Breaking News, February 13

 No fresh cases of dengue have been reported in the last one week in the national capital, according to a civic report released on Monday.
Till February 5 this year, 33 cases of dengue were recorded in the city. No fresh cases have been reported in in the last one week.

As per the civic report on vector-borne diseases released on Monday, a total of 33 dengue cases have been recorded this year till February 12.
For the January 1-February 12 period, two cases were recorded in the preceding three years while six cases were logged in 2018 and five in 2017, as per the report.

With an aim to provide a speedy and clean urban transport system to the public, seven states and two Union Territories have sent 16 proposals for the expansion/fresh construction of metro rail projects to the Centre. The proposals also include three regional rapid transport systems that will connect different parts of Haryana and Rajasthan with Delhi, as well as two from Jammu and Kashmir.

The Odisha vigilance department on Sunday arrested Biswajit Mohapatra, Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Sundargarh on corruption charges. The arrest was made following detection of assets of more than Rs 10 crore which are allegedly disproportionate to his known sources of income, the vigilance officials said. Properties of Biswajit Mohapatra were raided at seven places in Khordha, Sundargarh, and Jagatsinghpur districts on Friday and Saturday.

The Centre is working on the revival of the river Saraswati and for this the governments of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are working jointly on the project. A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed for the construction of Adi Badri Dam on River Somb in Himachal Pradesh along with its linkages with Saraswati River. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on February 10, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu gave more details about the project. He said that Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited has been identified as the executing agency for construction of the dam and its related infrastructure works.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met former Kenya Prime Minister of Kenya Raila Amolo Odinga, who is currently in India on a private visit. In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said that the two leaders share friendly personal relations going back decades. "Prime Minister Modi expressed his happiness at being able to meet Odinga after almost three and half years. Prime Minister recollected his multiple interactions with Odinga since 2008 in both India and Kenya, as well as the latter's support to the 'Vibrant Gujarat Summit' in 2009 and 2012," it said.

Following a 54 hour-long operation, a body was retrieved from the debris of the collapsed Chintels Paradiso condominium in Gurugram's Sector 109, officials said on Sunday. A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and authorities retrieved the body of Sunita Shrivastava late Saturday night from the first floor of the building, which collapsed on the evening of February 10 and had claimed two lives. "We have managed to retrieve the body of the woman after a very difficult rescue operation. The debris from the upper floors has fallen on the first floor. We are taking several precautionary measures to remove debris carefully," said a senior NDRF official.

The hijab controversy that erupted in a pre-university college in Karnataka has now hit a college in Madhya Pradesh.

As per official information, the fresh controversy over wearing hijab-burqa erupted at an Autonomous PG College in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district on Saturday after an M.Com student Rukshana Khan arrived at the college wearing hijab to appear in the exam.

In the mean time, students from other groups, including some associated with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), students wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), opposed the woman wearing hijab-burqa during the examination.

The hijab controversy that erupted in a pre-university college in Karnataka has now hit a college in Madhya Pradesh. As per official information, the fresh controversy over wearing hijab-burqa erupted at an Autonomous PG College in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district on Saturday after an M.Com student Rukshana Khan arrived at the college wearing hijab to appear in the exam. In the mean time, students from other groups, including some associated with Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), students wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), opposed the woman wearing hijab-burqa during the examination. Sensing that the matter could snowball into a major controversy, the college's principal-in-charge, Shivesh Pratap Singh swung into action. He not only advised Rukshana Khan not to wear hijab again in the college, but also took a written undertaking from her that she will wear only college uniform like other students in future.

Special discounts in eateries, coffee shops, on bungy jumping and hot air balloon rides, these are some of the incentives being offered in poll-bound Goa to encourage people to come out and vote in large numbers on Monday. A group of 30 hoteliers and beach shack owners in North Goa district has also offered heavy discounts on food at their facilities for couples who exercise their franchise on February 14, as the polling date coincides with the Valentine's Day. A total of 301 candidates are in the fray for elections to 40 Assembly constituencies in the state. The BJP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Goa Forward Party (GFP), Trinamool Congress Party, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), NCP, Shiv Sena, Revolutionary Goans, Goencho Swabhimaan Party, Jai Mahabharat Party and Sambhaji Brigade are contesting the polls. Besides, 68 independent candidates are also in the fray.

Weather remained dry and sunny in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Sunday (February 13) as the MeT office forecast the same weather conditions to continue during the next 24 hours. On Sunday, Srinagar recorded minus 2.2, Pahalgam minus 6.3 and Gulmarg minus 7.0 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature. In the Ladakh region, Drass registered minus 20.1, Leh minus 10.9 and Kargil minus 16.0 as the minimum. Jammu city logged 7.5, Katra 7.7, Batote 2.0, Banihal minus 0.6 and Bhaderwah 0.3 as the minimum temperature.

With Covid cases dropping in Uttar Pradesh, the state government has now relaxed night curfew timings by an hour. The state government said in its order that the night curfew will now be in place from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day instead of from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Night curfew was imposed in Uttar Pradesh after the Omicron variant of the coronavirus led to a surge in cases across the country. However, as the daily cases continue to decline, the state government has now eased night curfew timing by an hour. All schools from nursery to class 12 will also reopen from Monday. The state government has also said that private and government offices are permitted to function at full capacity. Restaurants, cinema halls and hotels have also been allowed to open, but they must adhere to Covid-appropriate behaviour. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh reported 1,776 fresh Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the active caseload in the state to 15,276. As many as 3,101 people recovered from the virus in the past 24 hours. The state also reported 10 fatalities due to the infection.

Two persons detained near the technical airport in Jammu; further investigation underway: Jammu & Kashmir Police.

Police have registered a case against a 55-year-old man for allegedly treating patients by using the degree of a dead doctor here in Maharashtra, an official said on Sunday. The accused, Vinod Rai, had studied only till Class 10 and was treating patients at a hospital in Ulhasnagar town since the last two years on the registration of a doctor who died in 2019, Ulhasnagar police station's senior inspector Madhukar Kad said. A medical officer of the Ulhasnagar civic body came across the fraud during an inspection and lodged a police complaint. The police registered a case against the accused on Friday under Indian Penal Code Sections 419 (cheating by impersonation) and 420 (cheating) and issued a notice to him, the official said, adding that no arrest has been made so far.

Karnataka: Amid hijab row protests, Section 144 CrPc imposed in Udupi district from 6:00 am of February 14 till 6:00 pm of February 19.

CBI has registered an FIR against ABG Shipyard and its directors for allegedly cheating 28 banks of Rs 22,842 crores. 

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel train in extremely cold conditions on a high altitude at Uttrakhand border at -25°C

Daily new COVID-19 cases in the country dipped below 50,000 after around 40 days, taking the country's virus tally to  4,26,31,421, while the active cases declined to 5,37,045, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. India logged 44,877 infections, while the death toll climbed to 5,08,665  with 684 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. A total of 37,379 people had tested positive for the infection in a day on January 4. The daily COVID-19 cases were recorded less than one lakh for seven consecutive days. The active cases comprise 1.26 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further improved to 97.55 per cent, the ministry said. A reduction of 73,398 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year.

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Lucknow has sent a show-cause notice to the MC Saxena Group of Colleges (MCSGC) after a police raid found that it had allegedly hired labourers to pose as patients in its hospital. The group did so to pass the inspection of the Medical Council of India for recognition. The hospital is attached to the group's medical college. "The management of MCSGC has been given time till Monday to put up their defence. Action will be taken against them after getting the response," said Additional CMO Dr A.P. Singh, who has been deputed by the CMO to probe the matter.

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A 27-year-old farmer hanged himself to death at his home in Jatau village following a massive damage to his crops due to heavy rains. Satyendra Kumar had sown chilly on his 3-bigha land and had taken another 20 bigha on rent. His crop was destroyed due to rains. Satyendra was the father of two boys, a two-year-old and a six-month-old. He was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his room. Firozabad district administration has assured help to the family of the farmer. According to the people of his village, Satyendra was in a state of shock after the destruction of his crop. They said that he was heavily in debt and was reeling under pressure to pay it off, which he hoped to do through earnings from the chilly crop.

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 408.1 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.80 million and vaccinations to over 10.18 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Sunday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 410,024,095 and 5,809,171, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 10,189,927,521. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 77,702,689 and 919,171, according to the CSSE. The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (42,586,544 infections and 507,981 deaths), followed by Brazil (27,434,286 infections and 638,346 deaths).

A 48-year-old accused arrested for raping a mentally challenged woman in Palghar. The accused was allegedly raping a woman from his village for the last five months, informs Manor Police

Daily coronavirus count exceeding the 10,000 mark was not unexpected due to highly transmissible nature of the Omicron variant of the infection, said Singapore Health Minister Ong Ye Kung. Singapore reported 10,505 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the fourth time this week that daily infection count exceeded the 10,000 mark. The minister said the government was expecting 15,000-20,000 infections per day. "Omicron is highly transmissible so reaching 15,000, 20,000 or more is something within our expectations. So far, it's been that. It's been staying around 10,000 for some days, which gives us some comfort," Channel News Asia quoted the minister as saying.

Police patrolling underway with night curfew in place from 11 pm - 5 am in Delhi. 

Six people were killed in two accidents in Rajasthan's Bharatpur and Udaipur districts on Saturday, police said. In Bharatpur, a tractor-trolley carrying children and women overturned after the driver lost control of it. Three girls were killed and several others were injured in the accident. The deceased were identified as Princey (10), Jhanvi (8) and Pooja (18). The accident occurred when the women and children were returning from a pre-wedding function in Deeg. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed condolence to the families of the deceased and wished speedy recovery for the injured. In Udaipur, a luxury vehicle rammed into the wall of a bridge, in which three persons were killed and two others were severely injured. A family from Ahmedabad was on their way to Udaipur after visiting Mount Abu when the driver lost control of the vehicle and met with the accident in Bekariya police station area. The deceased were identified as Rushali (38), her father and mother. Rushali's husband and daughter were injured in the accident and are undergoing treatment.

A couple from Delhi visiting Bikaner died in a road accident here on Saturday after their car collided head-on with a minibus, police said. Their seven-month-old son too was severely injured in the accident, they added. The accident happened on Saturday evening, critically injuring the couple- Abhishek Dhar and his wife Jyoti Singla- and their son, Seruna SHO Ramchandra Dhaka said. The couple died while being taken to a Bikaner hospital, he said, adding the child is being treated in the hospital. After the post-mortem, the body will be handed over to their relatives after they arrive here from Delhi, police said. Police have started an investigation after registering a case against the bus driver.

Two drug peddlers were nabbed from Maharashtra's Dhule district days after 23 kg ganja was seized from Mumbai, an official said on Saturday. The duo was brought to Dindoshi in Mumbai for interrogation, he said. Earlier this week, officials of the Dindoshi police station had arrested three persons with 23 kg cannabis, he said, adding that the names of the duo were revealed during the interrogation of the trio. He said the two peddlers are working for a syndicate involved in the distribution and transportation of drugs. He said a few more persons are likely to be arrested by the police.

Congress MP Preneet Kaur on Saturday attending a meeting of the BJP here and sought votes for her husband Amarinder Singh in the Punjab assembly polls. Amarinder Singh had floated his own party Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) after he was unceremoniously removed as the chief minister by the Congress high command last year following a bitter tussle with party’s state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. Kaur, the MP from Patiala, attended the BJP’s meeting, which had been organised for the saffron party’s ally Amarinder Singh. Amarinder Singh-led PLC, the BJP and the SAD (Sanyukt) are fighting the state polls in alliance. The former chief minister is contesting the elections as Punjab Lok Congress nominee from his traditional seat Patiala (Urban).

A four-year-old female hippopotamus died at the Kanan Pendari Zoological Garden in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district on Saturday afternoon, an official said. Prime facie heart attack seemed to be the cause of death, said ranger Sanjay Luther who is attached to the zoological garden. The animal was buried in the evening after an autopsy. The exact cause of death will become clear after the report of the autopsy becomes available, officials said. The hippo had been brought here from the Nandankanan Zoological Park of Bhubaneswar in February 2021.

An under-construction tunnel of the Bargi canal project caved in at Sleemanabad in Katni district of Madhya Pradesh, trapping nine labourers, a senior official said on Saturday. Among the trapped labourers, three were safely rescued. The rescue operation was underway to rescue the remaining labourers with the help of a State Disaster Emergency Response Force (SDERF) team which arrived from Jabalpur, Katni collector Priyank M said. Madhya Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajesh Rajora monitored the rescue operation from the state secretariat. The incident took place late in the evening, an official said.