Home » Trending News » Page 31

Trending News

21 Mar

Navroz Mubarak: Pm Modi, Amit Shah, Other Ministers Greet People On Parsi New Year

On Monday Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Cabinet Minister for Women & Child Development Smriti Irani, Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya extended their greetings on the occasion of Navroz.

Navroz is the new year of the Parsi community that begins on the spring equinox. The festival of Navroz is celebrated by the Parsi community around the world with great pomp and show.

Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said “We mark Navroz with a prayer that the coming year brings with it joy and outstanding health in everyone’s lives. May all aspirations be fulfilled and may there be prosperity all around. Navroz Mubarak!”

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also extended his greeting and tweeted, “Greetings to all on the auspicious occasion of Navroz. May this Parsi New Year bring in good fortune and an abundance of happiness in everyone’s life. Navroz Mubarak!”

Smriti Irani also took to Twitter to extend her greetings on the occasion of Navroz.

“Navroz Mubarak! Prayers that the new year brings health, happiness and prosperity for all,” tweeted Smriti Irani.

“Navroz Mubarak to my Parsi brothers and sisters! Gujarat shares a very special bond with the Parsi community. Praying for a year filled with happiness and prosperity. May everyone be healthy and their aspirations be fulfilled,” tweeted union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

By Trending News , , , 0 Comments Read more...
20 Mar

NITI Aayog to Organize 5th Edition of Women Transforming India Awards on 21 March

NITI Aayog’s Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) is organizing the fifth edition of the Women Transforming India Awards (WTI) on 21 March 2022.

Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) is an aggregator portal that aims to catalyse the entrepreneurial ecosystem for women and address information asymmetry.

The Women Transforming India Awards is NITI Aayog’s annual initiative to highlight the commendable and ground-breaking endeavours of India’s women leaders and change-makers.

This year, as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate 75 years of India’s independence, the WTI Awards will be conferred on 75 women achievers to celebrate their contribution towards a ‘Sashakt Aur Samarth Bharat’.

According to a statement by NITI Aayog, in a show of solidarity and alliance, the Awards will be given by an equally exceptional group of women—Kiran Bedi, former Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry; Lakshmi Puri, former Assistant Secretary-General of UN; Dr Tessy Thomas, Director-General of Aeronautical Systems, DRDO; Arundhati Bhattacharya, former Chairperson of State Bank of India; Debjani Ghosh, President of NASSCOM; Ila Arun, acclaimed singer; Salma Sultan, former news anchor at DD; Dr Sangeeta Reddy, Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals; and Shivani Malik, Managing Director of Da Milano Leathers.

Sports champions Shiny Wilson, Track and Field Athlete; Karnam Malleswari, first Indian woman to win a medal in weightlifting in the 2000 Olympics; Lovlina Borgohain, Tokyo Olympic medallist in boxing; Mansi Joshi, World No. 1 para-badminton singles’ player in SL3; Pranati Naik, Tokyo 2020 Olympian gymnast and 2019 Asian Championship medallist; and Simranjit Kaur, Tokyo 2020 Olympian and 2018 AIBA World Championship medallist; and women defence officers will also attend the event.

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Senior Adviser Anna Roy; Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator in India; and Kailash Kher, who has written, composed and lent his voice to the WEP anthem, will be present at the event as well.

By Trending News , , , 0 Comments Read more...
20 Mar

Income Tax Department detects Rs 224 crore black income after raids on Maharashtra-based unicorn

On Sunday Income Tax Department conducted a search and seizure operation on a Pune and Thane based unicorn start-up group, primarily engaged in the business of wholesale and retail of construction material.

The group has a Pan-India presence having an annual turnover exceeding Rs. 6,000 crore. A total of 23 premises were covered in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, in the search operation.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Finance, a large number of incriminating evidences in the form of hard copy documents and digital data have been found & seized during the search operations. This evidence revealed that the group has booked bogus purchases, made huge unaccounted cash expenditures and obtained accommodation entries, aggregating to the tune of over Rs. 400 crore.

This evidence were confronted to the Directors of the group, who admitted under oath this modus operandi, disclosed additional income of more than Rs. 224 crore in various assessment years, and consequently offered to pay their due tax liability.

The search action also revealed that the group had obtained huge foreign funding via the Mauritius route, by issuing shares at an exorbitantly high premium.

During the search operation, a complex hawala network of some Mumbai and Thane based shell companies was also unearthed. These shell companies exist on paper, and were created only for the purpose of providing accommodation entries. Preliminary analysis has revealed that the total quantum of accommodation entries provided by these shell entities exceeds Rs. 1,500 crore.

By Trending News , , , 0 Comments Read more...
20 Mar

Reduce Sugar production and increase conversion to ethanol, says Nitin Gadkari

On Sunday while addressing the Sugar & Ethanol India Conference (SEIC) in Mumbai Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari gave a clarion call to the sugar factories to make a shift to the conversion of sugar into ethanol.

The Minister issued a warning to leaders of sugar and allied industries that if sugar production goes ahead as it does now, it will be harmful for the industry in times to come. Reminding them that as a country, we are rice-surplus, corn-surplus, and sugar-surplus, Gadkari said that what is good for our future is to reduce the production of sugar and increase the production of ethanol.

The Minister explained how the economics of ethanol is superior to that of vehicles run by diesel or petrol.

“We have issued advisory on flex engines; Toyota, Hundai and Suzuki have assured me that they will bring flex engines within six months. Recently, we launched pilot car run by green hydrogen. Toyota Chairman informed me that their car is flex – either 100% petrol or 100% ethanol and that Toyota cars of coming days will be run on hybrid electricity, which will generate 40% electricity and run 60% of the distance using 100% ethanol. This economics will be highly advantageous in comparison to petrol,” said Gadkari while addressing the SEIC.

The Minister exhorted all sugar factories whomanufacture ethanol to open ethanol pumps in their factories and other areas.

He said, “This can bring in 100% ethanol-run scooters, auto rickshaws and cars and thus increase ethanol consumption, reduce pollution, bring down imports and also provide jobs to people in villages.”

“There will definitely be a big enough market for Ethanol,” he further added.

The Minister assured that no one needs to be concerned whether there would be a big enough market for ethanol.

“Ethanol is a green and clean fuel; we are producing 465 crore litres of ethanol at present. However, when E-20 programme gets completed, our requirement will become around 1,500 crore litres. Moreover, in coming five years, when flex engines get ready, ethanol requirement will become 4,000 crore litres,” said Gadkari.

Hence, if you do not convert to ethanol and keep producing sugar, the factory will become loss-making, cautioned the Minister.

The Minister also said that the government is thinking of ways to increase the use of ethanol in the aviation sector and in the Indian Air Force.

“I am also exploring how to use ethanol in aviation industry. Two years ago, fighter jets which participated in Republic Day Parade had used 100% bio-ethanol. I am in discussion with Air Force Chief and Defence Ministry officials; we are thinking on how to increase use of ethanol in aviation and Indian Air Force,” the Minister added.

By Trending News , , , 0 Comments Read more...
20 Mar

India’s maize exports reach an all-time high of $816.31 million

The export of maize has touched USD 816.31 million in the first ten months of current fiscal 2021-22 (April-January), already exceeding the USD 634.85 million achieved during the last financial year.

From an exports realization of USD 142.8 million in 2019-20, the export of maize increased nearly sixfold, taking the total value of shipment to USD 1593.73 million in the last three years despite logistical challenges posed by the COVID19 pandemic outbreak, according to a statement by Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

Neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal are the major importers of maize from India. Bangladesh has imported maize worth USD 345.5 million in the current fiscal (April-January), while Nepal has imported maize worth USD 132.16 million during this period.

Vietnam has emerged as a major destination for the export of maize. India exported maize worth USD 244.24 million to Vietnam in the first ten months of the current fiscal (April-January 2021-22). Other prominent importing countries are Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Taiwan, Oman, etc, the statement read.

Maize, which is globally known as the queen of cereals, has emerged as one of the significant foreign exchange-earners under the commodities covered under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) ambit.

“The significant rise in agri-exports is seen as a testimony of the government’s commitment to increase farmers’ income through creating requisite infrastructure and improving value chains on boosting exports of agricultural and processed food products,” Dr. M. Angamuthu, Chairman, APEDA said.

Maize is the third most important cereal crop in India after rice and wheat. The cereal crop is primarily cultivated in the states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh.

By Trending News , , , , 0 Comments Read more...
20 Mar

India may soon top hate and anger charts, says Rahul Gandhi on Happiness report

On Saturday Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the Centre over the country’s ranking in the latest World Happiness Report, saying India would soon top hate and anger charts.

Taking to Twitter, Rahul Gandhi shared the report and said, “Hunger Rank: 10, Freedom Rank: 119, Happiness Rank: 136. But, we may soon top the Hate and Anger charts!”

Published by United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the World Happiness Report ranks countries on several factors such as sense of well-being, GDP per capita, social support system, life expectancy, generosity, liberty to make life choices and perceptions of corruption, etc.

India ranked 136th in the World Happiness Report 2022.

Finland becomes the happiest country for the fifth consecutive year. Denmark bagged the second spot and Iceland claimed the third position in the report. Switzerland and Netherlands stood at fourth and fifth rank. Meanwhile, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Israel, and New Zealand were the remaining countries in the top 10.

Among the South Asian nations, only Afghanistan fared worse than India as it was named the most unhappy country in the world, ranking last on the index of 146 countries.

Nepal (84), Bangladesh (94), Pakistan (121), and Sri Lanka (127) managed to get better ranks in the list.

By Trending News , , 0 Comments Read more...
20 Mar

India’s daily COVID-19 cases drop below 2,000 mark

India continues to witness a declining trend with daily infections dropping below the 2,000 mark on Sunday. According to the Union health ministry’s updated data on Sunday morning, India has reported 1,761 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

There has been a sustained fall in the weekly and daily Positivity Rates too. The weekly Positivity Rate in the country currently stands at 0.41% and the daily positivity rate is also reported to be 0.41%.

The active caseload declined to 26,240. Total 3,196 people recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, increasing the total number to 4,24,65,122. The recovery rate has also improved to 98.74 per cent.

Meanwhile, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 181.21 crores.  Vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on 16 March, 2022. So far, more than 17 lakh (17,36,464) adolescents have been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Precaution doses have been given to 2,17,33,502 people so far. Of these, 43,58,282 were given to healthcare workers, 66,63,768 to frontline workers, and 1,07,11,452 to people above the age of 60 years.

In the age group of 15-18 years, 5,62,03,581 children have taken the first dose and 3,54,81,792 have taken the second dose of vaccination.

By Trending News , , , 0 Comments Read more...
20 Mar

World Happiness Report 2022: Finland ranked first for fifth straight year; India at 136th

India ranks 136th in the World Happiness Report 2022, while Finland becomes the happiest country for the fifth consecutive year.

Denmark bagged the second spot and Iceland claimed the third position in the report. Switzerland and Netherlands stood at fourth and fifth rank. Meanwhile, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Israel, and New Zealand were the remaining countries in the top 10.

The United States held the 16th spot in the happiest countries list, while the United Kingdom ranked 17th in the list.

The World Happiness Report is a publication of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, powered by the Gallup World Poll data.

Among the South Asian nations, only Afghanistan fared worse than India as it was named the most unhappy country in the world, ranking last on the index of 146 countries.

Nepal (84), Bangladesh (94), Pakistan (121), and Sri Lanka (127) managed to get better ranks in the list.

India saw a marginal improvement, rising three spots from 139 a year ago.

Russia and Ukraine have been ranked 80 and 98 respectively. But the rankings of the report were compiled before Russia launched the invasion in Ukraine.

By Trending News , , 0 Comments Read more...
20 Mar

Bengal BJP MP allegedly attacked while returning after watching ‘The Kashmir Files’

BJP MP Jagannath Sarkar on Saturday alleged that a bomb was hurled at his vehicle in Haringhata town of Nadia district in West Bengal. He was returning home after watching the film ‘The Kashmir Files’. MP Jagannath Sarkar said he escaped the attack as the bomb landed behind the speeding car.

BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari slammed Trinamool Congress and said that law and order are non-existent in West Bengal and that the criminals are freely roaming around carrying out unrestrained violence.

“Sri Jagannath Sarkar; @BJP4Bengal MP, was attacked near Simultala; under Haringhata PS, as bomb was hurled at his vehicle. He was returning home after watching ‘The Kashmir Files’. Law & order is nonexistent in WB & criminals are roaming free carrying out unrestrained violence,” the BJP leader said in a tweet.

He questioned that how would the general public rely on state administration which can’t even ensure the security of Councillors, MLAs & MPs.

“The attack on the Ranaghat MP is an addition to the latest trend of targeting Elected Representatives in WB. How would the general public rely on the State Administration which can’t even ensure security of Councillors, MLAs & MPs?” tweeted Suvendu Adhikari.

 

By Trending News , , , 0 Comments Read more...
20 Mar

‘Pandemic Not Over’: WHO Warns Against ‘Huge Amount of Misinformation’ Around COVID-19

The World Health Organization on Saturday expressed concern about the spread of misinformation about the pandemic. They said that the misinformation about the pandemic is creating confusion among people. The concern comes as in the last week there was an 8% increase in cases.

WHO’s COVID-19 Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove said that there are misinformations that the pandemic is over or that Omicron is the last variant of Covid-19 that we will have to deal with.

“We have huge amounts of misinformation that’s out there. The misinformation that Omicron is mild. Misinformation that the pandemic is over. Misinformation that this is the last variant that we will have to deal with. This is really causing a lot of confusion,” said Ms. Kerkhove.

Talking about Omicron she said that COVID-19 vaccines remain incredibly effective at preventing severe disease and death, including against Omicron.

She further said that with a huge number of Covid cases there will be an increase in hospitalizations and that will result in increased deaths, primarily in people not vaccinated.

“We do not see changes in severity of BA.2 compared to BA.1 at population levels. However, with huge numbers of cases, you will see an increase in hospitalizations & that in turn has translated into increased deaths… primarily in people not vaxxed or partially vaxxed,” she said.

By Trending News , , , , 0 Comments Read more...