Kerala (69,365) and Maharashtra (38,762) — account for 70 % of the total active cases in the country. India’s cumulative COVID-19 positivity rate has declined to 5.42 % while the weekly positivity rate (last week) was recorded at 1.82 %, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. Eight states and union territories, which have a weekly positivity rate more than the national average of 1.82 % are Kerala ( 11.20 %), Chhattisgarh (6.20 %), Maharashtra (4. 70 %), Goa (4.40 %), Nagaland (3.60 %), Ladakh (2.90 %), Puducherry (2.60 %) and Chandigarh (2.10 %), Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said…
Author: Mike Harrison
In open letter, they ask developed countries ‘not to be on the wrong side of history’. A group of former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers have released an open letter, asking the developed countries “not to be on the wrong side of history” in the backdrop of increasing international statements in favour of the farmers’ protest.“Sustainable agriculture demands that farmers adopt the latest technology to diversify their production, and the farm laws passed by the government is a step in this direction,” the former IFS officers said, while backing India’s provision of minimum support price (MSP), something criticised by the…
A total of 43,515 children were reported missing by the TrackChild portal in the last one year, the Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry said on Thursday.Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani shared the details of lost and found children reported on the portal in the last five years while responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha.From January 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021, as many as 43,515 children went missing, out of which 38,113 have been tracked, she said.In 2019, a total of 49,279 children went missing, out of which 44,289 were tracked. In 2018, as many…
Russian President’s spokesman says the situation wasn’t provoked by law enforcement, but by participants in unsanctioned actions. The Kremlin said on Thursday that thousands of arrests at protests against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny were a necessary response to the unsanctioned rallies and strongly rebuffed Western criticism.Asked about the harsh treatment of thousands of detainees, many of whom spent long hours on police buses and were put in overcrowded cells, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said that they have to bear responsibility for joining the unauthorised protests.“The situation wasn’t provoked by law enforcement, it was provoked…
An Iranian diplomat accused of planning to bomb a meeting of an exiled opposition group was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday in the first trial of an Iranian official for suspected terrorism in the European Union since Iran’s 1979 revolution.Belgian prosecution lawyers and civil parties to the prosecution said Vienna-based diplomat Assadolah Assadi was guilty of attempted terrorism after a plot to bomb a rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) near Paris in June 2018 was foiled by German, French and Belgian police.”The ruling shows two things: A diplomat doesn’t have immunity for…
Over 200 people were arrested on Thursday for their involvement in arson and vandalism during a general strike called by theNepal Communist Party’s splinter faction-led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ that paralysed normal life across the country.The strike was called by Prachanda-led faction to oppose the appointment of office bearers and members of various constitutional bodies by Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli-led caretakergovernment.Major markets, educational institutions, offices and factories were shut down while transport services were disrupted during the strike.The government had mobilised at least 5,000 security personnel in Kathmandu to prevent any untoward incident. Only few motorbikes were seen…
Under the revised schedule, Bangladesh will play three ODIs and an equal number of T20 Internationals between March 20 and April 1 The start of Bangladesh’s upcoming tour of New Zealand was on Thursday postponed by a week due to the coronavirus-related “challenges” and to allow adequate preparation time, the host country’s cricket board has said. Under the revised schedule, Bangladesh will play three ODIs and an equal number of T20 Internationals between March 20 and April 1. New Zealand Cricket said the change in tour schedules was due to “ongoing challenges in the current COVID-19 environment and the need…
The group has also signed a MoU with Russian company USC. Crown group, which specialises in defence aerospace maintenance, on Wednesday announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with Russian aircraft corporation MiG for providing post-warranty support to the Indian Navy’s MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB fighter jets.The Delhi-based group in a statement said that one of its companies Aviatech Enterprises Pvt Ltd (AEPL) has entered into a “framework agreement” with joint stock company MiG in this regard.Besides defence aerospace maintenance, the group also specialises in repair and operations, and aviation engineering services.The group has also signed a memorandum of understanding…
Global terror group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-Khorasan’s (ISIL-K) new leader Shihab al-Muhajir heads its operations in India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and is said to have had an earlier affiliation with the dreaded Haqqani Network, according to a report of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.The 12th report of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by ISIL (also known as ISIS and Da’esh) to international peace and security and the range of United Nations efforts in support of member states in countering the threat said that ISIL-K currently has 1,000-2,200 fighters in Afghanistan spread across…
Hard-hitting West Indian batsman Chris Gayle struck an unbeaten 84 off 22 balls to pulverise Maratha Arabians’ bowling attack and steer Team Abu Dhabi to a nine-wicket win in a Super League match of the Abu Dhabi T10 tournament here. Gayle smashed nine sixes and six boundaries during his blistering knock at the Abu Dhabi Zayed Cricket Stadium. He reached his half century in 12 balls and equalled the fastest half century in T10 history held by Mohammad Shahzad for Rajputs in the 2018 edition. Chasing Maratha Arabians’ moderate total of 97 for 4, Gayle helped his team reach the…