Saturday, 05 October 2024
Saturday, 05 October 2024
Days after it faced nationwide anti-government protests against its stringent zero-Covid policy, China in a major shift of its coronavirus response policies has announced that it will scrap quarantine for international travellers from January 8 as it reopens its borders and comes out of international isolation after nearly three years.
The National Health Commission (NHC) on Monday announced that COVID-19 management will be downgraded from Class A to B from next month, in the same category as less-severe diseases, such as Dengue fever.
Many hospitals across the country held mock drills on Tuesday to check preparedness of health facilities to deal with any spurt in COVID-19 cases, with Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya saying it was important to gauge operational readiness of equipment and human resources.
Mandaviya oversaw the drill at the Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital here, while health ministers reviewed the drill in their respective states.
The Maharashtra legislature on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution to "legally pursue" inclusion of 865 Marathi-speaking villages in Karnataka into the western state, amid the raging boundary dispute between the two states.
The resolution moved by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in both Houses of the Maharashtra legislature said the Karnataka legislature had passed a resolution on the issue to purposely fuel the border row and condemned the southern state's stand.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the latter's official residence in New Delhi, an official source said.
The Chief Minister's Office shared photographs of the meeting which is being held in the wake of farmers and residents of areas close to forested parts of the southern state protesting against implementation of the one-kilometre eco-sensitive zones (ESZ) in those places.
A severe hailstorm hit several places in Dibrugarh district in Assam, damaging over 500 houses across villages, officials said on Tuesday.
The Regional Meteorological Centre in Guwahati has issued a warning that thunderstorms and lightning with hail are very likely to occur at isolated places over Assam and other states in the northeastern region during the next 24 hours.
At least 20 Rohingya have died at sea in recent weeks, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday, as boats carrying hundreds of the persecuted Muslims landed in Indonesia while others were believed to be adrift in the Indian Ocean.
A boat washed ashore in Indonesia's Aceh province on Monday carrying 174 Rohingya, most of them dehydrated, fatigued and in need of urgent medical care after weeks at sea, local disaster agency officials said.
Bharat Biotech International Limited on Tuesday said its COVID-19 intranasal vaccine iNCOVACC, which is now available on CoWIN portal, is priced at Rs 800 (excluding GST) for private markets and Rs 325 (excluding GST) for government supplies.
A press release from the vaccine maker said the jab will be rolled out in the fourth week of January, 2023.
The BJP on Tuesday decided to field its Shalimar Bagh councillor Rekha Gupta as its Delhi Mayor candidate to challenge AAP's Shelly Oberoi in the January 6 elections.
The BJP has also named Kamal Bagri as deputy mayor candidate as well as Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Gajendra Daral and Pankaj Luthra for standing committee member posts, said Delhi BJP media cell head Harish Khurana. All the party candidates will later on the day file their nominations.
Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid has likened Rahul Gandhi to Lord Ram and described him as "superhuman" and a "yogi doing tapasya" as he lauded the former party chief for his Bharat Jodo Yatra, evoking sharp criticism from the BJP.
Slamming the opposition party leaders for their show of "sycophancy", the BJP said comparing a person out on bail in a corruption case, a reference to the National Herald probe, to a God worshipped by so many people not only hurts the feelings of Hindus but also the entire society.
Star Indian shuttler HS Prannoy regained his career-best number eight position in the latest BWF world rankings issued on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old from Kerala, who has been in good form this year, had achieved the number eight ranking in 2018 for the first time before slipping to 34 in 2019.
