The Supreme Court on Monday protected SAD functionary Bikram Singh Majithia from arrest in a drug trafficking case till February 23 and told the Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government in Punjab that in a democracy governments must not slap election-eve criminal cases on political opponents to prevent them from contesting.
Over 75% of adults in the country are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19 with two doses of the jabs, heralding a major achievement in the mass immunisation drive that played a crucial role in keeping disease severity, hospitalisation and deaths low during the present surge powered by Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2.
Opposing the PILs related to “marital rape”, the Centre has told the Delhi high court that, among other things, misuse of Section 498 of the IPC related to dowry harassment and lack of a mechanism to verify when consent stands withdrawn by the wife are concerns because of which India should move cautiously and not follow other countries blindly on the issue. This has been conveyed to the court in a written submission.
The railway ministry on Wednesday suspended the ongoing recruitment process for non technical posts amid violent protests in Bihar where protesters set four empty coaches on fire. The ministry also set up a five-member high level committee to look into the issues raised by the applicants many of whom have joined the demonstrations affecting rail operations.
The Parliament of India reached out to the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Delhi for developing a case for preserving the Constitution. The point man at NPL for this project was its scientist Dr Hari Kishan. He would later go on to head NPL’s Quantum Phenomena and Applications division. Dr Kishan would work extensively to fabricate a glass case with some success.
BJP has worked out a seat-sharing deal with its Punjab allies, keeping the lion’s share of the seats for itself. It will contest from 65 constituencies, while its allies — former CM Captain Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress and S S Dhindsa’s faction of Akali Dal, SAD (Sanyukt), will contest from 37 and 17 respectively, BJP chief J P Nadda said on Monday.
Covid-19 cases in the third wave of the pandemic have started to fall in seven states and Union territories, while several others were witnessing a slowdown in the surge, weekly numbers reveal. However, deaths from the virus rose in all major states of the country in the week ending Sunday (January 17-23), as compared to the preceding seven days.
Giving emphasis to "bail, not jail" judicial philosophy, the Supreme Court on Monday said no person can be indefinitely kept in jail with an open-ended investigation by probe agencies on a conjectural apprehension that activities of an accused could involve a larger conspiracy which may prove detrimental to national security.
PM Narendra Modi on Sunday unveiled a hologram of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at India Gate. Emphasising that the hologram of Netaji will soon be replaced by a one cast in stone, the PM said that installation of the “giant statue” close to the National War Museum at India Gate and near Parliament marks a “homage to the hero of freedom by the grateful nation and will keep reminding our instititutions and coming generations the lesson of national duty”.
Omicron is now at the ‘community transmission’ stage in India with hospitalisation and ICU admissions rising, though most cases of the new Covid-19 infections have been mild or asymptomatic, according to genomics consortium Insacog. “Omicron has become dominant in multiple metros where new cases have been rising exponentially,” Insacog noted.
The third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic appears to have peaked in the four largest cities of the country, with the seven-day average of cases showing a clear decline in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. However, the seven-day average, calculated till Friday, was still rising in the next four biggest cities of Bengaluru, Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
A statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will be installed at India Gate in what marks a fitting recognition of the legendary freedom fighter who had captivated the country with his determination to liberate it from British occupation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that he will unveil a hologram statue of Bose, Netaji to legions of his admirers, at the same place on his birthday on January 23 evening.
Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Friday that she might make her electoral debut by contesting in the UP assembly elections, but she shouldn’t be seen as the party’s candidate for the CM’s post. She said that contesting the UP elections has been under consideration and internal discussions are on. “When there is a consensus, we will let you know,” said Priyanka, the Congress’s in-charge for UP since 2019.
Top health experts have not ruled out the possibility of Omicron reinfection, which brings back the focus on Covid-appropriate behaviour and vaccination to check its spread and fatalities. A Maharashtra Covid-19 task force member said, “Reinfection is something that we cannot ignore in Covid, irrespective of the variant. Even if people have recently recovered from Omicron, they cannot take the risk of improper masking or no masking, because reinfection with the variant has not been ruled out.”
The Supreme Court on Thursday conferred daughters with equal right to father’s property even prior to codification of Hindu personal laws and enactment of the Hindu Succession Act in 1956 and said that the law of inheritance would apply to partition of properties even if the father had died intestate before 1956.
The Amar Jawan Jyoti or the “eternal flame” at the iconic India Gate will be extinguished after 50 years on Friday and merged with the flame at the adjoining National War Memorial (NWM) in the run-up to the Republic Day this year.
Wednesday saw a new high for the third wave as the count of daily Covid cases crossed 3 lakh. After a brief respite for three days — Saturday, Sunday and Monday — when there was a decline in cases, the count is climbing rapidly again for the past two days. With data from some states still awaited, the national tally stood at 3,04,416 as of 11pm.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to recall its month-old orders quashing 27% OBC quota in panchayat polls in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and said the state election commissions would dereserve OBC seats in all future local body elections across India unless such quota is determined in strict compliance of SC's triple-test guidelines.
Oral antivirals, antibiotics, monoclonal antibodies and vitamins have no place in India’s latest Covid management guidelines, which were put up on the Union health ministry website on Monday. Antiviral remdesivir, which is given via an IV drip, is recommended for moderate to severely ill patients on oxygen support.
PM Narendra Modi made a bold pitch for foreign investment, assuring all support to investors, saying India has fast-pedalled on reforms and infrastructure and the financial mood is positive even as it is facing another wave. “The spirit of entrepreneurship in the country can provide new energy to every global partner. This is the best time to invest in India,” he said at the World Economic Forum’s annual meet.
The Election Commission on Monday shifted the Punjab assembly poll date to February 20 from February 14, in view of requests received from several political parties and the state government to defer polling by a few days in view of Guru Ravidas Jayanti on February 16. The counting date is unchanged on March 10.
The downward spiral of Covid-19 cases in Delhi continued for the fourth consecutive day, with the city reporting 12,527 new cases on Monday. Data shared by the state government shows the daily tally has fallen by nearly 49 per cent in these four days, from 24,383 cases on January 14. The positivity rate, too, is down — from 30.64 per cent to 27.99 per cent — in this period.
Copyright @ 2013 ATC __News.
