TOP NEWS

Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi's convoy was on Thursday accosted by a group of protesters during an exclusive interview to national magazine.

In an interview, Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi said that a panel led by a retired high court judge will probe the security lapse that occurred during PM Narendra Modi's visit to Ferozepur. A report in this regard will be presented to me in three days, the chief minister added.

As he was explaining his decision to form a committee to probe the security lapse, Punjab CM Channi's convoy was obstructed by protesters. The chief minister then asked his driver to slow down the vehicle.

India registered yet another peak of coronavirus cases on Thursday, with Mumbai and Delhi setting records unseen even during the deadly second wave of the pandemic amid a raging Omicron variant.

India’s tally of active Covid-19 cases climbed to 2, 85, 401, with five states — Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Kerala — accounting for 66.97 per cent of the 90,928 new cases reported on Thursday.

The situation seemed alarming in Mumbai, which recorded a 33 per cent hike in daily cases compared to a day ago with over 20,000 Covid-19 infections in 24 hours for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic. Four related deaths were also recorded in the same period.

The Precaution Dose against Covid-19 will be the same vaccine as the first and second dose, Dr VK Paul, member of the NITI Aayog said on Wednesday. The precaution dose is set to begin for healthcare workers and those above 60 with co-morbidities from January 10.

“Precautionary Covid-19 vaccine dose will be the same vaccine as has been given previously. Those who’ve received Covaxin will receive Covaxin, those who’ve received primary two doses of Covishield will receive Covishield,” Dr Paul said during a press briefing of the Union Health Ministry.

Dr Paul added that the national positivity rate which was 1.1 percent on December 30, currently stands at 5 percent, while the R-value stands at 2.69.

The all-India rollout of Ayushman scheme for the Central armed police forces (CAPF), which will allow their personnel and dependent family members to avail of cashless treatment at 24,000 empanelled hospitals across the country, is expected to be complete by March 31 this year, minister of state for home Nityanand Rai announced while distributing the last 10 Ayushman CAPF cards to each of the seven para-military forces here on Wednesday.

Addressing a function organised at a CRPF facility here to mark the end of distribution of Ayushman cards to around 35 lakh Central forces personnel, Rai said cards may be used by the personnel themselves or their dependents living far away, for both in-patient and out-patient care. He thanked the CAPF DGs present, for ensuring that 35 lakh cards were distributed in record time since the exercise got underway on November 2, 2021.

Amid the current surge in the COVID-19 cases across the country, Delhi has recorded a high spike in the daily cases. As per the official data released on Wednesday, Delhi has recorded a total of 10,665 COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours.

The national capital has also seen a jump in the daily positivity rate today, as per the Delhi Health Bulletin. The positivity rate today stands at 11.88 percent, while the COVID-19 positivity rate on Tuesday was under 9 percent.

A total of eight COVID-19 deaths were recorded in Delhi today, taking the cumulative death tally to 25,121 in the national capital. According to the health bulletin, the total COVID-19 tally in Delhi has been pushed to 14,74,366.