Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said that the government is committed to support and protect every vulnerable child who lost both parents to Covid.
The ministry also said it has asked the states and UTs to maintain law and order, peace and public tranquillity.
This was stated by Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey in the House in response to a question on the number of healthcare staff, including doctors, nurses and ASHA workers who have been affected died due to COVID-19.
'The expulsion of Kashmiri Pandits -- and all other non-Muslims -- is its clear objective.'
3,007 fresh cases of Omicron reported across 27 states and UTs.
Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 653 Omicron cases followed by Delhi at 464, Kerala 185, Rajasthan 174, Gujarat 154 and Tamil Nadu 121 cases.
As on day 80 of the vaccination drive (April 5), a total 43,00,966 vaccine doses have been given out of which 39,00,505 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 48,095 sessions for 1st dose while 4,00,461 beneficiaries received the 2nd dose, according to the data updated at 7 am.
Addressing a press conference on measures taken during 21-days lockdown imposed from March 25 to contain the spread of Covid-19, MHA joint secretary Punya Salila Srivastva said the situation of essential goods and services is under control. To strengthen this situation, the home ministry has written to state governments that both inter-state and intra-state movement of trucks and goods carriers should be allowed during the 21-day countrywide lockdown announced by the central government irrespective of the cargo being essential or non-essential.
Petrol and diesel price on Sunday was hiked again by 35 paise a litre and the auto fuels now cost a third more than the rate at which ATF is sold to airlines. The fourth straight day of 35 paise per litre hike sent petrol and diesel rates to record highs across the country. The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 105.84 a litre and Rs 111.77 per litre in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
All laws have been modified to omit the domicile clause for property rights in the valley. This effectively means that anyone with enough money to spend can now technically buy property there, writes Sai Manish.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the Congress and its erstwhile government in Puducherry, saying the V Narayanasamy led dispensation had 'different priorities' than public welfare and flayed party leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent 'north-south' remarks.
Asked about action taken against those spreading fake news, and publishers of anti-national material, he said more than 60 accounts have been blocked including those on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Out of this, Maharashtra topped the list with 167 cases followed by Delhi with 165 cases, Kerala with 57 cases and Telangana has confirmed 55 cases.
The coronavirus has to be defeated and vaccination is the way to victory, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, while congratulating the country and healthcare workers for the achieving the 70-crore landmark.
Alert to the looming threat from the 'Omicron' variant, states began to re-tighten curbs and urgently trace people who arrived from abroad in the last one month while a demand to not allow flights from the affected countries was made by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
The bench also asked Mehta how long the Centre proposes to extend the detention. The Supreme Court noted, detention cannot be for forever and "some via media" may be explored for this.
In Srinagar, wearing black bands, scores of PDP leaders and activists, led by party president Mehbooba Mufti, took out a protest march from the party's head office near the Sher-e-Kashmir Park.
The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry on Wednesday said the states and union territories (UTs) will provide up to 25 per cent rebate on road tax for vehicles that are purchased after scrapping old vehicles under the new National Automobile Scrappage Policy. The ministry in a press note said that in the vehicle scrapping policy, it is proposed to have a system of incentives to nudge vehicle owners to discard old and polluting vehicles. "As an incentive for scrapping, concession is stipulated in the motor vehicle tax for a vehicle registered against submission of Certificate of Deposit, which is issued by a Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility.
In a video-conference with the Governors, Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of states/union territories, the president emphasized the need to ensure that no one remains hungry during the nationwide lockdown.
Maharashtra has recorded the maximum 65 cases of the Omicron variant followed by Delhi at 64, Telangana 24, Karnataka 19, Rajasthan 21 and Kerala 15.
State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and a joint venture of billionaire Gautam Adani's gas arm and Total of France -- Adani Total Gas Ltd -- have bid for maximum number of licenses to retail CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households in the latest city gas bidding round.
The issue of pilgrimages to the Amarnath and Vaishnodevi shrines, both located in Jammu and Kashmir, was discussed at a high-level meeting attended by Union ministers G Kishan Reddy and Jitendra Singh and senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Jammu and Kashmir administration. The Amarnath Yatra is likely to commence on July 21.
The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 55 days now.
A bench of the NGT, headed by its chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, directed that the order will also apply to all cities and towns in the country where the average of ambient air quality during November (as per available data of last year) falls under 'poor' or worse category.
The total number of recoveries crossed the 19 lakh-mark with 57,937 patients having recuperated in a span of 24 hours, the highest recorded in a day so far, it said.
"Fact that persons with disabilities get marginalised from every scheme does not require a debate," the court said.
The decision has been taken to check the spread of coronavirus, the sources said.
The states and UTs having a recovery rate higher than the national average include Ladakh (85.45 per cent), Delhi (79.98 per cent), Uttarakhand (78.77 per cent), Chhattisgarh (77.68 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (76.59 per cent), Haryana (75.25 per cent), Chandigarh (74.6 per cent), Rajasthan (74.22 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (73.03 per cent) and Gujarat (69.73 per cent).
The federal contingency force has committed a total of 112 teams for deployment in five states and the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands which are expected to be affected by the cyclone developing in the Bay of Bengal.
The ministry of civil aviation on Wednesday said only two per cent of the passengers coming from countries that are not in the 'at-risk' list will be subject to random sampling for coronavirus and such passengers will be permitted to leave the airport after giving the samples.
There were reports of such incidents at temples in various places including Bengaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Mysuru, Chikkamagaluru, Yadgir, Mandya and Kolar among other places.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah took serious note of Maharashtra government's shifting patients lodged in mental health institutes to homes for beggars and asked it to discontinue the practice immediately saying it is counter-productive and runs against the provisions of Mental Health Act.
Starting July 1, private hospitals in the country will no longer be allowed to directly procure COVID-19 vaccines from manufacturers and have to place orders on the Centre's CoWIN portal.
Asserting repeatedly that the second wave of the pandemic is not over, the government said that though the situation is plateauing, the country is still reporting as high as 20,000-odd new infections every day.
Petrol and diesel prices across the country soared to all-time high levels on Thursday as rates were hiked again in line with the spurt in international oil prices. Petrol price was increased by 30 paise per litre and diesel by 35 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 103.24 a litre and to Rs 109.25 per litre in Mumbai, the notification showed.
The committee has decided that access to 4G internet in J-K will be given in a calibrated manner and outcome of the trial will be reviewed after two months.
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