Budget 2018-19

  National General Secretary of BJP Kailash Vijayvargiya said that that law was targeted at inter-religion marriages with the intention or conspiracy to convert religion Slamming Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel for his statement on the love jihad law, National General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kailash Vijayvargiya on Sunday said that that law was targeted at inter-religion marriages with the intention or conspiracy to convert religion. “We need to understand the definition of it ( love jihad ). The law is being made against the conspiracy behind the inter-religion marriages. Love is Sanatan and effortless; it does not see religion or a caste. But if someone loves and marries another person with a plan or intention to convert their religion, this law is from them,” said the BJP leader at a press conference in Indore. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday had slammed the BJP-led states and said that whether inter-...

  The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Moscow will seek firm guarantees that the remaining parties of the Treaty on Open Skies fulfil their obligations, amid the US’ withdrawal from the agreement The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Moscow will seek firm guarantees that the remaining parties of the Treaty on Open Skies fulfil their obligations, amid the US’ withdrawal from the agreement. “After withdrawing from the Treaty on Open Skies, the US side expects that its allies, on the one hand, will hinder Russian observation flights above US military facilities in Europe, and, on the other hand, share with Washington their photographic materials of Russian territory,” Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying in a statement on Sunday. “Of course, this is unacceptable for Russia,” it added. “We will seek firm guarantees that the states remaining in the Treaty on Open Skies will fulfil their obligations, firstly, on ensuring the possibility of observing their entire te...

Jake Sullivan, formerly one of Hillary Clinton’s closest aides, is likely to be named Biden’s national security adviser President-elect Joe Biden intends to name his longtime adviser Blinken as secretary of State, according to three people familiar with the matter, setting out to assemble his cabinet even before Donald Trump concedes defeat. In addition, Jake Sullivan, formerly one of Hillary Clinton’s closest aides, is likely to be named Biden’s national security adviser, according to two people familiar with the matter. An announcement is expected Tuesday, the people said. Biden’s incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain said Sunday the president-elect would be making his initial cabinet announcements on Tuesday, but declined to specify which positions would be filled first. The people familiar with  J oe Biden ’s selections asked not to be identified because he hasn’t yet made the announcements. Both Sullivan, who is 43, and Blinken, 58, served stints as Biden’s national se...

  Britain formally asked its medical regulator, the MHRA, last week to assess the suitability of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Britain could give regulatory approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine this week, even before the United States authorises it, the Telegraph news site reported on Sunday. Citing government sources, it said British regulators were about to start a formal appraisal of the vaccine, made by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, and that the National Health Service had been told to be ready to administer it by Dec. 1. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that it would meet on Dec. 10 to discuss whether to authorise the vaccine. The UK Department of Health had no comment on Sunday on when the first vaccinations would be administered. A spokesman said the authorisation process by the medical regulator Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is independent of the government and will take as long as they need to review the final data fro...

  Ashok Gehlot has written to Prime Minister urging him to direct Finance Ministry for early approval of loan for the long-pending Rajiv Gandhi lift canal phase III project Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to direct the Finance Ministry for early approval of loan for the long-pending Rajiv Gandhi lift canal phase III project, an official statement said. The Rajasthan government has started efforts to get early loans for the project for the supply of clean drinking water to five cities and 2,104 villages in the western region of the state. Gehlot also urged the prime minister to direct Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to get a loan of Rs 1163.2 crore approved soon, it said. In the letter, he wrote that the  Rajiv Gandhi lift canal project  needs to be executed quickly for the supply of clean drinking water in the cities of Jodhpur, Phalodi, Bilara, Pipar City and Samdari in the desert region and 2,...

  Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, was 90% effective in preventing infection during the phase 3 clinical trial, which enrolled 43,538 participants, with 30% in U.S. and 42% abroad As the weather cools, the number of infections of the COVID-19 pandemic are rising sharply. Hamstrung by pandemic fatigue, economic constraints and political discord, public health officials have struggled to control the surging pandemic. But now, a rush of interim analyses from pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech have spurred optimism that a novel type of vaccine made from messenger RNA, known as mRNA, can offer high levels of protection by preventing  COVID-19  among people who are vaccinated. Although unpublished, these preliminary reports have exceeded the expectations of many vaccine experts, including mine. Until early this year, I worked on developing vaccine candidates against Zika and dengue. Now I am coordinating an international effort to collect reports o...

  Varde Partners among the other participants; Bloomberg report does not specify how the potential deal between the two parties would be structured A consortium led by Oaktree Capital Management has proposed providing capital of at least $2 billion (Rs 15,000 crore) to Vodafone Idea as the telecom company seeks funds for capital expenditure and debt servicing. Oaktree has teamed up with several other firms including Varde Partners, Bloomberg reported today. The report did not specify how the potential deal between the two parties would be structured but said that the Oaktree backed consortium has offered around $2-2.5 billion to the stressed telecom firm. Vodafone Idea had announced plans to raise upto Rs 25,000 crore through a mix of debt and equity in September. Late last month following the second quarter results the company’s chief executive officer Ravinder Takkar said the fund raising plans are on track and would be completed in three months. “We are in discussions with inter...