Indians being evacuated from Ukraine have been exempted from pre-boarding RT-PCR test, providing Covid vaccination certificates and uploading those on the Air Suvidha portal, the health ministry said.
After two years of muted festivities due to COVID-19, crowds thronged churches across the country this Christmas on Sunday for special prayers as people celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ.
"I congratulate all the colleagues who have taken an oath today and wish them the very best for their ministerial tenure. We will continue working to fulfill the aspirations of the people and build a strong and prosperous India," the PM posted on Twitter.
Hiran's body was found in a creek in Thane district on March 5.
Representatives from seven vaccine makers -- Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Zydus Cadila, Biological E, Gennova Biopharma and Panacea Biotech -- will be participating in the meeting.
Modi, who was travelling by road in Punjab, was stuck on a flyover for 15-20 minutes due to blockade by some protesters, an incident the Union home ministry described as a 'major lapse' in his security.
More than 31 per cent of the country's adult population has been administered both the doses, according to Union Health Ministry officials.
The 46-year-old MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh was among the 15 new Cabinet ministers who took oath in the first major rejig and expansion of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government after it returned to power for a second term in May 2019.
The Union health ministry has directed states to identify all left-out people and ensure everyone gets their Covid jab through initiatives such as workplace vaccination, as part of the government's "Har Ghar Dastak" campaign. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a review meeting on vaccination progress with Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Puducherry on Monday. In a tweet, the minister said, "Spoke about augmenting Govt's #HarGharDastak vaccine campaign. Requested help from religious leaders, NGOs & political groups to speed-up vaccination coverage." Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan has asked state officials that workplace vaccination should be organised for targeting people due for their doses.
Noting that India's COVID-19 vaccination will cross the landmark of 100 crore vaccine doses in a few days, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Wednesday that the country will produce over 28 crore doses of vaccine in October as it continues to ramp up its supply.
There has been a decline of four points in male U5MR and three points in female U5MR during the corresponding period.
There is no scientific evidence so far to support the need for a booster vaccine dose against COVID-19, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said on Monday underlining the completion of second dose for India's adult population is the priority for the government for now.
For the first time in two years, schools in the national capital will reopen completely in offline mode from April 1 with the hybrid mode of operation coming to an end.
A special court on Mumbai on Tuesday rejected a plea filed by former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh seeking 'default bail' in an alleged money laundering case.
A special court in Mumbai on Wednesday allowed dismissed police officer Sachin Waze's plea to turn an approver in a corruption case involving former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh.
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, whose allegations against Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh have created a political storm in the state, wrote a letter to the chief minister as he was hurt over remarks of Deshmukh and it was a matter relating to his 'self-respect', sources close to him have said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated 11 government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu and said the future will belong to societies that invest in healthcare.
These nine states and union territories are Haryana, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir.
India will resume export of surplus COVID-19 vaccines next month under the 'Vaccine Maitri' programme and to meet its commitment to the COVAX global pool, but vaccinating its own citizens remains the topmost priority of the government, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said this is the fastest pace at which one crore doses have been administered.
Opinion on likely cause of the death of Mansukh Hiren, who is said to be the owner of the vehicle with explosives found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's residence in Mumbai last month, is reserved in his post-mortem report on Saturday, a Thane police official said.
The one-member panel, to be headed by judge Kailash Uttamchand Chandiwal (retired), is given the time of six months to submit its report to the state government, an official order said.
Dismissed police officer Sachin Waze on Tuesday told an inquiry commission that the time he spent in the National Investigation Agency's custody following arrest in the Antilia bomb scare case was the 'most traumatic time' of his life, and claimed he had signed various documents 'under duress.'
The IPS officer who is facing several extortion cases in Maharashtra had told news channels on Wednesday that he was in Chandigarh.
Vaccine major Serum Institute of India on Tuesday said the approval for the COVID-19 vaccine 'Covovax' would strengthen immunization initiatives across India and various lower and middle income countries across the world.
The NIA said in its affidavit that Waze's case was different from that of Varavara Rao accused in the Elgar Parishad case and while the latter had been granted medical bail, Waze was asking for continuing judicial custody in the form of house arrest.
Singh also filed an affidavit before the single-member commission, saying he has nothing to depose and doesn't want to be crossed-examined by the probe panel.
India achieved a major milestone in its vaccination programme against COVID-19 as the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore mark on Thursday.
The whereabouts of former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh were not known, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday told the Bombay high court.
With the reporting of Omicron, a highly mutated variant of SARSCoV-2 virus and its classification as a Variant of Concern (VoC) by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Union Ministry of Health revised its 'Guidelines for international arrivals', Mandaviya said in a written reply.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asserted that she had last year inaugurated the second campus of the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute which Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation on Friday.
An ACP-rank officer, named by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in his letter accusing then Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of corruption, told an inquiry commission here on Wednesday that Sachin Waze was an "obedient" and "high-performing" officer.
Being made a member of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs makes her an important player in BJP politics, observes Rashme Sehgal.
I went to the NIA office on my own and was arrested, the police officer said, adding he had not confessed to anything.
India has administered more than 88.13 lakh Covid-19 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, the highest ever vaccination achieved in a single day, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.
It is not clear if it was the same Innova that was following the explosives-laden Scorpio before the latter was parked near Ambani's residence in south Mumbai on February 25.
The former police chief also said that the Home Minister had on several occasions instructed police officers on how to handle cases and file charges.
Intensifying their stir over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling, a large number of resident doctors on Tuesday protested on the premises of Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital while the Centre urged them to call off the agitation.
Maharashtra Transport Minister Anil Parab and his then cabinet colleague Anil Deshmukh allegedly received Rs 40 crore from 10 DCPs in Mumbai to reverse the order of their transfer issued by the then city police commissioner Param Bir Singh, dismissed police officer Sachin Waze told ED.
It was on January 30, 2020 when a third-year medical student from Wuhan university tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the country's first COVID-19 patient, days after she had returned home following semester holidays.