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11:08 (IST) Coronavirus News LATEST Updates 3 new COVID-19 cases push Andamans tally to 4,982 The Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported three new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally in the union territory to 4,982, a health department official told PTI on Sunday. The three new cases were detected during contact tracing, he said. The union territory now has 25 active COVID-19 cases, while 4,895 people have recovered from the disease so far, the official said. The toll in the archipelago remained at 62 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours, he added. The union territory administration has so far tested 2,02,517 samples for COVID-19 and the test positivity rate is 2.46 percent, the official added. 10:52 (IST) Coronavirus News LATEST Updates Norway raises concern over vaccine jabs as 29 elderly patients die after taking shot Norway on Saturday expressed concern about the safety of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine on elderly people with serious und

New Delhi: India's COVID-19 caseload climbed to 1,05,57,985 on Sunday with 15,144 fresh infections while recoveries surged to 1,01,96,885, pushing the national recovery rate to 96.58 percent, according to the Union health ministry data. The death toll increased to 1,52,274 with 181 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. There are 2,08,826 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which constitute 1.98 percent of the total caseload, the data showed. The COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.44 percent, it said. from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/2XPCDh8 Press Trust of India

09:59 (IST) Coronavirus News LATEST Updates 79.39% vaccination in Thane, 64.25 % in Palghar on Day 1 A total of 1,829 people out of 2,300 registered beneficiaries have got the COVID-19 vaccine doses on the first day of the inoculation drive in Thane, as per revised figures issued by the district administration, reports PTI. District Medical Officer Manish Renge in a release late Saturday night said 79.39 per cent of the registered beneficiaries got vaccine shots on the inaugural day. Earlier, Renge had said 1,740 (75.63 percent) out of the 2,300 registered people got the doses on Saturday. The vaccination was carried out at 23 centres, he said. 09:57 (IST) Coronavirus News LATEST Updates No case of post-vaccination hospitalisation reported on day 1, says Health minister A total of 1,91,181 beneficiaries were vaccinated on the first day of India’s coronavirus vaccination drive as the country kickstarted its inoculation campaign with two locally manufactured shots, the Union

Thane: A special court in Maharashtra's Thane district on Saturday granted bail to 89 accused in the Palghar mob lynching case, in which two sadhus and their driver were killed. District judge SB Bahalkar in his order granted bail to 89 accused and fixed the next date of hearing in the case to 15 February. Appearing for the accused, advocates Amrut Adhikari and Atul Patil submitted in the court that the applicants had no role to play in the attack and the police had arrested them on mere suspicion. The accused also questioned the validity of three FIRs registered for the same incident. A total of 201 persons have been arrested in the case, of which 75 main accused are in jail. Special public prosecutor Satish Maneshinde appeared for the prosecution, while advocate PN Ojha appeared for the family of the sadhus. On 16 April, 2020, a mob lynched two sadhus Chikne Maharaj Kalpavrukshagiri (70) and Sushilgiri Maharaj (35) - and their driver Nilesh Telgade (30) at Gadchinchale in

Mumbai: Partho Dasgupta, a former CEO of TV ratings agency BARC who was arrested in the Television Rating Points (TRP) rigging case, has been admitted to the ICU of a hospital here after his sugar level shot up, officials said on Saturday. His daughter took to Twitter to allege that he was tortured in prison, and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others to `save his life'. Dasgupta, 55, a diabetic, was rushed to the state-run JJ Hospital from the Taloja Central Prison in Navi Mumbai around midnight after his blood sugar levels shot up, a prison official said. He was admitted to the ICU and was on oxygen support, the official said. Dasgupta, former CEO of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) was arrested in the alleged TRP rigging scam by the crime branch of the Mumbai Police on 24 December last year. A Mumbai court had earlier this month rejected his bail plea, stating that he appeared to have played a vital role in the scam to rig TRP as per the police's

New Delhi: A group of 100 former civil servants wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday raising questions over transparency in the PM-CARES Fund. They said it is necessary that, for reasons of probity and adherence to standards of public accountability, the financial details of receipts and expenditures be made available in order to avoid doubts of wrongdoing. "We have been keenly following the ongoing debate about the Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations, or 'PM-CARES', — a fund created for the benefit of people affected by the COVID pandemic. Both the purpose for which it has been created as well as the way it has been administered have left a number of questions unanswered," they said in the letter. "It is essential that the position and stature of the Prime Minister are kept intact by ensuring total transparency in all dealings the Prime Minister is associated with," they said. The letter was signed by forme

Just about fifteen days short of a year since the first COVID-19 case was reported in India, the Centre rolled out the nationwide vaccination programme on Saturday. The Union health ministry said that 1.91 lakh healthcare and sanitary workers were vaccinated in 3,352 sites across the country on day one of the inoculation exercise. Briefing the press at the end of the first day, Additional Health Secretary M Agnani said that the programme had been a "success" as no cases of post-vaccination hospitalisation had been reported as of 7 pm on Saturday. In the presser, Agnani said that around 1.65 lakh people had been vaccinated with the help of 16,755 personnel. The states and UTs where both Covishield and Covaxin were administered were Assam (65 sessions), Bihar (301), Delhi (81), Haryana (77), Karnataka (242), Maharashtra (285), Odisha (161), Rajasthan (167) Tamil Nadu (160), Telangana (14) and Uttar Pradesh (317). Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who launched the programme on S

A farmer union requested the Supreme Court on Saturday to remove the remaining three members of the committee it had set up to resolve the impasse over the three contentious farm laws, and select people who can do the job "on the basis of mutual harmony". The Bhartiya Kisan Union Lokshakti said the principle of natural justice is going to be violated as those appointed to the four-member committee "have already supported these laws". Disband committee, start afresh, says Farmer Union tells SC The Bhartiya Kisan Union Lokshakti, in its reply filed through lawyer AP Singh, urged the top court "to remove all these three members from the committee and appoint those persons who make the report on the basis of mutual harmony...." "It is important to mention here with great regret that the principle of natural justice is going to be violated by making these persons as members of the committee.... how they will hear all farmers on equal parameters when th

Bharat Biotech, which has received a government purchase order for supply of 55 lakh doses of Covaxin, a COVID-19 vaccine, will pay compensation to recipients in case of any 'serious adverse' effects experienced after receiving the antidote. A consent form to be signed by the vaccine recipients said, "In case of any adverse events or serious adverse events, you will be provided medically recognised standard of care in the government designated and authorised centres and hospitals." "The compensation for serious adverse event will be paid by sponsor (BBIL) in case if the SAE is proven to be causally related to the vaccine," the form said. In phase 1 and 2 clinical trials, Covaxin has demonstrated the ability to produce antidotes against COVID-19. However the clinical efficacy of the vaccine is yet to be established and it is still being studied in phase 3 clinical trials. "Hence, it is important to appreciate that receiving the vaccine does not mean th

Bihar School Education Board has declared the result of the entrance exam held for admission to the Simultala Awasiya Vidyalaya (SAV). The result is for the preliminary exam. The main exam will be held on 30 January. According to a report in The Indian Express , the SAV prelims entrance test was held on 17 December. As per the report, as many as 600 boys and 600 girls appeared for the paper. They can check their results at the official website secondary.biharboardonline.com . The report adds that selected candidates can also download their admit card for the Main exam from the official website along with the result. Meanwhile, on the same day, BSEB is releasing the BSEB inter admit card 2020. As per a report in Hindustan Times , the SAV main exam will be held in two consecutive sessions. The first session will be held from 10 to 12.30pm and the second session will be held from 2 to 4.30pm. Candidates have to reach the exam centre at least 10 minutes before the commencement of exam.

Former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and senior advocate Vikas Singh on Saturday requested Chief Justice S A Bobde to constitute a bench to resolve the election stalemate of the professional body of lawyers. He said Dushyant Dave, who resigned from the post of SCBA president on Thursday, was to constitute the election committee in the first week of November last year as the term of the executive committee was ending on 13 December. "He delayed the decision by a month. Even after deciding on 4 December, he delayed communicating to the election committee by another week. When the EC had already decided to conduct the election virtually, there was no occasion for him to call an EC to ratify the election committee decision of appointing L," Singh said in a letter to the Registrar General of the Supreme Court. "If a hybrid mode (of election) was what they wanted, they should have decided on 4 December. Now asking the election committee to defer the

Electricity Service Commission, Uttar Pradesh Corporation Ltd., Lucknow has invited online applications from Indian nationals with essential eligibility qualification for direct recruitment to the Junior Engineer (Trainee) Civil. Candidates who are interested and are eligible can apply online from 3 February to 23 February. According to a report in The Times of India , candidates availing the facility of reservation under any category should clearly mention the category which is applicable. Under no circumstances will change of data be allowed following the successful submission of application form. As per the report, candidates who are selection will get remuneration as per the 7th Pay Commission, Pay Matrix Level-7 which is Rs 44,900. The report further adds that candidates must produce a certificate from the head of the institution from which he passed out or from a gazette officer in UP that he can read and write Hindi in Devnagri Script. However, the certification is not neces

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) MBA admit card 2021. The admit card has been released on the official website iift.nta.nic.in. According to a report by NDTV , students can access the IIFT 2021 admit card by logging in at the website and entering the login credentials. The login credentials include application number and date of birth. IIFT 2021 will be conducted on 24 January in centre-based online mode between 3 pm and 5 pm. Steps to download IIFT 2021 admit card: Step 1 : Candidates need to visit the official website iift.nta.nic.in. Step 2 : Once there they need to click on the tab that reads ‘Download IIFT 2021 admit card’. Step 3 : They need to then insert application number and dates of birth on login page. Step 4 : Once that is done, candidates need to submit and download IIFT MBA admit card. According to a report in The Times of India , candidates should download the admit card and bring it to the examination c

Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) on Friday released its UPPSC Calendar 2021 PDF on the official website uppsc.up.nic.in. As per the UPPSC website , the PCS Mains 2020 exam will be held on 21 January, and the ACF/RFO exam 2020 will be held on 13 February. ACF RCF Mains Exam 2021 will take place on 22 October, while 13 November will be State Agriculture Mains Exam 2020. Here are the major examination dates for UPPSC: -21 January: UPPSC PCS Combined State/Upper Subordinate Services Mains 2020 -13 February: ACF RCF Mains Exam 2020 -21 March: Medical Officer Screening Exam 2020 -17 April: Spokesperson (State Degree College) Screening Exam 2020 -23 May: Principal Class 2 -13 June: PCS Combined State/Upper Subordinate Services/RCF/ACF Prelims 2021 -20 June: Spokesperson (Male/Female) State Inter College Prelims 2020 -1 August: Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer Prelims 2021 -3 October: PCS Combined State/Upper Subordinate Services Mains 2021 -22 October: ACF RC

Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has on Saturday released the admit card for Class 12 board exams 2021 on its official website. As per a report in Hindustan Times , candidates who have registered for the examination will get their Bihar Board Class 12 admit card 2021 from the website seniorsecondary.biharboardonline.com. The link to download the admit card will be active till 31 January. The BSEB Class 12 annual exam will be conducted between 1 February and 13 February. According to a report in NDTV , school principals will have to sign the BSEB 2021 Class 12 exam admit cards and distribute them among the students who are due to appear in the BSEB intermediate exams. The exams will be held at designated BSEB centres across the state. The admit cards will have details of the students including BSEB application number, roll number and the BSEB Class 12 exam centre details. The BSEB admit card will also have details regarding COVID-19 precautions. In case of any error in the admi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched India's COVID-19 vaccination drive and asserted that the made-in-India vaccines being rolled out will ensure a "decisive victory" for the country over the coronavirus pandemic. Addressing the nation ahead of the launch, Modi reminded people that two doses of vaccine are very important and asked them to maintain wearing masks and social distancing even after receiving the jabs. During his speech, Modi turned emotional as he spoke of the disruption the pandemic caused to people's lives, isolating victims of the coronavirus and denying the dead traditional last rites. In a choked voice, the prime minister also referred to sacrifices made by healthcare and frontline workers, hundreds of whom lost their lives to the viral infection. He also urged the country to show patience during the vaccination drive as it had shown till now in fighting the pandemic. Normally, it takes years to make a vaccine but in such

New Delhi: Delhi recorded 295 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, the lowest in more than eight months, even as city Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the positivity rate has slipped to an "all-time low" of 0.44 percent. This is also the twelfth time that the daily incidences count stood below the 500-mark in January, and sixth consecutive day since January 10 when the figures have stood below the 400-mark. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal applauded people of Delhi in a tweet, "Well done Delhi! Delhi records the lowest number of Covid cases in the last 8 months. The positivity rate stands at an all-time low at 0.44%. With the resilience of the Delhiites, we are committed to fight and beat Corona." Jain also tweeted, "Lowest number of cases recorded since 9th of May 2020.Positivity rate in Delhi has been dropped to all time low of 0.44%. Wear Mask and follow social distancing to keep yourself and your family safe." The infection tally in the city sto

Coronavirus Vaccine India LATEST Updates : A day before a massive countrywide vaccination drive against coronavirus is set to commence, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the step is "probably the beginning of the end" of COVID-19. Speaking at the 146th India Meteorological Department (IMD) foundation day, he, however, cautioned that even if the vaccination drive is on, there should not be lowering of guard and people must follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. "Tomorrow is an important day...it is the last phase of the battle against coronavirus. I say, this is probably the beginning of the end of COVID now which is going to start tomorrow," Vardhan, who is also Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister, said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India's COVID-19 vaccination drive on 16 January via video conferencing. This will be the world's largest vaccination programme covering the entire length and breadth of the country

Panaji: Union AYUSH minister Shripad Naik is recovering well and his vital parameters are normal, Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) said on Saturday evening. Naik, injured seriously in a car accident, has been admitted at the state-run GMCH near since Monday. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Naik over phone. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, who is in Goa, also met Naik. In a medical bulletin, GMCH dean Dr Shivanand Bandekar said that the minister was recovering well. "All his vital parameters including blood pressure, pulse rate and oxygen saturation are within normal limits. He still continues to be on High Flow Nasal Cannula oxygenation system," Bandekar said. "(Reports of) Blood tests and urine tests conducted today are all within normal limits," he said. "Left elbow passive mobilization has been started today. Bed side sitting and lower limb mobilization have been done by physiotherapists," the bulletin said. Naik w

Patna: A heated exchange was witnessed on Friday between Bihar chief Minister Nitish Kumar and journalists when they nettled him over a high-profile murder case that rocked the state capital earlier this week. Kumar was talking to reporters after inaugurating the first phase of ' Atal Path ', a Rs 379.57 crore-worth elevated multiple lane road project in Patna. As the chief minister began to speak about the improvement in infrastructure since he assumed power a decade and a half ago, he was interrupted by journalists who insisted that the law and order situation has deteriorated, citing the example of a young official of a private airlines being gunned down outside his residence in the city Tuesday evening. "Please do not mix up the issues of development and crime," Kumar requested and then snapped when reporters persisted, and said, "Your projection will demoralise the state police which is doing its job. I had myself summoned the DGP and gave necessary dire

Mumbai:  NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday said the party will think of any action against Maharashtra minister Dhananjay Munde, facing a rape accusation , only after the truth comes out post police probe in the matter. Munde, the state social justice minister and NCP leader, has been accused of rape by a Mumbai-based woman, a charge he has strongly refuted and termed it as a blackmail attempt. Pawar told reporters that the NCP wants an ACP rank woman officer to be part of the police team that will probe the allegations against Munde. The former Union ministers comments came in the wake of NCP leaders holding a late Thursday night meeting to discuss the issue. At the meeting it was decided to let Munde continue in his post for now and take a call on his fate after the police investigation is completed. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Pawar had termed the allegations levelled by the woman as serious. On Thursday, BJP leader Krishna Hegde and Manish Dhuri of the MNS alleged th

The ninth round  of talks between the Centre and protesting farmers also ended inconclusively, with another round scheduled to be held on 19 January. Protesting farmer unions stuck to their demand for a complete repeal of the three contentious farm laws at their ninth round of talks with three central ministers, but the government asked them to be more flexible in their approach and expressed willingness for necessary amendments. Meanwhile, the Congress party shored up its attack against the Centre over the issue, with Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi leading protests in New Delhi, while state units of the parties also held demonstrations at various places. Farmers, Centre to meet again on 19 Jan Farmer leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan said told reporters after the meeting that the unions urged the government to repeal the three laws, but the Centre was unwilling to do so. "We decided to meet again on 19 January  at 12 pm," he said. Ugrahan said the union leaders also raised the i

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has extended the deadline for re-registration for January 2021 session till 31 January, as per an official notification. Candidates can do so on the official portal — onlinerr.ignou.ac.in. As per the official notification, one needs to register on the portal. To do so, candidates can click on the 'New Registration' button to proceed. IGNOU has asked candidates to provide correct mobile number and email-ID for the registration. In case one has already registered on the portal, they may use their username and password to login. As per the portal, in case the online payment made by the candidate does not get updated, they should not make the second payment immediately and wait for a day to check the payment status. In case one makes a payment twice for the same application, one of the payments shall be refunded. Here's how to register for IGNOU January 2021 session: Step 1: Candidates need to visit  onlinerr.ignou.ac.in

Panaji: Bowing to public pressure, the Goa government on Friday announced that the proposed IIT campus at Shel Melaulim village in Sattari taluka will be shifted to another part of the state. The project was met with severe opposition from locals, who staged a massive protest at the village, insisting that they will not part with their land for the campus. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant held a meeting with the sarpanches and Zilla Panchayat members from Sattari taluka at his official residence on Thursday evening, in presence of state health minister and Valpoi MLA Vishwajit Rane. Speaking to reporters, the chief minister said the state government has decided to shift the project out of Sattari due to the constant opposition from locals. "We respect the sentiments of people, which is why we have decided to shift the project out of Sattari," he said, adding that the government is yet to decide on an alternative site. The project was planned from the perspective of developm

New Delhi: In a tough message to China amid the Ladakh standoff, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane on Friday said no one should make any mistake of testing India's patience even as he asserted that a befitting response was given to the "conspiracy" of unilaterally changing the status quo along the northern frontier. Naravane also said that India is committed to resolve the over eight-month-long military standoff with China through talks. In his address at the Army Day parade in Delhi Cantonment, Naravane said the deaths of the "Galwan heroes" in eastern Ladakh in June last year will not go waste and that the Indian Army will not allow any harm to the country's sovereignty and security. "We are committed to resolve disputes through talks and political efforts but no one should make any mistake of testing our patience," he said in the presence of the country's top military brass including Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Navy Chief Admiral Ka