India's COVID-19 active cases count has decreased to 36,18,458 with a net decline of 55,344 cases being recorded in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours, while the daily positivity rate dropped to 16.98 per cent, the Union health ministry said.
In this weekly self-help series, mental health and life coach Anu Krishna tells you how to take control of your life.
Amidst the heightened social media campaign to induct K K Shailaja into the new cabinet, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Wednesday said the dropping of the popular health minister was a 'political and organisational' decision of the party and there would not be any re-look into it.
With 13,083 fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally has gone up to 1,07,33,131, while 1,04,09,160 patients have recuperated so far, pushing the national recovery rate to 96.98 per cent, the health ministry said.
More than 6.5 crore vaccine doses have been administered across the country so far to frontline workers, healthcare workers, those above 60 and for people aged above 45 with specified co-co-morbid conditions.
Public sector banks have lost nearly Rs 2.85 lakh crore on account of loan dues of 13 corporates even as the banks are used to bail out ailing financial institutions such as Yes Bank and IL&FS, United Forum of Bank Unions alleged on Monday. In a press release, UFBU's convener B Rambabu said the organisation calls for a two-day all India bank strike on December 16 and 17 protesting against Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021 and opposing the Centre's alleged move to privatise PSBs. According to the statistics given by the UFBU, the 13 corporates' outstanding dues were at Rs 486,800 crore and it was resolved at Rs 161,820 crore resulting in a loss of Rs 284,980 crore.
The number of active coronavirus cases in the country has surpassed the 16-lakh mark, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.
Every twist and turn in KMC's civil service career is attributed to serendipity, an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. He plays down his capabilities, which took him to the top of the civil service as the Cabinet Secretary or his misfortune in losing a daughter in her prime and suggests that his career was indeed serendipitous, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Mahabharata of coronavirus pandemic is on, but the Modi government is missing'
The death toll due to the viral disease has gone up to 1,57,930 in the country with 77 more fatalities, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.
While the likely intensity of the third wave is still a matter of debate, wisdom lies in being financially prepared for it, advises Bindisha Sarang.
The Trump administration has accused WHO of taking side with China in the coronavirus outbreak that has brought America's economy to a standstill.
Nearly 57.50 lakh people have recovered so far, which is 6.32 times the active cases, the health ministry said.
Slamming the critics who 'started questioning his work' even when he had not seen his office properly, Modi said his government's programmes are mostly for the benefit of farmers and poor people, besides ending the role of middlemen, including in jobs.
In a daily briefing from Downing Street after his latest Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms emergency meeting with senior scientists and advisers, Boris Johnson called for people to start working from home and said the government would no longer support mass gatherings in order to focus emergency services towards the health crisis.
If the fear of ED could drive the powerful people of today to be honest or at least be minimally corrupt, will it not be a great thing for our nation?, asks Sudhir Bisht.
A total of 19,079 people tested positive for the coronavirus infection in a day, while the death toll due to the disease climbed to 1,49,218 in the country with 224 new fatalities, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.
India's rank inched up by just one position to 130 in last year's Doing Business Survey by the World Bank.
'The most important priority for the next 25 years should be to strengthen our democracy so that it is supportive of social harmony, and to not just respect but to take pride in the diversity of Indian society in terms of the variety of languages, religion and religious practices and social norms,' explains Nitin Desai.
The World Bank has retained India's economic growth forecast for the current fiscal at 8.3 per cent as the recovery is yet to become broad-based. As per the first advanced estimates of the national income released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) last week, the economy is projected to grow at 9.2 per cent in 2021-22, surpassing pre-COVID level in actual terms, mainly on account of improved performance, especially in farm, mining and manufacturing sectors. "India's economy is expected to expand by 8.3 per cent in fiscal year 2021/22 (ending March 2022), unchanged from last June's forecast as the recovery is yet to become broad-based.
The number of total coronavirus cases rose to 92,22,216 in the country, while the death toll due to the disease climbed to 1,34,699 with 481 new fatalities, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.
The number of poor people in India fell by about 415 million between 2005-06 and 2019-21, a "historic change" and a demonstration that the Sustainable Development Goal target of reducing at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty by 2030 is possible to achieve, even at a large scale, according to the UN.
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.
I watched from my balcony and found that during the next eight hours up to 5.30 pm, not one prospective voter was seen to go to the Congress table, notes Rashme Sehgal. The rush was all around the BJP table.
The WHO said that studies have highlighted that the spread of the second wave has been much faster than the first in India.
Pakistan's two flagbearers also chose not to cover their faces, unlike the vast majority of other participants at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.
India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days, and hospitals are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.
The increase in death registration in 2020 compared to 2019 is not entirely due to Covid fatalities, Niti Aayog member VK Paul has said, asserting that "exorbitant" multiples of coronavirus deaths being published by some agencies with respect to India must stop.
This doctor couple put their faith in India. And in return India has put faith in them.
Recoveries continue to outnumber daily new cases for the 30th consecutive day. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,79,11,384, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.25 per cent, the data stated.
The number of active COVID-19 cases remained below three lakh for the 17th consecutive day.
Five states -- Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala -- account for 65.02 per cent of India's the active cases.
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day amid protests by the Opposition in both the Houses demanding removal of Ajay Mishra as Union minister and withdrawal of the suspension of MPs.
The Bombay high court on Friday extended till February 5, the date of surrender for poet Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case who is currently on medical bail, before Taloja prison authorities in Maharashtra.
The directorate of education also said that students and staff must wear masks and maintain social distancing to the extent possible.
The recent protests by employees of Urban Company and the case of a a Zomato delivery executive who died in a road accident point to the severely straitened condition of gig workers during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Budget 2021 had promised several measures to help the cause of gig economy workers, but most of them are yet to see the light of day. Even after a year, the country's gig workers continue to be without any social security cover or a minimum wage guarantee. "In Budget 2021, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the government is looking toward including migrant and gig workers for social security benefits," says Srinivas Kotni, managing partner, Lexport, a consulting firm. Parliament had passed the Code on Wages in 2019 and Code on Industrial Relations, Social Security and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions in 2020.
The most immediate challenge for growth is the disruption of the global economy brought about by the Ukraine war and related sanctions, the Covid shutdowns in China and the rising tide of inflation, points out Nitin Desai.
In this weekly self-help series, mental health and life coach Anu Krishna tells you how to take control of your life.
After the advent of the US Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, US insurance companies plan to encourage medical tourism.
Faulting previous governments for not taking adequate measures to economically empower women in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said his government was constantly creating an environment in which women self-help groups can connect villages with prosperity as he released Rs 1,625 crore as capitalisation support fund to over four lakh such groups. In a virtual interaction with the women self-help groups (SHGs) under the "Aatmanirbhar Narishakti se Samvad" (dialogue with self-reliant women) initiative, Modi said in a changing India, opportunities are increasing for women to move forward. The movement of woman SHGs has intensified in the last 6-7 years with over 70 lakh of them working across the country, a figure over three times more than earlier, he said, adding over eight crore women are connected with these groups.