Twenty-two cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected in the country till Thursday, with 21 cases being reported from Goa and another from Kerala, official sources said.
The PM directed officials to evaluate various technology tools to ensure efficient and timely vaccination in due course of time. He also emphasised that detailed planning for such large scale vaccination should be undertaken immediately.
The bench terms the "two-finger test" as a violation of a woman's dignity and privacy.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the rules issued by the Union health ministry which prohibit donor gametes to couples desirous of having children through surrogacy on the ground that it frustrates the provisions of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, which gives the right of parenthood to infertile couples.
Kerala has again emerged as the top ranking state in terms of overall health performance among larger states, while Uttar Pradesh is the worst, according to the fourth Health Index launched by Niti Aayog.
A departmental notice dated December 15, 2020, stated that the cooperation of officers and employees of the directorate general will be needed during the proposed coronavirus vaccination.
'We pressurised him (to accept the deputy chief ministership).' 'Being out of power would have made him weaker.'
Outlay for infra is also expected to see a significant increase in view of the government's Rs 111-trillion investment plan under the national infrastructure pipeline to develop social and economic infrastructure over five years.
With the new cases, the active caseload stands at 13,445 which accounts for 0.03 per cent of the country's total positive cases.
Rediff Labs has prepared the following map, showing first doses of vaccination per lakh population of each state.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai also said that the central government has not enumerated caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in census since Independence.
The ICMR-National Institute of Virology has been regularly undertaking studies to understand the protective efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against emerging variants.
The health minister said the Centre has taken timely measures ahead of the summer season to address heatwave-related illnesses.
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.
The team will assist the state health authorities in instituting public health measures and facilitate operationalisation of requisite control and containment measures, it said.
With this, the total coronavirus cases in the country have risen to 1,06,67,736 including 1,84,182 active cases and 1,03,30,084 total discharges. However, the total death toll in the country due to the infection mounted to 1,53,470 including the new deaths.
Experts say a large part of the expenditure in April was spent on heads such as creating infrastructure for testing capacity and procuring testing kits, among other things.
The total number infected with the new strain of Covid-19 that was detected in the United Kingdom stands at 90.
During the daily media briefing, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, said that 16 districts in the country, which earlier had cases, have not reported any fresh cases for the last 28 days.
The Centre is considering making rural stint for doctors an eligibility criteria for applying for postgraduate course, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Friday.
This comes as Supreme Court is hearing a petition filed by lawyer-cum-petitioner, Gaurav Kumar Bansal, seeking an ex gratia compensation for those family members, who died due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to 68-year old Stalin, for whom this would be the first stint as CM
The court said the decision shall be communicated by the Union ministry of health and family welfare for considering whether any law, enactment, or guidelines are required to address issues related to posthumous reproduction or post-mortal reproduction.
The health ministry further informed that in addition to 162 plants already sanctioned, the states have requested Centre for more than 100 such additional plants which are also being sanctioned.
The government has asked social media companies to immediately remove any content from their platform that uses or refers to the term 'Indian variant' of coronavirus, to curb misinformation around COVID-19, sources said Friday.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
In a letter to states and Union Territories, Union health secretary Sudhansh Pant underlined that "due to consistent and collaborative actions between the Centre and state governments, we have been able to sustain the (COVID-19) trajectory at sustainable low rates".
With these states imposing lockdowns anew, the health ministry emphasised that the restrictions should be utilised to focus on containment, surveillance and testing in the containment and buffer zones as the key strategy for early detection of cases and fatality management.
The states were advised to plan for the requisite number of isolation, oxygen supported and ICU beds based on the prevalent and expected case growth rate. the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is also monitoring the COVID-19 hospital infrastructure, he said.
The man had attended a stag party recently in Manali in Himachal Pradesh.
According to the people aware of the matter, there are currently 10 different variants of COVID-19 in the country, with the latest being BF.7.
At the review meeting, chaired by cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba in New Delhi, the IMD said above normal maximum temperatures are likely over most parts of northeast, east and central India and some parts of northwest India.
Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are at second and third spot, whereas Uttar Pradesh and Bihar remained at the bottom.
While India's mortality rate is 3.13 per cent, the mortality rate in Maharashtra due to coronavirus is at 4.24 per cent.
The commanders' conclave in a forward area in Sikkim, which is close to the Line of Actual Control, comes amid the lingering border row in eastern Ladakh.
Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh, on Saturday, expressed gratitude towards doctors, police and medical workers who are putting their lives at risk in combating the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Centre has taken a major step towards increasing efficiency in decision-making by empowering joint secretaries to report to secretaries directly, officials said on Wednesday.
It is for the first time in the history of Independent India that not a single Muslim is part of the Union Cabinet.
The government can verify 5 per cent of claims in four states -- Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh -- where the gap between number of claims and recorded deaths was wide, said a bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna.
After reports claimed that filings in patent offices in India, the US, and Europe did not mention ICMR or its scientists, but only BBIL and its scientists, the Hyderabad-based biotechnology (biotech) company clarified that in the "rush" to develop vaccines and file appropriate patents, BBIL had missed adding ICMR's name in the original filings.
