India’s child deathrate has declined substantially between 1990 and 2019 but the country, along side Nigeria, still accounted for nearly a 3rd of all under-five deaths last year, consistent with a replacement UN report which warned that COVID-19 pandemic threatens to undo decades of progress in eliminating preventable child deaths globally. The Levels & Trends in Child Mortality’ Report 2020 said that the amount of worldwide under-five deaths dropped to its lowest point on record in 2019 right down to 5.2 million from 12.5 million in 1990. Over the past 30 years, health services to stop or treat causes of…
Author: Our Correspondent
The Indian Air Force formally inducted the Rafale aircraft today at Air Force Station, Ambala. The aircraft will be part of 17 Squadron, the “Golden Arrows”. The first five Indian Air Force Rafale aircraft arrived at Air Force Station, Ambala from France on 27th July 2020. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Florence Parly Minister of the Armed Forces of France were the Chief Guest for the event. Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Dr G Satheesh Reddy, Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman…
The Indian Army has put barbed wires as obstacles at heights under its control at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) bordering Ladakh, signalling to the Chinese to not enter its territory as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been making multiple attempts to take over Indian-held positions, sources said. “This has been done to discourage them from coming close to areas we are occupying. It’s a temporary obstacle to convey our intent to the aggressive manoeuvres by the Chinese,” said an official. “The message is loud and clear, don’t come into our area,” the official added. In the Brigade…
Sri Lankan Sri Lanka government approves a proposal banning cow slaughter in the country. The proposal was put forward by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. In the meeting of the Parliamentary Group of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the ruling front, PM Rajapaksa had expressed the hope of banning cow slaughter. Talking about the proposal, PM reiterated that proposal was quite old and existed since the time of Anagarika Dharmpala, a Buddhist revivalist and nationalist leader. The meeting of the Parliamentary Group took place at 11 am at the Parliamentary premises today. Talking about the proposal, the Sri…
The human trials of one of the most promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates, being developed by the University of Oxford, has been put on hold after a UK participant had an adverse reaction to it. AstraZeneca, the biopharmaceutical giant in tie-up with the university to produce the vaccine, described the pause as a “routine” one following what was “an unexplained illness”. The trials had moved into Phase III after successful Phase I and II testing had raised worldwide hopes of it being ready by early next year as results showed that it produced a positive immune response. The vaccine moved to…
Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut today took to Twitter to lash out on Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolished her office earlier in the day. https://twitter.com/KanganaTeam/status/1303633221209391104?s=20 तुमने जो किया अच्छा किया ?#DeathOfDemocracy pic.twitter.com/TBZiYytSEw — Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 9, 2020 She reached Mumbai a couple of minutes back from Himachal Pradesh. Prior to that, the BMC demolished her office claiming there was illegal construction. Addressing Shiv Sena head and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Kangana said her spirits are not dampened after BMC (where Shiv Sena is major party), broke down her house along with film…
After a steady drop in cases, Delhi records highest ever Covid-19 cases in a span of 24 hours, pushing the cumulative tally past the two lakh mark, sparking fears of second wave in the national capital. The number of Covid-19 tests conducted in a single day also rose to a new record high with 54,517 tests conducted in the last 24 hours. Delhi had last witnessed highest cases within a span of 24 hours in June 23 after 3,947 new infections were registered. Over the past week, Delhi has recorded more than 2,800 new cases every day on an average…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said efforts are being made to supply a web delivery platform to street food vendors on the lines of massive restaurants. After a virtual interaction with beneficiaries of the PM Street Vendors’ Aatmanirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme from Madhya Pradesh, Modi praised the government for ensuring the scheme’s benefits to over lakh people and providing identity cards to over 4.5 lakh people (scheme beneficiaries) in only two months. The Union government had launched the PM SVANidhi scheme on June 1 to assist poor street vendors impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic resume livelihood activities. “I…
The first batch of five Rafale fighter jets will be formally inducted into the Indian Air Force on Thursday in Ambala air base, at a time India is engaged in an escalating border row with China in eastern Ladakh. A galaxy of dignitaries including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, his French counterpart Florence Parly, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar will attend the ceremony. “The program will include ceremonial unveiling of the Rafale aircraft, a traditional ‘Sarva Dharma Puja’, air display by Rafale and Tejas aircraft as well as by…
World Cup-winning former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh has decided to come out of retirement, giving in to a request from the Punjab Cricket Association more than a year after he called it quits. The Player of the Tournament at the 2011 World Cup, Yuvraj had announced his retirement from all forms of cricket last June. PCA secretary Puneet Bali was the first person to approach the 38-year-old Yuvraj with an offer to come out of retirement for the benefit of Punjab cricket. He has agreed to resume for the state at least in the T20 format. “Initially, I wasn’t sure…