New Delhi: Scheduled international flights to and from India will be resumed from December 15, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Friday.
Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23 last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, special international passenger flights have been operating since July last year under air bubble arrangements formed with approximately 28 countries.
In an order, the Civil Aviation Ministry stated: “The matter of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services to and from India has been examined in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and it has been decided that scheduled commercial international passenger services to and from India may be resumed from December 15, 2021.”
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Day 2: Southee, openers bring New Zealand back in game as visitors reach 129 for no loss
Kanpur: Tim Southee bowled an incisive morning spell to take five wickets which was then brilliantly complemented by openers Will Young and Tom Latham as New Zealand dominated India to reach 129 for no loss on the second day of the opening Test here on Friday.
The only highlight for India in an otherwise disappointing day was Shreyas Iyer’s (105 off 171 balls) debut hundred.
Playing his 80th Test match, Southee (5/69) took his 13th five-wicket haul on an unresponsive track to send India packing for 345 after they started the day at 258 for 4.
Young then held centre-stage in his fourth Test appearance as he looked composed and unperturbed during his unbeaten knock of 75 off 180 balls.
Latham (50 batting off 165 balls), the seasoned campaigner, survived three on-field decisions (two leg before and one caught behind), negated by DRS, and decided to frustrate the two Indian spinners with a gritty defensive game.
The Green Park track became better for batting on the second day and the turn that was on offer was minimal. The variable bounce wasn’t also there for the better part of the 57 overs that they batted.
Since it was slow turn, the Black Caps duo mostly plonked their front-foot and neutralised the turn. And when they played on the back-foot, there was enough time to manoeuvre on both sides of the wicket.
Both were able to adjust on the back-foot against Ravindra Jadeja (14-4-28-0) and Ravichandran Ashwin (17-5-38-0), both of whom didn’t look threatening on the day.
Also what made it worse for India was that hardly any delivery kept dangerously low, which could have brought the leg-before into the equation.
The most disappointing of all was Axar Patel (10-1-26-0), whose accuracy on the leg stump line was of little or no value and it was once again proved that without assistance from the track, he is not even half the bowler that he is with some help from surface.
Young, in particular, got as many as 12 boundaries while Latham helped himself to four hits to the fence.
While Indian spinners can come back on the third day if the pitch considerably deteriorates but New Zealand would like to take the game deep by getting somewhere close to India’s first innings total and take it from there.
In the morning, Iyer became the 16th Indian cricketer to score a hundred on Test debut but the home side’s lower-middle order caved in meekly save Ashwin (38 off 56 balls), whose counter-attacking effort took them close to 350.
The credit for that went primarily to Southee (27.4-6-69-5), who was tirelessly bowling an extended spell of more than 10 overs from one end, causing extensive damage. The seasoned campaigner’s 13th five-wicket haul came in his 80th Test.
Resuming on his overnight score of 75, Iyer followed the great Gundappa Vishwanath in reaching the milestone at this ground.
Ashwin did the bulk of scoring in the morning session as India added only 87 runs, losing six wickets in the process.
Southee was on target with the second new ball first up as he sent back Ravindra Jadeja (50) on his overnight score.
He used the width of the crease cleverly to trouble Jadeja and got the ball to move from length which was too much for the lower-order players to negotiate.
Wriddhiman Saha and Axar Patel nicked at those deliveries that moved away at drivable lengths.
Sensing that he is now batting with the tail as Saha (1 off 12 balls) is no longer a batter on whom one can repose his faith, Iyer hit a flurry of boundaries but the best shot was a cover drive off Kyle Jamieson (22.2-6-85-3) which took him to 96.
A glide towards wide of third man off Jamieson got him a double and the moment that every batter dreams of.
His century in India whites which would definitely increase the pressure on his captain for the game, Ajinkya Rahane.
Iyer’s innings had 13 fours and two sixes which showed that he was always looking at ways to score runs rather than merely surviving.
He was finally out for 105 when he tried to drive a slower one from Southee but it landed straight in the hands of the cover fielder.
India adds 9,283 new cases in 24 hours; active tally in lowest in 537 days
NEW DELHI: India added 9,283 new coronavirus infections taking the country’s total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,45,35,763 while the active cases declined to 1,11,481, the lowest in 537 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 47 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 150 consecutive days now.
The active cases comprise 0.32 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.33 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.
A decrease of 2,103 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.
The 437 new fatalities include 370 from Kerala and 19 from Maharashtra.
Of the 370 deaths, 57 were reported over the last few days and 313 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, a state govt release said on Tuesday.
A total of 4,66,584 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,40,766 from Maharashtra, 38,182 from Karnataka, 38,045 from Kerala, 36,401 from Tamil Nadu, 25,095 from Delhi, 22,909 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,407 from West Bengal.
The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
Cryptocurrencies recover after falling over 20 per cent as experts doubt over ban possibilities
NEW DELHI: The cryptocurrency markets in India recovered after falling by over 20 per cent in the early morning on Wednesday after the news that the government may present a bill in the parliament to ban most digital currencies in India.
Ethereum was trading at Rs 3 lakh after losing 9 per cent in the past 24 hours. Another popular cryptocurrency which is known for sharp movements – Shibu Inu – had fallen by almost 19 per cent in the past 24 hours.
The government is going to table the Cryptocurrency Bill in the winter session of parliament. The bill seeks to “create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India”.
However, the Bill also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India. It also allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses.
The news has led to widespread panic among investors, many of whom rushed to pull-out their investments. As per reports, websites and apps of some crypto exchanges crashed after the reports of the bill became viral.
However, the recovery shows that there is still some doubt that the government may go on to ban all cryptocurrencies.
Sathvik Vishwanath, co-founder & CEO, Unocoin, one of the country’s oldest bitcoin trading platforms, says that there is no exact definition for private cryptocurrency, and it is anybody’s guess which regulator would define private cryptos.
“It could be one of multiple things. If it is managed by a particular founder or a company or a fund, we can call it private. Or whatever is not issued by the government, they could be called private,” he says.
Vishwanath feels that the agenda of the bill, which could not be tabled in the parliament in the last session, remains unchanged, and the same has come for reconsideration in the next session. However, he feels it is important to know the content of the bill and not the ‘unchanged’ agenda or title of the bill.
Subhash Chandra Garg, former secretary, department of economic affairs, ministry of finance, also has similar views. “Only the object of the Bill has been put out in the public domain, not the bill. It is going to be extremely challenging for the Government to ensure that it does not end up throwing the baby with the bath water,” he says.
He further says that cryptocurrencies don’t function and provide services as currencies only. “When you ban crypto currencies, what exactly do you ban or what are the permissible exemptions,” Garg asks. India is one of the major crypto markets with over 100 million investors. The year 2021 saw a sharp jump in the number of investors.
One of the crypto exchanges WazirX has recorded a trading volume of over USD 36 billion in 2021 with an average of 44 per cent month-on-month growth. The platform witnessed
Declining marriage numbers add to China’s demographic conundrum
BEIJING: Fewer people are getting married in China in addition to the falling birth rates, hastening the demographic crisis in the world’s most populous country, according to an official data.
A total of 5.87 million couples got married in China in the first three quarters of 2021, down slightly from the same period of last year, according to the data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
It is expected that the number of marriage registrations in China will continue to decline in 2021, state-run China Daily reported on Wednesday.
This is in addition to the falling birth rates.
The birth-rate in China last year was 0.852 percent, falling below one percent for the first time since 1978, figures from the China Statistical Yearbook 2021 book revealed.
As the demographic crisis deepened, China has permitted all couples to have two children in 2016, scrapping the draconian decades-old one-child policy and revised it this year permitting three children, which however drew a poor response.
The decision to permit the third child came after the latest once-in-a-decade census showed that China’s population grew at the slowest pace to 1.412 billion amid official projections that the decline may begin as early as next year.
Outlining the reasons for the falling marriage registrations, He Yafu, a demographic expert identified decline in the number of young people in China as one of the reasons.
The population of the post-80s, post-90s and post-2000s in China has been on the decline, he said, citing the National Bureau of Statistics.
Also, the desire of young people to get married has generally fallen due to reasons such as high work pressure and great improvement in women’s education level and economic independence, he told the China Daily.
Another major reason is the unbalanced ratio of male and female population.
In China, men outnumber women by 34.9 million as per the seventh National Census.
Among them, there are 17.52 million more men in their 20s than women of marriageable age.
In addition, the high cost of living, including soaring housing prices, is also a big obstacle to young people wanting to get married and have children, he said.
In China, marriage and childbirth are closely linked, and the proportion of children born out of wedlock is low, He said.
So the decline in marriage registration is bound to have a negative impact on the birth rate, he said.
Thus, remedial measures should be stepped up, He said.
Local governments’ reduction of housing costs for the young is one example.
To encourage young people to get married and have children, marriage and maternity leave should also be extended, He said.
The falling fertility rate, relatively early retirement age and the three-child policy have become a major concern for China as the country is greying faster than earlier predictions.
The number of people aged 60 or above has already touched 264 million, accounting for 18.7 percent of the total population.
The average annual elderly population growth has been about 6.3 million for 21 years, according to the latest census.
China will see even more rapid growth of its greying population and a significant transition in the population age structure from 2023, as about 10 million people will join the elderly population every year.
In fact, senior citizens are likely to account for 29.1 percent of China’s total population in 2036, the China Daily report said.
Malegaon blast case: Accused BJP MP Pragya Thakur appears before Mumbai court
MUMBAI: BJP’s Bhopal MP Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, appeared before a special NIA court here on Wednesday.
She appeared before special judge P R Sitre, hearing cases related to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Thakur’s lawyer said that although the court had not summoned the MP, she appeared on her own as she was in Mumbai for her medical treatment.
The BJP leader had last appeared before the court in the case in January this year.
Seven persons, including Thakur and Lt Col Prasad Purohit, are facing trial in the case.
A total of eight witnesses have turned hostile in the case so far.
Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.
According to police, the motorbike was registered in Thakur’s name and that led to her arrest in 2008.
The Bombay High Court had granted bail to her in 2017.
She is being tried under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other relevant laws.
Rahul Gandhi asks Centre to provide ‘credible data’ on Covid deaths in India
NEW DELHI: Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday demanded that the government provide credible data on Covid deaths in the country and pay a compensation of Rs four lakh each to families of those who lost their lives due to coronavirus.
Gandhi shared a video in which families, who lost their dear ones due to Covid in Gujarat, alleged that they did not receive timely help from the government.
He also attacked the “Gujarat model” which the BJP has projected as the best in the country.
“The Congress party has two demands that credible data on Covid deaths be disclosed and compensation of Rs four lakh be given to the families of those who lost their kin due to COVID-19.
The government will have to ease the pain of people and they should get compensation,” he said in a tweet in Hindi, using the hashtag
In the 4.31 minute video as part of “Congress Nyay campaign”, Gandhi said the Gujarat model is much talked about but the families whom they talked to said that during Covid times they neither got a hospital bed nor a ventilator.
“When you had to help them in the hospital, you were not there and when they lost Rs 10-15 lakh in hospital and also their family members, you were still not there to provide compensation. What type of Government is this,” he asked.
Gandhi said while the Gujarat government claims that only 10,000 people died due to Covid, the truth is that three lakh people have died due to Covid.
He claimed that Congress workers have gone house to house to ascertain this.
“The official tally says 10,000 people died due to Covid, but the truth is three lakh,” he claimed.
He said in today’s Gujarat model, only Rs 50,000 is being paid as compensation to people losing their kin due to Covid, whereas they should get Rs three lakh each.
“The prime minister has Rs 8,500 crore for buying a new plane, but the government has no money for paying compensation to those who lost their family members due to Covid,” he said.
Gandhi said the Congress wants the government to pay compensation of Rs four lakh to all the lakhs of people who died due to Covid in the country.
“Some select industrialists are being handed over the country and have been given relief in tax of lakhs of crore during Covid times, but the poor people of India are not being paid compensation due to Covid deaths,” he alleged.
“The Congress party will exert pressure on the government and will make sure compensation of Rs four lakh each is paid to all those poor families who lost their kin due to Covid,” Gandhi said in the video.
The Congress has stepped up its campaign against the BJP in Gujarat, which goes to polls late next year.
Punjab polls 2022: AAP-chief Arvind Kejriwal promises eight education reforms in state
NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has given eight guarantees for comprehensive education reforms in Punjab. “These guarantees will be fulfilled on a priority basis as soon as the AAP government is formed in 2022,” he said.
Recognizing the importance of education and teachers, Kejriwal gave the first guarantee to create a ‘good environment for education in Punjab. In the second guarantee, he promised to secure all types of raw and contract teachers. He said that most of the teachers in Punjab had been working for only Rs10,000 per month for the last 18 years, which was an injustice.
Appealing to Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Kejriwal said that the two demands of the teachers protesting on the tanks — to fill the vacancies and make the raw teachers permanent should be immediately accepted. “If the Channi government doesn’t do so, then during my next visit to Punjab, I will go to the teachers’ dharna and the demands of the teachers will be met on the formation of the AAP government,” he said.
To save the teachers of Punjab from the hassle of transfers, he gave the third guarantee to change the ‘Teacher Transfer’ policy. He said that Punjab was forcing a teacher to teach in two schools located at a distance of 200 kilometers. “The policy of transfer of teachers in Punjab will be changed on the lines of Delhi. With full transparency, the policy of teachers based on their own choice and posting near home will be implemented,” he said.
Through the fourth guarantee, Kejriwal said that teachers would not be burdened with non-teaching work. Through the fifth guarantee, he announced to fill all the vacant posts of the teachers. With the sixth guarantee, he promised to send teachers abroad for training. “Teachers of Delhi have been trained in modern teaching methods in Canada, USA and England, along with the management institutes of the country. Similar training will be imparted to the teachers of Punjab,” he said. Seventh guarantee was about giving timely promotion to teachers. The eighth guarantee was to provide a cashless medical facility to all teachers and their families.
ACB Raid continued after two days on BDA offices in Bengaluru unearthed large scale irregularities
Parmesh Jain
The raid on BDA offices across the city carried by ACB officials on Friday continued even on Tuesday as the sleuths searched five offices situated across the city and unearthed large scale irregularities.
Over 100 officials formed into several teams carried out the search operation,in the offices including East BDA office, RT Nagar,Vijayanagar, HSR Layout and Banashankari offices and found massive irregularities which caused huge loss to the state exchequer.
According to the officials, in the land acquisition section,the officials and staff have allegedly created fake documents to facilitate rewarding compensation to non deserving persons.
There were huge irregularities while sanctioning CA sites which had been granted in HSR and HBCS layouts were misused.
Despite having the knowledge about the irregularities,despite having information,neither the officials nor the staff have initiated any action against the persons or organizations for violations.
The location of the sites allocated to the beneficiaries have been changed illegally to give them sites in different locations.
Big dimension sites have not been alloted for personal gain and the officials and staff allegedly allowed private parties to encroach to build sheds illegally on these sites.This has caused huge loss to the state exchequer,the probe revealed.
Sites alloted to the land owners after land acquisition process has been granted to the actual beneficiaries,and the officials alloted such sites to others.
corner sites have also been allotted illegally instead of auctioning them as per the rules there are no proper records maintained.
In Kempegowda layout land acquisition compensation has been granted to third parties instead of actual owners.
The search continued at these offices and many persons have filed a complaint to ACB even on Tuesday.The ACB has requested people who have grievances or complaints can approach the ACB.
The ACB officials are probing further to ascertain who are the officials involved in the irregularities says a release by ACB.
BBMP Administrator, Rakesh Singh directed all officials to take precautionary measures when the city is hit with rains and flooding
Parmesh Jain
The BBMP Administrator and Additional Chief Secretary to the government of Karnataka Rakesh Singh, BBMP Chief Commissioner, Gaurav Gupta held a meeting with all zonal commissioners,Joint commissioners,Chief engineers of all zones and other officials were present and directed officials to take precautionary measures during the rains in the city and control the flooding.
In the meeting held to discuss the damages due to the incessant rainfall in the city,he said,that in the city precautionary measures should be taken and see to it that no damages occur.In this direction,all officials were directed to work in tandem,he said.
During the rainy season,in the Kaluves,Drains on either sides of the road and in the shoulder drains all the waste should be cleaned and ensure that water flows smoothly.
Due to the digging of the roads,the officials were directed to ensure no mud flows into the drains or the Kaluves and clear it before any mishaps happen.
In the Palike limits,BESCOM,BWSSB should take necessary permissions from the Palike if they have to compulsorily dig the road and after digging,immediately it should be repaired and closed.
After the repair,the Palike officials should assess the spot.In all the wards,on priority basis the work should be taken up,said the administrator to respective zonal engineers who have taken up projects and inspect the same.
Chief Commissioner,Gaurav Gupta said,that during the rainy season,no damages should occur in the roads.
And to ensure no water clogging on the roads and the drains on either sides of the road and shoulder drains should be cleaned and ensure smooth flow of water,he instructed the officials.
In the respective zones,the ward engineers who have taken up projects should ensure that the repair and completion of work is done and inspect the same time to time.
The Bescom and BWSSB shouldn’t dig the road without any permissions from the Palike and do the work unnecessarily.
And if any departments violate,immediate action to be taken against them.Along with that,if the damage is done,the respective departments should take up the repair work and complete it, he said.
After the rain stops in the city,in all zones immediately the road work and filling of potholes to be taken,Also, with the roads which are damaged immediate repair work should be taken. The road repair work should be done in a quality manner, he said.
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