Archives for 2021

NEW DELHI: India’s Covid tally rose to 3,44,66,598 on Wednesday with 10,197 fresh cases, while the active cases have declined to 1,28,555, the lowest in 527 days, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 40 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 143 consecutive days now.

The active cases have declined to 1,28,555 comprising 0.37 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.28 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the Health Ministry said.

A decrease of 2,238 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.82 per cent.

It has been less than 2 per cent for the last 44 days.

The weekly positivity rate was also recorded at 0.96 per cent.

It has been below 2 per cent for the last 54 days, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,38,73,890, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.35 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 113.68 crore.

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 had crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut has once again sparked controversy with her thoughts on India’s battle for independence against British rule.

She stood by her statement on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, and advised people to choose their heroes wisely.

Taking to her Instagram Stories, Kangana shared an old newspaper article and wrote, “Either you are a Gandhi fan or Netaji supporter. You can’t be both, choose and decide.”

The newspaper had an old article from the 1940s with the headline, ‘Gandhi, others had agreed to hand over Netaji’.

In her next IG Story, Kangana, who is known for her controversial remarks, said that freedom fighters were “handed over” to the British by those “who had no courage” to fight oppression but were “power-hungry” and “cunning”.

Taking a dig at Mahatma Gandhi, she added, “Those are the ones who taught us, if someone slaps you offer another cheek for one more slap and that is how you will get aazadi. That’s not how one gets aazadi, one can only get bheekh like that. Choose your heroes wisely.”

Kangana further claimed that Gandhi “never supported” Bhagat Singh or Subhas Chandra Bose.

“So you need to choose who you support because just placing them all in one box of your memory and every year wishing them all on their birth anniversaries is not enough. In fact, it is not just dumb, it is highly irresponsible and superficial. One must know their history and their heroes,” the actor added.

Her recent comments regarding India’s independence struggle has drawn flak from several politicians and others. Many have even demanded that the Centre take back Kangana’s Padma Shri honour for insulting the country’s independence battle.

Kangana had received the prestigious award from President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony hosted at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the capital on November 8. 

BENGALURU: Leader of he Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Tuesday called upon the Muslim community to put up a united front and back the Congress in a bid to stop the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre, which he claimed, has been posing a threat to the Constitution.

Addressing the gathering at an event where Abdul Jabbar took charge as the KPCC Minority Cell president at Palace Grounds, Kharge stated, “Modi, who came to power twice, has destroyed the country. If this government is voted to power again, they will change the Constitution. The minorities must unite to defeat him and protect the Constitution. We will fight it out and defeat them.” 

While appreciating the community for standing by the Congress, KPCC president D K Shivakumar told the youth to be aware of the BJP removing their names from the electoral list. “I will set up a committee in this regard. You need not worry about the remarks against the community, as we are with you,” he said.
Meanwhile, the AICC Minority Wing president Imran Pratapgarhi alleged that the BJP had continued with its design of dividing society on communal lines.

NEW DELHI: The Central government on Wednesday expressed its unwillingness before the Supreme Court to ask its employees to work from home and instead it has advised its employees in the national capital to resort to carpooling to reduce the number of vehicles used by them for commuting.

The Centre in its affidavit point outs directives issued by the Commission for air quality management for Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas that included a ban on entry of trucks in Delhi till November 21 except trucks carrying essential commodities, closure of thermal plants, ban on construction and demolition activities, deployed anti-smog guns and water sprinklers etc.

The Central Government has also considered the possibility of functioning under online mode i.e. “work from home”.

In this regard, it is submitted that in the recent past, several governmental functions were impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic for substantially a long period of time which entailed pan India ramifications.

The Central Government thus considered the number of vehicles used for Central Government business in NCR and after finding that the said number is was not very significant, the Central Government decided that in view of the recent normalization of the functioning of Central Government offices post COVID-19 pandemic, the advantage of not passing work from home direction would outweigh the advantages which would be gained from work from home directions which would be limited to only less number of Central Government vehicles on road.

Instead, the Department of Personnel and Training Government of India has issued an advisory for Central Government officers and staff for pooling and sharing of vehicles to the maximum extent possible so that number of Central Government vehicles plying for commuting of officers and staff are reduced substantially.

Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court directed the Central government to call for an “emergency meeting” on November 16 with Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh and sought an action plan to curb the air pollution in Delhi-NCR.

The apex court asked the Centre about drastic steps which are scientifically proven and are taken to bring down pollution.

As per Centre’s affidavit, 75 per cent of the pollution according to scientific study is due to industries, heavy vehicular traffic and dust, thus it’s not stubble burning and these three factors have to be reduced, observed the Bench.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s Air quality continues to be in the ‘very poor’ category for the fourth consecutive day today, as per the System of Air Quality & Weather Forecasting & Research (SAFAR).

However, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) reduced from 396 from Tuesday to 379 today.

The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and adjoining Areas (CAQM) on Tuesday also issued directions like a ban on construction work, shutting of public schools, work from home, among other measures to control air pollution in the region.

The commission has also directed five states to submit a compliance report before November 22 to the commission and directions will be closely monitored by Chief Secretary of NCR states, GNCTD on a regular basis, said the official release.

HYDERABAD: A BJP MLA from Telangana on Monday wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking a ban on Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s book which has stoked a controversy over the former Union Minister allegedly comparing ‘Hindutva’ with jihadi organisations.

In a letter addressed to Shah, Singh, floor leader of BJP in the state Legislative Assembly, said Hindu Dharma is all-embracing, overarching and wishes for the welfare of the universe.

In its verdict related to ‘Hindutva’, the Supreme Court had stated it is a lifestyle with high thinking and ideal living, he said.

“Even then, only to defame Hindus and create misconceptions about ‘Hindutva’ and ‘Hindu-phobia’, Congress leader Salman Khurshid has compared ‘Hindutva’ with jihadi organisations like the ‘Islamic State’ and ‘Boko Haram’ in his book titled ‘Sunrise over Ayodhya: Nationhood in our times’,” he said.

Thus, Khurshid has insulted all Hindus, he alleged.

Hitting out at Congress, he said the party has always been creating a false impression about ‘Hindutva’.

He claimed Khurshid and Congress leaders were also spreading false information about Hindus staying all over the world, thus endangering their life.

It is a crime under law to insult a large community of people by accusing them of being terrorists, misusing the freedom to think and write which are available in the country, he claimed, demanding that the government took immediate action to stop such things.

He demanded that a ban should be immediately imposed on Salman Khurshid’s book for its anti-Hindu content.

He said if ‘Satanic Verses’, by Salman Rushdie, could be banned in the country, then Khurshid’s book also could face a similar action.

The BJP leader also also sought legal action against Khurshid for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of Hindus.

Apart from the BJP, Khurshid had faced criticism from his own party leader and former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad for comparing Hindutva with terror groups.

Incidentally, Khurshid’s house in Uttarakhand’s Nainital was vandalised on Monday amid the row over the book.

KOLKATA: Amid joy among pupils and teachers and trepidation among a section of parents, schools in West Bengal reopened on Tuesday for students of classes 9-12 after shutting doors for physical classes for nearly 20 months owing to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Students queued up at school gates across West Bengal since morning as per the schedule announced by the state government for holding classes in different timings for secondary and higher secondary sections.

This segregation was undertaken to minimise mingling to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Teachers and staffers welcomed the boys and girls with hand sanitiser and thermal guns to check their temperature and advised them to wear masks at all times throughout the school hours.

Basu has said that no student would be forced to attend physical classes and it is up to them and their parents to take a call on this.

Some parents, though happy over the reopening of schools for physical classes, expressed apprehension whether their wards will adhere to the guidelines for COVID safety since the students will be seeing each other and sitting in classrooms together after a very long time.

Educational institutions were closed for physical classes in March, 2020 after the central government announced a countrywide COVID-induced lockdown.

Though the lockdown was later lifted, schools and colleges continued to remain closed in the state owing to the pandemic situation.

Colleges and universities also opened their gates to students on Tuesday, although authorities of some of these institutions have said that different days will be scheduled for various faculties to reduce crowding and mingling on campuses.

“I am thrilled to be back in school after such a long time, interacting online can never be as good as talking to friends and teachers face to face,” said Sohini Mukherjee, student of a private school in south Kolkata.

As a government school teacher in north Kolkata put it, “It feels so good that the children will be back among us in the school; in institutions like ours, online can never be an equal alternative to face-to-face interaction between students and teachers.”

Students have been asked not to share their tiffin and to adhere to social distancing norms.

BENGALURU: All districts in Karnataka, except Bengaluru Urban, have reported zero Covid-19 deaths for second consecutive day on Sunday with the state capital reporting three deaths on Saturday and two on Sunday — the latter being the lowest number of deaths in daily figures.  Although the daily deaths have remained in single digits consecutively since November 1, Karnataka’s mortality rate has remained constant at 1.27 per cent since October 4. The Health Department is aiming to bring it down to below 1 per cent, although that has remained evasive.

Twenty-nine of the 30 districts of the state reporting zero deaths, and deaths remaining in single digits, are an indicator to the Covid-19 pandemic being on the decline despite the feared surges that had been expected due to the festive season,  Health Department officials claimed. The low figures, and the improving situation is also despite the State Government lifting all curbs that had been earlier imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19 infection among the population.

Bengaluru also saw its recovery rate climbing marginally to 98.17 per cent on Sunday after it had slightly dipped, although the city had touched a record high recovery rate of 98.19 per cent on November 6 and retained that level till the next day after which it started dipping marginally. Statewide, the recovery rate has remained at 98.45 per cent since November 5, and has remained the highest on record through both the pandemic waves.  The active cases (the patients currently infected) in the state, too, went below the 8,000-mark on Sunday and stood at 7,997. However, the lowest number of active cases in the second wave has been 7,955 on November 9, after which it rose to above the 8,000-mark until Sunday.