India have won eight gold medals in the past, but their last top finish came way back in the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

The federal contingency force has committed a total of 112 teams for deployment in five states and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands which are expected to be affected by the cyclone developing in the Bay of Bengal.

IMD Director General Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said that 'Yaas' is likely to intensify into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm by Tuesday evening and Chandbali is likely to witness the maximum damage caused by it.

Banerjee said the state is targeting to shift at least 10 lakh people to safer places in a bid to avoid any loss of life.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has directed its rescue teams to ensure that the country's major medical oxygen generation plants based in Odisha and West Bengal are 'running and alive' during Cyclone Yaas that is developing in the Bay of Bengal, a senior officer said.

Scientists associated with Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG), the government panel that conducts research on different variants of the coronavirus, said they were surprised at noted virologist Shahid Jameel's decision to quit the group and wondered whether he was disillusioned with the government's handling of the pandemic.

Facing an acute shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, the Odisha government on Monday decided to float a global tender for procuring the vaccine to inoculate the states entire population, Chief Secretary S C Mohapatra said.

The Indian regulatory framework forced Citi to hibernate -- contrary to the claim that it never sleeps!

'Unless some serious steps like complete closedown are taken, it will have disastrous consequences.'

'When the Olympics were postponed last year there were talks of the virus situation improving, but we are going from bad to worst.'

Harendra Singh, who was conferred the Dronacharya award in 2012, served as chief coach of the senior India men's hockey team from 2017 to 2018. Before that, he was also in charge of the Indian women's team for some time.

While Himanta Biswa Sarma scotched rumours that he would be the king this time, political sources in Guwahati maintained that he, and not Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, had a bigger say in choosing candidates, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.

Indian hockey wrote a historic chapter exactly 46 years ago on this day in Kuala Lumpur when the country lifted its only World Cup title, but the architects of that golden achievement rued the fact that countrymen has gradually forgotten their feat.

With longer work hours and a work from home set-up during the COVID-19 pandemic, women bore the maximum brunt by performing a dual role as a working professional as well as a caregiver.

'Prevention plus vaccination is what is going to take us into better territory by September or October.'

As Indians start travelling in the new normal, strong recovery in smaller towns underscores success for ride-hailing giant's 'India to Bharat' strategy, which offers new products in regional markets.

'When a criminal assumes a new identity he think everybody knows them by that name only.' 'Criminals forget that the police are always hunting for them to put them in jail.'

The men's team last participated in an international competition in February last year when they played the FIH Hockey Pro League matches against Australia in Bhubaneswar.

Agitating farmer groups on Thursday held a four-hour nationwide 'rail roko' agitation with the railways saying there was negligible impact on services though some trains were stopped by officials at stations as a precautionary measure.

With farmers on Thursday blocking railway tracks across the country, at stations big and small, protesters at Singhu said it proves that the agitation is not just limited to Punjab and Haryana.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) that lost 40 troopers in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack said on Sunday that the country 'did not forgive' and 'will not forget' the supreme sacrifice made by the personnel.

'But we still have to be very careful.'

The slogan-shouting AAP members stormed into the Well of the House just as the Rajya Sabha took up a discussion on a motion thanking the President for his address to the joint sitting of Parliament.

Moving the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the upper house, BJP member Bhubaneswar Kalita said the government respects farmers. He said the government has given new rights to farmers through these new farm laws and none of their rights or facilities have been taken away.

Neeraj will be competing in his first Olympics and he has already qualified for the Tokyo Games early last year before the COVID-19 pandemic began

Out of the 45 lakh doses, the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker will be supplying over eight lakh to some of the friendly countries such as Mauritius, Philippines and Myanmar, free of cost as good will gesture sources added.

Each vaccination session will cater to a maximum of 100 beneficiaries and the Union Health Ministry has advised states not to organise 'unreasonable numbers of vaccination per site per day'.

After having received the government purchase order for 55 lakh doses, Bharat Biotech shipped the first batch of vaccines (each vial containing 20 doses) to Gannavaram (Vijayawada), Guwahati, Patna, Delhi, Kurukshetra, Bangalore, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Chennai and Lucknow.

A massive pan-India inoculation drive against COVID-19 was set in process on Tuesday with more than 56 lakh doses of the Covishield vaccine flown to 13 cities across India from Pune and taken to designated national and state-level stores amid tight security.

Three temperature-controlled trucks rolled out of the Serum Institute gates shortly before 5 am and left for Pune airport, from where the vaccines will be flown across India.

All these persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated health care facilities by respective state governments.

With the virus mutating, can vaccines be assumed safe and effective in the long run?

All these people have been kept in single room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by respective state governments and their close contacts have also been put under quarantine, the ministry said.

The ministry of home affairs in its advisory on December 28 had advised states and Union Territories that they can impose local restrictions, including night curfew, based on their assessment of the situation to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The Union health ministry said 6 persons who returned to India from the UK have tested positive for the new strain of the virus.

All these persons have been kept in single room isolation at designated health care facilities by respective state governments and their close contacts have also been put under quarantine, the ministry said.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan reviewed the status of passengers coming from the UK to India and found positive in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Goa, Punjab, Gujarat and Kerala and their response measures in a meeting held through video conferencing.

With almost all opposition parties and several trade unions backing the 'Bharat Bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing all the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure COVID guidelines are followed.

From rising prescriptions to the pharma sales force back on the field with full vigour and companies finally finding their feet with the digital marketing strategies - Indian drug makers have shown that medicine sales is certainly a sunshine sector.

The team has shifted base from NIS Patiala, which is cold at the peak of winter, to the Odisha capital, which will be comparatively warmer.