Russia-Ukraine conflict highlighted the need for achieving self-reliance: Rajnath Singh

HT Daily News Wrap

Rajnath Singh said the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict highlighted the need for achieving self-reliance, The Kerala police issued a lookout notice against Vijay Babu, Ben Stokes has been appointed as the new Test captain of England and other top news in this bulletin.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict highlighted the need for achieving self-reliance in defence even as he lauded the Indian Navy for being at the forefront of the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” initiative. “Coming to the prevailing security environment in the world, the ongoing Russia and Ukraine conflict has once again highlighted that being self-reliant without dependencies is a vital necessity,” Singh said while addressing the navy’s top brass during the Naval Commanders’ Conference. Very few recombinant variants of the coronavirus have been found in India and none of those have shown increased transmission, nor were they associated with severe disease or hospitalisation, according to a report of the Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG). A recombinant is a variant created by the combination of genetic material from two different variants of the virus, according to the United States’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Based on genome sequencing analysis, very few recombinant variants have been discovered in India. So far, none showed either increased transmission (locally or otherwise) or associated with severe disease or hospitalization,” said the report, suggesting that even if there is a new wave, it is unlikely to be as devastating as the one India registered in April last year. The Kerala police on Thursday issued a lookout notice against Malayalam producer-cum-actor Vijay Babu (45) who has been accused of raping a woman actor in Kochi and revealing her identity. Kochi police commissioner Nagaraju Chakilam said initial investigation has confirmed the assault and the investigation team has collected evidence. The survivor has also undergone medical tests, said Chakilam. Babu is reported to be absconding. He had posted a message on his social media saying that he is in Dubai for some assignment, however, later the message was deleted. The education ministry has sought inputs from other Union ministries on the formulation of the National Curriculum Framework (NFC) that will lay down the broad guidelines for revision of school curriculum, officials said on Thursday, adding that a few ministries have already sent their recommendations. The process of the development of four NFCs in areas of early childhood care and education, school education, teacher education and adult education has already been initiated by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. It is being monitored by a 12-member National Steering Committee, headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation chief K Kasturirangan. Star all-rounder Ben Stokes has been appointed as the new Test captain of England, the ECB confirmed on Thursday. Stokes will succeed Root as England’s 81st Test captain after Joe Root stepped down from the post earlier this month. The official account of England Cricket confirmed the appointment. “Congratulations to our new Men’s Test captain, @benstokes38!” wrote England Cricket. Nakuul Mehta and Anya Singh will soon be seen together in the second season of the Zee5 series Never Kiss Your Best Friend. The series, scheduled for a release on Friday, April 29, also stars Jaaved Jaaferi. Jaaved, who used to be the judge on a dance reality show Boogie Woogie in the 90s, had recently said that he believes the sob stories on reality shows these days appear to be very fake. Nakuul, who has himself hosted a reality TV show, agreed with Jaaved’s statement.