SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir on Friday recorded 661 new coronavirus cases, raising the infection count to 1,05,376, while four more fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,622, officials said.
Of the fresh cases, 253 were reported from the Jammu division and 408 from the Kashmir division, they said.
The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest number of 169 cases, followed by 98 in Jammu.
There are 5,678 active cases now in the UT, while 98,076 patients have recovered, they said.
The UT reported four COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours — two each from Jammu and Kashmir regions, the officials said. (AGENCIES)
NEW DELHI: The Comptroller & Auditor General of India Girish Chandra Murmu has been elected as External Auditor of Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU), Geneva for three years, an official statement said on Friday.
Murmu will assume the position shortly by taking charge from Supreme Audit Institution of Switzerland.
The election took place at the virtual meeting of the 284th session of the IPU which is a 179 countries Parliamentarians body, also having 13 associate members. (AGENCIES)
NEW DELHI: Amazon on Friday launched its flagship leadership development programme ‘Amazon Future Builders Program’ (AFBP) for students enrolled in premier B-Schools in India, including IIMs, ISB and XLRI and prepare them for leadership roles at the company.
The programme allows students to gain a breadth of experience across Amazon’s businesses through a two month ‘incubator’ period, followed by a 24-30 months period where they gain domain expertise in particular ‘Lines of Business’ (LoBs), Amazon said in a statement.
The in-depth business experience will be augmented with learning, training, networking, and mentorship opportunities, it added. (AGENCIES)
NEW DELHI: The CBSE exams for class 10 and 12 will happen for sure and a schedule is likely to be announced soon, board secretary Anurag Tripathi said on Friday.
The comments by Tripathi come amid demands from various quarters for cancellation or postponement of board exams in view of rising COVID-19 cases.
“The board exams will happen for sure and a schedule will be announced very soon. The CBSE is making plans and will soon reveal how it will do test assessments,” he said during a webinar on “New Education Policy (NEP): Brighter future of school education” organised by ASSOCHAM. (AGENCIES)
NEW DELHI: The first animal study in India on coronavirus, which is a collaborative effort between Ministry of AYUSH and Department of Bio-Technology (DBT), has moved to its final stage.
This concerns pre-clinical studies on four oral interventions which have already been taken up for clinical studies, the AYUSH ministry said.
In a statement, it describes the study as one of the most sophisticated research projects in the country in the COVID-19 context.
The clinical studies are being pursued through another collaboration of the Ministry of AYUSH, the partner in this one being the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). (AGENCIES)
SRINAGAR: Security forces on Friday averted a major tragedy when they detected and defused a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted near a mosque in south Kashmir district of Kulgam, official sources said.
They said a joint patrol party of Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police and CRPF noticed some suspicious object fitted with a pipe near a mosque at village Shurat in Kulgam.
The area was immediately sealed and people present in the area where immediately asked to move out from there. Later, a Bomb Disposal Squad (BSD) was summoned and the IED was defused without causing any damage, they said adding had it not been detected and defused it would have caused much damage to life and property.
Police has registered a case and started investigation, they added. (AGENCIES)
New Delhi: Gold prices on Friday inched up by Rs 65 to Rs 49,551 per 10 grams in the national capital reflecting gains in the international rates, according to HDFC Securities.
The gold prices had closed at Rs 49,486 per 10 grams in the previous trade.
Silver prices also jumped Rs 298 to Rs 61,232 per kg, compared with the previous close of Rs 60,934 per kg.
“Spot gold prices for 24 carat gold at Delhi were trading up by Rs 65 reflecting overnight gains made in international gold prices limiting upside on rupee appreciation,” HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel said.
An appreciation in the rupee against the US dollar limited the gains in gold prices. The spot rupee was trading around 10 paise stronger versus the dollar during the day, he added.
In the international market, the gold prices were trading marginally higher at USD 1,868 an ounce and silver was up at USD 24.15 an ounce.
On the outlook, Reliance Securities Senior Research Analyst Sriram Iyer said: “We see some more consolidation to correction for gold prices due to the strength of the US dollar. However, we feel that this is a buying opportunity.”
He added that the medium-to-long-term outlook is bullish, as to emerge from the pandemic-induced crisis, the US and Europe could launch fresh stimulus to support their economies. (agencies)
Mumbai: An internal working group set up by the RBI has proposed to raise the cap on promoters’ stake in private banks from the current 15 per cent to 26 per cent in 15 years.
The group has also recommended that large corporate or industrial houses may be allowed as promoters of banks only after amendments to the Banking Regulation Act and strengthening of the supervisory mechanism for conglomerates, including consolidated supervision.
The Reserve Bank of India had constituted the internal working group (IWG) on June 12, 2020, to review extant ownership guidelines and corporate structure for Indian private sector banks. The central bank released the groups’ report on Friday.
The terms of reference of the IWG inter alia included a review of the eligibility criteria for individuals/entities to apply for banking license; examination of preferred corporate structure for banks and harmonisation of norms in this regard; and review of norms for long-term shareholding in banks by the promoters and other shareholders.
On eligibility of promoters, it said large corporate/industrial houses may be allowed as promoters of banks only after necessary amendments to the Banking Regulations Act, 1949 to deal with connected lending and exposures between the banks and other financial and non-financial group entities.
It also made a case for the strengthening of the supervisory mechanism for large conglomerates, including consolidated supervision.
The panel also suggested well run large non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) with an asset size of Rs 50,000 crore and above, including those owned by a corporate house, may be considered for conversion into banks – subject to completion of 10 years of operations.
It recommended the minimum initial capital requirement for licensing new banks should be enhanced from Rs 500 crore to Rs 1,000 crore for universal banks and from Rs 200 crore to Rs 300 crore for small finance banks. (AGENCIES)
Babar Azam celebrating his century against New Zealand in Birmingham.
Karachi:Pakistan skipper Babar Azam, who has been handed reins of the side in all formats, on Friday insisted that his team does not have any factions and he would like to emerge as an independent leader with support of senior players.
The Pakistan squad, including 35 players and 15 officials, will leave for New Zealand on November 23.
The senior team will play three T20 Internationals and two Tests while the Pakistan A side will be play two four-day games and four or five T20 matches in New Zealand.
Talking to the media in Lahore, Babar dismissed a query whether there was uneasiness among players over his captaincy credentials.
“This is a young team and there is no disharmony or groupings in our dressing room. The team is one. Every player respects and backs the other player and takes pride in their performances. No leg pulling in our team,” Babar said.
Babar also insisted that he felt no pressure with the added responsibility of being captain in all three formats besides being the top batsman in the side.
“I have always played with pressure. When I came into Pakistan team early on there was pressure on me to perform. We have to face challenges every day. Now there is a new challenge and responsibility and I will try to use my experience from white ball cricket,” he said.
“I take advice from seniors and have learnt a lot from Saifi (Sarfaraz) and even Azhar (Ali). Whatever I have learnt and what they taught me, I am trying to apply those things and if need arises I will talk to them but in the end I will take independent decisions according to my mind-set,” he said.
Babar said that added responsibility of captaincy in all three formats won’t affect his batting.
“I try to enjoy myself as a batsman and I enjoy challenging situations. I know the team relies on me and I enjoy playing under pressure, especially abroad.”
“We are going to New Zealand after having played a lot of cricket and we are excited as a team because we know our worth. We know that we have always performed well against New Zealand be it in New Zealand or anywhere else.”
He also said that if New Zealand had developed into a strong team and had some good individual players, the same was true about Pakistan.
“My main aim is to back and support my players. Especially those who are not performing well because they need the backing most. As a captain you have to show confidence in your players and back them only then they develop the confidence to do well.”
“I struggled early when I came into Test cricket but only started performing because of the confidence and backing I got from Mickey Arthur and Safi.”
Babar, to a question, admitted the New Zealand tour will be a litmus test for him as batsman and captain.
“What we are aiming to do is create a good combination of young and senior players and try to be more consistent. As a team we just have to give it our best shot. The results will not always be in your favour and not all the players can perform all the time.”
He also said that no team cane be taken lightly and every series is a challenge for a captain. (AGENCIES)
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Government has directed its universities and other higher education institutes to give a three-month relaxation to students from the riot-affected northeast parts of the city in submission of original documents for admission.
The Government said the students might have lost their marksheets and certificates during riots and the process of procuring duplicate documents was cumbersome and time-consuming.
“Admissions to colleges and universities under the Delhi Government have begun. The admissions will be done after the verification of original documents.
“There are chances that many students have lost their marksheets and certificates in the North-East Delhi riots and they may not be allowed admissions on non-availability of original documents,” said Narender Passi, Deputy Director, Higher Education.
The process for issuance of duplicate marksheet or certificate is cumbersome and takes time. Also, many do not have the resources or the time to get into this as they are busy rebuilding their homes and lives, he added.
The government has noted that it was necessary to provide timely help to the students affected in the North-East Delhi riots.
“All education institutions, including Delhi State Universities, to give at least three months time to the affected students to submit original documents. The provisional admission may be given on the basis of marksheet/certificate available on Digi Locker.
“Additionally, the students may be asked to submit an undertaking that they will show the original documents within three months time, failing which their admission may be cancelled,” Passi said.
In February, the northeast part of the national capital was rocked by violence in which 53 people were killed and over 200 injured. The areas worst-affected in the violence included Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Chand Bagh, Khureji Khas and Bhajanpura. (AGENCIES)
