New Delhi, Jul 18: Textiles Minister Smriti Irani was today given the additional charge of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after M Venkaiah Naidu resigned from the Cabinet to contest the vice-presidential poll.
The portfolio of urban development, which too was with Naidu, was given to Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, the PMO said.
The BJP had yesterday decided to field Naidu as NDA's candidate for the post of vice president.
Mumbai, Apr 20: At least 53 media persons from Mumbai have tested positive for coronavirus, a city civic official said on Monday.
During a special camp organised at the Azad Maidan here on April 16 and 17 for COVID-19 testing of scribes, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) collected swab samples of 171 mediapersons, including electronic and print media journalists, photographers and cameramen.
“Out of the 171 mediapersons, 53 tested positive for coronavirus,” BMC spokesperson Vijay Khabale said, adding that most of those who tested positive are asymptomatic at present.
All the mediapersons found infected with coronavirus will be kept in isolation and a process was underway to find out suitable places to the purpose, he said.
Efforts were also on to trace their high and low risk contacts.
Till Sunday, Mumbai recorded 2,724 coronavirus cases and 132 deaths due to the disease.
New Delhi, Mar 27: Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has asked states to urgently strengthen the surveillance of international travellers who entered the country before the lockdown as there appeared to be a "gap" between the actual monitoring for COVID-19 and the total arrivals.
In a letter to chief secretaries of all States and Union Territories, Gauba said such a gap in monitoring of international passengers for coronavirus "may seriously jeopardise the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19", given that many amongst the persons who have tested positive so far in India have history of international travel.
"As you are aware, we initiated screening of international incoming passengers at the airports with effect from January 18, 2020. I have been informed that up to March 23, 2020, cumulatively, Bureau Of Immigration has shared details of more than 15 lakh incoming international passengers with the States/UTs for monitoring for COVID-19.
"However, there appears to be a gap between the number of international passengers who need to be monitored by the States/UTs and the actual number of passengers being monitored," Gauba said in his letter.
The government had started monitoring of all international passengers who have arrived in India in last two months in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Gauba said,"it is important that all international passengers are put under close surveillance to prevent the spread of the epidemic."
He said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has repeatedly emphasised the importance of monitoring, and requested the states and UTs to take immediate steps in this regard.
"I would, therefore, like to request you to ensure that concerted and sustained action is taken urgently to put such passengers under surveillance immediately as per MoHFW guidelines," he said.
The cabinet secretary also urged the chief secretaries to actively involve the district authorities in this effort.The screening of international incoming passengers at airports was done from January 18 in a phased manner.
The Central and state governments have unleashed unprecedented and extraordinary measures to contain the spread of the fast-spreading coronavirus, which has already infected more than 700 people in the country and claimed at least 17 lives.
A nationwide lockdown was also announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday for 21 days.
New Delhi, Jan 28: Kolkata Metro Rail Corp expects to complete its East-West project, which runs partly under the city’s iconic Hooghly river, by March 2022 after a delay of several years doubled costs.
The authority is awaiting a final installment of Rs 20 crore ($2.8 million) over the next two years from the Indian Railway Board, said Manas Sarkar, managing director at KMRC. A soft loan of Rs 4,160 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency helps fund 48.5% of the project.
India’s oldest metro, which started in 1984 with a North-South service, was due to expand by 2014 but faced problems including squatters on the planned route. These issues have contributed to the total project cost rising to about Rs 8,600 crore for some 17 kilometers from Rs 4,900 crore for 14 km.
“About 40% of total transport demand will be tackled by these two metro services,” Sarkar said in an interview at his office in Kolkata. “It will be a relief for environmental pollution and the city should be much more decongested.”
The new line is expected to carry about 900,000 people daily, -- roughly 20% of the city’s population -- and will take less than a minute to cross a 520-meter underwater tunnel. Depending on the time of day, it takes some 20 minutes to use the ferry and anywhere upward of an hour to cross the Howrah bridge.
KMRC will repay the JICA loan over 30 years after an initial six-year moratorium. The interest rate is between 1.2% to 1.6%. The East-West metro project is 74% owned by the railway ministry and 26% by the ministry of housing and urban affairs.
“We don’t anticipate any further cost escalation now,” Sarkar said.
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We better prepare another list of those who got killed by saffron terrorists and send it to President of India.
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