Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami and best selling novelist Amish -- who is also director of the Nehru Centre -- leads International Day of Yoga celebrations at Trafalgar Square in London.
The meeting, which began around 10:30 pm on Thursday, lasted for more than four hours and was held at the party's headquarters in New Delhi.
From January 2 to March 5, 451 cases of H3N2 have been reported in the country, according to data shared by the health ministry.
In an exclusive interview with PTI video, the minister also said an extensive risk-based analysis is done continuously to ensure the production of quality medicines in the country, and the government and regulators are always alert to ensure that no one dies due to spurious medicines.
The health minister said states have also been advised to increase the whole genome sequencing of all positive cases for timely detection of newer variants, if any.
The sources said 39 international passengers were found positive for COVID-19 out of the 6,000 tested on arrival in the last two days.
Any passenger from these countries found symptomatic or testing positive for coronavirus would be quarantined, Mandaviya said.
In a letter addressed to Gandhi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday, Mandaviya said three MPs from Rajasthan -- P P Chaudhary, Nihal Chand and Devji Patel -- have flagged concerns and requested him that Covid protocols, including use of masks and sanitisers, be strictly followed during the march and only those who are vaccinated be allowed to participate.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday advised all the MPs to wear masks and follow the Covid protocol completely, in view of the increasing cases of COVID-19 in many countries across the world.
Over the past few days, deaths due to heat stroke have been reported from different parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha.
Chhattisgarh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan on Sunday evening invited Bharatiya Janata Party legislative party leader Vishnu Deo Sai to form a government in the state and handed him a letter pertaining to his appointment as the chief minister.
Mandaviya reviewed the pandemic situation, status of vaccination drive and the global scenario of new variants of Covid.
Many senior BJP leaders and outgoing Rajya Sabha MPs, including seven Union ministers such as Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhupender Yadav, have not been renominated by the party for the biennial Rajya Sabha polls amid strong indications that several of them may contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The health ministry sources said even if there is a wave, deaths and hospitalisation will be very low.
Experts recommend awaiting the findings of the 2021 Census, which is yet to be conducted, before introducing population control policies.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
Glimpses from the At Home reception hosted by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Republic Day.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, all ministers in Modi 2.0 Cabinet, took oath as cabinet ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In all, 71 ministers were sworn-in along with Modi, taking the strength of the Union council to 72.
The states and union territories where the elections are being held in this phase are Assam (4), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (7), Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2), Goa (2), Gujarat (25), Karnataka (14), Maharashtra (11), Madhya Pradesh (8), Uttar Pradesh (10) and West Bengal (4). The BJP has bagged the Surat seat unopposed.
Sources said three cases of Omicron subvariant BF.7, apparently the strain driving China's current surge of COVID cases, have been detected in India so far.
Here is the complete list of ministers in Modi 3.0 and their portfolios:
Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
For renomination to the Rajya Sabha, Nadda will have to look for a seat outside his home state of Himachal Pradesh as the Congress is in power there.
The move has come days after the state government announced to form a special investigation team to probe into the death of Disha Salian, the former manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Registration for vaccination of children in the 15-18 age group against COVID-19 is beginning on Saturday on the COWIN portal, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.
During a virtual meeting with health ministers and senior officials of states in view of the recent surge in coronavirus cases in some parts of the world, he said, "The Centre and states need to work in tandem and in a collaborative spirit as was done during the previous surges for Covid prevention and management."
More than 15 lakh international air passengers have so far been screened and 200 of them have tested positive for COVID-19, Mandaviya said on the sidelines of a book launch.
The Balasore district hospital and Soro hospital, where the injured have been rushed after a triple train accident, are bursting at their seams as the huge flow of patients has crammed up every room, with patients spilling onto corridors.
As many as 21 cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected across the country till now, NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul said on Wednesday but asserted that there was no need to panic.
There has been a sudden spurt in Covid cases in China and some other countries.
'If there are any symptoms/variants of concern, states can prepare accordingly.'
'iNCOVACC' is priced at Rs 800 for private markets and at Rs 325 for supplies to the government of India and state governments.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday named 14 candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls including former Union minister R P N Singh and Sudhanshu Trivedi -- the only outgoing MP renominated by the party.
Fondly remembering the contribution of retiring members from the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said the wisdom shared by them would be greatly missed and their departure would leave a void.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
Larger hospitals are not worried about a spike in cases, as they are now accustomed to converting ICUs and general wards into negative pressure zones or isolation rooms. For smaller hospitals, the task is tedious.
The World Health Organisation on Friday said that it is in touch with the Uzbek authorities about the reported deaths of 18 children after consuming contaminated cough syrup made by Noida-based Marion Biotech.
Responding to a query, Mathur said there is no "formula" for electing the chief minister.
He urged people not to panic and clarified that there was no change in the guidelines for international air travel so far.
The stakes are significant for the BJP in this round as the party had in 2019 won an overwhelming majority of these seats, including all in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, that will go to polls on May 7.
