The central government may, however, advise state authorities to continue with strict curbs in COVID-19 containment zones in the worst-affected 30 municipal areas that account for 80 per cent of the positive cases in the country. These 30 municipal areas are from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Odisha.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday allowed cinema halls and theatres to operate with more people while swimming pools have been permitted for use by all in fresh COVID-19 reopening guidelines.
In 2017, a retired R&AW officer conveyed that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was keen to get monarchy restored in Nepal and suggested that I support these efforts.
'At this point of time, West Bengal is doing better than other states in tackling the crisis. We have a chief minister who herself has hit the streets to do what is to be done, and at the same time ensuring a proper lockdown. She is also trying day and night to set up the requisite infrastructure.'
Kambala racer Srinivas Gowda, whose running exploits during a traditional buffalo race in Karnataka has evoked a social media frenzy, will be assessed by expert coaches at SAI Center, Bengaluru on the instruction of Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju. Rijiju on Saturday asked the top SAI coaches to conduct a trial of the 28-year-old Kambala jockey Gowda after video clips of him running a distance of 100 metres in just 9.55 seconds have surfaced.
Termed 'Unlock 1', the Centre on Saturday issued fresh guidelines relaxing the nationwide lockdown, the fourth phase of which ends on May 31.
The IPL has been postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic but there is speculation that it could be held later this year if the situation improves.
The Union health ministry on Friday said while there is no evidence to suggest that existing vaccines do not work on the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, some of the mutations reported may decrease the efficacy of the jabs.
With schools closing down, many girls and their female family members in rural and urban areas now don't have access to sanitary pads.
Students will appear for pending class 10 and 12 board exams at the schools where they are enrolled instead of an external test centre, according to the HRD ministry. The ministry is also planning to declare the board exam results by July-end and evaluation process has already begun for exams which were conducted before the lockdown was announced.
The education ministry released guidelines last week for the reopening of schools, including for thorough cleaning and disinfection of the premises, flexibility in attendance, no assessment for up to three weeks and ensuring a smooth transition from home-based schooling during the coronavirus-induced lockdown to formal schooling.
In its daily briefing, the government also reported Goa is now free of coronavirus.
'Villages are much better prepared than towns as far as COVID-19 is concerned.'
In a significant directive, the home ministry said that state governments shall not impose any local lockdown outside the containment zones without prior consultation with the central government.
While class 12 exams will be conducted across the country, the class 10 exams are only pending in North East Delhi where they were affected due to the law and order situation.
Believe it or not, the regulator is even stretching its arm to identify stressed borrowers and gauge the 'distance to default' as a measure of a particular bank's fragility, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Union health ministry, however, suggested necessary curbs in areas reporting over 10 per cent positivity rate or 40 per cent occupancy in either oxygen-supported or ICU beds.
The cities where services have resumed include Bengaluru, Mysore, Pune, Ludhiana, Noida, Gurugram, Raipur, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Industry experts believe it would be at least 4-5 days before the backlog of orders can be cleared.
Uncertainty is emerging as the only certainty, said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das as he emphasised on continued policy support at the December MPC meet during which members expressed concerns over spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, as per the minutes of the rate-setting panel released on Wednesday. After three days of deliberations, the six members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on December 8 unanimously voted for status quo on policy rates for the ninth consecutive time. At the meeting, the RBI Governor said risks stalking the global economy have amplified with rapid spread of the virus mutations, including the Omicron variant, leading to countries scrambling for restrictions.
"Essential services will continue to be available and people should not have any misunderstanding or confusion regarding this. Medical shops and pharma companies will continue to function as usual," Thackeray said.
The polls were deferred due to the spread of coronavirus.
'They are doing a good surveillance job.' 'It is not easy to undertake this task on such a huge scale given the risks.' 'But home quarantine is not effective.' 'Only institutional quarantine can bring good results.'
Such a disruption will take the clock back by many years - in terms of passengers handled - for these airports, thus raising questions among some of the airport operators over a delay in expansion plans.
The 49-year-old jeweller, fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering in the estimated $2-billion Punjab National Bank scam case, has made around six previous attempts at bail at the magistrates' court as well as at the high court level.
In a statement, the PMO said three vaccines are in advanced stages of development in India, out of which two are in Phase II and one is in Phase-III. It further said Indian Scientists and research teams are collaborating and strengthening the research capacities in neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
With the Election Commission (EC) facing flak from some quarters for announcing eight-phase Assembly polls in West Bengal, officials on Friday said the polling had to be spread out due to festivals, the movement of security forces and an increased number of polling stations keeping in mind the Covid protocols.
Given Nitish's track record as an accomplished trapeze artist who can dump the BJP overnight and embrace the RJD, he can leave the saffron party stranded should he fail to get the chief ministerial crown for the fourth time, notes Virendra Kapoor.
They say that a stimulus package may not be necessary because, unlike last year's total lockdown, public transport, including the railways and airlines, is running and the restrictions on movement are localised and, in some cases, are partial rather than total.
Recruiters are now in search of candidates with soft skills alongside tech-based knowledge, says Ambrish Sinha.
The Indian Council of Medical Research will start national-level sero surveys to assess the spread of Covid-19 and all states/Union territories should also be encouraged to conduct them so that information from all geographies can be collected, the Union health ministry said on Friday.
He further said that stern action will be taken against people who do not wear masks and do not follow social distancing norms in the national capital.
Amit Panghal helped his father with the harvesting of wheat and in the process witnessed the 'misery of farmers' shattered by unseasonal rains and the lockdown to contain the deadly pandemic.
Religious places and places of worship for the public, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services along with shopping malls will be permitted to open from June 8, the ministry of home affairs said on Saturday. However, these facilities will not be able to resume operations inside containment zones designated by authorities in states, said a government notification.
Ahead of 2020 Olympics, ace Indian wrestler and Asian Games gold medallist Bajrang Punia stated that safety of athletes should be the topmost priority in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.
In containment areas, movements of people is totally banned and essential services are delivered at the doorsteps.
Unfortunately, in India, infrastructure projects are lost in a miasma of political and personal vanity, observes Shyam G Menon.
The blaze at the Oil India Ltd's oil well is so massive that it can be seen from a distance of more than two kilometres, eyewitnesses said.
Fans return to English grounds, but told not to celebrate goals too much.
Addressing a daily media briefing to give updates on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said most of the Markaz event-related cases have been found in states with high burden of the disease, such as Tamil Nadu (84 per cent), Telengana (79 per cent), Delhi (63 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (59 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (61 per cent).
Mr Modi might have questions to ask himself on the most formidable strategic challenge before India that he inherited from the United Progressive Alliance: The triangulation between China and Pakistan. The failure to break out of it, or even loosen it a bit, is something to reflect on, notes Shekhar Gupta.
