Passport appointments extended at Mangalore Passport Seva Kendra

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has rationalised the syllabus for classes IX to XII for the academic year 2020-21 by up to 30 per cent to make up for academic loss caused due to COVID-19, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' announced on Tuesday.

"Looking at the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and the world, CBSE was advised to revise the curriculum and reduce course load for the students of classes IX to XII.

"To aid the decision, a few weeks back I also invited suggestions from all educationists on the reduction of syllabus for students and I am glad to share that we received more than 1.5K suggestions. Thank you, everyone, for the overwhelming response," Nishank tweeted.

"Considering the importance of learning achievement, it has been decided to rationalize syllabus up to 30 per cent by retaining the core concepts," he added.

Mangaluru, Feb 16: An elderly woman from Tamil Nadu was on Saturday reunited with her daughter and son after 14 years at the Mangaluru's White Doves destitute home.

"Mary only knew her name when she came here 10 years ago. Recently, she told us about her home town," Corrine Rusquinha, founder of White Doves told media.
Mary had gone missing 14 years ago from her hometown Kortampet in Tamil Nadu.

"Ten years ago, she was spotted by Mangaluru police who brought her to White Doves home late one evening. Initially, she could only speak Tamil, so it was presumed she was from Tamil Nadu. She was on psychiatric treatment," Rusquinha said.

A few days back, a visiting priest at the White Doves home spoke to Mary in Tamil and asked about her hometown.

"Surprisingly, she could recall the name of her hometown, following which the visiting priest contacted the pastor at Kortampet. Mary's family, including her daughter Gnana Anthony, who is a paramedic student in Coimbatore, was informed about Mary," she said.

Soon after, Gnana and her elder brother came to Mangaluru to take their mother back to their home.

Mary's husband Jhonson, who worked as a cook, had died within a year of losing his wife.

New Delhi, Feb 2: Budget 2020 announcement that insurance behemoth LIC will be listed was well received by market participants who said this will be "IPO of the decade" akin to the Saudi Aramco listing.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) will be listed as part of the government disinvestment initiative.

A "highlight of the budget is the LIC IPO, which is akin to the Saudi Aramco listing for Indian capital markets, and will be IPO of the decade," Vijay Bhushan, President, Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) said.

According to Krishna Kumar Karwa, Managing Director, Emkay Global Financial Services, the LIC IPO will be a big positive for corporate governance and transparency and will open up one more avenue for fund raising for the government over the years.

Metropolitan Stock Exchange, Interim CEO, Balu Nair said: "The LIC listing will be eagerly awaited by investors and will provide huge fillip to capital raising through the primary market." The government proposes to sell a part of its holding in LIC through an initial public offer, Sitharaman said while presenting Budget 2020-21.

"The government will sell part of LIC through its listing in the stock market which is also a positive trigger for the market," Amit Gupta, CO-Founder and CEO, TradingBells.

Jaideep Hansraj, MD and CEO of Kotak Securities said listing of LIC would help bridge a gap in the Fiscal Deficit for FY21.

Currently, the government owns the entire 100 per cent stake in LIC.

Saudi Aramco shares were listed in December last year.