The administration here is mulling installing a special software to keep record of every ultrasound machine in Goa, an official said on Monday, following the recent crackdown on errant ultrasound clinics in South Goa district.
The move comes at a time when Goa, despite healthy social indicators, has been aggressively trying to better its sex ratio, which has seen a dip in recent times.
Singapore will finalise the master plan for the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh in six to eight weeks, after incorporating some modifications mooted by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
This was decided on Monday, the first day of Naidu’s two-day visit to Singapore.
Naidu, who had a breakfast meeting with Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam and Ambassador-at-Large Gopinath Pillai, also met Singapore’s Second Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran.
India’s defence sector is expected to provide business opportunities worth $250 billion in the next seven to eight years, a senior industry ministry official said on Monday.
If India is going to import $140 billion of defence equipment in the next seven years and homeland security is going to need another $110 billion, this would spell “$250 billion worth of business in the next seven to eight years”, said Amitabh Kant, secretary, department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP).
The Odisha government has decided to prepare an action plan to increase the turnover of the Odisha Small Industries Corporation (OSIC) to Rs.1,000 crore in the next two years.
The government has set a target to increase the turnover by providing various services to local Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), mostly in the area of marketing, in the next two years, an official of the MSME department said on Monday.
He said the state chief secretary has advised to prepare an action plan and the department was working on it.
People in India and Ukraine spend just over 13 hours a week cooking, compared to the international average of less than six and a half hours each week, a study revealed on Monday.
They are followed by South Africa, where its citizens, on an average spend nine and a half hours on culinary activities, Indonesia where people spend more than eight hours a week and Italy seven hours a week.
India and Japan on Monday reaffirmed their strong defence ties, as visiting Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar called on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and also met his counterpart Gen Nakatani.
According to an official statement, while calling upon Abe, Parrikar said Japan was the first country he was visiting after assuming office, which clearly conveys the importance India attaches to strengthening bilateral defence and security cooperation.
He said he would like to see a strong partnership with Japan in defence equipment and technology.
Indian chess Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli on Monday drew against Ukraine Women GM (WGM) Mariya Muzychuk in 78 moves in the World Women’s Chess Championship 2015 semi-final at Sochi in Russia.
In the other return semi-final game, Russian WGM Natalija Pogonina took sweet revenge for her loss on Sunday by defeating Swedish GM Pia Cramling in 38 moves.
The contests between the semi-finalists now enters the tie-breaker. The two finalists will emerge in the play-offs on Tuesday.
Taking strong note of acid attacks on women, the Delhi High Court has termed it a “dastardly and cowardly act” and directed the city police to curb illegal sale of acid and ensure strong action against those engaged in it.
A division bench of Justice G.S. Sistani and Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal said the act of throwing acid should be controlled with an “iron hand” and those found guilty of selling acid illegally should be punished with as heavily.
Rajasthan Day, the state’s foundation day, was celebrated on Monday with gaiety and enthusiasm.
Folk dances, drum performances and acrobatic daredevil acts by police personnel on the Janpath, the road in front of the state assembly, enthralled the enthusiastic crowd which had gathered in hundreds to celebrate the day.
The almost 110-minute programme, organised by the state tourism department, was attended by Governor Kalyan Singh, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, and Rajasthan Tourism Minister Krishnedra Kaur Deepa.
The Supreme Court Tuesday will take up on April 1 for final hearing the CBI’s appeal challenging 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict discharging of L.K. Advani and 19 other senior leaders of BJP and Hindu outfits the charges of criminal conspiracy in the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.
A bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justice Arun Mishra will hear the Central Bureau of Investigation’s appeal which was last listed before the apex court February 5 when it was directed to be listed for final hearing on “1st April, 2014 before an appropriate bench”.
The fury of unseasonal rain in different states of north and east India since Sunday evening has left at least 12 people dead and damaged standing crops in thousands of hectares, officials said on Monday.
In Bihar, at least 12 people, including two children and a woman, were killed on Monday when they were struck by lightning in two separate incidents, officials said.
Three deaths – of the children and the woman – were reported from two villages in Munger district, two people each in Patna and Jamui districts and one each in Bhagalpur, Darbhanga, and Banka districts.
Lawmakers in Karnataka on Monday unanimously approved a bill that revised their salaries and perks by a whopping 50 percent from fiscal 2015-16.
When Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra moved the bill in the legislative assembly here for increasing salaries and various allowances of the lawmakers, none of the legislators belonging to the ruling Congress or opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dak-Secular opposed it.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Monday expressed concern over the uneven achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) across different regions of the world.
Addressing a meeting of the 132nd Assembly of Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) here, she reiterated India’s commitment to working with the international community to craft an ambitious, comprehensive and equitable development agenda with poverty eradication at its core.
Terming the Indian government’s decision last week to allow gas-based power units lying idle to import feed stock through e-auctions as “credit positive”, rating agency Moody’s on Monday said the move will benefit banks as they have significant exposure to such plants.
“The government approved measures to revive and improve the utilisation of stranded gas-based power generation plants in the country. This is credit positive for India’s banks because they have significant credit exposure to such plants,” the agency said in a statement here.
Two of the five men wounded in an attack that left a former Delhi legislator dead remained in critical condition on Monday while police were yet to make any arrest in the case.
Former Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) legislator Bharat Singh was brought dead to the hospital after Sunday evening’s attack that wounded five others.
“Ram Jeevan and Dalbir are in critical condition,” Deputy Commissioner of Police R.A. Sanjeev told IANS. The shooting took place at a religious event.
The other three wounded were Sunita, 16-year-old Paras, and Delhi Police constable Sandeep.
At least 16 people were killed and more than 20 injured when a bus plunged into a ravine in the Peruvian region of Ayacucho, officials said on Monday.
Thirteen people were pronounced dead at the accident scene and three others died while being treated at a hospital, Carlos Saravia, director of the health service in the city of Puquio, told Canal N television.
“The scene of the accident is a ravine and we can’t get in there because it’s about 500 metres and we don’t have search and rescue gear,” Saravia said.
Pakistan High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, on Monday said that he appreciated the presence of Minister of State for External Affairs and General (Retd.) V.K. Singh at the Pakistan Day celebrations at the Islamic Republic’s High Commission.
“He [ VK Singh] was our chief guest and we appreciated his presence,” he said.
General (Retd.) Singh had earlier, in a series of tweets, used the words ‘duty’ and ‘disgust’, hours after being deputed to attend the celebrations.
Not a single Indian cricketer found a place in the ICC’s World Cup XI which was dominated by runners-up New Zealand rather than champions Australia with Black Caps skipper Brendon McCullum as its captain.
The ICC team features five New Zealanders, including McCullum, despite their seven-wicket loss to Australia in the summit clash yesterday. India, the defending champions, had bowed out after a semifinal loss to Australia.
The Madras High Court’s Madurai bench on Monday appointed a special panel to view forthcoming Tamil film “Komban”, and review whether its release would affect law and order in the state.
Legislator K. Krishnasamy, who is also the president of Puthiya Tamilagam party, moved court alleging that the release of Karthi-starrer “Komban” would create tension between the Thevar and some scheduled caste communities.
After hearing the views of both the parties, Justice S. Tamilvanan and Justice V.S. Ravi said the movie should be screened in Chennai on Tuesday.
More than 10 people were killed and eight injured in a landslide following heavy rains in Burundi’s Rumonge province, a government official said on Monday.
The landslide occurred at a village near Lake Tanganyika in Rumonge around 4 p.m. on Sunday. An unknown number of people went missing in the landslide which destroyed bridges and more than 600 houses in the area, administrator of Muhuta commune Jonathan Nkeshimana said, Xinhua reported.
Nkeshimana added that hectares of cassava and banana crops, two schools, a clinic and a church were also destroyed in the landslide.
The Indian government was making its best efforts to bring back the 4,000 Indians stranded in Yemen, and 400 of them were evacuated by sea on Monday, the external affairs ministry said.
Minster of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh would also be reaching Djibouti on Tuesday to oversee the operations.
“We have previously made three announcements requesting Indian nationals to leave Yemen as soon as possible,” ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.
German public prosecutors said on Monday that the co-pilot of the crashed Germanwings plane had received treatment for suicide risk several years ago, but there was no proof he had had suicidal tendencies or aggression since then.
“There is so far no evidence of any organic diseases of the co-pilot, according to medical documentation obtained,” prosecutors in the western German city of Duesseldorf said in a statement on Monday.
However, several years ago, before Andreas Lubitz got his pilot certificate, he had undergone psychotherapy treatment because of suicide risk, they added.
India has to increase the quantum of spectrum (airwaves) for better mobile connectivity and speedy downloads, its telecom regulatory panel chief said on Monday.
“Unless we have more spectrum, we cannot increase the speed for faster connectivity and quicker downloads,” Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Rahul Khullar at a consumer outreach programme here.
Controlling money in elections, bringing buying of votes within the ambit of law and doing away with corporate donations to political parties are some of the issues which political experts believe can change the structure of Indian polity for the better.
City-based tea grower Goodricke Group Ltd on Monday said it will gradually shift its focus towards branded teas as it ensures a steady flow of income.
“We will now gradually shift our focus to branded teas as this business gives a steady flow of income, though the returns are not high,” said MD and CEO A.N. Singh.
He said competition in the branded tea segment is huge and big investments are required to create and sustain brands.
“We will increase the sale of branded teas by 0.5 million kg each year,” he told media persons after the company’s AGM.