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COVID-19 India Update 16,488 new cases, 113 deaths

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NEW DELHI: India registered a single-day spike of over 16,000 COVID-19 cases for the third day in a row on Saturday, pushing the infection tally to 1,10,79,979, while the recoveries surged to 1,07,63,451, according to Union Health Ministry data.

A total of 16,488 novel coronavirus cases were reported in a day, while the death toll rose to 1,56,938 with 113 new fatalities, showed the data updated at 8 am on Saturday.

The active case count has further increased to 1,59,590, which comprises 1.44 per cent of the total infections, the data stated.

The number of recoveries reached 1,07,63,451, which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.14 per cent and the case fatality rate stands at 1.42 per cent.

A total of 16,577 new COVID-19 cases were reported in India on Friday, while 16,738 fresh infections were registered in the country on Thursday.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7; 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 one crore on December 19.

The 113 new fatalities include 48 from Maharashtra, 15 from Punjab and 14 from Kerala.

The death toll from the pandemic stands at 52,041 in Maharashtra, 12,488 in Tamil Nadu, 12,320 in Karnataka, 10,906 in Delhi, 10,263 in West Bengal, 8,725 in Uttar Pradesh and 7,169 in Andhra Pradesh.

For the first time, a coronavirus-linked death has been reported in Lakshadweep.

The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths were caused due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),” the ministry said on its website, adding state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

The Axar-Ashwin show: India hammer England in day-night Test inside two days, lead series 2-1

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Indian team celebrates the dismissal of England's Joe Root on the second day. (Photo | PTI)

AHMEDABAD: Left-arm spinner Axar Patel created an illusion of turn with 11 straighter deliveries that put India on the brink of the World Test Championship final with a 10-wicket demolition of England inside two days in the day-night third Test here on Thursday.

In only his second Test, Patel (15-0-32-5), with a match haul of 11/70, relentlessly hit the good length area and hoodwinked England batsmen, who played for turn only to find that there was none on offer from him.

The result was their lowest total against India — 81 all out in 30.4 overs leaving the hosts with a target of 49 which they achieved with minimum fuss taking a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.

At the other end, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (15-3-48-4) was an ideal foil, becoming the fourth Indian bowler and second fastest in the world to complete a commendable milestone of 400 Test wickets with the dismissal of Jofra Archer.

Incidentally, after Afghanistan’s debut Test in 2018 in Bengaluru, this was the second time that India won a Test match, well inside two days.

This was after England skipper Joe Root’s fabulous career-best spell of 6.2-3-8-5 resulted in India’s dramatic collapse from 114 for 3 to 145 all out.

India lost as many as seven wickets for only 31 runs after looking solid at 114 for 3 at one stage in the game but England lost all 10 in an entire session in which no pacer was seen in action.

Ironically, it was the non-turning deliveries from Patel that had the England’s rank and file pressing the panic button as they pre-empted away turn every time.

Whether it was Zak Crawley, Jonny Bairstow or skipper Root, everyone lost the mind-game as Ashwin also joined the fun with records tumbling one after another.

When Patel sent back Ben Foakes, he became the first spinner to get 11 wickets in a pink ball Test match.

Following the two-day finish, ICC will be watching the Motera track with a ‘Hawk Eye’ even though the debate can continue for ages whether it was the turn that did the batsmen in or the lack of it.

The turn on offer was standard for any sub-continental track and no deliveries misbehaved.

However, all eyes will now be on ICC match referee Javagal Srinath from India and his assessment of the 22-yard strip.

A case in point would be the wickets taken by the two left-arm spinners — Patel and Jack Leach.

They bowled deliveries at a speed between 88 kmph and 92 kmph with a round arm action and pitched them on good length leaving batsmen in two minds — whether to play forward or go backwards.

While a bowler might end up getting the man of the match, Rohit Sharma’s 66 off 96 balls in the first essay was 24-carat gold given that other batsmen looked like sitting ducks.

But Indian batsmen save Rohit did have a torrid time during an afternoon session when Root and Leach made their lives miserable.

Ajinkya Rahane, who has never had much success against slow left arm bowlers, was rapped on the pads as Leach fired one in and it was not much of an issue for umpire Nitin Menon to adjudge him leg before.

Suddenly, a pitch, on which India looked way more comfortable, started to challenge and just like England in the second session on the first evening, the Indians wilted under pressure.

Rohit missed a sweep off Leach and Menon’s decision was retained as per Umpires’ Call.

Once Rohit was gone, it was time for Root to enter the scene and do a Michael Clarke (6/9 with his left arm orthodox in Mumbai 2004) as Rishabh Pant (1), Washington Sundar (0) and Patel (0) were accounted for in quick succession.

At one point, Root’s figures were 3-3-0-3 as he exploited the friendly conditions, repeatedly hitting the rough which helped him dismiss three left-handers in succession.

Root’s superb effort led to a cheeky tweet from former England captain Michael Vaughan, “Indian batsman can’t play off spinners from Yorkshire.

” He was referring to the green top strips that are always on offer at the Leeds.

Ravichandran Ashwin (17) and Ishant Sharma (10 not out), who hit his first ever six in his 100th Test appearance, scored a few which proved to be priceless in the end.

India need to win the fourth and final Test at the same venue from March 4 to seal the WTC final spot.

Brief Scores:

England: 112 and 81 in 30.4 overs (Ben Stokes 25, Axar Patel 5/32, Ravichandra Ashwin 4/48).

India: 145 all out and 49 for no loss in 7.4 overs (Rohit Sharma 25 not out, Shubman Gill 15 not out).

COVID-19: Weekly markets, mass weddings banned in Palghar

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PALGHAR: The authorities in Maharashtra’s Palghar have banned weekly markets and mass marriages across the district in view of the prevailing coronavirus situation in the state, an official said on Friday.

An order to this effect was issued by district collector Manik Gursal on Thursday, he said.

“Weekly markets are a regular feature in Palghar and other rural parts of Maharashtra.

However, in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases in the state, the collector ordered a ban on the weekly markets in the district from February 25 till further orders,” the official said.

The collector also banned mass weddings in the district to avoid large gatherings, he added.

“The administration has started cracking down on marriage halls to check compliance of COVID-19 guidelines and action is being taken against the violators,” the official said.

According to him, only 50 people can attend a wedding as per the guidelines.

The coronavirus tally in Palghar district has gone up to 45,838 with the addition of 45 cases on Thursday,while the death toll has reached 1,204, another official said.

FIR registered after vehicle with explosives found near Mukesh Ambani’s house

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MUMBAI: An FIR has been registered in connection with the seizure of a vehicle, which had explosive material inside it, from near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence in South Mumbai, police said on Friday.

The vehicle with gelatin sticks and apparently a fake number plate was found parked on Thursday on Carmichael Road near ‘Antilia’, the multi-storey residence of Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries.

The FIR has been registered at the Gamdevi Police Station against unidentified persons, a Mumbai Police spokesperson said.

Police have registered the case under Indian Penal Code sections 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance), 465 (punishment for forgery), 473 (making or possessing counterfeit seal), 506(2) (criminal intimidation, if threat be to cause death or grievous hurt), 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), the spokesperson said.

Section four of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, (punishment for attempt to cause explosion, or for making or keeping explosive with intent to endanger life or property) has also been included in the FIR, the official said, adding that the vehicle has been seized.

The registration number on the vehicle’s number plate was the same as that of an SUV in Ambani’s security detail, police had said.

A letter was also found inside the car, the spokesperson said, without revealing its contents.

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had tweeted, “Twenty gelatin explosives sticks were found in a Scorpio van in the vicinity of industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence in Mumbai. The Mumbai Crime Branch police is investigating the matter and the findings will be out soon.”

UK court’s judgement in Nirav Modi case significant, should serve as reminder to all fugitives: CBI

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In a statement, the CBI said the court order vindicated the painstaking probe carried out by the agency especially since Modi had raised various issues on the probe.

Nirav_Modi_UK_court

NEW DELHI: The CBI on Thursday termed the judgement of a UK court in the Nirav Modi’s case as “significant” and said it should serve as a reminder to all fugitives, who have indulged in large value frauds, that they cannot escape the law merely by changing their countries of residence.

In a statement, the CBI said the court order vindicated the painstaking probe carried out by the agency especially since Modi had raised various issues on admissibility of evidence, fairness of investigation, trial, prison conditions, availability of health facilities in India and extraneous consideration, with a view to divert attention from his own acts.

Earlier, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London accepted the contention of the Indian government to extradite Modi saying that the evidence against him “is prima facie sufficient to order his extradition to India to face the charges”.

The court also upheld the assurances of India and rejected the submissions of defence regarding human rights violations, fair trial and prison conditions and decided to send Modi’s case to the Secretary of the State, UK for final decision.

The “judgement is a significant achievement in the context of CBI’s efforts to curb corruption and is a reminder that fugitives, who have eluded the process of law after commission of large value frauds, cannot consider themselves above the process merely because they have changed jurisdictions”, the CBI said.

It said the agency “gracefully acknowledges the painstaking and continuous efforts made by the counsels of Crown Prosecution service in forcefully presenting India’s case and also the efforts of various government agencies, especially officers of High Commission of India in London, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, in coordinating the extradition trial, timely submission of evidences and assurances and prompt follow up of the case at all stages”.

The CBI had registered the case on January 31, 2018 against the partner of three private firms and others including then officials of Punjab National Bank on a complaint from Punjab National Bank on the allegations that the accused had hatched a criminal conspiracy amongst themselves to defraud the Punjab National Bank to the tune of Rs 6,498 crore (approx) by fraudulently issuing Letters of Undertaking.

During investigation, the CBI conducted searches at 42 premises and arrested 15 people.

Several witnesses were examined and voluminous documents were collected.

Investigation showed that the accused officials of the Punjab National Bank, in conspiracy with said owners of the firms and others, had fraudulently issued a large number of LoUs to overseas banks for obtaining Buyer’s credit in favour of said three firms without any sanctioned limit or cash margin and without making entries in the CBS system of the bank.

The first charge sheet was filed on May 14, 2018 against 25 accused including Modi.

The second charge sheet was filed on December 20, 2019 against 30 accused people including the 25 chargesheeted earlier in respect of 150 outstanding fraudulent LoUs which had resulted in wrongful loss of Rs 6805 crore (approx.) to PNB.

It was also alleged that Modi in conspiracy with other accused had siphoned off the funds obtained as buyer’s credit through dummy companies established by him in Dubai and Hong Kong which were shown as exporter of Pearls to three Nirav Modi firms and importer of Pearl studded jewellery from his firms.

Modi had escaped from India on January 1, 2018 before registration of case in CBI.

A non bailable arrest warrant was issued by the trial court against him followed by a red corner notice in June 2018 by Interpol.

He was arrested by the UK Police in London in March 2019 and his repeated applications for bail, were rejected by the Westminster Magistrates’ Court and High Court, London.

After second charge sheet was filed, additional evidences were submitted to the Court in London for the total fraud amount of Rs.6805 crore (approx.).

In addition, second extradition request for the offences of intimidating the witnesses and destruction of evidence was also submitted to the UK government.

The extradition proceedings against Modi were initiated before the Westminster Magistrate Court in London.

In extradition requests, CBI submitted voluminous oral and documentary evidence to substantiate the charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, criminal breach of trust, criminal misconduct by public servants, destruction of evidence and criminal intimidation of evidence.

The hearing of first extradition request was held in Westminster Magistrates’ Court, London during May, 2020 and the hearing of second extradition request was held during September, 2020.

The video of a barrack of Arthur Road Prison, Mumbai, was submitted by India which was also played in the court.

The hearing on admissibility of the evidence was held on November 3, 2020 and the final submissions by the both sides were made before the court in January, 2021.

Election Commission may announce dates of assembly polls in TN, Assam, Kerala, Bengal at 4.30 PM

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The terms of the legislative assemblies of the four states is coming to an end in May and June.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora arrives for a press conference

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry on Friday afternoon.

The poll panel has convened a press conference at 4.30 pm.

The terms of the legislative assemblies of the four states is coming to an end in May and June.

In Puducherry, President’s Rule has been imposed and the assembly kept under suspended animation after the V Narayanasamy-led Congress government resigned earlier this week ahead of a vote of confidence.

Covid-19 Update India registers highest daily rise in active Covid cases in three months

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As the active Covid-19 cases in India registered the highest jump in about three months on Thursday, the Cabinet secretary has scheduled a review meeting with seven states. 

A health worker collects a swab sample from a man to test for the Covid-19 coronavirus. (Photo| M K Ashok Kumar, EPS)

NEW DELHI:  As the active Covid-19 cases in India registered the highest jump in about three months on Thursday, the Cabinet secretary has scheduled a review meeting with seven states.  The country recorded 16,738 new cases in 24 hours and the active caseload stood at 1,51,708 on Friday morning, comprising 1.37 per cent of the total positive cases. “This is largely attributable to the upsurge in daily new cases in some states,” said the Union Health Ministry in a statement. 

Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh have recorded a rise in daily new cases, prompting top bureaucrat Rajiv Gauba to call for a meeting with the chief secretaries of the states to review the situation. These states have contributed 89.57 per cent of the new cases registered on Thursday.Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 8,807 and was followed by Kerala with 4,106 cases, while Punjab reported 558 new cases.

The Centre has already deputed high-level multi-disciplinary teams to Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and J&K to ascertain reasons for the surge and coordinate with the state health departments in Covid-19 control and containment measures.

The Centre has also directed states and UTs to increase testing in a focussed manner in the affected districts with the appropriate split of RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests and to also ensure that all symptomatic negatives of antigen tests are compulsorily tested via RT-PCR tests. “The positive persons are to be promptly isolated or hospitalised, all their close contacts be traced and also tested without delay,” said the ministry.

Maharashtra schools may close again after over 550 students test covid positive in two days

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MUMBAI:  The Maharashtra education department has asked the district authorities to take a call over shutting down schools from March 1 following a sudden rise in Covid cases among students. Schools and Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad said it was up to the local authorities to decide whether to keep schools open in view of Covid 19 cases in their areas. 

“In rural Maharashtra, primary schools were recently allowed to start classes. Since in the last few days Covid 19 cases are surging, the local authorities should take the call of shutting the schools keeping the safety of the students and teachers as top priority. Wherever the cases are rising, the authorities should disinfect those premises,” Gaikwad told the media.

At Latur’s MIDC boys’ hostel, 325 students were detected Covid positive on Wednesday, while 229 students from Washim district tested positive on Thursday. Many students and teachers are kept in isolation across the state.The rising Covid cases have also led the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government to curtail the Assembly budget session from March 1 to 10 against the earlier schedule of March 1 to 28. The state’s budget will be presented on March 8 by Finance Minister Ajit Pawar.

The opposition has criticised the government for cutting short the session. Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA Devendra Fadnavis alleged that the Covid situation was an excuse for the Uddhav Thackeray government to curtail the session as it was not interested in discussing public issues. The state continued to report over 8,000 cases for the second consecutive day, which pushed its overall infection count to 21,29,821. There were 8,702 cases on Thursday.

This figure was 8,807 on Wednesday. With 56 deaths reported during the day, the state’s fatality count went up to 51,993. A total of 3,744 patients were discharged during the day after recovery. The number of active cases is now 64,260, the official said. Since Wednesday, Mumbai, Akola, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik divisions have been witnessing a spike in single-day infection count. 

Mumbai city reported 1,145 cases on Thursday, which took its cumulative figure to 3,22,844. Five persons died due to the infection in the metropolis, which pushed the toll to 11,463. With 864 new cases, Nagpur ranked second in the state in terms of daily cases

Indian government tightens grip on social media content

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NEW DELHI:  The Centre on Thursday announced sweeping regulations for social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, online streaming or over-the-top (OTT) services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram to protect users’ interest and curb fake news and other harmful content.

The rules make social media firms responsible for the content on their platforms. They will have to deploy automated tools to remove objectionable data. In the case of a government or court order, they must take down the flagged item within 36 hours.

The regulations require messaging platforms to enable the ‘traceability’ feature so that senders of mischievous messages could be identified. But this might compromise end-to-end encryption.  If a social media platform decides on its own to remove a user’s content, it must inform the customer in advance and state the reasons. 

Notably, digital news media publishers will now have to follow Press Council of India’s norms of journalistic conduct and adhere to the programme code under the Cable TV Networks Regulation Act. This, according to the government, will provide a level-playing field to all media platforms. 

The new laws, called Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, came into effect from Thursday.

However, social media platforms will be given an additional window of three months to come under the purview of the new regime. 

According to the government, these rules will establish a “soft-touch self-regulatory architecture and a Code of Ethics and three-tier grievance redressal mechanism” for news publishers, OTT platforms and digital media.

The grievance redressal mechanism stipulates that publishers must address complaints within 15 days. 
The self-regulating body will be led by a retired judge or an eminent person and have not more than six members. However, cyber experts are not impressed.

“The new rules can be interpreted to target websites/platforms. It may hamper right to free speech and expression,” said cyber lawyer Ankur Raheja.

  • Social media platforms must remove content depicting nudity, sexual acts or morphed images of women within 24 hours of receipt of complaints
  • A grievance officer should be appointed to deal with complaints
  • If a social media platform removes any content on its own, it must explain the reason to the user, who will have the opportunity to contest it
  • Social media intermediaries to publish a monthly compliance report on complaints received, action taken, and content removed proactively
  • Code of Ethics for OTT platforms, online news and digital media entities
  • OTT platforms to self-classify content into five age-based categories – U (Universal), U/A 7+, U/A 13+, U/A 16+, and A (Adult) 
  • OTT platforms must deploy age verification mechanisms for A-rated content and implement parental locks for U/A 13+ or higher

SC rejects plea for extra chance in UPSC exam to those having exhausted last attempt amid pandemic

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SC rejects plea for extra chance in UPSC exam to those having exhausted last attempt amid pandemic

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea seeking an extra chance to appear in the UPSC civil services exam by aspirants who have exhausted their last attempt last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A bench headed by Justices AM Khanwilkar said that it is dismissing the plea filed by a civil services aspirant for an extra chance to the candidates who had exhausted their last attempt in examination held in October, 2020 citing difficulties faced in preparations due to the pandemic.

On February 9, the Centre had told the top court that it is against granting one-time relaxation on age limit to UPSC civil service aspirants, including those who had exhausted their last attempt in 2020 exam amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as it will be discriminatory to other candidates.

It had said that the candidates who gave their last attempt examination in October 2020 would get one more chance this year provided they are not age barred.

The Centre was initially not willing to concede to giving an extra chance but it was later done at the suggestion of the bench.

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