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Chhattisgarh government is considering extending the area of the proposed Lemru Elephant Reserve (LER) following demands from the activists, who are advocating the inclusion of the total catchment area of the Hasdeo river within the pachyderms’ new habitat. State forest department officials said Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel would take the final call on it, while exuding optimism that LER’s total area, measuring 1995.48 square kilometres, is likely to be extended. The government might include in LER the total or a part of the catchment area of Hasdeo river, measuring around 250 sq km, the officials added. However, the state…

The World Health Organization is looking at interim data from its large multi-country trial of the combination of HIV drugs Lopinavir and Ritonavir to treat Covid-19 patients, the UN agency’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said on Thursday. Her comments come after the WHO on Wednesday stopped testing of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in the trial of treatments for COVID-19 patients, after studies indicated it showed no benefit in those who have the disease. She said more study was needed to see whether hydroxchloroquine could prevent infection.

New Delhi: Indian security agencies have identified atleast 50 Chinese mobile apps that they claim should be banned as they pose a security threat to the nation. According to a report submitted by security agencies, country's important security data is being sent outside India through these apps. Mobile apps like Tik-Tok, Helo, UC Browser among others are considered a threat to the security of the country. Though these companies have refuted all allegations of sending user data out of the country. Meanwhile, calls to boycott China-made goods have once again erupted across India, after the clashes between Indian and Chinese…

Hours after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's comment on Galwan Valley standoff, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Thursday rectified him saying that all Indian troops guarding the border carry arms. Gandhi had earlier asked that why Army personnel in Galwan Valley were sent "unarmed to martyrdom". Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, the EAM said that the Army doesn't use firearms as per provisions of two bilateral agreements sealed in 1996 and 2005. "Let us get the facts straight. All troops on border duty always carry arms, especially when leaving post. Those at Galwan on 15 June did so. Long-standing…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the auction of 41 coal mines for commercial mining, saying the market for the commodity is now open and the sales will help turn the Covid-19 crisis into an opportunity. But the list of 41 mines showed several are located in biodiversity-rich forest areas in central India, including a few in one of the largest contiguous stretches of dense forest called Hasdeo Arand that spans 170,000 hectares. Brief descriptions of the mines up for auction on the website of state-run MSTC Limited showed several do not have the required forest clearance and are…

Indian Railways’ PSU, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), has decided to terminate the contract of China’s Beijing National Railway Research & Design Institute of Signal & Communication for signalling work. This move comes amid escalation of the border conflict with China triggered after Monday night’s face-off in Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). India is mulling economic measures, including limiting China’s access to its vast market. The contract for signalling and telecommunication work at the Kanpur-Deen Dayal Upadhyay 417 KM long stretch on the Eastern Dedicated Freight corridor. The World Bank funded project was…

The Central Board of Secondary Education will decide the fate of its pending Class 10 and 12 board examinations by June 23. The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has extended its deadline for students to decide whether to write examinations or not to June 24, and will specify its alternative assessment option by June 22. A group of parents, whose children have to appear in Class 12 Board examination, had moved the apex court challenging the CBSE decision to conduct the remaining Board examination from July 1 to July 15. The parents claimed if students were to…