Mangaluru, Mar 29: Dakshina Kannada Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited in a statement announced that their milk collection centres across Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts will be closed on March 29 and 30.
Due to a shortage of storage space with them, the Union has decided to stop collecting milk on these two days, according to the statement issued here on Saturday.
The sale/retail of milk and milk products won’t be affected in these two days.
Mar 30: the UAE Cabinet approved a series of new initiatives, foremost among which was the automatic extension of residence permits expiring from March 1.
The residence visas would be extended for a renewable period of three months without any fees to ease the economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis on residents, official news agency WAM reported.
The Cabinet has also waived the administrative fines associated with infractions on the services provided by the Federal Authority of Identity and Citizenship, starting April 1 and lasting for a renewable period of three months.
The initiatives also entail granting a temporary license to use digital solutions for remotely notarising and completing judicial transactions.
Government services expiring from March 1 will also be extended from April 1 for a renewable period of three months. The decision applies to all federal government services, including documents, permits, licenses and commercial registers.
The UAE has introduced a slew of initiatives to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus, including the online renewal of driving licences and vehicle’s registration cards.
The country’s telecom regulator, Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), also issued a directive that no mobile service with expired ID documents will be disconnected or suspended in the UAE.
The UAE has reported a total of 611 Covid-19 infections and five related deaths in the country.
A national sterilisation programme is underway that will continue until Saturday April 4, concluding on the morning of Sunday, April 5.
Carried out daily from 8pm until 6am the following morning, the programme will include the disinfection of private and public facilities.
New Delhi, Jan 25: The latest edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary features 26 new Indian English words, including Aadhaar, chawl, dabba, hartal and shaadi.
The 10th edition of the dictionary, which was launched on Friday, has 384 Indian English words and incorporates over 1,000 new words such as chatbot, fake news and microplastic.
The dictionary focuses on language change and its evolution through the years, and has ensured that the language and examples used in the new edition are relevant and up to date with the times, Oxford University Press (OUP) said.
The new edition comes with interactive online support through the Oxford Learner's Dictionaries website and an app. The website includes advanced features such as audio-video tutorials, video walkthroughs, self-study activities and enhanced iWriter and iSpeaker tools.
"This edition has 26 new Indian English words of which 22 figure in the printed dictionary. The other four are in the digital version," said Fathima Dada, Managing Director (Education Division) at OUP.
Some of other new Indian words in the dictionary are auntie (while aunty already figures in the English dictionary, auntie is an Indianism), bus stand, deemed university, FIR, non-veg, redressal, tempo, tube light, veg and videograph.
The four new Indian English words in the online version of the dictionary are current (for electricity), looter, looting and upazila (one of the areas that a district is divided into for administration purposes).
According to OUP, the new edition provides better, more accurate and understandable definitions with examples, usage notes and additional resources to help the learner use the right word in the right context.
"Prevalence and common usage are the main criteria for enlisting new words. We scan the globe for words which are often used by people while speaking English. Then these words go through a rigorous testing process," Dada said.
"As OUP is the custodian of English language globally, these words have to go through its processes," she told PTI.
The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, she said, has been reinventing itself for nearly eight decades, anticipating the growing learning requirements of learners.
"The 10th edition also is equipped with a strong digital support system, including an app," she said.
It is equipped with several digital tools. With iSpeaker, learners can get help preparing for speaking exams and presentations. With iWriter, learners can plan, write and review their written work. Text Checker allows the teacher to check any text against the Oxford 3000, 5000, and OPAL (Oxford Phrasal Academic Lexicon) written word list.
Resources accessible through online premium access include lesson plans, worksheets, video walkthroughs, and classroom and self-study activities. With the OALD app one can find 86,000 words, 95,000 phrases, 112,000 meanings and 237,000 examples.
The dictionary, which spans 77 years, was originally published in Japan in 1942 and was first brought out by OUP in 1948. The learner's dictionary is based on the original values of its creator, Albert Sydney Hornby, whose aim was to help language learners worldwide understand the meaning of English words.
Bengaluru, Apr 14: Bracing for post-lockdown hard times, the Karnataka government on Monday decided to auction about 12,000 BDA sites and regularise unauthorised constructions across the state in a bid to shore up its already-thin finances.
"Some 12,000 corner sites (developed by Bangalore Development Authority, or BDA) are lying idle in Bengaluru. We hope to net about Rs 15,000 crore from the auction of the sites," chief minister BS Yediyurappa said after chairing a meeting with senior ministers and officials to discuss ways to raise funds.
"The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown Karnataka into a deep financial crisis. There's a need for such measures," the chief minister said in defence of the decisions.
The sites – mainly of 40x60ft and 50x80ft dimensions – are in nine layouts. Also, the state government will auction corner and vacant sites in layouts formed by development authorities in other major cities of Karnataka.
Industry experts said that in a tepid market, it wasn’t easy to find buyers for the sites, each of which costs about Rs 1 crore. The CM said, “Since it’s an open auction, I’m confident of a good price since corner sites are always in demand. If we don’t get the expected price, then we will stop the process.”
The meeting decided to fast-track disposal of the cases related to regularisation of unauthorised constructions pending before courts. “If courts decide these cases, then thousands of people will be relieved, besides helping the government in mobilising resources to take up development works,” the CM said.
The government hopes to get about Rs 4,000 crore from the layout-regularisation move.
The government decided to amend the law to allow hundreds of private and cooperative housing societies to allot residential plots.
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