The ED will probe if there were alleged irregularities in the formulation and execution of the Delhi Excise Policy unveiled in November last year.
In a communication to chief secretaries of all states and union territories, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also said that existing protocols for curbing the spread of COVID-19 will continue till November 30.
According to sources, so far only one traveller from Canada having symptoms of monkeypox infection had been isolated.
Late last year, the Cabinet Committee on Security had cleared the proposal for the creation of the post.
All the 11 life term convicts in the Bilkis Bano case of the 2002 riots were released as per the remission policy prevalent in Gujarat at the time of their conviction in 2008, a top government official said on Tuesday and rejected claims of contravention of the Centre's guidelines in the matter.
In response to a question on whether younger population were getting more affected, Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said the comparison of data during the first and the second wave of COVID-19 has shown that there is not much age difference.
According to the government, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Chhattisgarh were among 18 states and union territories showing continued plateauing or decrease in daily new COVID-19 cases.
4,809 members of the electoral college comprising MPs and MLAs set to elect the successor to incumbent Ram Nath Kovind.
The ban on certain single-use plastic (SUP) items kicks in from Friday, with state governments initiating an enforcement campaign to identify and close down units engaging in production, distribution, stocking and sale of such items, officials said. Though several manufacturers have said they are not prepared to implement the ban due to a lack of alternatives, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav had on Tuesday said the government had given enough time to the industry and the general public to prepare for the ban on SUP items and it hopes for everyone's cooperation in implementing it from July 1. Violation of the ban will invite punitive action, including a fine or a jail term or both, detailed under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and under bylaws of respective municipal corporations, officials in the Union environment ministry said.
The Congress may stand a better chance in the assembly polls if it followed the 'Himachal model', suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Delhi high court is scheduled to pronounce on Wednesday its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking the criminalisation of marital rape.
The country has reported the highest number of recoveries with 42,08,431 COVID-19 patients having recovered from the disease so far, pushing the national recovery rate to nearly 80 per cent, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.61 per cent, the ministry said.
In the wake of Omicron cases being detected in a few places in the country, the Union health ministry on Wednesday wrote to states and union territories, stating that patients of the new coronavirus variant have to be treated in designated COVID facilities with separate isolation area.
A person who returned to Kerala from abroad and was hospitalised after showing signs of monkeypox tested positive for the disease, state Health Minister Veena George said on Thursday.
Officials said PFI has been under the radar of security agencies for its alleged role in violent protests in different parts of the country.
Nineteen political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, received over Rs 1,100 crore during assembly polls in five states and Union territories in 2021 and spent over Rs 500 crore, a big chunk of which went towards advertisements and travel expenses for star campaigners, a study said on Friday.
Uttar Pradesh's tableau at this year's Republic Day parade was adjudged the best and awarded by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday, said the Defence Ministry.
According to experts, Bishnoi had been sulking since the Congress ignored him for the post of its Haryana unit chief during a revamp earlier this year.
The spike in the country's financial capital has got pronounced since December 20, when just 283 cases were reported. Tuesday had witnessed 1,377 cases in the metropolis, and Wednesday's figure was a jump by over 80 per cent, he pointed out.
Sisodia said the growing enthusiasm among the people of Gujarat in supporting the AAP in Gujarat was the reason behind the CBI action against him.
In the advisory, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said States and Union Territories may consider imposing need based, local curbs and restrictions, to control the crowd during the festive season.
'The deaths of the children in the Gambia would batter India's reputation as the developing world's pharmacy.'
The Union government will take a bit longer to introduce the much-awaited labour codes even as the majority of states and Union Territories (UTs) have framed rules on them. There were speculations that these would be introduced from July 1. While 30 states and UTs have framed rules on the code on wages, 25 of them have done so on industrial relations. Of the two remaining codes, 24 states and UTs have framed rules on social security and 23 on occupational safety, health, and working conditions (OSH), sources said.
Even in terms of new single-day cases, Delhi reported the highest number of infections, followed by Kerala and Maharashtra.
In its weekly bulletin of December 27, released on Monday, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said global outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 are increasingly shifting from Delta to Omicron.
Under the National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme, more than 148 crore vaccine doses have been successfully administered.
Insurance regulator Irdai on Monday said health insurance policies that cover Covid treatment costs will also cover expenses for treating infections due to Omicron. "All health insurance policies issued by all general and health insurance companies that cover treatment costs of Covid-19 also cover the costs of treatment towards Omicron variant of Covid-19 as per terms and conditions of policy contract," the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said in a release. The regulator has issued the directive to general and health insurers in view of the growing number of cases of the Omicron variant.
The Centre has asked states and Union territories to review, amend or do away with additional Covid-19 restrictions after considering the trend of new cases and positivity rate in their regions, citing sustained downward trend in the nationwide case trajectory.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the setting up of a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) to take over the affairs of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Kerala has retained the top rank in Niti Aayog's SDG India Index 2020-21, while Bihar has been adjudged as the worst performer, according to a report released on Thursday. The Index for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) evaluates progress of states and union territories on social, economic and environmental parameters. Kerala retained its rank as the top state with a score of 75. Both Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu took the second spot with a score of 74. Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam were the worst performing states in this year's India index.
The government on Tuesday set the maximum price private hospitals can charge for the three COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the country -- Covishield Rs 780 per dose, Covaxin Rs 1,410 and Sputnik V Rs 1,145.
The Delhi government has called a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority to discuss steps that need to be taken in view of threat of a new Covid-19 variant from African countries, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday.
Citing multiple surges in coronavirus cases in several countries, the Union Health Ministry has written to 13 states and union territories, including West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra and Punjab, expressing concerns over declining weekly testing rates and spiking positivity rates in some districts.
The chairperson of the South African Medical Association also said existing vaccines will definitely control the contagion but those unvaccinated are at 100 per cent 'risk'.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
The opposition is likely to put up a joint candidate for the July 18 presidential election despite not having numbers on its side, and consultations in this regard have already begun.
The prime minister was happy that the assurance given by the Serum Institute that it will make India self-sufficient in vaccines at the lowest possible price in the world was fulfilled.
According to these experts, a monkeypox outbreak can effectively be tackled by strong surveillance.
"The situation has become irretrievable", Azad, 73, said in his parting shot to Sonia Gandhi, whose trusted confidante he remained right from the time of Sitaram Kesri's unceremonious exit as the party's chief in 2000.
The vaccination can be held at workplaces that have around 100 eligible and willing beneficiaries.
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