Rise in raids on illicit drug manufacturing units, alongside arrests for the production, sale, or distribution of spurious or adulterated drugs.
A new Omicron sub-variant has been detected in the majority of samples taken from Covid patients in Delhi as part of a study at the LNJP Hospital in the national capital.
With the dissolution of former chief statistician Pronab Sen-led Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS) by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the National Statistical Commission (NSC) has regained prominence as the primary statistical body to address issues regarding results, methodology and questionnaire, among others. A MoSPI official in an email informed the 16-member SCoS about the decision to dissolve it, citing that its work was "overlapping" with that of the Steering Committee for National Sample Surveys (NSS), which was set up in June this year.
Out of the total 190 samples, 180 (94.74 per cent) were found infected with Omicron, three with the Delta variant (1.58 per cent), one with Delta (0.53 per cent) and six with other strains of coronavirus (3.16 per cent), a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) release said, citing test results of the ninth round of genome sequencing in the city.
Eighteen people were killed and five others injured after a firecracker warehouse exploded and collapsed in Gujarat's Banaskantha district on Tuesday. The incident occurred in an industrial area near Deesa town around 9:45 a.m., killing workers from Madhya Pradesh and their family members. The warehouse was used to store firecrackers, but there is no evidence that firecrackers were being manufactured there. The Gujarat government has announced financial assistance for the victims' families.
Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams has broken the record for total spacewalking time by a woman by logging 62 hours and 6 minutes of spacewalk.
According to the CBDT, if a social media influencer retains a product from the manufacturing company after using for the purpose of rendering service, then it will be treated as a benefit/perquisite under newly-introduced Section 194R of the IT Act.
There have been 41 cases of Covid in the most recent four-week period ending mid-January, with three deaths.
While data can empower communities, it reinforces identities, making local politics more caste-centric, with decisions increasingly contested on the grounds of representation.
Such dynamics could lead to shifting alliances and, in the worst case, local governance getting paralysed as each group demands proportional power-sharing, explain Amitabh Kundu and Mehebub Rahaman.
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.
In charge of dope control at the IPL for the very first time, the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) might have to outsource the task of sample collection given the high cost of handling the exercise when the event is held in the UAE later this year. The next best option for NADA will be using the services of UAE's National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO) or contact Sweden's International Dope Test and Management (IDTM) which has done sample collection and testing for the last 12 seasons of the IPL.
The Indian government has advised states to intensify surveillance for respiratory illnesses, including influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illnesses (SARI), following the detection of five human metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases in the country. The decision comes amidst reports of a surge in HMPV cases in China. The Union Health Secretary, Punya Salila Srivastava, chaired a virtual meeting with states and union territories to discuss the situation and public health measures. While there is no cause for public concern, the government is emphasizing the importance of preventive measures such as handwashing, covering coughs and sneezes, and avoiding close contact with those showing symptoms.
A Chinese team of virologists has discovered a new bat coronavirus that can infect human cells, raising concerns about potential animal-to-human transmission. The virus, a new lineage of the HKU5 coronavirus, uses the same human receptor as the virus that causes COVID-19. The study, led by Shi Zhengli, a prominent virologist at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, was published in the journal Cell. The discovery comes amid ongoing scrutiny of the Wuhan lab, which was previously accused of being the source of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chinese government has denied any involvement in the virus's origin and insists that the Wuhan lab never engaged in gain-of-function studies on coronaviruses.
Over 200 individuals in Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, have been quarantined after 17 people, including 13 children, died from a mysterious illness. The deaths have sparked concerns about the spread of the illness, and a medical emergency has been demanded by local officials. A central team is investigating the cause of the deaths, with over 230 samples sent for testing. Officials have identified a common factor among the deceased: brain involvement and damage to the nervous system. Three patients have been airlifted to a hospital in Jammu, and one patient has been airlifted to PGI Chandigarh for further treatment.
'Mamata needs to address the anger and resentment among various sections of the Hindu community because low-scale communal violence has always paid richer electoral dividends for the BJP.'
A post-mortem examination of two women and a teenage girl found dead in their Kolkata home has confirmed that they were murdered, dismissing initial speculations of suicide. The victims, members of a family facing financial difficulties, were found dead in separate rooms while the male members were involved in a car crash. The autopsy revealed injuries consistent with murder, including slit wrists and poisoning. Police have launched a murder investigation against unidentified persons, suspecting the involvement of the two brothers who claimed the deaths were suicides.
The number of suspected Guillain-Barr Syndrome (GBS) deaths in Pune district, Maharashtra, has reached six after a 63-year-old man died. The outbreak has been linked to water contamination caused by campylobacter jejuni, a common bacterial pathogen that causes gastroenteritis and can trigger GBS. The number of suspected GBS cases has risen to 173, with 140 diagnosed with GBS. 34 patients are in Pune Municipal Corporation limits, 87 from newly added villages in PMC area, 22 from Pimpri Chinchwad civic limits, 22 from rural parts of the district, and eight from other districts. Of the 173, a total of 72 have been discharged, 55 are in ICU and 21 are on ventilator support.
Private diagnostic laboratories have already approached the respective state governments and the municipalities where they are operating to approve protocols for such testing in clusters, reports Sohini Das.
The minister said he was not supposed to say anything officially as he was still in touch with the union health ministry and the ICMR officials.
Foreign companies now pay less tax relative to their earnings than at any time in more than three decades. Foreign private companies paid 24.36 per cent of their pre-tax profit as tax in 2023-24, show numbers from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
The IWF said the samples of Oleg Chen and David Bedzhanyan, who are also serving provisional suspensions for separate potential anti-doping violations, contained the same anabolic agent found in Evstyukhina's sample.
The Uttar Pradesh government is taking comprehensive measures to ensure the Ganga River is "dip-safe" during the Maha Kumbh, a massive religious gathering. This includes daily water testing, a 200-km temporary drainage system for greywater, and state-of-the-art technology to manage human waste. Authorities are also emphasizing the importance of keeping the river clean by removing pooja waste and encouraging the use of reusable items.
The Tirupati Laddu row intensified on Friday with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which is managing the super-rich temple, backing Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu's claim that the famous 'prasadam' had animal fat and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy dubbing the accusations as 'atrocious'.
State Bank of India (SBI), in a report on Friday, claimed a significant decline in the headline poverty ratio in rural areas on account of enhanced physical infrastructure, higher consumption growth in the bottom fractile and direct benefit transfers (DBTs).
Plumes of smoke could be seen billowing from the spot. A purported video of the aftermath of the explosion also surfaced on social media showing thick dense white smoke.
Iraqi judoka Sajjad Ghanim Sehen Sehen was provisionally suspended on Friday after he tested positive for anabolic steroids
Among the commonly used analgesic formulations (painkillers) found NSQ are combinations of paracetamol with ibuprofen, diclofenac and mefenamic acid. Medications using these combinations are commonly used to treat fever, mild migraine, period and muscle pain.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's claim that animal fat was used in Tirupati laddus during the previous government has triggered a massive political row, with the YSRCP accusing Naidu of indulging in "heinous allegations" for political gains and the Telugu Desam Party circulating a lab report to back its claim.
Police in Kolkata are investigating the murders of two women and a teenage girl found dead in their home. The post-mortem confirmed murder, raising suspicions about the husbands' involvement and the motive behind the crime. The husbands, who are brothers, initially claimed a suicide pact, but police are skeptical and are questioning them once they are medically fit. The investigators are also exploring the possibility of external involvement in the murders. The family's financial difficulties are being investigated as a potential factor.
An explosion occurred outside a temple in Amritsar, Punjab, India, when a motorcycle-borne person threw an explosive device towards it, damaging a portion of its wall and shattering window panes. While no one was hurt in the incident, the explosion caused panic among residents. The incident has sparked concern about law and order in the state and led to accusations against the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. The police are investigating the incident and have collected samples from the site to identify the material used in the explosion.
"The international travellers who arrived in Mumbai from the high-risk countries have been identified and the swab samples of 28 such persons have been sent for genome sequencing. Out of them, nine persons have already tested COVID-19 positive," Health minister Rajesh Tope said.
The back-to-back series defeats against New Zealand (home) and Australia (away) and the diminishing returns with the bat have put Kohli and Rohit under scanner.
In a statement, police also said in view of the the "deceptive nature" of responses provided by the accused, an application for conducting his narco analysis test was made and it has been approved by the court.
The elite wrestler has maintained that he never refused to give a sample but only demanded to know NADA's response to his email where he sought answers over why expired kits were sent to take his samples in December 2023.
Iga Swiatek tested positive in an out-of-competition sample in August but the ITIA accepted that it was caused by contamination of her medication melatonin.
All Indian salt and sugar brands, whether big or small, packaged or unpackaged, contain microplastics, according to a study published on Tuesday.
The US Trade Representative noted that India's average applied tariff rate stood at 17% per cent, the highest of any major world economy.
Rajiv Kumar, the 25th chief election commissioner of India, has demitted office after a nearly three-year tenure marked by both electoral successes and allegations of bias from opposition parties. Kumar oversaw the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, among other major elections. During his tenure, he implemented reforms across various aspects of the Election Commission's functioning, including structural, technological, capacity development, communication, international cooperation, and administration. However, he faced criticism from opposition parties and activists on several issues, including the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines, alleged fudging of voter data, and being "lenient" on the ruling BJP. While the Commission responded to the allegations, Kumar often defended himself and the poll authority through poetry. In his farewell address, Kumar expressed concerns about the timing of petitions raising doubts over poll processes and the impact of freebie promises on the fiscal health of the state. He also criticized the practice of showing early trends on counting day by news channels, calling it "nonsense". Kumar's tenure was marked by numerous controversies, with opposition parties and activists alleging bias and irregularities. While the Election Commission defended its actions, the allegations cast a shadow over his time in office.
A mysterious illness has claimed 17 lives in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, with the latest victim being a young girl named Yasmeen Kousar. The deaths have sparked concern and an inter-ministerial team has been sent to investigate the cause. The patients experienced symptoms such as fever, pain, nausea, and loss of consciousness before dying within days of hospitalization. The J&K government has ruled out a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin.
Amid concerns among devotees on the quality of ghee used in the famous Tirupati 'laddu prasadam', the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has said sanctity of the sacred sweetmeat has been restored.
