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.
New Delhi, Feb 27: An Indian Air Force aircraft on Thursday evacuated 76 Indians and 36 foreign nationals from the coronavirus-hit Chinese city of Wuhan.
The C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft was sent to Wuhan on Wednesday and it carried 15 tonnes of medical supplies for coronavirus-affected people in China.
On its return, the aircraft brought back 112 people, including 23 citizens from Bangladesh, six from China, two each from Myanmar and the Maldives and one each from South Africa, the US and Madagascar.
Earlier, India had evacuated around 650 Indians from Wuhan in two Air India flights.
“In all 723 Indian nationals and 43 foreign nationals have been evacuated from Wuhan, China, in these three flights,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
On the medical supplies delivered by India to China, the MEA said they would help augment the country’s efforts to control the coronavirus outbreak which had been declared as a public health emergency by the World Health Organisation.
“The assistance is also a mark of friendship and solidarity from the people of India towards the people of China as the two countries also celebrate 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations this year,” it said.
New Delhi, May 1: Amid the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Human Resource Development Ministry are planning to conduct the PhD and MPhil exams through online mediums in various universities across the country. The universities have been informed by the UGC and the MHRD about this.
Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said, "Phd, MPhil exams, practicals, viva etc can be conducted through Skype or any other meeting apps."
When this system is implemented in colleges, students will not have to wait long for various types of examinations. Especially internal examinations can be taken online. Students' viva tests can also be conducted via Skype or any other similar meeting apps.
Regular classes in the universities will resume after the lockdown is removed. The classes for the first year will start from September 1 while for the second and third years the classes will start from August 1. However, students of various colleges will have to appear for basic exams in July.
A special committee constituted by the UGC has emphasized on conducting examinations online. The committee in its recommendation said that various colleges and universities should conduct online examinations including internal exams of colleges for 25 per cent marks.
The National Testing Agency (NTA), on the advice of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, has extended the date of filling the entrance examination forms for various universities.
According to the orders of the NTA, the date of filling the form for the entrance examinations of Jawaharlal Nehru University, National Council for Hotel Management 'G' and for Phd and MBA from IGNOU has been extended till May 15.
Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 27: Kerala Police social media team is using innovative methods to get people engaged in the home during the lockdown period. From conversing with people to giving them suggestions of must watch movies and sharing links of e-books Kerala police have become new 'chat friend' of people in the state.
"The traditional method of policing of interacting with people is not possible due to social distancing, so Kerala police is using the digital platform to reach out to people," Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Head Quarters Manoj Abraham, who is heading the social media wing told ANI.
"We used social media and tried to be different at the same time innovative. From creating awareness to taking precautions we through various videos like police dance, coronavirus animations etc reached out to people. We used film stars also and used local dialect. It has got good reach and public acceptance. The most important aspect is that they received the underlying message well and are staying home" he added.
Abraham also said that Social Media team of Kerala Police is also fighting the fake news and rumours being spread at the COVID- 19 times.
"Some people were misusing social media by spreading wrong information. We also went behind those who tried to sell medicines saying it is good against Coronavirus. We crushed them with an iron hand - registered cases and arrested them. We send a strong message in social media that no rumour-mongering will be allowed, " he said.
He said the Kerala Police realised that people staying indoors was one of the keys to winning the fight against COVID-19.
"We started a chat box with the public. People were in their houses and they used the time to chat with police on various aspects of lockdown. We provided them with the right information, " he said.
The social media team has prepared a list of e-books that can be downloaded and also has a list of must watch movies. Not only that the team also occasionally share jokes with people during chat sessions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country effective from midnight to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease.
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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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