A new report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) submitted to the National Green Tribunal has said that the water quality during the recently concluded Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj was fit for bathing, despite earlier reports indicating otherwise. The report, based on statistical analysis of water samples collected during the Kumbh, found that the median values for key parameters like pH, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, and fecal coliform count were within permissible limits. However, the report acknowledges significant variability in data due to factors like upstream activities and sampling conditions. The matter is set for hearing on April 7.
'We are holding up in this difficult time and hope to bring her home on Thursday morning.'
The couple, who lived in the UK, had come to Ahmedabad after two years to surprise Patel.
The interaction is planned via a telebridge set up at the U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, said the Amateur Radio on International Space Station (ARISS), which facilitates interaction of school students with astronauts on the orbital laboratory.
Amid an uptick in Covid cases in some parts of the country, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Rajiv Behl said the severity of infections as of now is generally mild and there was no cause for worry. Speaking about new Covid variants being traced, he said genome sequencing of samples in the west and south have shown that the new variants are not severe and are Omicron sub-variants. These are LF.7, XFG, JN.1 and NB. 1.8.1. The first three are more prevalent, Dr Behl said. "Samples from other places are being sequenced and we will know in a day or two if there are more variants." The ICMR DG said there has been an uptick in cases --first from the south, then west and now from northern India. All these cases are being monitored through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP). Besides that, ICMR's nationwide respiratory virus sentinel surveillance network is keeping a watch on emerging infections and pathogens, he said. "Whenever cases increase, we look at three things. It's dependent on three factors with the first being how transmissible it is, conversely how fast the cases are increasing. Previously we saw Covid cases double in two days, but this time it is not that cases are increasing rapidly. "Secondly, are the new variants evading our previous immunity? When new variants come, they evade immunity -- be it natural or from the vaccine. But there's nothing to worry about at the moment," Dr Behl said. He also said that the third factor is the percentage of severe cases in all Covid instances. "Are we getting a very severe disease without comorbidities? As of now, the severity is generally low. There's nothing to worry about. We should be vigilant and we should always be prepared," the ICMR DG asserted. Dr Behl also informed reporters that the Union Health secretary chaired a meeting on Sunday that was also attended by the director general of health services and himself. "We have been closely monitoring the situation. We should be vigilant at this moment, but there is no cause to worry. The general public should be vigilant. There is no need to take any such action as of now," he said. The officer added that the WHO database has been showing that the new variants were not causing severe disease. "People do not need to take any immediate action. They should follow normal precautions. So, there is nothing special to do right now." Asked about the need for a booster dose, he said there is no need for vaccination as of now. "India has the capability to make vaccines and if need be, we can make any vaccine in no time."
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said there is no need to panic about COVID-19 cases, even as she asserted that the hospitals were fully prepared to tackle if the number rises.
The ministry of civil aviation clarified that, contrary to circulating reports, a video recorder that had been recovered at the crash site was not the DFDR.
Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and the Axiom-4 crew are completing experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) before their scheduled return to Earth.
A day after an elderly couple died in an alleged inverter battery explosion in Amethi, an Army soldier has filed a formal complaint alleging that his parents were murdered using explosives, police said on Thursday.
What tasks they accomplished, how they stayed fit, what did they eat, whom did they meet, what they brought back... amazing stories from an epic voyage.
The $1.2 billion in-space manufacturing market is expected to grow and be worth more than $20 billion by 2033.
Twinkle Chaudhary tested positive for Methyltestosterone, a banned anabolic steroid.
A husband who refused to cry, a father insisting he didn't need a DNA test to identify his son, a crew member's family broken in spirit after waiting seven days for DNA confirmation.
Due to the rising COVID cases, the Centre is conducting mock drills to check facility-level preparedness and has instructed all states to ensure availability of oxygen, isolation beds, ventilators, and essential medicines, official sources had said.
The bones and hair were recovered during searches from forest areas of Delhi NCR including Gurgaon and Mehrauli, the police said.
Rupal Patel (45), who was visiting her maternal home from London in Uttarsanda village in Nadiad of Kheda district for medical treatment, was one of the 241 passengers onboard that were killed in the deadly Ahmedabad plane crash.
'There will be not less than 31 lakh people working in the census process.'
India's active Covid case tally crossed the 5,000 mark with Kerala remaining the most affected state followed by Gujarat, West Bengal and Delhi, according to the Union health ministry data released on Friday.
'There may be 100 per cent burns on the bodies, but the bones, teeth, enamel are very resistant to only that much heat.'
Security agencies have gathered evidence, including Pakistani government documents and biometric data, confirming that the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack were Pakistani nationals.
There are 4,026 active cases in India and five fresh deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours.
The development follows a joint operation by Madhya Pradesh's State Tiger Strike Force, Rajasthan forest department, and Sawai Madhopur-based NGO Tiger Watch last month that led to the arrest of six poachers, including three from Rajasthan.
'...I believe he has all the raw materials to become a really good leader.'
The famous 'tareekh pe tareekh' dialogue from the Hindi movie Damini captures where we are now.
Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will undergo a rehabilitation program after returning from an 18-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Axiom-4 mission. The mission involved various experiments and research activities.
'Due to this sudden phenomenon, guests stopped visiting the homes of these villages, girls and boys from these villages were not getting proposals; students were reluctant to attend schools and colleges for fear of being shamed.'
As of May 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies LF.7 and NB.1.8 subvariants as Variants Under Monitoring, not as Variants of Concern or Variants of Interest. But these are the variants that are reportedly driving the rise in Covid cases in China and parts of Asia.
A woman is suspected to have died of Guillain-Barr syndrome (GBS) in Maharashtra on Wednesday, while 16 new cases of the rare nerve disorder were reported in the state, health officials said.
Expressing sorrow over the incident, Khandre immediately ordered an investigation into the matter, which will be led by a team under the principal chief conservator of forests.
All states have been instructed to ensure availability of oxygen, isolation beds, ventilators and essential medicines in view of rising cases of Covid, official sources said on Wednesday.
Known for his jovial and kind nature, Neeraj left a lasting impression on his neighbours in Akola, which is why the news of his passing devastated the entire town, even though many had not seen him in years.
India's macroeconomic health is in a "relative goldilocks situation", and although the risk of higher landed oil prices, due to insurance cost surges and closure of choke points due to the brief Israel-Iran war, has receded, it is "too soon to sound the 'all clear' for the rest of the year", the Finance Ministry said on Friday.
Addressing close to 700 employees and the leadership team across the Air India headquarters and Air India Training Academy in Gurugram, Chandrasekaran urged them to stay on course, terming the accident the most "heartbreaking" crisis of his career.
This follows an earlier incident on May 22, 2025, in which a large quantity of drugs was seized near the Nungambakkam railway station, according to a Greater Chennai Police press release.
Early-bird results for the January-March 2025 quarter (Q4FY25) suggest a slowdown in earning growth for India Inc, despite a benign cost environment that has led to an improvement in margins. The combined net profit (adjusted for exceptional gains and losses) of 175 early-reporting companies rose by 3.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in Q4FY25, marking the slowest growth in 17 quarters.
'Humanly impossible for the switches to turn from on to off at rapid succession within one second'
A new study reveals that water-only fasting may come with serious side effects.
In a separate incident in the Mant area of the district, the recovery of a burnt cow carcass on the Yamuna Expressway service road on Saturday also led to protests by Hindu activists.
The Delhi police, which is probing the Shraddha Walkar murder case in which her live-in partner Aaftab Amin Poonawala allegedly strangulated her to death and chopped her body into 35 pieces, dumped it in the Chhatarpur area of the national capital, has taken DNA samples of Shraddha's father Vikas Walkar so that the dumped body parts and blood sample can be matched.
The former Union home minister claimed that the provisions in the bill can be misused as the police can arrest and take fingerprints and DNA samples of even those who are taking part in political rallies.
