Archives for June 2021

NEW DELHI: Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” was admitted to the AIIMS here on Tuesday morning due to post-Covid complications.

“He (Pokhriyal) was admitted due to post-Covid complications on Tuesday morning. He is admitted under Dr Neeraj Nishchal,” a source said.

The education Minister had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 21.

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday inaugurated a free COVID-19 vaccination facility for journalists and their family members at a government school in ITO.

“We have started this facility to vaccinate journalists and their family members in both 45+ and 18 to 44 age categories,” Kejriwal said.

Earlier on May 7, the Delhi Government had announced a mass COVID-19 vaccination drive for all the media houses — electronic, digital and print – in the national capital. It will bear the cost of the vaccination, Kejriwal had said.

As many as 946 new COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate 1.25 per cent, 1,803 recoveries, and 78 deaths were reported in Delhi in the last 24 hours.

The total cases in the city stand at 14,25,592, including 12,100 active cases.  

NEW DELHI: The arms license of wrestler Sushil Kumar, who has been arrested in connection with the murder of wrestler Sagar Dhankar at Chhatrasal Stadium, has been suspended, said Delhi police on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the crime branch of Delhi Police on Sunday took the Olympic gold medallist to Haridwar to investigate his hideouts and the people who helped him while he was absconding.

So far, the Delhi Police investigation has revealed that 13 people were involved in the alleged murder of Sagar Dhankar, out of which nine have been arrested and the other four absconding, have been identified.

The 38-year-old wrestler, Sushil Kumar, a prime suspect in the alleged murder case, and his associate Ajay Bakkarwala were arrested by a team of Special Cell, Delhi Police on May 23 in the Mundka area of the national capital.

According to the police, in an effort to evade the arrest, Kumar crossed the borders of seven stated and union territories in a span of 18 days and constantly changed his SIM cards.

NEW DELHI: Petrol and diesel prices on Tuesday scaled new highs across the country after they were hiked for the 17th time in a month.

In Delhi, petrol hit an all-time high of Rs 94.49 a litre, while diesel is priced at Rs 85.38 per litre. Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges.

Rajasthan levies the highest value-added tax (VAT) on petrol in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The price of petrol, which had already crossed the Rs 100-mark in several cities in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, breached the psychological barrier in Mumbai on Saturday.

Tuesday’s price increase was the second since then. Petrol now costs Rs 100.72 a litre in Mumbai and diesel comes for Rs 92.69 per litre.

The increase on Tuesday is the 17th increase in prices since May 4, when state-owned oil firms ended an 18-day hiatus in rate revision they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.

In 17 increases, petrol price has risen by Rs 4.09 per litre and diesel by Rs 4.65 a litre. Oil companies revise rates of petrol and diesel daily based on the average price of benchmark fuel in the international market in the preceding 15-days, and foreign exchange rates.

Brent crude oil – the most widely used international benchmark – has risen 36 per cent this year to more than USD 70 a barrel. This has prompted an increase in retail fuel prices.

Rates are at the highest in the country in Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan where petrol comes for Rs 105.52 a litre and diesel for Rs 98.32 per litre.

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh transport department is all set to introduce an advanced centralised system to facilitate contactless procedure for issuing smart card-based certificates directly at the doorsteps via postal services.

The facility will be launched by the Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday.

The new measure besides ensuring zero risk of coronavirus infection will enhance the efficiency of the transport department bringing convenience for people.

“The new system will work under the state government’s initiative ‘Tuhar Sarkar Tuhar Dwar’ (your government at your doorstep) as much convenient option for the people. It will increase awareness on traffic rules, minimise accidents, curb corruption and criminal activities,” said Dipanshu Kabra, Additional Transport Commissioner.

Besides the driving license (DL), registration certificate (RC), duplicate documents, the department will enlist 20 other essential records that can be acquired by an applicant or vehicle owners and get them directly through the post. The smart card will be delivered promptly at the registered address.  

The printing and issuing of DL, RC and other documents on smart cards will now be carried out through the modern centralised system instead of the 28 different transport offices located in the districts of the state, Kabra added.  

The state transport department has listed 22 distinct services that can be accessed by the people by visiting the official portal www.parivahan.gov.in. The helpline number has also been issued for those seeking any information or assistance.

KOZHIKODE: The extension of the ban on international flights to Gulf countries till June 30 has come as a major blow to tens of thousands of expatriates in the state who have been hoping to return to their places of work at the earliest.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had on May 28 announced that international passenger flights will not restart operations until June 30. At the same time, the restriction was not applied to international all-cargo flights, and flights scheduled under the travel bubble arrangements. Since March 2020, there has been a ban on regular international flights. According to experts, though over 14 lakh expatriates had reached the state since March last year, some, mainly healthcare workers, had returned. Though the Saudi government had extended visas and duration by up to six months during the first wave of the pandemic last year, it has not announced any such relaxation this time. The situation in other countries is no different. 

According to the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC), while over eight lakh expatriates from Kerala are waiting to return to the UAE, nearly two lakh Malayalis are awaiting return to Saudi Arabia, 1.5 lakh to Qatar, 1.25 lakh to Oman and over 50,000 to other countries. Ibrahim Murichandi, state vice-president of Dubai KMCC, said, “Several Gulf countries were willing to ply special flights in the previous wave due to pressure from various organisations.” According to him, the expatriates were initially worried about not receiving the vaccine on time. “The state government has addressed this issue by prioritising people who work and study abroad for the vaccine jabs. But the decision to extend the ban has affected people’s plans further,” he said. 

Norka Roots CEO Harikrishnan Namboothiri told TNIE, “Soon after the decision to extend the flight ban to Jun 30 was received, Norka Roots have contacted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to rethink the further extension as several lakhs of expats currently in Kerala are waiting to return back to their work place. Last year, when a similar flight ban was imposed, a few countries tried to take the healthcare workers from India to their respective countries. This time, even that is not happening.” He said more than 1.4 lakh expatriates were given Rs 5,000 each to support them financially during the previous lockdown. 

“Additionally, more than Rs 75 crore was distributed among the general expats. Loan assistance was even provided to the expats coming back. The surge of expats seen here last year has tripled during the second wave. Hence, we are doing our best to help them return to their work place,” he said.

NEW DELHI: The Centre had a tough time at Supreme Court on Monday, being criticised for its unclear vaccination policy. A three-judge bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud questioned Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on the steps being taken and the digital divide between rural and urban India.

On the Centre’s submission that the court should not interfere in policy, Justice Chandrachud told Mehta this is a platform for dialogue across the spectrum. 

“The idea is not to criticise, but to strengthen the arms of the government. The fact that MEA went abroad, had dialogue shows the seriousness of the situation,” said Justice Chandrachud.

The Centre also informed the court it is confident of vaccinating all eligible persons above 18 by the year end. The matter was adjourned on Monday, as the court gave two weeks to the Centre to file an affidavit with its response to the questions raised in the hearing regarding the country’s vaccine policy.

The court also questioned the reason behind not supplying vaccines for people below 45 and said: “Our question is, what is the rationale. For the population above 45 we will supply vaccines, but for those under 45, states are left to make arrangements.”

The court also questioned how is the Centre addressing the digital divide and its constraints in rural India. To this, Mehta said: “Every village has a service centre. If I’m a villager who doesn’t have a cell phone, the common service centre will register me and then I will get vaccinated.” 

The bench did not seem impressed by this. “You must keep your ear to the ground. You keep saying digital India, but see what’s happening. A poor agricultural worker from Jharkhand, who works in Rajasthan, has to go back to Jharkhand to get registered,” asked the court.

To this, Mehta replied: “No. Registration is where he stays. Registration is such so that tracing can be done if you have one dose or two doses.”

​The court stuck to the digital divide aspect. “We are asking how are you answering the digital divide. How are you ensuring that migrant agricultural labourers going from one state to other are getting vaccinated,” asked the court. However, Mehta objected and said it is a policy decision.