LIVE: 4G mobile internet services being restored in entire J&K, says govt

Latest News LIVE updates: The internet services in J&K are likely to resume from Friday midnight. Stay tuned for Latest LIVE news

11:21 PM

Schools for Classes 6-8 to reopen from Feb 10 in Uttar Pradesh

The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday decided to reopen schools for Classes 6 to 8 from February 10, according to PTI. The schools were closed in March last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to a letter sent by Additional Chief Secretary (Basic Education) Renuka Kumar to the DG of Basic Education Department, schools for Classes 6 to 8 will reopen from February 10 and Classes 1 to 5 from March 1.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had told officials that to ensure the reopening of educational institutions across the state. "Following the Centre's guideline, steps should be taken to begin teaching in educational institutions in the state. First, higher and secondary educational institutions should be reopened and later classes should be started in all schools," he said.

A government spokesman said the Education Department has already issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) to be followed by the educational institutions. To ensure the safety of students, classrooms will be sanitised. Arrangements for thermal scanning, face masks, social distancing and first aid have been ensured in all schools, he said. Schools for Classes 9 to 12 had reopened in the state on October 19.

10:08 PM

No farmers' union has informed us about 'chakka jam' in Noida: Ranvijay Singh, Additional DCP

No kisan sangathan has informed us officially about 'Chakka Jam' in Noida yet. But we have learnt via media about some organisations in Greater Noida and have made the required preparations. We will ensure that common people are not troubled: Ranvijay Singh, Additional DCP, Noida to ANI.

 

9:02 PM

Punjab National Bank clocks Rs 506 crore profit in Q3

Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Friday reported a standalone net profit of Rs 506.03 crore for December quarter 2020-21. It had posted a net loss of Rs 492.28 crore in the year-ago period, PTI reported. Total income in the quarter under review rose to Rs 23,298.53 crore as against Rs 15,967.49 crore, PNB said in a regulatory filing.

 

On a consolidated basis, there was a profit of Rs 585.77 crore during the latest quarter. The lender had posted a net loss of Rs 501.93 crore in same period of 2019-20.

 

Consolidated income increased to Rs 23,639.41 crore from Rs 16,211.24 crore. PNB said the current results are not comparable with the year-ago period because December quarter 2019-20 figures are of pre-amalgamated period.

8:23 PM

LIVE: 4G mobile internet services being restored in entire J&K, says govt

7:53 PM

4G mobile internet services being restored in entire Jammu and Kashmir: Govt official

4G mobile internet services being restored in entire Jammu and Kashmir: Rohit Kansal, J&K Principal Secretary (Power & Information)

7:52 PM

Zomato inks pact with MoHUA to onboard 300 street vendors

Zomato on Friday said it has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to onboard 300 food street vendors on its platform.

 

The online restaurant guide and food ordering platform said it will onboard 300 street vendors across six cities - Bhopal, Raipur, Patna, Vadodara, Nagpur, and Ludhiana - in the first phase.

 

Considering the popularity of street food in these cities, there is an immense growth potential for these vendors in the online food delivery sphere, it added. READ MORE...

7:21 PM

US will take on challenges posed by China directly: President Joe Biden

Describing an "aggressive" China as the "most serious competitor" to the US, President Joe Biden has said that his administration will take on the challenges posed by Beijing directly, but will not hesitate to work with it when it is in America's interest to do so, AP reported.

 

Realising that a rising and more assertive China as one of his biggest foreign policy challenges, Biden on Thursday stressed the importance of allies in responding to the strategic competition posed by Beijing.

 

"We will confront China's economic abuses, counter its aggressive, coercive action to push back on China's attack on human rights, intellectual property and global governance," Biden said in his address to State Department employees at its Foggy Bottom headquarters. "We will also take on directly the challenges posed by our prosperity, security, and democratic values by our most serious competitor, China," he said.

6:09 PM

Delhi government floats tender to set up 100 EV charging stations

The Delhi government on Friday floated a tender to set up 100 charging stations for electric vehicles across the city. The tender, which is one of the largest in the country for setting up charging stations, has been floated by the Delhi Transco Limited (DTL), Delhi Power minister Satyendar Jain said in a press conference.

 

Each station will have five charging points. The charging stations will be set up within one year, Jain said. Under the electric vehicle policy of the Delhi government launched in August last year, electric vehicles are targeted to comprise 25 per cent of the total vehicle registrations in the city.

5:40 PM

Centre is working to cut defence imports by $2 bn by next year: Rajnath

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said with an aim of encouraging the manufacture of defence related items in the country, the government's endeavour is also to bring down its defence imports by at least USD two billion by 2022.

 

Speaking at the Aero India-2021 here, he also said the aerospace sector has an important role to play, if India has to reach its targets of domestic defence production of USD 25 billion and exports of USD five billion by 2025.

 

"With an aim of encouraging the manufacture of defence related items in India, our endeavour will remain to bring down defence imports by at least USD two billion by 2022. Between 2016 and 2019, as many as 138 proposals worth over USD 37 billion for domestic manufacturing have been approved," Singh said. READ ON...

5:02 PM

Lok Sabha adjourned till 6 PM

Lok Sabha was adjourned till 6 pm on Friday after Opposition members disrupted the proceedings demanding repeal of three farm laws. As soon as the House convened at 4 PM, members from the Congress, Left parties and the DMK rushed to the Well raising slogans against the new laws and holding placards. Speaker Om Birla continued with the Question Hour with Health Minister Harsh Vardhan responding to supplementaries on COVID-19 vaccination.

 

As Opposition members continued to raise slogans, Birla appealed to them to participate in the Question Hour as an important issue related to vaccination was being discussed. While Congress, DMK and Left members were in the Well, members from the TMC did not participate in raising slogans. Around 4.15 PM, Birla adjourned the House till 6 PM.

4:07 PM

Centre agrees in SC to give one extra chance to civil services aspirants with certain conditions

The Centre Friday told the Supreme Court that it is agreeable to give an extra chance as a one-time relaxation to UPSC civil service aspirants, who had appeared in their last attempt in the 2020 exam amid the COVID-19 pandemic and are otherwise not age-barred, PTI reported.

 

Relaxation, only to the extent of providing one extra attempt for Civil Service Examination (CSE), specifically limited to CSE-2021, may be granted to only those candidates who appeared for CSE-2020 as their last permissible attempt and are otherwise not age-barred from appearing in CSE-2021, the Centre told a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar.

 

In a note filed in the apex court, the Centre said that no relaxation shall be granted for CSE-2021 to those candidates who have not exhausted their permissible number of attempts or to those who are otherwise age-barred from appearing in CSE-2021 as per the prescribed age limits of different categories, or to any other candidate for any other reason whatsoever.

 

4:03 PM

Will invest around $130 bn to enhance security by military modernisation in next 7-8 years: Rajnath Singh

4:02 PM

UPSC exam: Extra chance allowed to those who missed last attempt in 2020

The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that it has agreed to grant an extra chance to the civil services aspirants who could not appear or prepare well for their last attempt in the UPSC exam in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

The one-time relaxation will benefit over 3,300 students without even increasing the age-limit. Earlier, the top court had asked the Centre to not issue any notification for 2021 UPSC examination till February 1. Around 486,952 candidates had appeared last year in October for UPSC examination.

3:56 PM

UPSC exam: Extra chance allowed to those who missed last attempt in 2020

Relaxation will be given to the extent of providing one extra attempt for Civil Service Examination (CSE), specifically limited to CSE-2021, to those candidates who had their last chance to appear in the year 2020, said the Centre.

3:34 PM

Centre to give extra chance to Civil Service aspirants who had given their last attempt in UPSC exam

Centre to give extra chance to Civil Service aspirants who had given their last attempt in UPSC exam