North Goa (Goa) [India], March 6 (ANI): Goa police arrested two youth in connection with a theft incident at Mandrem beach in Pernem. The arrested have been taken in police custody for three days.
“We received a call from the complainant Karan Vahi (26) that he along with his friend had come for a vacation to Goa and visited Mandrem Beach on Friday evening. The tourists went to have a swim and kept their belongings at the shore. Upon returning, they saw their belongings were missing,” said Police Inspector Jivba Dalvj.
“Receiving the information, police launched a big search campaign. We zeroed on one scooter moving suspiciously and further traced the accused persons who were immediately placed under arrest,” read a statement by the police.
The accused were identified as Chandan Bhanwarlal Sahu (23) and Vishal Bhavanishankar Sahu (22). Both are cousins and belong to Jaipur, Rajasthan. They had come to Goa on February 27, had rented a bike, and were committing theft.
Police have recovered entire stolen articles, along with the vehicle used for committing theft, from the accused persons.
“A team, headed by Police Inspector Jivba Dalvj, and having Police Sub-Inspectors (PSIs) Sanjeet Khanolkar, Vivek Halankar, constables Ravi Maloji, Anish Poke, and Vinod Pednekar successfully carried out the entire operation,” added the statement.
Further investigation is in progress. (ANI)

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) [India], March 6 (ANI): Andhra Pradesh reported 115 COVID-19 cases, 93 recoveries and one death in the last 24 hours, as per the State Health Department on Saturday.
With this, the total number of cases in the state has escalated to 8,90,556 including 921 active cases and 8,82,462 total recoveries.
However, the total number of deaths has mounted up to 7,173 including the new death. One death was reported from the Chittoor district.
As per the state COVID nodal officer, 46,566 samples were tested in Andhra Pradesh in the last 24 hours.
As many as 18,327 new COVID-19 cases and 108 deaths were reported in India in the last 24 hours, the union health ministry informed on Saturday.
The country’s overall COVID-19 cases tally has reached 1,11,92,088, including 1,80,304 active cases while the death toll has mounted to 1,57,656.
A total of 22,06,92,677 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to March 5, 2021, of these, 7,51,935 samples were tested on Friday, as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
According to the health ministry today, a total of 1,94,97,704 people have been vaccinated against coronavirus so far.
India commenced its second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive to inoculate people above 60 years and those over 45 with comorbidities against the coronavirus from March 1. (ANI)

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], March 6 (ANI): Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday inaugurated World Skill Center, which is a premier advanced skill training institute in Bhubaneswar.
World Skill Center (WSC) is being modelled around leading TVET Institute; Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Singapore and seeks inspiration from World Skills, Russia, and Global Institute for Transferring Skills, South Korea.
“WSC is being established under Odisha Skill Development Project assisted by the Asian Development Bank with ITE Education Services (ITEES), Singapore as the knowledge partner,” read the press release by the state government.
On the occasion, CM Patnaik said: “Odisha has made rapid strides in skill development in the last five years. We have created new avenues for our youth to compete with their counterparts anywhere. Our aim is to meet their aspirations, to make them globally employable.”
He also said that Government is intensely investing in the future of youth by creating infrastructure and mechanisms for making them future-ready. World Skill Center will significantly accelerate this endeavor by providing advanced skill training to our youth and prepare them for competing at a global level.
Appreciating the initiative, Director General of South Asia Department of Asian Development Bank, Kenichi Yokoyama said: “It will be highly beneficial for the youth in the age group of 18-34”
CEO of ITEES, Bruce Poh said: “WSC will be a model for state’s skill education.”
Chairperson of Odisha Skill Development Authority, Subroto Bagchi highlighted the achievements of the “Skilled-in-Odisha” program during the last five years and emphasized the need to expand skill development efforts to the next level, reaching every village.
He emphasized the need for a holistic approach in providing better opportunities for skill development to make our children aware of career choices and youth globally employable. He also said that State will create Odisha Skill Vision 2030 and the same will guide future efforts of all implementing departments.
Skill Development and Technical Education Department Commissioner cum Secretary, Sanjay Kumar Singh highlighted the role of the WSC in the skill ecosystem of India. He said WSC will act as the Centre for Industry Partnership and landing point for industries in Odisha for their employment needs.
“World Skill Center is being set up at a budget of nearly Rs 1342.2 crores. It would run long-term manufacturing and services programmes as a finishing school for the best among the ITI and Polytechnic students as well as serve as the centre for capacity building for ITI and Polytechnic teachers,” he said.
“The World Skill Centre is ready to roll out the first set of courses in areas like refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Mechanical and Electrical Services, Vertical Transportation, Precision Engineering, Mechatronics, and Electrical Technology along with a few other courses in the services sectors like Hair Fashion and Design and Beauty and Wellness,” said Singh.
The World Skill Center is going to be the nodal agency for preparing Odisha’s youth for the World Skills Competition. The other key role for WSC will be to act as Centre for Industry Partnership and landing point for industries in Odisha for their employment needs. Finally, the World Skill Centre will be the Nodal agency of the state for the State Chapter of World Skills and will prepare Odisha’s youth for global glory. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], March 6 (ANI): The BJP on Saturday fielded former TMC leader Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, setting the stage for a high-profile contest from the seat in the state assembly elections.
BJP general secretary Arun Singh released the first list of party candidates for the assembly polls here.
The Trinamool Congress had on Friday released its list of candidates with Mamata Banerjee announcing that she will contest from Nandigram.
The Chief Minister, who has been representing Bhawanipur, had earlier announced that she will contest from Nandigram.
Adhikari, a former minister in the Trinamool Congress government, had joined the BJP in December last year.
He had earlier said that BJP will defeat Mamata Banerjee by over 50,000 votes from Nandigram. (ANI)

Agra (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 6 (ANI): Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan inaugurated the new research building ‘Desikan Bhawan’ equipped with a new COVID-19 diagnostic facility at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s National Jalma Institue for Leprosy and Other Mycobacterial Diseases (NJIL-OMD) in Agra.
The building was inaugurated in the presence of Director General ICMR and Secretary, Department of Health Research, Balram Bhargava.
“The building is dedicated to the research facilities like animal experimentation, COVID-19 diagnosis, whole-genome sequencing of different mycobacterial species, and phytochemical extraction from medicinal plants for anti-Tuberculosis (TB) drug development,” read the press release by the Ministry.
The capacity of the COVID-19 diagnostic laboratory is around 1,200 samples per day. This COVID diagnostic lab is loaded with Biosafety level II cabinets, automated RNA extractors, and Real-Time PCR machines with which the diagnostic results can be reported within a day.
The minister highlighted and appreciated DG, ICMR for the work done during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic which continues to help in preventing and managing emerging infectious diseases and also the efforts towards tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment to achieve the goal of ending TB by 2025, the dream of our beloved Prime Minister.
ICMR Director-General, Balram Bhargava appreciated the work being carried out at ICMR’s NJIL-OMD in the field of mycobacterial research. The DG, ICMR also remarked that ICMR has been very robust in managing COVID-19 by an intense diagnosis of COVID-19 across the ICMR institute labs which has facilitated the prompt management of the pandemic. It is the effort of ICMR which brought the vaccine for COVID-19 with 81 per cent efficacy.
The new building is named after Institute’s first Director, Dr.K.V. Desikan, who also graced the occasion with his presence.
ICMR-National JALMA Institute for Leprosy and Other Mycobacterial Diseases, Agra was established in 1967 by the Japan Leprosy Mission for Asia (JALMA) and was handed over to the Indian Council of Medical Research in 1976. (ANI)

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], March 6 (ANI): Amid reports of the rising presence of bitcoins and other forms of virtual currencies in India, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur on Saturday said the government has formed a High-Level Inter-Ministerial Committee to look into cryptocurrency, and based on its recommendations the government may present a legislative proposal in Parliament.
“Blockchain is a new emerging technology. Cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency. I firmly believe that we must always evaluate, explore and encourage new ideas with an open mind,” said the MoS while answering a media query about cryptocurrency at an event in Punjab.
He added that a High-Level Inter-Ministerial Committee was constituted by the central government to accept cryptocurrency as a lawful and legal tender in India.
“The government would take a decision (about cryptocurrency) on the recommendations of the committee and the legislative proposal, if any, would be introduced in the Parliament following the due process. I welcome your suggestions and views on this issue,” he added.
For the unversed, Bitcoins are a part of a rising new genre of digital payments called ‘cryptocurrencies’ that work on blockchain technology with no centralised administrator.
This virtual currency emerged in the aftermath of the financial crisis and allows people to bypass banks and traditional payment processes to pay for goods and services. (ANI)