New Delhi, January 19 (PTI): The Indian government has asked WhatsApp to withdraw the recent changes in the privacy policy of the messaging app, saying unilateral changes are unfair and unacceptable. In a strongly worded letter to WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart, the ministry of electronics and information technology said India is home to the largest user base of WhatsApp globally and is one the biggest markets for its services. The proposed changes to the WhatsApp Terms of Service an

New Delhi, January 19 (IANS): The Ministry of Culture on Tuesday said that the government has decided to celebrate the birthday of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose that falls on January 23 as 'Parakram Diwas' from now on every year. "To honour and remember Netaji's indomitable spirit and selfless service to the nation. The government of India has decided to dedicate his birthday (January 23) every year as 'Parakram Diwas', to inspire people of this country, especi

PURNIA, January 19 (IANS): Dog is man's best friend, but ask any dog-lover and he will invariably say that their pet pooches are family. Showing such love for his deceased pet dog Brownie, a family in Bihar's Purnia district organised all funerary rituals otherwise reserved for a human before burying the deceased pooch. Now, the family wants to build a memorial to perpetuate Brownie's memories. Himkar Mishra, founder of Summer Shell National Park in Ramnagar in Kunwara P

INDORE, JANUARY 19 (IANS): In the ongoing campaign against mafias in Madhya Pradesh, the Indore administration has claimed to have busted the biggest ration racket in the state so far. Bharat Dave, the kingpin of this racket, has been arrested by the Indore police. The administration has registered 12 FIRs and named 40 accused, with possible action against many others under the National Security Act. Sources said complaints have been coming in Indore for a long time about the sca

GANDHINAGAR/JAIPUR/NEW DELHI, JANUARY 19 (IANS): At least 14 migrant labourers hailing from Rajasthan were mowed down and six others injured by a speeding dumper truck in Gujarat's Surat in the wee hours of Tuesday, police said. The victims, including a toddler, were sleeping by a roadside when the truck driver lost control and ran over 20-odd farm labourers near the Kosamba village, 60 km from Surat. Twelve of them were killed on the spot while two others succumbed later. Si

HYDERABAD, JANUARY 19 (IANS): Bharat Biotech, makers of India's first indigenous vaccine for Covid-19, has advised people not to take 'Covaxin' if they have allergies, fever, bleeding disorder, are on blood thinners, immune-comrpomised, or are on medicines that affect immune system. The Hyderabad-based vaccine-maker, in a fact sheet for recipients and caregivers, said that even pregnant and nursing women should not take the vaccine. People who have taken another Covid

New Delhi, January 19 (IANS): Continuing its low streak of fresh daily cases, India on Tuesday recorded 10,064 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, the lowest single-day spike in seven months. With this the overall tally of Covid-19 cases touched 1,05,81,837, according to the Union Health Ministry. India had recorded over 10,000 cases on June 6 last year for the first time, and within that week it had hovered around the same number before a steady climb that took the

New Delhi, January 18 (PTI): The Supreme Court told the Centre on Monday that the proposed tractor rally on the Republic Day by farmers protesting against the new farm laws is a “law and order” matter and Delhi Police is the first authority to decide who should be allowed to enter the national capital. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, while hearing the Centre's application seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor or trolley march or any other kind

New Delhi, January 18 (IANS): The Centre on Monday informed the Supreme Court that Vijay Mallya's extradition has been raised at the highest political level, but the UK government has refused to share the details of the confidential proceedings delaying his extradition. "In December 2020, External Affairs Minister Dr. S.Jaishankar raised the issue with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and most recently in January 2021, the Home Secretary of India raised it with the UK Perm

New Delhi, January 18 (PTI): The Centre on Monday said bird flu has been confirmed in poultry birds in five states so far and culling operations are underway, while nine states have reported the disease in crows, migratory and wild birds. Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Chhattisgarh are among the five states where culling of poultry birds is being done by rapid response teams (RRTs), it said. In India, bird flu or avian influenza is spread mainly by migratory birds comin

New Delhi, January 18 (IANS): Mamata Banerjee is projected to win the West Bengal Assembly elections although with a reduced number of seats with the BJP set to make big gains, while in Tamil Nadu the DMK is set to make a strong comeback to power with a comfortable majority, toppling the ruling AIADMK, as per the IANS C-Voter Battle for the States survey. In Assam, the ruling BJP led by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is set to come back for another term while in Kerala, the LDF i

New Delhi, January 18 (PTI): A 46-year-old health worker died in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad district a day after receiving the coronavirus vaccination, with the autopsy report attributing the death to "cardio-pulmonary disease", officials said on Monday. The family of Mahipal, who was working as ward boy in state-run Deen Dayal Upadhaya Hospital, said he was not suffering from any ailment other than fever and cough, and blamed his death on vaccination. But the Uttar

New Delhi, January 18 (PTI): The newly inducted Rafale fighter aircraft will feature in India's Republic Day parade on January 26 and culminate the flypast by carrying out the 'Vertical Charlie' formation, the Indian Air Force (IAF) said on Monday. In the 'Vertical Charlie' formation, the aircraft flies at low altitude, pulls up vertically and conducts rolls before stabilising at higher altitude. "The flypast will culminate with a single Rafale aircraft c

New Delhi, January 18 (PTI): From taking centre stage to handling backstage responsibilities, managing crowd and collecting donations, women farmers took over the reins of the ongoing agitation against farm laws at multiple Delhi border points on Monday as they marked the day as 'Women Farmers' Day'. A large number of women from various states reached the sites of protest against the Centre's three farm laws that has been going on for over 50 days now. At the Sing

Gandhinagar, January 18 (IANS): While carrying out the the virtual ground breaking ceremonies of the the Surat Metro project and the second phase of Ahmedabad Metro project, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that due to lack of modern vision and any metro policy in previous governments, works of only 225 kilometre Metro network were operational, while the present government's modern vision had helped complete more than 450 km of Metro line and work was in progress in more

Kolkata, January 18 (IANS): In an open challenge to her once confidante and ex-minister Suvendu Adhikari, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced that she will contest the upcoming state Assembly elections from the Nandigram seat. The announcement came at her rally held in Nandigram -- the Assembly constituency earlier represented by rebel Trinamool leader Suvendu Adhikari who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bengal last month. "I will contes

New Delhi, January 18 (IANS): With farmer unions insisting on holding a tractor rally on Republic Day, the Supreme Court on Monday told the Centre that the top court cannot be the first authority to deal with it, instead the onus falls on Delhi Police on whether to allow farmers' entry into Delhi or not. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Vineet Saran said "we have not taken charge of the matter except one issue...apparen

New Delhi, January 18 (IANS): AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria on Monday allayed apprehensions about the coronavirus vaccines and assured that the side-effects will not result in death of the beneficiary. The nationwide Covid vaccination drive had commenced on January 16 and a total of 447 adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) were reported during the first two days, with most of them being minor along with three cases of hospitalisation. "Even if a person takes Crocin

New Delhi, January 18 (PTI): The daily coronavirus infections fell below 14,000 for the second time this month taking India's COVID-19 caseload to 1,05,71,773, while 145 new fatalities were recorded, the lowest in around eight months, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. A total of 13,788 infections have been reported in a day. The country's death toll increased to 1,52,419 with 145 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The recoveri

Says reportage by two TV channels in the aftermath of the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput ‘contemptuous’ Mumbai, January 18 (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday asked media houses to exercise restraint when reporting on suicide cases, saying "media trial leads to interference and obstruction to administration of justice". A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni said some reportage by Republic TV and Times Now in the aftermath o