“Some states in the country are reporting a surge in the daily new COVID-19 cases. Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh together account 80.63% of the daily new cases,’’ data released by the Health Ministry said.Sixteen States/Union Territories have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours.You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.Here are the latest updates: Covishield or Covaxin?IPS officers ask government experts: which vaccine is better – Covishield or Covaxin?Government held an emergency meeting on Friday amid reports…
Author: Mike Harrison
The Bureau of Meteorology reported flooding levels surpassing record 2013 floods along the Hastings River outside Port Macquarie, about 400 kilometres north of Sydney. Mass evacuations were ordered in low-lying areas along Australia’s east coast on March 20 as torrential rains caused potentially “life-threatening” floods across a region already soaked by an unusually wet summer, officials said.Police said hundreds of people had flocked to evacuation centres in areas north of Sydney in New South Wales state, and they expected many more to seek shelter as the rains move south down the coast.The Bureau of Meteorology reported flooding levels surpassing record…
President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday appointed two additional judges to the Chhattisgarh High Court.A Law Ministry notification said Narendra Kumar Vyas and Naresh Kumar Chandravanshi have been appointed Additional Judges of the Chhattisgarh High Court by the President in exercise of the power conferred by clause (l) of Article 224 of the Constitution Of India.Mr. Vyas has over 23 years of experience and specialised in matters of law and industrial disputes.Mr. Chandravanshi has been elevated from the judicial service as he had served as Additional District and Sessions Judge and Additional Registrar in the High Court before his current…
Italy, Spain, Malta, Cyprus and Greece created the “MED 5” group last year in an effort to form a united front within the European Union The Interior Ministers of the five Mediterranean countries on the front line of mass migration to Europe are meeting in Greece to discuss the European Union’s policies as the bloc works toward a new migration pact.Ministers from Italy, Spain, Malta, Cyprus and Greece are to arrive in Athens on March 19 evening for talks on March 20. The five created the “MED 5” group last year in an effort to form a united front within…
The suspensions came after reports of blood clots in some recipients of the vaccine, even though international health agencies urged govts to press ahead with the shot, saying the benefits outweighed the risks Countries across Europe resumed vaccinations with the AstraZeneca shot on March 19, as leaders sought to reassure their populations it is safe following brief suspensions that cast doubt on a vaccine that is critical to ending the coronavirus pandemic.France’s Prime Minister rolled up his sleeve to get the shot and Britain’s planned to, as did a handful of other senior politicians across the continent where the inoculation…
“Hate can have no safe harbour in America,” President Joe Biden said, calling on Americans to stand up to bigotry when they see it. President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris offered solace to Asian-Americans and a reeling nation on March 19 as they visited Atlanta just days after a white gunman killed eight people, most of them Asian American women.The visit, during a nationwide spike of anti-Asian violence, has added resonance with the presence of Ms. Harris, the first person of South Asian descent to hold national office. And it comes as Mr. Biden on March 19 expressed support…
Several users took to Twitter to complain about the outage, with #whatsappoutage trending in many countries, including India Social media platforms WhatsApp and Instagram suffered a major outage on March 19 night, but the services resumed after some time.Many WhatsApp users reported inability to send and receive messages, while Instagram too was down during the period. Independent tracking portal Downdetector showed a spike in the outage reported by users of both WhatsApp and Instagram.The Facebook-owned platforms later said the “technical issue” had been resolved.”A technical issue caused people to have trouble accessing some Facebook services. We resolved this issue for…
TNA expects New Delhi to vote for resolution, says spokesman Sumanthiran. The Tamil National Alliance’s (TNA) “hopes are high” that India will vote for the UN resolution on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka next week, according to its spokesman and Jaffna legislator M.A. Sumanthiran. Whether India votes for the resolution or abstains is “entirely a matter that they will decide”, but the TNA’s expectations are “clearly” that India must support and vote for the resolution, he says, speaking to The Hindu on the coming vote. Despite its diminished presence in Parliament since the August 2020 general…
Any reset in relations from turbulent Trump era is unlikely. A sharp exchange between top U.S. and Chinese officials in Alaska on Friday, played out fully in the eyes of the gathered media, marked the start of a new phase in U.S.-China relations — one that comes with fresh challenges for India.If the acrimonious public exchange appeared to be a surprising departure from the diplomatic norms usually followed in such scripted meetings, it was, on one level, entirely expected.After all, both sides had made clear in the lead-up to the Biden administration’s first in-person engagement with China that the meeting…
The pandemic is set to result in the deferment of the inaugural edition of the Under-19 women’s World Cup from 2021 to 2023. The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board is likely to take the call during its meetings on March 30-31.The ICC in October 2019 had announced a path-breaking initiative for women’s cricket with the first U-19 World Cup awarded to Bangladesh to be held in 2021. However, with the COVID-19 outbreak still unabated, the ICC Board is likely to reschedule the event to 2023.A majority of national governing bodies are understood to have been averse to go ahead with…