The Union home ministry's notification giving effect to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021 came on Tuesday night, as the city battles a ferocious COVID-19 wave and its healthcare system is stretched to breaking point.
The move could affect thousands of people, including Australian cricketers currently playing in the Indian Premier League in India
Renowned women's rights activist and founder of the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) Ela Bhatt passed away in Ahmedabad on Wednesday due to age-related ailments, her associates said.
Union minister Jitendra Singh assured the members of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that there is better nuclear safety in India as compared to many other countries and there are enough safeguards in the Indian nuclear plants.
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.
Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have announced a lockdown of educational institutions, malls and other places that attract people in large numbers, even as some of them have been reporting increase in positive cases.
'Staggering of classroom activities to be done, with separate timing slots, to allow for adequate physical distancing and disinfection of classroom premises. Academic scheduling should have an intermix of regular classroom teaching and online teaching and assessments,' the ministry said.
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.
The dismissal of the five --most of whom have cases registered against them for terror activities -- was ordered under Article 311 of the Indian Constitution.
As India launched the world's largest vaccination drive against the coronavirus pandemic, showing the light at the end of a 10-month tunnel that upended millions of lives and livelihoods, here are some of the quotes from politicians across parties and other people who took the jab:
Alternatively, the government may go in for a five-day session to blunt criticism that it was running away from debates.
Earlier, the guidelines for reopening activities issued on September 30 were to be in force till October 31.
Shashi Tharoor has also been retained as the chairman of the panel on Information Technology.
The Delhi government's budget size for 2022-23 was Rs 75,800 crore and Rs 69,000 crore in the preceding year.
The raging controversy over the fake COVID-19 vaccination camps in parts of Kolkata snowballed into a political storm ensnaring into it several TMC leaders, prompting the opposition BJP to demand a CBI probe into a 'larger conspiracy' in the case.
Afghan President Dr Mohammad Ashraf Ghani will be paying a three-day state visit to India beginning on Monday, during which he would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attend delegation-level talks.
The centre has rushed a team of medical experts to take stock of the situation thrown up by the spread of H1N1 influenza situation in Kashmir
"We have received complaint from a state yesterday and so far discussed with three states. Too much variations have been reported in results of rapid test kits and RT-PCR kits. We advise states not to use them for the next two days," ICMR's Dr Raman R Gangakhedkar said.
'The deaths of the children in the Gambia would batter India's reputation as the developing world's pharmacy.'
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.
Vardhan stated the government is taking full precautions in human trials of vaccines and the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 under the chairmanship of Dr V K Paul, member-health, NITI Aayog, is drawing up a detailed strategy on how to immunize the majority of the population.
Sputnik V is the third vaccine India has given the go-ahead to after 'Covishield', developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and 'Covaxin', the indigenous vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biotech. Covishield is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the Centre to provide medical oxygen to Delhi.
The Union home ministry said several steps have been taken to augment the production and supply of Remdesivir injections from 38.80 lakh units per month to 74 lakh units per month by early next month, and asked the states to ensure its seamless supply and transport.
In a letter to Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, the central team in north Bengal, led by senior bureaucrat Vineet Joshi, said more field officers are required to monitor and provide feedback about the effectiveness of various measures undertaken by the government.
Politics, bureaucracy, ineptitude, double-standards and an attempt to politicise the fight in pseudo-nationalistic terms have all hampered the fight against this deadly virus, says Vir Sanghvi.
However, experts in the fields of genome sequencing and cell science have observed that such a small sample size cannot be considered as an indication of the spread of the mutated virus.
'Do not travel to India due to COVID-19. Exercise increased caution in India due to crime and terrorism'
Indian billionaires saw their combined fortunes more than double during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their count shot up by 39 per cent to 142, while the wealth of the ten richest is enough to fund school and higher education of children in the country for 25 years, a new study showed on Monday. In its annual inequality survey released on the first day of the World Economic Forum's online Davos Agenda summit, Oxfam India further said that an additional one per cent tax on the richest 10 per cent can provide the country with nearly 17.7 lakh extra oxygen cylinders, while a similar wealth tax on the 98 richest billionaire families would finance Ayushman Bharat, the world's largest health insurance scheme, for more than seven years. The COVID-19 pandemic saw a huge rush for oxygen cylinders and insurance claims during the second wave last year.
Modi had released the first batch of eight eight spotted felines -- five females and three males -- from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at Kuno on his 72nd birthday on September 17 last year.
The sharp spike in recent weeks continued unabated in the southern states.
Many feel the fear of epidemic outbreak will grow severe in around a month and once the rainy season gets over, reports Sushmi Dey
As many as 11 children died on Saturday and until Friday the death toll stood at 60.
On Monday, around 5,000 nurses of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi went on a strike over their long pending demands, including those with regard to the Sixth Central Pay Commission.
Millets can provide nutritional security against deficiencies, especially in children and women, says Sreejith Moolayil, co-founder and COO, True Elements.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked states to make full use of the expanded COVID-19 testing capacity and saving lives a top priority as India recorded the highest ever spike of 2,003 coronavirus deaths after Maharashtra and Delhi added earlier fatalities not attributed to the disease.
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Top bureaucrats from Uttar Pradesh visited relief camps in Muzaffarnagar on Monday to convince riot victims to go back home so that they can now be dismantled, reported NDTV.
Over 1.4 lakh jobs are estimated to be created between March 2019 and March 2021 in various central government departments, according to the Union Budget presented on Monday. The strength of government establishments was 32,71,113 as on March 1, 2019, which is estimated to increase to 34,14,226 by the first day of next month - an increase of 1,43,113, it said. The budget documents have given a break-up of the jobs estimated to be created in central government departments between 2019 and March 2021.
The virus continued to spread its tentacles to new states, including Mizoram.
'Religion must be in your home and in the temple, not in government functions.'
