NDA government is taking several steps to strengthen the rural economy and it has announced to spend Rs 25-lakh-crore on the agriculture sector across the country, President Ram Nath Kovind said. Kovind was speaking here after laying the foundation stone of various works and inaugurating some developmental projects of the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu through remote control.

Japan said it would cancel a-public-gathering to celebrate the birthday of new-Emperor-Naruhito, as fears grow over the spread of the new-coronavirus in the country. "In light of various situations, we have decided to cancel the visit by the general-public to the palace for His Majesty's birthday," the imperial-household-agency said in statement a day after the government warned people to avoid crowds and "non-essential gatherings."

The Chinese parliament's top committee will meet on Feb. 24 to discuss whether to delay the annual March meeting of the full parliament, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday, amid the country's coronavirus outbreak. The standing committee of the National People's Congress will deliberate a proposal for the delay of the March session, Xinhua reported.