New Delhi (NVI): Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate and lay foundation stone for 8 National Highway projects in Kerala tomorrow.
Over 200 km long Highways worth Rs 12,692 crore will give a big boost to economic prosperity of the state, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways said in a statement today.
The projects include six laning of Thalapady, six laning of Changala and Construction of High Level Bridge over Cheruthoni River. Among other projects are six laning of Neleshwaram town to Thalipparamba, Thalipparamba to Muzhapilangad, Paloli Palam and Moodadi Bridge & allied works NH-66 and Kozhikode Bypass, the Ministry said in a statement.
The event will be attended by the Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chief Minister Pinarai Vijayan and Union MoSs Gen (Retd) Dr V K Singh and V Muraleedharan, Ministers from the State, Members of Parliaments, MLAs and senior officers from the Centre and the State.
New Delhi (NVI): Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has tested negative for novel coronavirus, his office said in a statement today.
The 71-year-old was tested diagnosed with Covid-19 on September 29.
“The Vice President, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu was examined by a medical team from AIIMS today and has tested negative for COVID-19. He has been under home quarantine after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 on September 29th,” the Vice President Secretariat said in a tweet.
The Vice President, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu was examined by a medical team from AIIMS today and has tested negative for COVID-19. He has been under home quarantine after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 on September 29th.
New Delhi (NVI): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said that the Central government will give Rs 10,000 interest-free festival advance to all its employees as part of plans to increase consumer spending.
In order to stimulate demand in the economy, the Finance Minister has announced two schemes – Special Festival Advance Scheme and LTC Cash Voucher Scheme – to primarily benefit central government employees.
At a press conference, Sitharaman said that festival advance was discontinued from 6th Pay Commission for central government employees.
“The proposals being presented are designed in a way that they can stimulate demand by front-loading/advancing some of the expenditure with some offsetting changes. Others are directly linked to an increase in the GDP,” she said.
This Rs 10,000 advance will come as a pre-paid rupay card, which can be availed and spent by March 31, 2021.
The repayment will be in 10 installments, she said adding that Rs 4,000 crore is likely to be spent on this.
Under the LTC Cash Voucher scheme, government employees can opt to receive cash amount to leave encashment plus three times the ticket fare, to buy items which attract a GST of 12 per cent or more.
The Finance Minister further said that only digital transactions will be allowed and a GST invoice will have to be produced.
This means central government employees who are eligible to claim LTC will be able to avail leave encashment benefit in lieu of travel expenses. The money can thereafter be used by them towards discretionary spending.
“If Central government employees opt for it, this will cost around Rs 5,675 crore. The employees of PSBs and PSUs allowed to avail this facility, and for PSBs and PSUs the cost will be Rs 1,900 crores. The demand infusion in the economy by central govt and PSUs will be approx Rs 19,000 crore,” said Nirmala Sitharaman.
“Even if 50 per cent of the States opt to give this facility, we think that this will bring in Rs 9,000 crores,” she added. So the total benefit under the LTC Voucher scheme can be roughly Rs 28,000 crore. Another boost worth Rs 28,000 crore can be gained if the private sector chips in.
New Delhi (NVI): The government of Haryana has launched a state-of-the-art Mobile Water Testing Laboratory Van under Jal Jeevan Mission, with multi-parameter system containing analyzers, sensor, probes, instruments meant for water testing.
This mobile water testing laboratory will be an effective mode of surveillance of drinking water quality in rural areas of the state.
“The water quality in state of Haryana is mainly affected by constituents like total dissolved solids (TDS), Fluoride, nitrate, iron and alkalinity,” the Ministry of Jal Shakti said in a statement.
The lab is capable of measuring different water quality parameters like pH, alkalinity, TDS, hardness, residual chlorine, zinc, nitrite, Fluoride, turbidity and micro-biological test of water samples, it added. Besides, mobile lab will help in quickly identifying the water quality problem on the spot.
Mobile Water Testing Laboratory Van
Moreover, it is said to have been uniquely designed and fully loaded with the latest technologies and is equipped with features like GPS for location tracking and the analyzed sample data can be transmitted to a centralized PHED server via GPRS/ 3G connectivity with power backup, on-site recording and reporting of results through a smart phone or similar device with the ability to send results direct to a web based secure central server, the statement said.
This mobile van also has a fully automated sensor-based analysis controlled by centrally commanded software. The LED display unit in the mobile lab gives an instant display of the results immediately after analysis.
The mobile testing van will be stationed at State Water Testing Laboratory, Karnal and its area of operation will be throughout the state, will provide access to water-testing facility even at the remotest corner of the state.
Furthermore, in the event of outbreak of water-borne disease, these vans can be deployed onsite for effective management and quick access to water test reports. Besides, they can also be used for counter checking of quality of testing from all laboratories.
The ministry further said the supply of clean and safe water is essential for public health therefore, ensuring supply of water along with regular testing is imperative.
“Jal Jeevan Mission is a flagship programme launched by the Union Government and under this programme, the Haryana government is fully committed to provide tap water connection having sustainable supply of potable water to every rural household,” it added.
However, the mission gives a lot of emphasis on water quality surveillance, monitoring and also mandates that in every village five persons especially women to be trained for use of Field Test Kits, so that water can be tested in villages.
The Public Health Engineering Department is also ensuring supply of safe drinking water to rural homes and monitoring water quality on regular basis by testing in the laboratories, the statement read.
New Delhi (NVI): Delhi’s air quality deteriorated today and turned ‘hazardous’ at several places with the beginning of stubble burning.
Air Quality Index was recorded at 275 in Anand Vihar, at 263 in Rohini, at 275 in ITO, and 229 in Nehru Nagar; all four in ‘poor’ category on Monday, according to Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) data.
Delhi government had earlier launched a campaign, “War against Pollution” (Yuddh Pradushan ke Viruddh) on October 9.
A tree transplantation policy has also been passed in this regard in a recent Cabinet meeting, according to media reports.
On Sunday, Delhi’s air quality was recorded in the “poor” category for the fifth consecutive day and the city recorded a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 216. It was 221 on Saturday.
An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said a 10-member team has been constituted to monitor the levels of primary pollutants, and measures have been taken to curb pollution and status of complaints received through Green Delhi mobile application.
New Delhi (NVI): Seven Indian nationals, who were abducted at Asshwerif in Libya September 14, were finally released yesterday, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement today. All of them are safe and are in good health, while the further process is underway for their return to India.
India’s ambassador to Tunisia, Puneet Roy Kundal, spoke to them over phone after they were handed over by the abductors to the company Al Shola Al Mudia, MEA said.
“All of them are in good health and are currently staying in the company’s premises in Brega. We are trying to complete requisite formalities to enable their return to India,” the External Affairs Ministry said.
The Indian foreign office in Libya has expressed gratitude to the Libyan authorities and the tribal elders from the region for their steadfast cooperation in securing the release of the nationals unharmed, the ministry further said.
MEA also reiterated that there is a ban on travel of Indian nationals to Libya, “irrespective of the purpose”, since May 2016 because of the security situation there.
Earlier on Thursday, MEA spokesman Anurag Srivastava, in a statement had said that the Ministry was it is in touch with the Libyan authorities for the release of the seven Indians who were working at a construction company in Libya and were kidnapped on September 14.
New Delhi (NVI): Military commanders of India and China today met for the 7th round of talks to discuss how to end the faceoff in the Ladakh sector of Line of Actual Control, which has been triggered by Chinese aggression detected in May.
The Corps Commanders of the two sides met at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), officials said.
The outcome, if any, is awaited.
The earlier six rounds of military-level talks and agreements reached during those talks have failed to translate into disengagement at the border, where the situation continues to be tense and dangerously poised.
After the 6th round of talks held on September 21 at the Line of Actual Control, the two sides had reached an agreement which was reflected in a Joint Statement. The main features of the agreement were that the two sides will stop sending more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing situation on the ground and avoid taking any actions that may complicate the situation.
The two sides had also agreed to take practical measures to properly solve problems on the ground, and jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border area.
They underscored the need for earnestly implementing the important consensus reached by leaders of two countries, strengthen communication on ground, avoid misunderstandings & misjudgements. The two sides also agreed to hold the next round of talks as soon as possible.
However, what was conspicuous by its absence explicitly in the Joint Statement was the restoration of status quo ante, which means restoration of the situation on the LAC as it existed in April. There was also no mention about pullback of troops from all the friction points.
India has been insisting on it since the beginning but China is not implementing it. China has reportedly amassed over 50,000 troops and deployed fighter planes and missile systems at the LAC. India has also undertaken the deployment in equal measure.
This has led to a dangerous eyeball-to-eyeball situation at the LAC, for the first time since the 1962 War.
Significantly, ahead of today’s meeting, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo stressed that talks will not help in resolving the situation created by the Chinese aggression. He was of the view that China will have to be taken on through other means.
New Delhi (NVI): The 2020 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Paul R Milgrom and Robert B Wilson, both of Stanford University, for their work in developing the theory of auctions.
“This year’s Laureates, Paul Milgrom and Robert Wilson, have studied how auctions work. They have also used their insights to design new auction formats for goods and services that are difficult to sell in a traditional way, such as radio frequencies,” the Nobel Prize Committee said in a release.
Robert Wilson, developed the theory for auctions of objects with a common value – a value which is uncertain beforehand but, in the end, is the same for everyone.
He was awarded this year’s Prize in Economic Sciences, showed why rational bidders tend to place bids below their own best estimate of the common value: they are worried about the winner’s curse – that is, about paying too much and losing out, the release added.
On the other hand, Laureate Paul Milgrom formulated a more general theory of auctions that not only allows common values, but also private values that vary from bidder to bidder.
The prize for economics is officially known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences. It was established by Sweden’s central bank and has been awarded since 1969 in memory of industrialist Alfred Nobel.
The Nobel prize, which consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a cheque for 10 million Swedish kronor will be shared equally between the Laureates.
Earlier on October 9, the World Food Programme was awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger and its “contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas.”
New Delhi (NVI): The depression over Bay of Bengal has intensified into into a deep depression, according to the Cyclone Warning Division of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
“Yesterday’s depression over west central Bay of Bengal (BoB) moved west-northwestwards, intensified into a deep depression and lay centred at 1130 hrs IST of 12th October, 2020 over the same region near latitude 15.9°N and longitude 84.8°E, about 250 km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam, 290 km east-southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh) and 330 km east-southeast of Narsapur (Andhra Pradesh),” the IMD said in a statement.
It is very likely to move west-northwestwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh coast between Narsapur and Vishakhapatnam, close to Kakinada during the early morning of October 13 as a Deep Depression with maximum sustained wind speed of 55-65 kmph gusting to 75 kmph, the Met department said.
Under the depression, light to moderate rainfall is likely at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall (>20 cm per day) at isolated places over east and west Godavari, Vishakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam districts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, it said.
Apart from that, heavy to very heavy falls are expected today at isolated places over Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Raygada, Navrangpur, Malkangiri, Khurda and Puri districts of south Odisha, Krishna district of south coastal Andhra Pradesh, Kurnool District of Rayalaseema, Telangana, south Konkan and Goa, south Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Karnataka, and Kerala. Heavy rainfall is also expected at isolated places over south Chhattisgarh.
New Delhi (NVI): Supreme Court today said that results of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) will be declared on October 16.
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank took to twitter and said, “The NTA will be declaring the results of NEET-UG 2020 on 16th October 2020. Exact timing of the results will be intimated later. I wish all the best to the candidates.”
.@DG_NTA will be declaring the results of #NEETUG 2020 on 16th October 2020. Exact timing of the results will be intimated later. I wish all the best to the candidates. #NEETResult2020#NEETRESULTS
The apex court has also allowed conducting of NEET exam on October 14 for students residing in covid-19 containment zones and were not able to give the exams earlier.
The National Testing Agency (NTA)conducted the nationwide entrance test for admission to undergraduate medical and dental courses on September 13. Over 13.52 lakh students appeared for the test, despite a surge in COVID-19 positive cases.
NEET is one of the highest competitive exams, opening opportunities for students to get into the most prestigious medical colleges.
