Author: Mike Harrison

Tender floated in 2013 has been cancelled and the Transport Department is in the process of issuing a fresh one Motorists who registered their vehicles more than two years ago will have to change the existing number plates of their bikes, cars, and other vehicles. According to senior officials, the State government is in the process of making the installation of High-Security Registration Plates (HSRP) mandatory for all vehicles. As per the Transport Department’s data, 2.10 crore vehicles were registered till March 2019, of which 80.49 lakh were registered in Bengaluru alone. Vehicle owners will have to pay out of…

The environmental group that seeks to turn public attention to climate change through shock protests has now branches in 75 countries When Extinction Rebellion set out to literally block the path of the fossil fuel-powered economy in the U.K., in the autumn of 2018, the core of its philosophy was that stopping public activity with even small actions would change politics. It would shock a status quoist, cynically manipulative system, and turn public attention to the world’s biggest problems: climate change and biodiversity loss.The vision of its small group of founders led by Roger Hallam, an organic farmer-turned-researcher of civil…

Elections to Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar municipal corporations will be held on Sunday in the first phase of local bodies’ polls. As per the State Election Commission, 1,14,66,973 voters will elect 575 councillors from among 2,276 candidates. There are 144 municipal wards and 11,121 polling booths and voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will cast his vote in Ahmedabad and Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala in Rajkot. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani is likely to vote in Rajkot wearing PPE kit since he is COVID-19 infected and hospitalised. Results will…

Centre, States need to work together to ensure reasonable retail prices, says Union Finance Minister Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the steep rise in petrol prices is a very vexatious issue and referred to the various aspects involved in the pricing as a Maha Bayankar Dharma Sankatam (a huge and frightening moral dilemma).“This is an issue in which no answer except reducing the price will convince anyone. I am treading on an area where whatever I may say to bring reality into picture will only sound like I am avoiding the answer or shifting the blame,” the…

Anti-coup protesters paid tribute to a young woman who died a day earlier after being shot by police during a rally against the military takeover. Two anti-coup protesters were shot dead by riot police who fired live rounds Saturday in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, local media reported.One of the victims was shot in the head and died at the scene, according to Frontier Myanmar, a news and business magazine based in Yangon, the country’s largest city. Another was shot in the chest and died en route to the hospital.Several other serious injuries were also reported. The shootings occurred near Mandalay’s…

The Ministry on February 19 released the 17th weekly instalment of ₹5,000 crore to 23 States and 3 Union Territories. The Centre has released ₹1-lakh crore to States and Union Territories in four months since October 2020, to meet GST compensation shortfall, the Finance Ministry said on February 20.The Ministry on February 19 released the 17th weekly instalment of ₹5,000 crore to 23 States and 3 U.T.s, taking the total amount released so far under the special borrowing window set up in October last year to ₹1 lakh crore.The remaining 5 States, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim, do…

The expression ‘animal spirits’ was coined by celebrated economist John Maynard Keynes to refer to investors’ confidence in taking action in terms of investment. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 20 exhorted India Inc. to unleash animal spirits and bring in fresh investment to make India one of the fastest growing economies of the world.Speaking to industry leaders at an All India Management Association (AIMA) event, she said the government has taken several steps including reduction in corporate tax rate to facilitate investment.“I would like, now, to see private investors and private industry in India coming forward with that, so…

This comes three months after Dr. Lokesh Kumar was found dead in a hotel room where he was under quarantine following COVID-19 duty The Directorate of Medical Education (DME), which formed a special committee to look into the cause of the death of 24-year-old N. Lokesh Kumar, a postgraduate medical student of Madras Medical College/Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), has concluded that his death was due to COVID-19. The Directorate has initiated the process of granting financial assistance to the doctor’s family.Dr. Lokesh Kumar, a first-year PG student of RGGGH, was found dead in a hotel room where he…

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin announced that he would vote against Ms. Tanden over “overtly partisan statements”, which means unless a Republican Senator comes forward to support her nomination, it is unlikely she will be confirmed for the job. Indian-American Neera Tanden, U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominee for the position of Director of White House Office of Management and Budget, is facing a challenge to her confirmation after Democratic Senator Joe Manchin announced that he would vote against her over “overtly partisan statements”.Mr. Manchin’s announcement means that unless a Republican Senator comes forward to support her nomination, it is unlikely that…

Asif Ahmed Khan was in the possession of undocumented foreign currencies equivalent to ₹9,77,441. A 23-year-old Sharjah-bound passenger was detained by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad, in the wee hours of February 19 for possessing various foreign currencies without valid documents.Sources at CISF said currencies equivalent to ₹9,77,441 was found with Asif Ahmed Khan while conducting baggage checks. A resident of Jahanuma in the old city, Khan was scheduled to board Air Arabia flight no G9 459. He was handed over to Customs officials for further investigation. A case was registered under…