Opinion | Self-reliant India needs a competitive economy

A robot dog operating alongside ATVs in the southwest U.S. Photo: Courtesy Ghost Robotics.

COVID-19 in Nova Scotia declined slightly since Friday, the province announced on Saturday.In an abbreviated weekend news release, the province said there were 79 people in hospital who were admitted due to COVID-19 and were receiving specialized care in a designated unit. That’s down by three since Friday.However, another three people were in intensive care, for a total of 14.

Police in Windsor, Ont., commenced their enforcement Saturday of an injunction granted on Friday by an Ontario judge to allow for protesters at the Ambassador Bridge to be cleared out. Sean O’Shea has more details on how the enforcement proceeded, with protesters closest to the bridge seen moving back peacefully, while others drove their vehicles away from the area.

Wendy Williams is speaking out.

MOSCOW - With the risk of war looming larger, Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden held a high-stakes telephone call Saturday as a tense world watched and worried that an invasion of Ukraine could begin within days.Before talking to Biden, Putin had a telephone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, who met with him in Moscow earlier in the week to try to resolve the biggest security crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. A Kremlin summary of the call suggested that little progress was made toward cooling down the tensions.The closely watched call between Biden and Putin began shortly after 11 a.m.

HARPER, Kan. - Rain on a wedding day can be upsetting for any couple, but a tornado can be downright frightening during the vows.In some cultures, rain is viewed as good luck, symbolizing various things from fertility to unity. It can also represent that your marriage will last a lifetime. Candra and Caleb Pence would agree.It was May 19, 2012, and the 21-year-old bride was ready to marry the man of her dreams.

SALT LAKE CITY - Traffic deaths decreased in Utah after the state enacted the strictest drunken driving laws in the nation five years ago, new research published Friday by a U.S. government agency shows.The findings, which pertain to fatalities involving and not involving alcohol, provide initial validation for conservative lawmakers who passed the law over concerns from restaurant and tourism industry lobbyists.In the study published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, researchers wrote that, in the years after Utah changed the drunken driving threshold from .08% to .05% blood-alcohol content, the number of crashes and fatalities fell even though drivers logged more miles."Changing the law to .05% in Utah saved lives and motivated more drivers to take steps to avoid driving impaired," said Dr.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Demonstrators in Afghanistan’s capital Saturday condemned President Joe Biden’s order freeing up $3.5 billion in Afghan assets held in the U.S. for families of America’s 9/11 victims — saying the money belongs to Afghans.Protesters who gathered outside Kabul's grand Eid Gah mosque asked America for financial compensation for the tens of thousands of Afghans killed during the last 20 years of war in Afghanistan.Biden's order, signed Friday, allocates another $3.5 billion in Afghan assets for humanitarian aid to a trust fund to be managed by the U.N.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM :

COVID-19 on Saturday.According to the provincial COVID-19 dashboard, the deaths involve a person in their 70s and two people in their 80s in Zone 1 and one person in their 90s in Zone 4.A total of 286 people with COVID-19 have now died in New Brunswick. Anti-mandate demonstration in Fredericton enters Day 2 Since Friday, hospitalizations have dropped by 13, for a total of 122 people in hospital.

Ottawa is seeing another influx of people in the downtown as the demonstrations against COVID-19 public health measures and vaccine mandates enters its third weekend. Reports say there was some sort of party or additional protest late Friday night.

WILLINGBORO, Pa. - Officials in Burlington County announced Saturday that a man was shot and killed in a parking lot in a Willingboro shopping center. The investigation began after officers were called to the Kennedy Plaza in the 400 block of John F. Kennedy Way just after 7:30 p.m.

COLOMBO (News 1st); President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that the nature or extent of the challenges will not matter in fulfilling the promises made to the people.He noted that development activities continue in the country while taking necessary steps to control the COVID-19 pandemic.The President also pointed out that the economy, which had been collapsed for nearly two years, is gradually recovering.The President made these remarks participating in the first round of discussions in a series of sessions with professionals representing various fields, held at the President’s House on Friday (11).The professionals who participated in the discussion said that they are further committed to make the national programme a success by giving the necessary strength to achieve the goals desired by the President, said a statement.The professionals vehemently rejected the allegations spread by some sections with the objective of achieving narrow political agendas, the statement added.Experts in the field said that the new approach to agriculture initiated by the President is being continuously supported by the researchers and entrepreneurs who are engaged full time in these fields, further noted the statement.Representatives from a wide range of fields, including education, policy, sociology, agriculture, research, water and renewable energy, medical, engineering and innovation, were present at the discussion with the President.Ministers, State Ministers, Members of Parliament, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Secretary to the President, the Principal Advisor to the President and many others were also present.

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Ontario hospital on Saturday with COVID-19, as the province continues to battle the pandemic.New data released by the province on Feb. 12 suggests a drop in the number of people in hospital from the previous day.

Health Matters February 11: As the Alberta Diabetes Foundation’s 48 Hours to Stop Diabetes fundraiser continues, Su-Ling Goh explains how local researchers are aiming to find a pharmaceutical way to achieve Type 2 remission, by understanding the diabetes “dimmer switch.”

were discharged in the past twenty four hours taking the total to 10,31,304.

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◾New cases in State: 3,202◾New cases in B'lore: 1,293◾Positivity rate: State - 2.95%; Blore - 2.49%◾Discharges: 8,988◾Active cases: State- 38,747; B'lore- 16k◾Deaths:38 (B'lore- 10)◾Tests: 1,08,534#COVID

GANDHINAGAR :

has moved to bravely open up about an "embarrassing" chronic health problem. The reality TV star suffers from bronchiectasis, she has revealed in a new interview.

The Windsor Police have commenced enforcement near the Ambassador Bridge, Windsor, Ont.

Nurses in Canada say working during the COVID-19 Omicron wave has left them burnt out, physically and mentally, and an increase in abuse directed at health-care workers has pushed them to breaking point. According to a report from the Ontario Science Table, pre-pandemic, 20 to 40 per cent of health-care workers reported severe burnout. By spring 2021, rates had climbed to more than 60 per cent.

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COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday (12) for Indian Rs. 10.75 crores after a closely fought bidding war.The Sri Lankan pair of Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera, joined RCB for the second part of IPL 2021.Hasaranga took a hat-trick at last year’s T20 World Cup.

@DrAbdiMahamud pic.twitter.com/hI5Blz64ec

Corrections & Amplifications

After two weeks of the protest convoy occupying Ottawa, questions are rising over whether a better security response could have averted all the disruption sooner.

Norway has lifted its final Covid restrictions, scrapping social distancing and masks in crowded spaces despite a surge in Omicron infections.

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Bob Saget died from an accidental blow to the head, likely from a backwards fall.Saget was found dead Jan. 9 in a Florida hotel room.

It’s a case of buyer beware: read the fine print. An Edmonton man is sharing his experience trying to sell his SUV, hoping it will help others.

Squire Barnes speaks with Toronto-born musician Paul Shaffer while in Vancouver to perform with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Opening up the supply-chain ecosystem, which has been severely disrupted by the over two-month long nationwide lockdown, will now be a Herculean task for India Inc, said Rajiv Bajaj, managing director (MD), Bajaj Auto Ltd on Thursday.

Not only are such moves ineffective, a drop in trade relations could leave India worse off

Union government announces a series of steps to help farmers sell their produce better by amending the Essential Commodities Act

NEW DELHI : The Union cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday gave its approval to amend the Essential Commodities Act (ECA), a more than six decade old law that empowers government to impose curbs on stocking of farm produce.

Day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the India Inc to make India an investor-friendly nation, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to form an empowered group of secretaries chaired by cabinet secretary to encourage both foreign and domestic investments into India.

NEW DELHI: The Union cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved amending the six-decade old Essential Commodities Act (ECA), days after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said the government will do do.

That New Delhi has accorded priority to an economic revival was clear in much of what Modi said

PM Modi said India is moving towards a growth-oriented future

The rupee today extended its gains against the US dollar for the third day in a row when it settled 18 paise to close at 75.36. Firm domestic equities, weak American dollar and foreign fund inflows lifted the rupee, a day after Moody's downgraded India's credit rating to a notch above junk status on growth concerns. In comparison, the rupee had settled at 75.54 in the previous session.

As India gradually rolls back the stringent lockdown measures, Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems confident that the economy will return to its pre-covid expansion pace. The country will “definitely" get its growth back, he said on Tuesday while addressing virtually the annual session of the Confederation of Indian Industry. He called upon corporate leaders to redouble their efforts towards making India atmanirbhar, or self-reliant, help boost productivity, and reduce dependence on imports.

As Modi enters the second year of NDA-2, covid is posing the biggest challenge yet

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Monday approved the modalities and road map for implementing the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), farmer and street vendor package that was last month announced as part of the ₹20 trillion stimulus to restart a teetering economy.

New Delhi: As his government completes one year of its second term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a letter to the people of the country listed out several initiatives, achievements and big decisions taken by his government, while expressing confidence of victory in the country's battle against coronavirus.

The median forecast from a Reuters poll of economists put annual economic growth at 2.1% in the March quarter