    Reports says trust figure is below average in India     Newspapers have borne the brunt of the slowdown     Print in general more trusted than TV brands New Delhi, June 23 (PTI): Trust in news has grown amid the coronavirus pandemic with 44 per cent of the respondents globally saying they trust most news most of the time, but the figure is below average at 38 per cent in India, according to a survey released on Wed

New Delhi, June 23 (PTI): Procuring around 500 pulse oximeters and 100 thermal scanners, setting up an oxygen plant and Covid care facilities inside the campus are some of the steps planned by the Delhi University to tackle a possible third wave of the novel coronavirus infection. At least 40 professors of the varsity have so far succumbed to the infection. The university will set up an oxygen plant that can fill in medical cylinders (about 50-80 cylinders per day) using the Pres

New Delhi, June 23 (PTI): A parliamentary panel meeting on the issue of vaccine development witnessed high drama on Wednesday as several BJP MPs walked out of it asserting that this is not the appropriate time to discuss the vaccine policy, sources said. Scientific Advisor to the government K Vijaya Raghavan, ICMR DG VK Bhargava and Secretary in the Department of Biotechnology Renu Swarup were among those who deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technol

New Delhi/Chandigarh, June 23 (PTI): Former Haryana chief minister O P Chautala, who is serving a 10-year prison term in a teacher recruitment scam case and is out on parole, will be freed from Tihar jail as the Delhi government has granted a six-month remission of sentence, officials said on Wednesday. The 86-year-old Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) president's younger son and party leader Abhay Singh Chautala and grandson Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala expresse

GADCHIROLI, June 23 (IANS): In a significant achievement for security forces, dreaded and most wanted woman Maoist active in the Gadchiroli region and carrying a bounty of Rs 6 lakh on her head, surrendered before the Maharashtra Police, officials said on Wednesday. Anju Asaram Aachala, 30, also known by various aliases like Shashikala, Guni, Zuri, was the Area Committee Member of Tipagad area in the Maoist-infested district of eastern Maharashtra. At a public function, she laid

New Delhi, June 23 (PTI): Baba Ramdev has moved the Supreme Court seeking stay on the proceedings in connection with multiple FIRs lodged against him by Indian Medical Association (IMA) in Bihar and Chhattisgarh over his remarks against use of allopathic medicine during COVID-19 pandemic. The Patna and Raipur chapters of the IMA have lodged complaints against the yoga guru alleging that his remarks are likely to cause prejudice to the COVID control mechanism and may dissuade people

London, June 23 (PTI): Nirav Modi has lost the first stage of his extradition appeal in the High Court here, just over two months after the wanted diamond merchant's extradition to India was ordered by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel in the estimated USD 2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam case. The case was before a High Court judge for a decision "on the papers" submitted for the appeal to determine if there are any grounds for an appeal against the Home Secretar

New Delhi, June 23 (PTI): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the government will actively pursue cases against economic offenders to bring back defrauded money of banks. The remark came soon after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) has sold shares worth over Rs 5,800 crore of United Breweries Limited (UBL) that were earlier attached under the anti-money laundering law as part of an alleged bank fraud probe against fugitive liqu

New Delhi, June 23 (PTI): If effective containment strategies and Covid appropriate behaviour are followed, the number of cases in the third wave will not be to the extent that the health system comes under strain, a senior health ministry official said on Wednesday. Health ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said 2.2 per cent of India's population has been affected by the disease so far. "This should also make us wary of protecting the still vulnerable or susceptible 9

New Delhi, June 23 (PTI): India and the US on Wednesday kicked off a two-day multi-domain wargame in the Indian Ocean involving an array of air defence platforms to further consolidate their operational synergy in the face of China's increasing military presence in the region. The US has deployed its naval carrier strike group, led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, as well as a fleet of F-18 fighter jets and E-2C Hawkeye all-weather aircraft for the exer

New Delhi, June 23 (PTI): The health ministry on Wednesday dismissed media reports alleging that homeless people have been "barred" from registering for COVID-19 vaccination due to unavailability of technical requirements as "baseless". There have been some media reports alleging that homeless people have been "barred and conspicuously left out" from registering for COVID-19 vaccination due to unavailability of technical requirements, the ministry said

NEW DELHI, JUNE 23 (IANS): The Union Cabinet on Wednesday has approved allocation of additional foodgrain under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (Phase IV) for another period of five months from July to November. Under this scheme 5 kg per person per month free of cost ration is provided to maximum 81.35 crore beneficiaries -- roughly two-thirds of India's population. These 81.35 crore beneficiaries are those covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) (Antyodaya Anna

Aurangabad, June 23 (PTI): A tempo carrying nutritional food for children of Maher village in Maharashtra had to return mid-way last week due to poor road connectivity in the area. The village, located in Parbhani district, about 250 km from here, often loses contact with the outside world during rains as it does not have a proper connecting road, its sarpanch Vishal Bhosle told PTI. Maher, having a population of around 500, lies three km away from Tadkalas-Palam road in Purna ta

New Delhi, June 23 (PTI): The Delhi High Court has refused to stay the Competition Commission of India (CCI) notice asking Facebook and WhatsApp to furnish certain information in relation to a probe ordered by it into the instant messaging app's new privacy policy. A vacation bench of Justices Anup Jairam Bhambhani and Jasmeet Singh said an application seeking stay of further steps in the investigation has been filed in which notice was issued to the Director General of CCI and

New Delhi, June 23 (IANS) India recorded 50,848 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours taking the country's total caseload to over three crores, according to data released by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Wednesday. As it continued with a declining trend of coronavirus infection, the country reported 1,358 deaths. This is the sixth consecutive day in the last two months when the toll has been below the 2,000-mark. The overall tally of Covid-19 cases in t

New Delhi, June 22 (IANS): The US Navy and the Indian Air Force (IAF) will carry out joint drills in the Indian Ocean Region for two days starting Wednesday. As a strategic outreach exercise with the defence forces of friendly foreign countries in the Indian Ocean Region, the Indian Air Force will participate in operational engagements with the US Navy in an exercise to be carried out with the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group (CSG) on June 23 and 24. The Reagan Carrier Strike G

New Delhi, June 22 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the petitions challenging the CBSE and the CICSE's decision to cancel Class 12 board examinations and also approved the assessment schemes proposed by the boards to evaluate students. A bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said: "We hold that there is no need to interfere with the scheme propounded by the CBSE and the ICSE. It takes into account concerns of all students." It noted t

New Delhi, June 22 (IANS): From Tuesday onward, Members of Parliament, State and Union Territory (UT) legislatures, officials and their families will be able to attend an online language learning course organised by Lok Sabha Secretariat at the Parliament House Complex. This Indian and foreign language learning course will cover 22 Indian languages included in 8th Schedule of the Constitution as well as six foreign languages: French, German, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese and Sp

New Delhi, June 22 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Tuesday warned the Andhra Pradesh government that the court would hold it responsible if there is even one fatality, due to its decision to go ahead with the physical examination for Class 12 students. A bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari told Andhra Pradesh counsel: "You can't keep everything uncertain. Remember, if there is even one fatality, we will make the state responsible." Advocate Mahfooz

New Delhi, June 22 (IANS): Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday released the party's 'White Paper' on management of Covid-19, accusing the Central government of not taking adequate measures to prevent and contain the pandemic. Releasing the document at a virtual press conference, he said: "This White Paper is a discussion that has taken place within the Congress structure and we have had a discussion with the experts and we have basically developed four pil