LIVE: Centre asks for 'rigorous' screening of international passengers

Multiple cases of a Covid variant 8.1.1529 have been reported in Botswana, South Africa and Honk Kong, writes Centre

Latest live news: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will soon lay the foundation stone of an international airport at Jewar in Gautam Buddha Nagar. It will be Uttar Pradesh's fifth international airport and work on it starts weeks before the state announces elections.

Param Bir Singh, the former commissioner of Mumbai Police, appeared at the city police's Crime Branch Unit office on Thursday morning after disappearing in October. Singh faces at least four cases of extortion in Maharashtra and his disappearance led to rumours he had fled the country.

"I will join the investigation as directed by the court," Singh told reporters at Mumbai airport, after flying in from Chandigarh, where he was seen Wednesday. 

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered more Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) be sent to Tripura to secure municipal polls. Trinamool Congress and CPI (M) told the court their candidates and supporters were being harassed in Tripura and not allowed to vote.

Congress leader Mukul Sangma, a former chief minister of Meghalaya, along with 11 other lawmakers of his party in the state have joined the Trinamool Congress. 

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11:11 PM

CMs of Assam, Mizoram meet to discuss inter-state border row

Assam and Mizoram on Thursday decided to increase the fencing along their inter-state border, which has seen violence that claimed the lives of five Assam Police personnel and a civilian last July.

 

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga described his about two-hour long meeting with Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma as "cordial".

 

The two chief ministers met to resolve their boundary disputes apparently following an intervention of the Union home ministry, officials said.

 

Assam and Mizoram share a 164-km-long border.

10:36 PM

Over 50 villagers detained ahead of PM's Noida airport programme

Over 50 villagers from Noida who wanted to hand over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a memorandum of their demands were detained by police early on Thursday in a preventive measure for law and order situation, officials said.

 

There was also a brief commotion during Modi's address at Jewar by a group in the gathering of thousands which was demanding that a bench of the Allahabad High Court be set up in western Uttar Pradesh.

 

The prime minister was at Jewar in Gautam Buddh Nagar district on Thursday to lay the foundation stone for the Noida International Airport, with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in attendance at the event.

10:19 PM

Over 120 cr Covid vaccine doses administered in India so far: Union health ministry

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 120-crore mark on Thursday, the Union health ministry said.

 

More than 74 lakh (74,59,819) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night, the ministry said.

 

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.

10:11 PM

Mumbai logs 179 new COVID-19 cases, 4 deaths; active tally at 2,364

Mumbai reported 179 new coronavirus cases and four fresh fatalities on Thursday, taking the infection tally to 761955 and the death toll to 16,319, a civic official said.

 

The daily COVID-19 cases in the city dipped below 200 after crossing that mark a day earlier. The financial capital had reported 258 COVID-19 cases and four deaths on Wednesday. As many as 33,108 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking their cumulative count to 1,22,65,888, the official said. 

9:42 PM

LIVE: Centre issues fresh advisory to states, UTs over new Covid variant

The Centre on Thursday asked all states and union territories to conduct rigorous screening and testing of all international travellers coming from or transiting through South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana, where a new COVID-19 variant of serious public health implications has been reported.

 

In a letter to additional chief secretaries or principal secretaries or secretaries (Health) of the states and union territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan asked them to ensure that samples of travellers turning positive are sent to the designated IGSLS or genome sequencing laboratories promptly.

 

It has now been reported by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) that multiple cases of a COVID-19 variant B.1.1529 have been reported in Botswana (3 cases), South Africa (6) and Honk Kong (1 case), Bhushan said in the letter.

9:34 PM

Angela Merkel: 'Sad day' as Germany marks 100,000 deaths from Covid

German Chancellor Angela Merkel labelled Thursday a very sad day and backed calls for more restrictions, as her country became the latest to surpass 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

 

The national disease control agency said it recorded 351 deaths in connection with the coronavirus over the past 24 hours, taking the total toll to 100,119. In Europe, Germany is the fifth country to pass that mark, after Russia, the United Kingdom, Italy and France.

 

It is of course a very sad day that we have to mourn 100,000 victims of the coronavirus, Merkel said at a news conference in Berlin. And unfortunately, at the moment, more than 300 deaths are being added to that each day. The long-time German leader, who is currently in office as caretaker until her successor is sworn in, warned that hundreds more deaths were already looming.

9:22 PM

Farmers head to Delhi borders as stir against farm laws completes year Friday

As the protest against the Centre's farm laws at the Delhi borders completes one year on Friday, more farmers from Haryana and Punjab headed to the Singhu and Tikri borders of the national capital., reported Press Trust of India. Thousands of farmers from parts of both states, including Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Patiala, Ludhiana, Sangrur, Ambala, Hisar, Sirsa, Rohtak, Kurukshetra, Bhiwani, are reaching the Delhi's borders.

 

BKU (Rajewal) leader Pargat Singh told reporters at the Tikri border on Thursday that thousands of farmers have reached and many more are reaching.

 

"We will proceed as per what the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) decides," he said when asked about be their future course of action.

 

Terming the Union Cabinet's approval of a bill repealing the farm laws on Wednesday a mere "formality", farmer leaders said now they want the government to resolve their other pending demands, most importantly the legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP). However, they welcomed the move and said this is only the first victory for the protesting farmers and they will continue their ongoing agitation.

9:16 PM

Delhi govt forms Yamuna Cell for cleaning of Yamuna river

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced the formation of a Yamuna Cleaning Cell (YCC) to expedite inter-departmental decision making and execution of projects for cleaning the heavily polluted Yamuna river. The Cell, to be headed by the chief executive officer of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), will have representatives of all the departments concerned, he said.

 

"In order to expedite inter-departmental decision making and execution, we formed a Yamuna Cleaning Cell (YCC) today, headed by CEO, DJB and representatives of all concerned depts. This will expedite Yamuna cleaning process," Kejriwal tweeted.

 

The Cell will guide Delhi government's fight against pollution by overcoming administrative hurdles, he said.

9:15 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 739 new Covid cases, 764 recoveries and 17 deaths in the last 24 hours.

9:11 PM

Maharashtra records 848 Covid cases, 50 deaths; active cases stay below 10,000

Maharashtra recorded 848 new coronavirus infections and 50 fatalities in the last 24 hours, health officials said on Thursday evening. The number of active cases remained below 10,000 for the fifth straight day, they added. The caseload increased to 66,33,105 and death toll to 1,40,857.

 

On Wednesday, the state had reported 960 new infections and 41 fatalities. The recovery rate in the state stands at 97.68 per cent while fatality rate is 2.12 per cent.

 

There are 9,187 active cases, including the highest 2,525 in Mumbai. As many as 974 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the number of recovered patients to 64,79,396.

8:52 PM

Amid new variant worries, Centre writes to states

8:28 PM

Over 7.4 mn vaccine doses administered today till 7 pm

India’s Covid vaccination coverage has crossed 1.2 billion landmark milestone (120,17,25,296) on Thursday. More than 7.4 million (74,59,819) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm today, said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

7:53 PM

Tamil Nadu rains: Madurai schools closed tomorrow

7:30 PM

Congress Parliament Strategy Group meeting held at the residence of Sonia Gandhi

7:22 PM

Submarine INS Vela commissioned

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The #IndianNavy commissioned submarine #INSVela in Mumbai, adding more teeth to Bharat’s naval prowess. The submarine was commissioned in the presence of Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh.

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- N Ramchander Rao (@N_RamchanderRao) 25 Nov 2021