The decision was taken at a meeting headed by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai with senior ministers, officials and the COVID-19 technical advisory committee consisting of experts in Bengaluru.
The World Health Organisation on Saturday said there is "no threat" to the polio-free status of all Southeast Asian region countries, including India
The death toll climbed to 2,592 with 150 new fatalities while the total number of confirmed cases increased to over 77,000, health officials said on Monday.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in a statement urged world leaders not to implement 'knee-jerk' policy decisions in response to the detection of the Omicron variant.
In a letter to states and UTs on Monday, Additional Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Arti Ahuja advised them to pay attention to this aspect immediately and increase the testing in a strategic manner keeping in view the trend of case positivity in specific areas.
"This virus just may become another endemic virus in our communities and this virus may never go away. HIV has not gone away," Dr Ryan, executive director of the WHO health emergencies programme, said.
An infographic showing the mortality per 1,00,000 population figures for four of India's deadliest diseases as reported by the World Health Organisation.
Beijing's health officials on Monday announced 29 fresh cases taking the total cases to 70 in the city.
The Centre's vaccination scheme has created two classes of citizens in India -- those who got Covaxin, whose movements are restricted, and those who received Covishield and can go anywhere -- the Kerala high court said on Tuesday.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant's personnel are continuing to service the facilities and monitor the radiation situation at the station as usual, a top Russian official claimed on Friday, a day after Russian forces took over the decommissioned facility after a fierce fight with Ukrainian soldiers guarding it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee paid rich tributes to Swami Smaranananda.
Dharavi, which is located in India's commercial capital Mumbai, is spread over an area of 2.5 square kilometres and has a population of 650,000. People live in shanties and dilapidated buildings with narrow lanes and open sewers.
The two directors of the company named in the FIR, however, still remain at large.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) suspended all forms of cricket for the next 60 days to minimise the impact of the coronavirus. South Africa men's cricket team coach Mark Boucher suggested to turn off cell phones for two weeks amid the ongoing global lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic.
Utah Jazz's Rudy Gobert had tested positive for coronavirus last Wednesday before the start of the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City's match in the NBA. As Gobert was leaving a media event on March 9, before he was diagnosed with coronavirus, he touched every microphone and recorder in front of him in jest. However, after testing positive, the player went on to issue a public apology on Instagram.
The Delta Plus variant have been detected sporadically in Maharashtra, Kerala and MP.
The Omicron variant carries 'concerning' mutations that may make it more transmissible and allow it to evade immunity, scientists said on Monday, stressing that the one certainty in the uncertainty of the many things unknown is this -- COVID is not a short-term crisis and vaccines are still a critical tool.
'Days ago, India witnessed the horror of the brutal rape and murder of a woman doctor on night duty at the R G Kar hospital in Kolkata.' 'The crime was so outrageous that any self-respecting chief minister should have resigned, bearing moral responsibility.' 'But then the terms 'self-respect' and 'moral responsibility' do not exist in the modern Indian political lexicon,' argues Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
Voicing his deep concern, the UN chief said that the "hospitals in the south of Gaza are already at capacity and will not be able to accept thousands of new patients from the north."
The association's reaction came after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that the country is "in the end game of the COVID-19 pandemic" and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the coronavirus is nearing an "endemic" phase in the national capital.
'There is not any negative connotation associated with it.'
Omicron has been detected in Maharashtra (20), Rajasthan (9), Karnataka (3), Gujarat (4), Kerala (1) and Andhra Pradesh (1) and Union Territories of Delhi (2) and Chandigarh (1).
The DCGI's approval came following recommendation by the Subject Expert Committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.
The New Delhi district authorities on Monday issued a show-cause notice to Etihad Airways for allegedly violating the Centre's guidelines for international passenger arrivals at the IGI airport here, amid concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
India is the most polluted country in the world, with more than 480 million people or about 40 per cent of its population living in the Indo-Gangetic plains in the north where pollution levels regularly exceed those found anywhere else in the world by an order of magnitude, stated the University of Chicago's Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report.
No decision on granting indemnity to any foreign or Indian Covid vaccine-manufactures has been taken yet, the government said Friday, underlining these decisions are to be taken 'in the interest of nation and people'.
The less hours you sleep, the higher your blood pressure will rise, cautions Dr Pooja Kohli.
'India's acts of goodwill fully demonstrate its friendship with China'
'The work of a film-maker is going out and making films.' 'And if you are in prison for 15 years, you can't make films.'
The National Security Strategy document should flag all major issues concerning security strategy and provide guidelines to concerned departments to work out suitable action plans. Since the global and regional geopolitical canvas is dynamic, the NSS document should be deliberated at length before formulation and should be reviewed periodically, recommends Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The B-1617 variant of the coronavirus, first identified in India, has been classified as a variant of concern at the global level by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
It was on January 30, 2020 when a third-year medical student from Wuhan university tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the country's first COVID-19 patient, days after she had returned home following semester holidays.
"India expands its vaccine basket! Johnson and Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine is given approval for Emergency Use in India. Now India has 5 EUA vaccines. This will further boost our nation's collective fight against COVID-19," tweeted the minister.
All the 27 deaths occurred in the virus-hit central Hubei province, China's National Health Commission (NHC) said. The confirmed cases for the first time fell below 50 since COVID-19 surfaced in Hubei province in January.
In his address to RIC Foreign Ministers, Wang said the three countries should 'correctly handle and properly deal with sensitive factors in bilateral relations and safeguard the overall interests of mutual relation', without directly referring to the current round of India-China military tensions along the Line of Actual Control, (LAC).
Benfica's Primeira Liga match at Belenenses on Saturday was abandoned amid extraordinary scenes after their COVID-19-hit opponents were forced to name a team of nine players - including two goalkeepers.
Dr Malhotra, who has demanded a full safety review into the use of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine, told PTI Covishield "should never have been rolled out in the country in the first place".
