LIVE: I-T dept detects Rs 450-crore black money after raids in Kolkata

The search and survey operation was carried out on January 13 and the department also seized Rs 1.58 crore in cash. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

3:35 AM

Dorothy Schmidt Cole, oldest living US Marine, dies at 107

Dorothy Schmidt Cole, recognised last year as the oldest living US Marine, has died at age 107.
 

Beth Kluttz, Cole's only child, confirmed Friday that her mother died of a heart attack at Kluttz's home in Kannapolis, North Carolina, on January 7.
 

The Charlotte Observer reports Cole enlisted as one of the earliest female Marine reservists following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. She had left her Ohio home to head to Pittsburgh, where she hoped to volunteer for the Navy, but because she was only 4 feet, 11 inches tall, she was deemed too short to meet Navy standards.
 

Undaunted by her rejection, Cole decided to learn how to fly an airplane and persuade the Marine Corps to let her be a pilot.
 

In July 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Marine Corps Women's Reserve into law, giving women the chance to fill positions left open by men headed to combat. The Corps delayed formation of the branch until February 1943, and Cole enlisted five months later at age 29, becoming one of the earliest volunteers for the branch.
 

Despite putting in 200 hours in the cockpit of a Piper Cub, Cole completed six weeks of boot camp at Camp Lejeune with the Women's Reserve's First Battalion and wound up “behind a typewriter instead of an airplane.” Cole's husband, Wiley, was in the Navy and served on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, which sailed in both the Pacific Theater and the Solomon Islands campaign during World War II before it was torpedoed and sunk in October 1942.
 

Cole moved to San Francisco after the war to be with Wiley. They married and had their only child in 1953. The couple were both hired by the Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley in California before Wiley Cole died of a heart attack in 1955.
 

Kluttz moved from California to North Carolina in 1976 and Cole followed her to the area around 1979.
 

3:34 AM

UN hopes to take first step to elect next chief by Jan 31

The UN General Assembly and Security Council are expected to take the first step toward electing the next head of the global organisation this month.
 

Assembly President Volkan Bozkir said Friday that he and Tunisia's UN Ambassador Tarek Ladeb, the current council president, hope to send a letter before January 31 asking the UN's 193 member nations to submit any candidates to challenge Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
 

The former Portuguese prime minister and UN refugee chief, whose five-year term at the helm of the United Nations ends on December 31, said in letters to Bozkir and Ladeb on Monday that he will seek a second term.
 

The General Assembly elects the secretary-general on the recommendation of the 15-member Security Council where the five permanent members have veto power, so their support is crucial. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson immediately announced his support for Guterres, but there has been no word yet from The United States, Russia, China and France.
 

A General Assembly resolution adopted in September 2015 asks the presidents of the assembly and Security Council to “start the process of soliciting candidates for the position of secretary-general through a joint letter addressed to all member states.” Bozkir said he met Tuesday with Ladeb and shared a draft letter to member states which the Tunisian ambassador then circulated to council members. “We are hoping that we will be able to sign this letter together before the end of the month,” he said.
 

11:45 PM

Strong 5.9-magnitude quake shakes Guatemala

A strong 5.9 magnitude earthquake swayed buildings in Guatemala's capital Friday morning. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The shaking lasted a long time and shook some things from walls.

The U.S. Geological Service said the earthquake's epicenter was located just off Guatemala's Pacific coast 3 miles (4.7 kilometers) south-southwest of Champerico, Guatemala at a depth of six miles (10 kilometers).

11:05 PM

Dense fog engulf parts of national capital

11:03 PM

All govt offices to function at 100% staff capacity with immediate effect: Delhi govt

Delhi government decides that all government offices of NCT of Delhi/ Autonomous Bodies/ PSUs/ Corporations/ Local Bodies will function to the extent of 100% staff strength with immediate effect.

9:53 PM

Punjab reports first suspected case of bird flu, samples sent to Bhopal for confirmation

Punjab on Friday reported its first suspected cases of bird flu with samples from two poultry farms in Mohali testing positive for avian influenza. The samples have now been sent to a Bhopal facility for confirmation. According to an official, the samples were collected from the poultry farms at Behra village in Mohali's Dera Bassi and were tested at the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Jalandhar.

The samples have now been sent to the Bhopal's National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases for confirmation, the official added. The Bhopal facility is the final authority for declaring bird flu. Meanwhile, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan sought to allay fears over the supected cases.

He said the administration is alert and regular sampling is being done to keep tabs on suspected cases of bird flu. Neighbouring Haryana has already declared bird flu and had announced to cull over 1.60 lakh birds of five poultry farms in Panchkula district. Earlier, Punjab had sounded an alert and pulled all stops to keep the state safe from the possible effect of an outbreak in its neighbouring states.

9:00 PM

Bird flu confirmed in Chhattisgarh; total affected states 11 so far

The Centre on Friday said bird flu or avian influenza outbreak has been confirmed in Chhattisgarh, taking the total number of affected states and UTs to 11 so far. Besides Chhattisgarh, the disease has been confirmed in Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat.

 

Bird flu in poultry has been confirmed from G S poultry farm, Balod district of Chhattisgarh, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said in a statement.

 

"Altogether, 11 states in the country have been affected by avian influenza," it added. Bird flu in poultry has also been confirmed from Harda district of Madhya Pradesh on Friday. READ MORE...

8:42 PM

First suspected cases of bird flu in Punjab, samples sent to Bhopal facility for confirmation

Punjab on Friday reported its first suspected cases of bird flu with samples from two poultry farms in Mohali testing positive for avian influenza. The samples have now be sent to a Bhopal facility for confirmation. According to an official, the samples were collected from the poultry farms at Behra village in Mohali's Dera Bassi and were tested at the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Jalandhar.

 

The samples have now been sent to the Bhopal's National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases for confirmation, the official added.

 

The Bhopal facility is the final authority for declaring bird flu. Neighbouring Haryana has already declared bird flu and had announced to cull over 1.60 lakh birds of five poultry farms in Panchkula district. Earlier, Punjab had sounded an alert and pulled all stops to keep the state safe from the possible effect of an outbreak in its neighbouring states.

8:23 PM

PM Modi to flag off 8 trains to boost connectivity to Statue of Unity

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off eight trains connecting different parts of the country to Kevadiya, where the Statue of Unity dedicated to Vallabhbhai Patel is located, on Sunday to boost seamless connectivity to the tirbal region in Gujarat.

 

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said on Friday that Modi will also inaugurate several other railway projects related to Gujarat during the event via video-conferencing. He will launch new broad-gauge line and the new station buildings of Dabhoi, Chandod and Kevadiya.

 

"These buildings have been designed aesthetically incorporating local features and modern passenger amenities. Kevadiya station is India's first railway station with a Green Building Certification," the PMO said. READ ON...

8:04 PM

382 birds found dead across Maharashtra yesterday

7:15 PM

Exports up marginally to $27.15 bn in Dec

India's exports rose marginally to USD 27.15 billion in December 2020, while imports surged 7.56 per cent to USD 42.59 billion, official data showed on Friday. The merchandise exports were valued at USD 27.11 billion in December 2019 while imports had totalled USD 39.59 billion.

 

"The trade deficit for December 2020 was estimated at USD 15.44 billion as against the deficit of USD 12.49 billion in December 2019, which is an increase of 23.66 per cent," according to the government data.

 

India's overall exports (merchandise and services) in April-December 2020-21 were estimated at USD 348.49 billion, exhibiting a negative growth of 12.65 per cent over the same period last year, the data showed. Overall imports during April-December declined 25.86 per cent on an annual basis to USD 343.27 billion.

6:41 PM

Rajnath Singh unveils India's first indigenous driverless metro car

6:13 PM

Flying of UAVs, paragliders prohibited over Delhi ahead of Republic Day

The Delhi Police on Friday prohibited operation of "sub-conventional aerial platforms" including UAVs, paragliders and hot air balloons over the national capital from January 20 in view of Republic Day celebrations.

 

The order issued by Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava said the directive will come into force on January 20 and will remain for a period of 27 days up to February 15, both days inclusive, unless withdrawn earlier.

 

The order stated that certain criminal, anti-social elements or terrorists inimical to India may pose a threat to the safety of the general public, dignitaries and vital installations by the use of 'sub-conventional aerial platforms' like para-gliders, para-motors, hang gliders, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) among others.

5:31 PM

Procurement of 83 LCA Tejas big step in direction of Atmanirbhar Bharat: Rajnath Singh

Noting the approval of the largest indigenous defence procurement deal to buy 83 LCA Tejas, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that the purchase fighter jets is a big step in the direction of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, which will generate 50,000 job opportunities.

 

"Recently, purchase of Rs 50,000 crores worth 83 Tejas fighter jets has been a big step in this direction (Aatmnirbhar Bharat Abhiyan). It will generate 50,000 job opportunities. Participation of 500 MSMEs and private companies like Tata, L & T and Vem-tech has given a boost to the synergy of government and private sector," said Defence Minister at an event in Bengaluru.

 

On the role played by public sector undertakings since independence, Singh said, "Public sector undertakings have had an important contribution in socio-economic progress India has made after independence. Be it capital formation, employment opportunities or encouraging R & D, PSUs have played a vital role."

4:57 PM

US blacklists Xiaomi: Tech corp refutes Chinese military affiliation claim

After the US government blacklisted Chinese conglomerate Xiaomi as a "Communist Chinese military company", the company on Friday said it is reviewing the potential consequences to develop a fuller understanding of its impact on the Group.

 

Xiaomi's stock nosedived more than 10 per cent in early Friday trading after the news broke.

 

In a fresh list, the US Department of Defense targeted Xiaomi, which means that the company is also vulnerable to the outgoing President Donald Trump's executive order that can ban the US firms from investing in such companies. The move may also force US companies and other investors to divest in Xiaomi this year. READ ON...