The Uttar Pradesh Government has sought a Central Grant of 100 crore rupees for Lucknow University and Kashi Vidyapeeth.

The Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister of Uttar Pradesh Dr. Dinesh Sharma on Friday met Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in Delhi and made the request.

Mr. Sharma said that both the  educational institutions have completed 100 years of their establishment and there is a provision of special grant of Rs 100 crores for these institutions.

Indian Railways has taken a slew of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 virus. The measures are being implemented across all the zones . Indian Railways has taken steps to discourage citizens from undertaking non essential journeys by temporarily removing special incentives for many categories including suspension of passenger and some long distance trains.

AIR correspondent reports that keeping in view Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to observe Janta Curfew tomorrow and the steep decline in the number of passengers, Indian Railways has reduced the number of trains which would be plying. In wake of the same, Passenger trains originating from midnight till 10 in the night tomorrow stands cancelled.

Indian Railways has taken a slew of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 virus. The measures are being implemented across all the zones . Indian Railways has taken steps to discourage citizens from undertaking non essential journeys by temporarily removing special incentives for many categories including suspension of passenger and some long distance trains.

AIR correspondent reports that keeping in view Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to observe Janta Curfew tomorrow and the steep decline in the number of passengers, Indian Railways has reduced the number of trains which would be plying. In wake of the same, Passenger trains originating from midnight till 10 in the night tomorrow stands cancelled.

Indian Railways has taken a slew of measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 virus. The measures are being implemented across all the zones . Indian Railways has taken steps to discourage citizens from undertaking non essential journeys by temporarily removing special incentives for many categories including suspension of passenger and some long distance trains.

AIR correspondent reports that keeping in view Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to observe Janta Curfew tomorrow and the steep decline in the number of passengers, Indian Railways has reduced the number of trains which would be plying. In wake of the same, Passenger trains originating from midnight till 10 in the night tomorrow stands cancelled.

Greece has handed over the Olympic flame to Tokyo 2020 organisers at an event which was 'significantly scaled-down' due to coronavirus pandemic. The ceremony, which took place at Athens' iconic Panathenaic stadium, did not include the planned cultural ceremonies from Greece or Japan.

Hellenic Olympic Committee President Spyros Capralos handed the torch over to the Tokyo Organising Committee.

In the absence of spectators, Olympic gymnastics champion Lefteris Petrounias ran a lap with the flame and Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi lit a cauldron inside the all-marble Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896.

The flame was then handed to Tokyo 2020 representative Naoko Imoto, a swimmer who competed in the Atlanta 1996 Olympics. Imoto, a UNICEF representative, was reportedly a last-minute appointment as she already lives in Greece and did not have to travel from Japan.

Today is World Sparrow Day. Every year March 20 is observed as World Sparrow Day to raise awareness about the bird. The need for marking this day was felt due to the tremendous decrease in its population. The house sparrow is on the verge of extinction.

The initiative was started by Nature Forever Society (NFS) of India, founded by Mohammed Dilawar, an Indian conservationist. He started his work helping the house sparrow in Nashik. He was also named one of the Heroes of the Environment for 2008 by Time magazine for his efforts. The first World Sparrow Day was celebrated in 2010 in different parts of the world.

Increased use of pesticides, change in the pattern of buildings and gardens missing from the houses have become the main factors why the number of sparrows has declined sharply in the past few years. Also, the radiation from the mobile and the TV towers has also been a cause of death of sparrows. Birds navigate by sensing the earth's magnetic fields and mobile radiations are known to disturb them and interfering with bird's ability to move around.

Four convicts in Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case were hanged to death at Tihar jail in Delhi early this morning. The executions were carried out after the convicts exhausted every possible legal avenue to escape the gallows.

Delhi High Court and Supreme Court last night dismissed a last-minute plea by the convicts, paving the way for the execution. This is for the first time that four men were hanged together in Tihar Jail.  

Nirbhaya, a para-medic student, was gangraped by six men in a moving bus in South West Delhi in December 2012. One of the accused killed himself in jail and the sixth-  a juvenile - was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term. Reacting to the development, Nirbhaya's mother thanked Indian judiciary for doing justice to Nirbhaya and millions of women across the country.

COVID-19 economic response task force to be formed under Finance Minister: Modi

19In what is seen as sensitising the citizens with a word of caution on Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for ‘Janata Curfew’ on Sunday. Prime Minister also announced the creation of ‘Covid-19 Economic Response Task Force’ under the Union Finance Minister. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will meet the Ministers for Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries, Civil Aviation, MSMEs and Tourism on Friday to take feedback and assess the impact of Covid-19

Modi also asked businesses and high networth individual not to cut salary of their employees.

Stressing on resolve and restraint, while asking the citizens to follow ‘Janata Curfew’ from 7 am to 9 pm on Sunday, he said: “Our experience of Janata Curfew will help us chart the way ahead for tackling coronavirus in India”.

Crisil on March 19 said that Arundhati Bhattacharya, the past chairman of State Bank of India, has submitted her resignation as independent director of the company effective April 15. In her resignation, Bhattacharya has indicated that the reason for her resignation is her decision to accept a full time role as chairperson and CEO in another company, the filing said.

"Bhattacharya, an Independent Director of the company, has submitted her resignation as a director of the company, which will take effect on April 15, 2020," Crisil Ltd said in a filing to BSE.

She has confirmed that there is no other material reason, other than the reason stated in her resignation, it added.

Defence Acquisition Council approved  procurement of 83 indigenous Tejas fighter aircraft for Indian Air Force yesterday. The Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is going to be the backbone of Indian Air Force in future.

While orders of 40 Tejas aircraft had been placed with HAL in initial configurations, DAC paved the way for the procurement of another 83 of the more advanced version of the aircraft from HAL. Our correspondent reports, this procurement will be a major boost to Make in India as the aircraft is indigenously designed.  The Defence Acquisition Council also accorded approval for acquisition of indigenous Defence equipment for about 1,300 crore rupees.