Category: Breaking News

Over two months after saying that several COVID-19 patients died due to oxygen shortage at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Health Minister Vishwajit Rane has now told the Legislative Assembly that the facility did not face any paucity of the life-saving gas during the pandemic and hence there was no question of any fatality occurring due to it. In his statement in the House made on Friday, Rane said, “Not a single COVID-19 patient died due to oxygen shortage at the GMCH.”  .. He was replying to…

According to sources, Nykaa is preparing to file for an initial public offering that could value the startup at more than $4 billion. The country’s top e-commerce company for beauty, founded by Falguni Nayar, is aiming to file its draft red herring prospectus, or DRHP, within the next few days. It plans to sell just more than 10% of the equity, one of the people said, which could raise $400 million or more.   India’s technology industry has turned white hot this year, with startups raising record amounts of venture capital and a…

Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is planning on having 70 aircraft within four years for a new airline he wants to set up in India on optimism more people will travel by air. Jhunjhunwala, who is considering investing $35 million and would own 40% of the carrier, expects to get a no-objection certificate from India’s aviation ministry in the next 15 days, he said in an interview.   The ultra-low cost airline will be called Akasa Air and the team, which includes a former senior executive of Delta Air Lines Inc., is looking at planes that can…

Eight asteroidsdetected by sixteen students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, under the Khagolshala Asteroid Search Campaign 2021 were conferred the “Provisional Status” by the International Astronomical Search Collaboration. Khagolshala Asteroid Search Campaign or KASC trains students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas to detect asteroids. The campaign is an initiative of the Office of Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India,and SPACE Foundation.     A Khagolshala. Image courtesy: SPACE Foundation The International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC) housed at the Hardin-Simmons University sent their wishes confirming the provisional discoveries. While it will be years before the asteroids…

Director General of Border Security Force (BSF) Rakesh Asthana has been appointed as Commissioner of Delhi Police by the Narendra Modi government. A 1984-batch IPS officer from Gujarat cadre, Asthana was appointed as Delhi Police Chief, three days before he was to superannuate.   “Consequent upon appointment of Shri Rakesh Asthana, IPS (GJ:84), Director General, BSF, as Commissioner of Police, Delhi, the competent authority has approved that Shri S. S. Deswal, IPS (HY:84), Director General, ITBP shall hold additional charge of the post of DG, BSF vice Shri Asthana, till the appointment and joining…

Since the beginning of the monsoon session, both Houses have seen repeated disruptions as opposition parties have been demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said the Parliamentary panel on Information Technology will question government officials on allegations that Indian politicians, journalists were targeted using Pegasus spyware.   He asserted that it is the “most important issue” for many members of the committee. “Parliament is not functioning because of this issue. People are anxious to find out about this,” he added.   The 32-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT is scheduled to…

Facebook is creating a product team to work on the “metaverse,” a digital world where people can move between different devices and communicate in a virtual environment, over the next five years said, CEO Mark Zuckerberg.   Facebook, the world’s largest social network, has invested heavily in virtual reality and augmented reality, developing hardware such as its Oculus VR headsets and working on AR glasses and wristband technologies. It has also bought a bevy of VR gaming studios, including BigBox VR. It has about 10,000 employees working on virtual reality, The Information reported in…

Covishield vaccine gives 93% protection against COVID-19 and 98% protection from mortality, a new study by the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) during the second wave has shown.   Addressing a press conference, NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr V K Paul presented findings of the study which was conducted on 15 lakh doctors and frontline workers.   “Protection to the extent of 93 per cent was seen (in people who were administered the Covishield vaccine) and this was during the second wave which was driven by the Delta variant… also 98 per cent mortality reduction was seen,”…

The Government has taken a number of steps to facilitate digital banking, doorstep banking services and digital lending platforms. This was stated by Union Minister of State for Finance Dr Bhagwat Kisanrao Karad in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.   Key Highlights of the Minister statements:   Initiation of digital lending has been made contactless through PSBloansin59 minutes.com, using triangulation of credit bureau, income-tax and goods and services tax (GST) data, to provide online in principle approval for MSME loans.   Online bill discounting for MSMES has…

Tata Communications, a global digital ecosystem enabler, today announced the launch of ‘IZOTM Financial Cloud’, a purpose-built community cloud platform, enabling next-gen digital transformation, customised to meet the stringent data privacy and protection compliance and security guidelines defined by India’s regulators for the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector. Developed on Tata Communications IZOTM Private Cloud, this platform aids in building an open banking ecosystem that offers BFSI and FinTechs, the foundation to enable advanced digital services. It also allows international banks to expand their footprint in India by…