or transportation of beef.
Nitish Kumar has to eschew disastrous experiments with prohibition and reservations in the private sector. Unless he is dissuaded from pursuing these flawed measures, he will pave the way for Bihar to again become a part of the BIMARU group of sick states, says Amulya Ganguli.
Earlier, The Nitish Kumar government had banned sale and consumption of country and spiced liquor in rural areas from April 1 this year, but had allowed sale of foreign liquor in towns and cities.
Controlled communal tension is useful in ensuring continued Muslim support. Fear of the BJP is a requirement for both, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, to keep their Muslim vote bank in line, says Saeed Naqvi.
As India prepares for a calibrated exit from the lockdown by easing more restrictions, 'Unlock-1 -- the first of the three-phase plan for reopening of prohibited activities in non-containment zones with a stringent set of Standard Operating Procedures(SOPs) -- kicks in at a time when the country recorded a daily jump of COVID-19 cases by over 9,000 for the fifth straight day on Sunday.
The UID number should have age, breed, sex, lactation, height, body, colour, horn type, tail switch and special marks details of the animal, the Centre said.
Amendments to the Child Labour Act say children can work in 'family enterprises' but the definition isn't clear, points out Shyamal Majumdar.
Why are far right Hindu organisations growing in strength? Why is there a rising subscription to Neo-Wahabism, the Saudi Arabian version of contemporary Islam?
A 5-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, in its historic verdict delivered on a court holiday, held that the lawsuit of the deity was "within the period of limitation" and granted the title decree in its favour.
It is significant that Modi who speaks of introducing a new kind of governance, decided to amend the law to accommodate one person, when the law was made to ensure that bureaucrats do not use their connections to seek out lucrative postings.
Here's what the national capital needs to do to ensure the residents stop breathing toxic fumes.
Rahul Gandhi was ticked off by the Election Commission on Wednesday which expressed displeasure over the "tone, tenor and content" of certain remarks made during the poll campaign and asked him to be more circumspect in future.
Amit Shah requested Adityanath to tighten the reins of the HYV's activities, now that he was CM. But Adityanath is not prepared to let go so easily.
It said it will also allow reservation of reserved tickets from common service centres (CSC) and through ticketing agents with effect from Friday. The zonal railways have been instructed to decide and notify opening of reservation counters as per local needs and conditions, the order stated.
"This wasn't an attack over meat. He has been killed in the name of religion. This is a pre-planned, cold-blooded killing. It cannot be an accident," said Owaisi.
Issuing a travel advisory, the health ministry also called for passengers with travel history to China, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Japan, Italy, Thailand, Singapore, Iran, Malaysia, France, Spain and Germany to undergo self-imposed quarantine for a period of 14 days from the date of their arrival, and their employers to facilitate work-from-home for such employees during this period.
Fifty-six days after she was summarily suspended by the Akhilesh Yadav government, Durga Shakti Nagpal, the young upright IAS sub-divisional magistrate of Greater Noida, was finally reinstated on Sunday.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad was on Monday refused permission by the Uttar Pradesh government to organise a yatra from Ayodhya to push for the construction of a Ram Temple at the disputed site, just days after it asked Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to work as a bridge between Hindus and Muslims on the issue.
The court also questioned how Amrapali Group could mortgage the entire projects and secure loan worth thousands of crores of rupees from banks when it was only an agent to develop the property.
'It was a battle that took many forms, ranging from non-violent mass satyagrahas, mammoth public meetings, huge protest rallies in cities and towns to underground organisation of sabotage of communication and transport networks, an underground radio, illegal patrikas (newsletters) and the formation of parallel governments in Ballia, Midnapore and Satara.'
'The administration failed in the coronavirus crisis so they are making it a Hindu-Muslim issue.'
'The ruling provides a Constitutional template, it draws boundaries, and there is this expectation that henceforth political parties will not make crude appeals to religion for electoral gains.'
Even as floods play havoc in Uttarakhand, several states have opposed the provisions of a 38-year-old Model Flood Bill aimed at minimising losses to life and property in the natural calamity.
Accusing Trinamool Congress of creating widespread fear psychosis through "terror and intimidation" in West Bengal, the Left parties on Tuesday sought Election Commission's intervention to ensure free and fair polls.
Why does Punjab's CM find it hard to fulfill poll promises?
How much do you know about Shah Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal and the Taj Mahal?
