We the people are left in the wind, waiting on the whims of an unengaged president and an oligarch with a nearly bottomless wallet, observes Sree Sreenivasan.
As heavy rains continue to lash Kerala, the India meteorological department on Friday issued an orange alert in eight districts in Kerala for Friday.
Observing that working conditions have made doctors and health professionals susceptible to violence, the Supreme Court on Tuesday constituted a 10-member task force to formulate a national protocol for ensuring safety and facilities for them in the wake of the rape and murder of a medic in Kolkata.
A Gaza civil defence chief stated on Al-Jazeera television that over 300 people were killed in the explosion at Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital.
'Sanjay Roy is not alone.' 'If he's kept alive, maybe we will know what happened.' 'Why was he in the chest medicine department that night when he never went there earlier?' 'Nobody will parade in front of a CCTV camera and then go and murder someone.' 'There are several people who are involved in this heinous crime. They have to be identified and punished.'
The government decided to enhance surveillance and containment effort within the state by tracking and quarantining the primary and secondary contacts of the COVID-positive persons.
Activist short-seller Nathan Anderson, known for his high-profile campaigns against the likes of Adani Group, said he is closing his firm, Hindenburg Research, not because of any threat -- legal or otherwise -- and that he stands by all its reports.
Meanwhile, Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) of the district hospital, Dr Divakar Singh, was removed and sent to Azamgarh, allegedly after he made a careless remark about the cause of deaths.
Although no fresh arrests were reported in the case, the Central Bureau of Investigation continued with its questioning of top officials of the RG Kar Hospital.
Chief Minister M K Stalin has ordered a CB-CID probe to ensure comprehensive investigation and the government transferred Kallakurichi District Collector Sravan Kumar Jatavath and Superintendent of Police Samay Singh Meena was suspended, a statement said.
A Dalit student at Delhi University's Shaheed Bhagat Singh College has filed a police complaint alleging that its principal hurled casteist slurs and assaulted him after he was falsely accused of sending obscene messages on the official WhatsApp group of his department. The student, a third-year BA Hindi Honours student, claimed the incident caused him mental trauma and defamation. He has also written to the University Vice-Chancellor and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, seeking action against those involved. The principal has denied the allegations, claiming the student was being manipulated by a faculty member against whom an inquiry is underway.
The protest continued even as the Supreme Court intervened in the matter and constituted a 10-member National Task Force to formulate a protocol for ensuring the safety and security of doctors and other healthcare professionals.
In a rare event, a calf with two heads was born in the Kinnigoli area of Mangaluru. The calf, which has captured the attention of locals and veterinarians alike, is currently in good health, though its future remains uncertain.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday urged the junior doctors protesting the rape and murder of their colleague at R G Kar Hospital to end their fast-unto-death stir, stating that most of their demands have been addressed while rejecting their insistence on removing the state health secretary.
The agency has slapped Section 120B of IPC (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 420 IPC (cheating and dishonesty) and Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (amended in 2018) which covers unlawful acceptance of gratification by a public servant.
The body of a woman post-graduate trainee who was allegedly raped and murdered inside a seminar hall of the hospital, was found on Friday morning. The civic volunteer was arrested on Saturday.
"The man has been isolated at his home and teams of the health department have been asked to conduct tests of his family members and those who came in contact with him," CMO said.
The investigators are unable to join several dots due to lack of evidence from the crime scene.
According to the locals, Afsana was sleeping in her house in Pandohia village when a wolf attacked her and the marks of the animal's teeth were visible on her neck.
High drama was witnessed during the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet meeting on Saturday with ministers Jagat Negi and Rohit Thakur leaving midway following a 'heated debate' over policy decisions, sources said.
Ahead of the crucial legislature party meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis met with caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday, the first in-person meeting since their discussions in Delhi last week for government formation.
The Kolkata Police has suspended three of its officers in connection with the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last week, officials said.
A case of COVID-19 sub-variant JN. 1 has been detected in Kerala as part of an ongoing routine surveillance activity of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a senior official from the Indian Council of Medical research (ICMR) said on Saturday.
The city's 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI), recorded at 4 pm daily, stood at 417, making it the worst in the country. On Friday, the AQI level was 396.
Of the fresh cases, nine were caused by JN.1, increasing the number of infections tied to the new sub-variant in the state to 10, it said.
The health sector has been allocated Rs 89,155 crore in the Union Budget 2023-24, a hike of around 13 per cent over Rs 79,145 crore allocated in 2022-23, with the government also announcing a mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047.
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad Yadav's two of the most trusted senior IAS officers have been moved into departments held by the party patron's sons in the Bihar cabinet.
The Pune office of Ernst & Young (EY), in news after the death of a woman CA, was functioning since 2007 without a license under the Shops Act, which stipulates employees' welfare among other conditions, an official said on Wednesday. This is a violation of norms. A notice will be issued to the firm and based on its response, further action will be initiated, the official from the Maharashtra labour department said.
The former minister said even days before the Centre issued guidelines and protocols in identifying and containing the disease, the state commenced its preparations to fight the possible outbreak of the disease.
A medical oncologist at the Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital in Chennai was stabbed seven times on Wednesday by the son of a patient allegedly over grievances on treatment to his mother at the same facility, a hospital official said.
In a video message, Madhukar's lawyer AP Singh claimed that his client had surrendered in Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment.
The three senior officials of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH) were transferred to various state-run health facilities.
'When we get justice we will stop the protest.'
'We pressurised him (to accept the deputy chief ministership).' 'Being out of power would have made him weaker.'
Siddaramaiah is facing the Lokayukta and ED probes into alleged irregularities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the MUDA.
The two leaders had a complex relationship yet formed a partnership and even after their parting of ways, the two admired each other in their efforts for India's freedom.
The work to remove 377 metric tonnes of hazardous waste from the now-defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal has begun. The waste will be transported to an incineration site in Pithampur near Indore, around 250 km from Bhopal. The move comes after the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered the authorities to clear the site, 40 years after the deadly gas leak that killed thousands and left hundreds of thousands with health problems.
A study published in the journal Environment and Planning F has revealed that cameras and drones originally intended for conservation activities in Corbett National Park are being misused by local government officials and men to surveil women without consent. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Cambridge, found that forest rangers intentionally flew drones over local women to scare them and prevent them from collecting natural resources, despite their legal right to do so. The researchers argue that these technologies, deployed under the guise of wildlife monitoring, are being used to intimidate and exert power over women, invading their privacy and altering their behavior in the forest. This has had a negative impact on women's mental health, with one woman interviewed for the study being killed in a tiger attack.
"I came to meet you as your 'didi' not as the chief minister," she said.
The Punjab government is considering "decriminalising" drug use so that addicts caught with small amounts of narcotics are sent to de-addiction centres and not jails, a minister said in Chandigarh on Wednesday.
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