Archives for 2021

Chennai: Makkal Needhi Maiam president and actor Kamal Haasan on Monday said he has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been admitted to a hospital.

“I had mild cough following my return from the USA. When I tested, the coronavirus infection was confirmed. I have isolated myself in hospital. Everyone should be on guard realising that the COVID-19 spread has not faded,” Haasan said in a tweet.

During his visit, Haasan had on November 15 held discussions at Chicago with his North America-based supporters who apprised him on their initiatives so far and future plans. The MNM chief congratulated them for their support to their motherland, despite being in a foreign country for work. Haasan returned home days ago.

The MNM chief, ahead of his foreign trip, had also visited flood-hit areas here and distributed welfare assistance on behalf of his party to the affected people.

On November 20, Haasan, welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on withdrawal of farm laws, had said MNM’s staunch opposition to such legislations and his party leaders’ protest against it in Delhi were ‘historic moments of pride.’

The 67-year old actor-politician, who celebrated his birthday on November 7, continues to be involved in film making and television shows as well. A Lokesh Kanagaraj directorial, the upcoming action flick ‘Vikram’ and the long awaited ‘Indian-2’ are the movies he is currently engaged with. Also, he is the ‘Bigg Boss’ show (Tamil season 5) host in Star Vijay television channel

Bengaluru: Karnataka logged 178 fresh COVID-19 cases and two deaths on Monday, taking the total number of infections to 29,93,777 and the toll to 38,177.

The day also saw 373 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 29,48,704, a health department bulletin said. Bengaluru Urban continued to top the list in number of cases with 112, as the city saw 300 discharges and one death.

Total number of active cases in the state was 6,867, the bulletin said.

While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.31 per cent, the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was 1.12 per cent.

Out of two deaths reported on Monday, one each were from Bengaluru Urban and Dharwad.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 112, Dakshina Kannada 16, Mysuru 14, Kodagu 7, followed by others.

Bengaluru Urban district topped the list of positive cases, with a total of 12,55,166, followed by Mysuru 1,79,578 and Tumakuru 1,21,020.

Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban was on top with 12,33,232, followed by Mysuru 1,76,953 and Tumakuru 1,19,754.

Cumulatively a total of 5,27,30,403 samples have been tested in the state so far, out of which 55,699 were on Monday alone.

New Delhi: Hearing a plea of a 17-year-old Dalit boy, the Supreme Court of India on Monday ordered the creation of a seat in the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. According to the plea, the student was unable to pay his ‘seat acceptance fees’ on time due to technical issues after he had qualified for the IIT exam.

A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna exercised its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to direct the Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JOSAA) to create a seat for the student. The Court opined that it will be a great travesty of justice if the boy is denied admission for no fault of his.

This court has before it a young Dalit student who is on the verge of losing a valued seat which has been allocated in IIT Bombay. It would be a great travesty of justice if the young Dalit student is denied admission for non-payment of fees to IIT Bombay after having tried to do so. Hence we are of the view that it’s a fit case of article 142 in interim stage,” the Court said.It also clarified that the seat should be allocated to the student without disturbing the admission process of any other student.

The order was passed after the JOSAA informed the Court today that all seats have been filled and no vacant seats are available.

“Don’t take this wooden approach. Please understand the realities of social life, the issues on ground. The student did not have money, then sister had to transfer money and then there were technical issues. The boy cleared the exam. If it was his negligence then we would not have asked you,” the Court observed.

The petitioner had cleared the Joint Entrance Examination 2021 and secured All India Rank (CRL) 25,894 and SC (Scheduled Caste) Rank 864.

He got a seat allocated at IIT Bombay in Civil Engineering branch on October 27.

As per the petition, after the allocation of seat, the petitioner logged into the Joint Seat Allocation Authority’s (JOSAA) website on October 29 and uploaded the requisite documents. However, the petitioner fell short of money to pay the seat acceptance fee.

His sister then transferred the money to him on October 30 and the petitioner tried to make payment about 10 to 12 times but failed to do so.

“Petitioner was unable to make the payment due to a technical error at the end of his card issuing bank, viz., State Bank of India,” the plea said.

The next day, i.e October 31, the petitioner attempted to make payment from a cyber cafe but that too did not bear fruition. He was thus unable to make payment of fees within the prescribed deadline.

The petitioner attempted to call the respondents and also addressed emails to them but did not receive any response.

Later, he physically went to IIT Kharagpur and requested them to accept an alternative mode of payment and allot him a seat but they expressed their inability.

The petitioner then moved the Bombay High Court for relief but the court took a technical view and dismissed his writ petition prompting the present appeal before the top court.

Muzaffarnagar (UP)(PTI): The owner of an advertising agency has been booked here for allegedly using pictures of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in its hoardings, police said on Monday.

According to Station House Officer (SHO) Brijender Kumar Rawat, a case against the agency’s owner, Satay Parkash Reshu, was registered on Sunday under section 505(1) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on a complaint by district Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Surender Singh.

According to an FIR lodged with the police after Singh’s complaint, it was alleged that the agency’s owner had been using pictures of Bhagwat in its hoardings for advertisement.

The complainant had asked him to remove the pictures from its hoardings but he failed to do so, they said.

An investigation into the case is underway, police said.

New Delhi: Strong surface winds brought some relief from high pollution levels in Delhi and improved visibility on Monday morning, officials said.

The air quality index of the city stood at 307, which falls in the very poor category. However, it was down from 349 the previous day. The air quality index of Gurugram, Greater Noida, Faridabad and Noida stood at 318, 213, 326 and 268 respectively.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai will on Monday hold a high-level meeting to review the curbs imposed to contain high pollution levels in the city.

Winds gusting up to 20 kmph swept through the city, dispersing pollutants partially and improving visibility. The minimum temperature on Monday was recorded at 12 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year.

The relative humidity at 8.30 am was recorded at 78 per cent. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 27 degrees Celsius.

Pathankot (Punjab): A grenade blast occurred outside a gate of the Army cantonment here, prompting authorities to sound an alert, police said on Monday.

However, no casualty was reported in the blast that took place late on Sunday night in front of Triveni gate of the cantonment, they said.

Police said that some unidentified motorcyclists lobbed the grenade in front of the military area, and they were verifying CCTV images.

After the blast, an alert has been sounded in the area, they said.