The ministry, however, said it could not be sufficiently established yet if these variants were behind the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in some states.
The fatality rate is down to 3.1 per cent and the recovery rate has improved to 37.5 per cent, he said.
As the virus continued to spread its tentacles across India, several parts, including Kashmir valley headed towards a virtual lockdown with the administration restricting movement of people in several parts and banning all public transport in Srinagar city.
He was earlier questioned in the case for over six hours on Monday. His son and former chief minister Omar Abdullah expressed his displeasure and tweeted the party statement on his father's questioning with the comment: 'This on a day when my father turns 84!'
'With more and more young people relocating outside their home states for work, an all-India MLDA of 21 would be a good way to ensure that more Indians can go with the flow,' recommends Kanika Datta.
The AAP said the tie-up can only be done on 33 Lok Sabha seats across four states and one Union Territory.
Lieutenant General (retired) Jacob Farj Rafael Jacob Jacob, who played a key role in the 1971 war which liberated Bangladesh from Pakistan, was laid to rest in New Delhi on Thursday.
Glimpses of I-Day celebrations across India.
Palodhi in Rajasthan simmered at 51 degree Celsius and the maximum in Ahmedabad shattered a century-old record.
According to the EC, no mismatch has been reported since the practice of cross-checking votes was introduced.
Accusing Punjab of running a campaign blaming it for floods in its territory, Haryana on Monday sought the Centre's intervention over the issue and defended construction of the Hansi-Butana link canal.
In its daily briefing, the government also reported Goa is now free of coronavirus.
Authorities faced double-barrel challenge -- strengthening its check and prevention mechanism, and addressing public panic, leading to hoarding of essential items.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police director general S S Deswal said that the force is putting together the manpower for the facility that was first operationalised in June-July last year when COVID-19 cases in Delhi were witnessing a steep rise.
'He came back from the US only to work for his country.' 'He has invested his fortunes to build this company and is married to his work.' 'Rarely does one see such commitment.'
While the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 7,409, as many as 764 people have been cured and discharged, and one had migrated, it said. Of the total 273 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 127 fatalities, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 36, Gujarat at 22 and Delhi at 19.
Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir seek more time.
The Union health ministry said West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh reported a casualty each on Monday, taking the total number of deaths to nine in the country due to COVID-19.
India is the seventh worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of the number of infections, after the US, Brazil, Russia, the UK, Spain and Italy. While the recovery rate in coronavirus infections is improving and has reached 48.19 per cent in India, there has been steady decline in the case fatality which is now 2.83 per cent, the health ministry said.
Calling on the world to embrace Yoga as a discipline in everyday life, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the occasion of the International Yoga Day today, asserted that the ancient Indian art was the most selfless of its kind, as it did not discriminate, did not ask for much, but simply functioned for the betterment of mankind and brought every society together.
Dr Behera speaks about how the nationwide positive reaction to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir indicates that the very idea of India is changing. From a diverse, multicultural entity, could India be becoming a place where assimilation is more important than accommodation?
Now the PMO needs to take the food sector reforms forward.
Mahesh Bhupathi may not be considered again for the job as India's non-playing captain after he refused to be part of the Davis Cup tie against Pakistan.
A contempt plea alleged that incidents of mob lynching and vigilantism were taking place despite the apex court verdict in this regard.
Sarvjit Singh Samra's Capital Local Area Bank offers attractive features.
The 82-year-old former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister received the ED summons a day after the formation of the People's Alliance led by him was announced on October 15.
The earthquake epicentred in the Hindukush mountain range in Afghanistan struck at around 2.40 pm, sending ripples across several states like Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi- National Capital Region, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan.
Hollande will be arriving in Chandigarh on January 24 where he is expected to be received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As per the preliminary estimates, the BJP has significantly improved its national vote share from 31.34 per cent in 2014 to a new record high, while there appeared to be only a marginal change in case of the Congress from its 19.5 per cent score of the last elections.
There are reasons to doubt Gadkari's words.
The total amount of the scheme, which came into effect on December 1, 2018, is to be paid in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 every four months. The data showed about 2.51 crore farmers have not got even the second instalment and 5.16 crore of them were yet to get the third instalment.
Glimpses of Republic Day celebrations across the country.
Delhi is likely to record its second-coldest December since 1901 as temperatures are predicted to drop further.
International cab-booking service Uber was banned on Monday in the national capital, a day after one of its drivers was arrested for allegedly raping a 27-year-old woman executive amid growing outrage over the incident which renewed focus on safety measures for women.
Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu reported one case each, officials said.
Around 52.46 per cent of the patients have recovered, the health ministry said. The number of active cases stood at 1,53,178 while 1,80,012 patients have recovered, it said in the daily COVID-19 update.
India is currently under the 21-day lockdown since March 25, with only essential services exempted to contain the fast-spreading virus.
Ten trade unions with a combined membership of 15 crore workers in public and private sector, including banks and insurance companies, are on a nationwide strike to protest against changes in the labour laws.
In the year 2016, 8132 human trafficking cases have been reported in India.
The linking of biometric UID/Aadhaar number to all public services makes "We, the People of India" worse than slaves, says Gopal Krishna.
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