National
India sees 67.5k new Covid cases, 1,332 deaths
Despite a marginal rise since Tuesday, it seems that the second wave is on a waning cycle. Although, Wednesday’s case count of 67,549 was slightly higher than the fresh cases reported a day earlier; it is much lower than over 90,000 cases reported on last Wednesday. Wednesday also saw 1,332 deaths which are lower than Tuesday’s tally of 1459 deaths.
Covid-19: Decision to extend gap between doses was unanimous, says govt
The decision to increase the gap between two doses of Covishield vaccine from 4-6 weeks to 12-16 weeks was “unanimous” and based on studies that showed that a longer interval resulted in higher efficacy, the government’s top advisory group on immunisation said on Wednesday.
Covid-19: Experts say one vaccine dose enough for five people
Given the acute shortage of Covid-19 vaccines, one way to ramp up the vaccination programme is by providing a smaller quantity of the vaccine in an intradermal (ID) way, said experts. This means injecting 0.1ml into the skin, which is a fifth of the volume of the current dose of 0.5ml given intramuscularly in the shoulder. In short, a 0.5ml dose now given to one recipient will be able to vaccinate five persons by the intradermal route.
5 states recorded over 1 lakh Covid-19 cases in first 2 weeks of June
Even as the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic wanes in India, five states still reported more than one lakh cases over the last 14 days (June 1-14) with Tamil Nadu on top with 2.43 lakh cases, followed by Kerala with 1.8 lakh cases during the period.
Cases among pregnant women, new moms doubled in 2nd wave: Study
Symptomatic cases of Covid-19 were significantly higher at 28.7% among pregnant and post-partum women during the second wave, compared with the first wave when the proportion was 14.2%, a comparative analysis of data during the two waves by ICMR showed.
Chirag Paswan attacks JD(U) for split, mum on BJP
Chirag Paswan on Wednesday blamed Janata Dal (United) for engineering the split in Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) to stop his emergence as a Dalit leader but steered clear of questions on BJP’s role in the dramatic events leading to his eviction as the chief of the outfit founded by his father.
Govt can’t revoke Twitter’s ‘intermediary’ status: Experts
Several digital rights experts and technology lawyers have asserted that the Union government can't revoke Twitter’s “intermediary” status in case of non-compliance with the new IT Rules as they are protected by section 79 of the IT Act. The reactions came after the Ghaziabad police filed an FIR against the social media giant for disseminating a video of an elderly man who was allegedly beaten up by a group of people for his religion.
To keep fertiliser prices in check, cabinet okays Rs 14,775 crore subsidy
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved increased subsidies of Rs 14,775 crore for Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and some other non-urea fertilisers to keep the price of crop nutrients for farmers low despite the rising costs of raw materials. DAP is the most widely used soil nutrient after urea.
In Chinese minister presence, Rajnath backs free, open SCS
India stands for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific and supports freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, said defence minister Rajnath Singh at a multilateral forum being attended by his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe on Wednesday.
Mehul Choksi fled as he knew action was likely: CBI
A series of moves made by fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi two months before the first FIR was registered against him in February 2018 has led the CBI to conclude that he had prior knowledge about the impending criminal proceedings. “Hence, Mehul Choksi fled the country on January 4, 2018, with dishonest intent, to evade the process of law,” the CBI said in its supplementary chargesheet against Choksi and 21 others.
China seeking to control bodies like WHO, Interpol: UK parliament panel
Autocratic nations like China are seeking to manipulate, undermine, or even break up multilateral organisations, such as the WHO and Interpol, set up in the wake of World War II to establish an international system based on shared values of peace, prosperity and freedom, a new report has found.
Firm in dock for fake Kumbh tests has tin shed ‘office’, gave wrong addresses
A private agency, which was awarded the contract for Covid testing in key areas of the Kumbh mela in Haridwar and is now under scanner for conducting 1 lakh fake tests, had submitted dubious office addresses to the Uttarakhand health department and listed phone numbers that are not in service, a TOI investigation has found.
Cops may send notices to Twitter, others for sharing ‘unverified’ video
Police haven’t ruled out sending notices to those booked for sharing an “unverified video” of a 72-year-old man alleging he was subjected to a hate crime, including microblogging site Twitter where the video was circulated, a day after filing an FIR against six individuals and three private entities.
Not hearing bail plea violates rights of accused, says Supreme Court
Holding denial of hearing on bail plea as an infringement of the rights and liberty assured to an accused, the Supreme Court has said that timely hearing must be granted in such cases even during the pandemic. A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian expressed shock that the Punjab and Haryana high court did not take up the bail plea for over a year. The accused approached the apex court after his request for early hearing was rejected by the HC.
