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India has raised the incorrect depiction of the country’s map on the website of the World Health Organization (WHO) at the highest level, prompting the UN’s health body to issue a disclaimer that the image is not an expression of opinion on the legal status of any country.

The matter was raised this week by Trinamool Congress MP Santanu Sen, who wrote in a letter to the Prime Minister that the world map displayed on WHO’s site on the Covid-19 pandemic had a “blue map with surprisingly two colours for Jammu and Kashmir”.

“When I clicked over the blue portion, it [the map] was showing the Covid-19 data of our country,” Sen wrote.

Holding nearly 70% of assets held by national political parties, the BJP declared assets worth Rs 4,847.78 crore in FY 2019-20, according to a report by electoral reforms advocacy group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) released on Friday.

Among seven national parties, BSP was ranked second at assets worth Rs 698.33 crore, followed by Congress (Rs 588.16 crore).

The report noted that total assets declared by the seven national and 44 regional parties in 2019-20 amounted to Rs 6,988.57 crore and Rs 2,129.38 crore, respectively.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will virtually review the COVID-19 situation, public health preparedness and response measures being taken in the context of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh on Saturday at 3 pm.

Earlier on Friday, Mandaviya conducted a high-level meeting with Southern states and UT`s Health Minister`s and stressed upon e-Sanjeevani, teleconsultation, Monitoring home isolation and increasing RTPCR in States which are reporting lower percentage testing.

The State Health Ministers who joined the high-level review meeting included Dr K Sudhakar (Karnataka), Dr Veena George (Kerala), Ma Subramaniam (Tamil Nadu) and Thanneeru Harish Rao (Telangana). He also requested the states to accelerate the pace of vaccination of the 15-17 years age group and those whose second dose is due.

Amid a rising number of protests against Railway Recruitment Board's recent test for Non Technical Popular Categories Exam (RRB NTPC), the Prime Minister's Office has called a meeting with officials from Railways on Friday to review the process of the examination.

In the meeting, called in the evening, the PMO officials are likely to discuss the hiring process followed by Railways to fill the positions. The PMO specially wants to focus on the recruitment process followed in 2004, sources told India Today.

Several students across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been protesting against the RRB NTPC exam as they claim that the selection method is biased against aspirants with lower qualifications.

As 246 insurgents of two militant groups laid down their arms in Assam's Guwahati on Thursday and returned to the mainstream, Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma hailed the end of the 'era of tribal insurgency' in the state.

In an arms laying ceremony held at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati, 169 insurgents of United Gorkha People's Organisation (UGPO) and 77 insurgents of Tiwa Liberation Army (TLA) surrendered their arms before Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, CEM BTR Pramod Boro and CEM TAC Jibon Chandra Konwar.

The insurgents of UGPO and TLA had deposited 277 various types of arms including rifles, pistols, grenades, 720 rounds of live ammunition.