Modi unveils new team in Finance Ministry

October 17, 2014

New Delhi, Oct 17: Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed US-based economist Arvind Subramanian as the chief economic adviser (CEA) and shunted out Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram, signalling the government’s intention that it may finally push for big ticket reforms in the next Budget.

Arvind SubramanianThe Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Modi, cleared the changes late on Wednesday night.

Mayaram, who will take charge of the Tourism Ministry, will be replaced by Rajasthan Chief Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, who has overseen radical changes, particularly in the area of free-market labour, land and welfare reforms in the state. Mayaram and Mehrishi, who is also one of the officers being considered for the post of the Cabinet Secretary, are 1978-batch IAS officers from the Rajasthan cadre.

Mayaram’s transfer was part of the first major shuffle of top civil servants since the NDA came to power.

The timing is significant as the Prime Minister's Office and the Finance Ministry have just begun work on the first full-fledged Budget of the NDA government.

Subramanian, who has been publicly critical of the NDA government for not doing enough to kick-start the economy, took charge as the CEA in North Block on Thursday.

The CEA is responsible for producing the Economic Survey, a document on the state of the economy that provides the base for drafting of the budget. He also brings out a mid-year economic update that is presented to Parliament.

Subramanian told the media that his focus will be on growth, investments and providing equitable growth for all Indians. “It is an honour and privilege to serve the government that has a mandate for reform and change,” he said.

An economist of international repute, Subramanian has closely worked with Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan during his stint at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

One of the prime factors that weighed on Modi’s mind was the excellent understanding Subramanian shares with Rajan.

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News Network
June 10,2020

New Delhi, Jun 10: Delhi recorded 1,366 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, taking the tally to 31,309, while the death toll mounted to 905, authorities said on Wednesday.

According to a health bulletin issued by the Delhi government's health department, there are 18,543 active cases, while 11,861 patients have either recovered, been discharged or migrated.

No health bulletin was issued on Tuesday.

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News Network
May 21,2020

Bengaluru, May 21: The COVID-19-induced lockdown saw a spurt in crybercrimes in India with Kerala recording the highest number during the period, according to an analysis of IT security solutions provider K7 Computing.

The report analyses various cyberattacks within India during the pandemic and reveals that threat actors targeted the States with COVID-19-themed attacks aimed at exploiting user trust.

The sudden surge in the frequency of attacks witnessed from February 2020 to mid-April 2020 indicates that scamsters across the world were exploiting the widespread panic around coronavirus at both the individual and corporate level, the company said in a statement.

These attacks aimed to compromise computers and mobile devices to gain access to users confidential data, banking details and cryptocurrency accounts.

The key threats seen during this period ranged from phishing attacks to rogue apps disguised as COVID-19 information apps that targeted users sensitive data.

Phishing attacks were noticed more in Tier-II and Tier-III cities while the metros fared better.

Smaller cities saw over 250 attacks being blocked per 10,000 users.

Users from Ghaziabad and Lucknow seem to have faced almost six and four times the number of attacks, respectively, as Bengaluru users.

In Kerala, regions like Kottayam, Kannur, Kollam, and Kochi saw the highest hits with 462, 374, 236, and 147 attacks respectively, while the state as a whole saw around 2,000 attacks during the period, the highest thus far in the country.

This was followed by Punjab with 207 attacks and Tamil Nadu at 184 attacks, the statement said.

A majority of the recorded attacks were phishing attacks with sophisticated campaigns that could easily snare even the most educated users, it said.

These attacks were aimed at heightening users fears and creating a sense of urgency to take action.

The report noted phishing attacks where scamsters posed as representatives of the United States Department of the Treasury, the World Health Organisation, and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Users were encouraged to visit links that would automatically download malware on the host computer such as the Agent Tesla keylogger or Lokibot information-stealing malware, infamous banking Trojans such as Trickbot or Zeus Sphinx, and even disastrous ransomware.

Other attacks included infected COVID-19 Android apps like CoronaSafetyMask that scam users with promises of masks for an upfront payment; the spyware app Project Spy; and seemingly genuine apps that are infected with dangerous malware like banking Trojans such as Ginp, Anubis and Cerberus, it was stated.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Chennai, Jul 30: Tamil Nadu government on Thursday extended the Covid-19 lockdown till August 31, giving only a few relaxations like allowing delivery of non-essential goods by e-commerce sites. The ban on public transport has been extended till August 31, while availing of e-pass for inter-district and inter-state travel will continue to be in force.

In a detailed statement, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a “complete lockdown” during which only essential services would continue to be in force on all Sundays during the month of August across the state.  

In Chennai, restaurants will be allowed to open dine-in facilities at 50 percent of its total capacity from 6 am to 7 pm from August 1, while vegetable shops, grocery outlets and standalone commercial establishments will also be allowed to remain open from 6 am to 7 pm.

E-commerce sites have been allowed to begin delivery of non-essential goods from August 1, while the ban on public transport, temples in urban areas and towns, cinema halls, shopping malls, and gyms would continue till August 31.

It also said companies or factories in Chennai that have been allowed to function with 50 percent of staff can increase their strength to 75 percent from August 1.

COVID-19 Pandemic Tracker: 15 countries with the highest number of coronavirus cases, deaths

The government also asked companies to encourage its employees to work from home and advised commercial establishments to follow the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) as advised by it. Inter-state or inter-district travel will be allowed only with e-pass, while ban on metro and suburban trains continues.

The decision to extend the lockdown till August 31 comes as Tamil Nadu continues to grapple with an increasing number of coronavirus cases. The prevalence of the virus is no more limited to one city or region of the state with almost all districts reporting fresh cases, some of them over 200 new patients, every day.

On Thursday morning, Tamil Nadu’s Covid-19 tally was 2,34,114 including 1,72,883 discharges and 3,741 deaths. The active cases stood at 57,490.

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