Live News Updates: NASA's Perseverance rover drives on Mars for the first time

The drive performed on March 4, served as a mobility test that marks just one of many milestones.

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08:32 AM

Andhra CM to launch free sanitary napkin distribution on Women's Day

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will launch the free distribution of sanitary napkins to girl students of Classes 7 to 12 in government educational institutions on the occasion of International Women's Day on Monday.
As per a statement, the Chief Minister, in a review meeting held on Friday, also instructed officials to lay more focus on the health and hygiene of girls. The government will spend a total of Rs 41.4 crore per annum for this scheme.

07:58 AM

An earthquake of magnitude 3.6 on Richter Scale hit Ladakh at 5:11 am: National Center for Seismology

07:02 AM

Rs 5.6 crore Input Tax Credit fraud detected in Pune

Commissionerate of Central Goods and Service Tax, Pune-II has detected fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 5.6 crore and bogus invoices of Rs. 31.5 crore in particular cases, said the department in a release on Friday.
In a statement, the department said that one person identified as Naresh Kumar Banarsi das Bansal was arrested on March 2 in this matter so far.
"In a continued crackdown on bogus entities engaged in fraudulent ITC, CGST Pune II Commissionerate has detected fake ITC of Rs 5.6 crore and bogus invoices of Rs 31.5 crore in a particular case. One person has been arrested so far," the CGST & Customs Pune Zone also tweeted.

06:59 AM

Indian envoy meets Chinese Vice Foreign Minister

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri on Friday met Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui in Beijing, who was Chinese envoy to India during the Doklam crisis and emphasised the importance of completing the disengagement of troops from the remaining areas in eastern Ladakh, saying it would help restore peace and tranquillity at the border and provide conditions for progress in bilateral ties.
During the meeting, Misri also flagged outstanding consular issues pertaining to Indian nationals and requested the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' facilitation in seeking a resolution, the Indian embassy said.

06:53 AM

NASA's Perseverance rover drives on Mars for the first time

US Space agency NASA's Perseverance rover took its first drive on Mars and covered 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) across the Martian landscape.
The drive performed on March 4, served as a mobility test that marks just one of many milestones as team members check out and calibrate every system, subsystem, and instrument on Perseverance, an officials statement said on Friday.
According to the statement: "Once the rover begins pursuing its science goals, regular commutes extending 656 feet (200 meters) or more are expected.

06:53 AM

Police burst arms manufacturing unit of Naxals in Gadchiroli district

Police and security forces have busted an arms manufacturing unit of Naxals in Gadchiroli district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.
Addressing media, Home Minister of the state, Anil Deshmukh said that Gadchiroli police conducted operation under Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign.
"70 of our officials were involved. The operation lasted for 48 hours and was completed. One police personnel suffered a gunshot injury and was immediately shifted to the hospital for treatment," the Home Minister said.
The raid was held on March 4, at an arms manufacturing factory in Abujhmad.

06:52 AM

Smartphone application for reading SARS-CoV-2 test results

Researchers report the development of a smartphone application that combines smartphone camera imaging with machine learning to interpret SARS-CoV-2 serological rapid diagnostic test (RDT) results, the visual interpretation of which can be highly subjective.
The application yielded only 18 false negatives and 5 false positives out of 3,344 samples tested using 11 RDTs, suggesting that such an application could increase confidence in RDT results.
The app's timer helps in timely reading, which is usually 7 to 15 minutes, reducing the possibility of the number of false positives. This helps in having a human error-free result.

06:52 AM

Canada approves Johnson & Johnson's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine

06:51 AM

New York cinemas reopen

After growing cobwebs for nearly a year, movie theaters in New York City reopen Friday, returning film titles to Manhattan marquees that had for the last 12 months instead read messages like “Wear a mask” and “We'll be back soon.”