Breaking News, February 9

Delhi on Wednesday reported 1,317 fresh COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 2.11 per cent, while 13 more people succumbed to the viral disease, according to data shared by the city health department. With this, the national capital's case count increased to 18,47,515 and the death toll climbed to 26,023, the latest bulletin stated. As many as 62,556 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the city the previous day, it said.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel may take lead in hiking mobile call and services rates this year as it looks to increase average revenue per user to Rs 200, a top official of the company said. Airtel was the first telecom player to raise mobile services rates in the range of 18-25 per cent in November 2021. The average revenue per user (ARPU), an indicator of a telco's profitability, of Airtel was at Rs 163 in October-December 2021, down 2.2 per cent year-on-year.

Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday announced the launch of a 'Suvidha Kendra' in Mumbai's Dharavi, India's biggest toilet block with 111 toilet seats and said that it will benefit over 50,000 residents by providing them easy access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation.
The Centre will play a big part in saving 6.5 million litres of fresh water every year, said Thackeray.

In a shocking incident, the mutilated body of a 10-year-old boy, who had been missing since Monday afternoon, has been found on a farm in the Narwal area of the district. Forensic experts said that a nail seemed to have been hammered through one of his eyes and his face bore marks of what looked like cigarette-stub burns. The marks on the neck of the body suggested that the killer choked the boy using his foot. The body has been sent for autopsy. The police have formed several teams to investigate the case. The victim, identified as a resident of Behta Village, Narwal, had gone out to play on Monday afternoon and had been missing since then. His naked body was found late on Tuesday night at the farm of a local, Ramendra Mishra. The clothes of the boy were recovered from another farm.

The police have arrested a man from Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district and recovered 10 kilograms of poppy from him, officials said on Wednesday. During a routine patrolling on link road, a police team intercepted Mohammad Junaid, a resident of Anantnag district south Kashmir, who tried to escape after seeing them on Tuesday night, they said. On frisking, the police recovered 10 kilograms of poppy from him, they said. A case has been registered at Rehambal police station, officials said.

The Centre has notified an order specifying the stock limit quantities on edible oils and oilseeds upto June 30 with a view to provide impetus to the various steps taken to cool the prices of edible oil in the country and prevent hoarding. The Stock Limit Order, notified on February 3, empowers the Union Government and all states/UTs to regulate storage and distribution of edible oils and oilseeds. This would also help the government in checking hoarding of edible oils and oilseeds in the country, a statement from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said on Wednesday. A meeting was held by the Department of Food & Public Distribution on Tuesday with all states/UTs for discussing the implementation plan of the above order. During the meeting it was emphasized that states/UTs authorities may enforce Stock Limit Quantities Order without causing any disruption in the supply chain and also any undue hardship to bonafide trade.

Mizoram on Wednesday reported a dip in new COVID-19 cases, as 1,806 people tested positive for the infection, 418 less than the previous day, pushing the tally to 1,89,915, a health department official said. Three more persons succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 626, the official said. The state had reported 2,224 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, he said. The single-day positivity rate dipped to 23.70 per cent from 27.37 per cent the previous day, he said. At least 367 children were among the newly infected people, the official said.

Due process of law and all guidelines issued by the NHRC are being followed in all cases of police encounters that have taken place in Assam since May last year, the state government claimed in an affidavit filed before the Gauhati High Court. In the affidavit filed in connection with a PIL, the Assam government informed the court that 28 people have been killed and 73 others injured in police action from May 10 last year, when Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma assumed charge, till January 28 this year. The Assam government on February 7 filed the "detailed affidavit", a copy of which is available with PTI, as sought by the Gauhati High Court, which on Tuesday deferred the hearing of the PIL related to the encounters till February 10. "…due process of law and procedure established by law, including the guidelines issued by the NHRC, are being complied with by the district police," Home & Political Department Additional Secretary Ashim Kumar Bhattacharyya said in the affidavit. He said that as per the directions of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the six-monthly "return" is also being regularly submitted and the last such report was submitted by the Assam Police on September 2 last year.

Canadian lawmakers have expressed increasing worry about the economic effects of disruptive demonstrations after the busiest border crossing between the US and Canada became partially blocked by truckers protesting vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions. The blockade at the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, prevented traffic from entering Canada while some US-bound traffic was still moving, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said on Tuesday, calling the bridge “one of the most important border crossings in the world". It carries 25% of all trade between Canada and the United States. Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said such blockades will have serious implications on the economy and supply chains. “I've already heard from automakers and food grocers. This is really a serious cause for concern," he said in Ottawa, the capital.

Jharkhand continued to register a decline in fresh COVID-19 cases as 264 people tested positive for the infection on Saturday, 16 less than the previous day, taking the state's caseload to 4,32,169, a health bulletin said. The death toll rose to 5,314 as one more patient succumbed to the infection in Dhanbad, it said. The state had recorded 280 cases and two deaths on Tuesday. Jharkhand now has 2,272 active cases, while 4,24,583 people have recovered from the disease so far, including 412 on Tuesday, the bulletin said. The recovery rate stood at 98.24 per cent, while the mortality rate was at 1.22 per cent.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to Trinamool Congress leader S K Supiyan, who was the election agent of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram during last year's assembly elections, in a murder case. A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Abhay S Oka, however, imposed several conditions while granting the relief to Supiyan. The top court on February 4 had reserved its order when the CBI had said that Supiyan has been running away from the investigation in the murder case of a BJP worker being probed by it. The CBI is probing the death of BJP worker Debabrata Maity, who was allegedly attacked in Nandigram. The high court had directed the agency to investigate post-poll violence cases in the state.

West Bengal post-poll violence: Supreme Court grants anticipatory bail to Trinamool Congress leader SK Supiyan, who was the election agent of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nandigram. 

India logged 71,365 new coronavirus infections taking the country's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,24,10,976, while the active cases declined to 8,92,828, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The death toll climbed to 5,05,279 with 1,217 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 2.11 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.70 per cent, the ministry said. A reduction of 1,02,063 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.54 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 7.57 per cent, according to the ministry.

An auto-driver hands over a customer's bag of 10 tolas gold who lost it while travelling. "A complaint was received after a couple lost their bag. Auto driver, Syed Zakir, informed that he'd found the bag and their contact inside," said K Srinivas, SHO, Langer House Police Station.

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Today at about 12:50 am, troops in Panjgrain heard buzzing of suspected flying object coming from Pakistan side to India. Troops fired upon the drone. During search in village Ghaggar and Singhoke, 2 packets of yellow colour with suspected contraband recovered so far, says BSF. 

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested another accused, Tauheed Ahmad, in its ongoing probe into the conspiracy by terror groups to carry out IED blasts in Uttar Pradesh. The NIA took up the probe from UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in July last year. So far, NIA has filed a charge sheet against five arrested accused- Minhaz Ahmad, Museeruddin, Shakeel, Moid and Mustaqeem. They were said to be in touch with terror outfit Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH), an auxiliary of al-Qaida. The ATS had claimed that the accused were planning to trigger blasts around Independence Day celebrations in 2021.

Foodgrains worth crores of rupees have got damaged in a godown in Haryana's Karnal. The godown is managed by HAFED, the largest apex cooperative federation of Haryana. The godown, built five years ago, does not have a roof. As a result, lakhs of wheat bags kept here spoiled due to rain. The water-soaked wheat got germinated. HAFED had given the responsibility of taking care of the grains to a private company. Now after the grains damage, HAFED has come under the scanner. About three lakh bags of wheat were stocked at HAFED's indoor godown on Karnal Indri Road.

The Rajasthan government on Tuesday signed an agreement with the Anil Agarwal Foundation of the Vedanta Group to develop 25,000 Anganwadi centres as Nand Ghar in the state. The foundation will develop Nand Ghars by spending about Rs 750 crore (Rs 3 lakh per Anganwadi). Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said at the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing function that Anganwadi centres can play an important role in preparing children as excellent human resources by giving better nutrition, good education, and culture. Principal Secretary, Women and Child Development, Shreya Guha and Nand Ghar Chief Executive Officer Ritu Jhingan signed the MoU.

Goa reported 469 new coronavirus infections and 12.49 per cent case positivity on Tuesday, the state health department said. Six persons succumbed to the viral infection during the day. The caseload rose to 2,43,128 while death toll reached 3,754. The number of recovered persons increased to 2,35,444 with 910 patients getting discharged on Tuesday. As many as 3,162 coronavirus tests were carried out during the day, taking the tally of samples tested in the state to 18,39,677. Goa's COVID-19 figures: Total cases 2,43,128, New cases 469, Death toll 3,754, Discharged 2,35,444, Active cases 3,930, Samples tested to date 18,39,677.

Chakka jam and indefinite hunger strike are some of the ways which student organisations with different ideologies have adopted to mark their protest demanding resumption of offline classes at Delhi University colleges. Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh told PTI that the notification for reopening of the campus will be issued soon and consultations are being held with college principals. Day-long protests had also been organised outside the DU VC's office on Monday over the same issue. In the evening, the police had removed the protesters.

The coast guards of Morocco's Royal Navy have rescued 256 illegal immigrants in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean since Saturday, the official news agency MAP reported. The immigrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, included 41 women and 5 children, the report cited a military source as saying on Tuesday. They were facing difficulties on board the makeshift inflatable boats and received the first aid when they were rescued, said the source. Morocco has long been a transit country for African immigrants seeking to reach Europe, Xinhua news agency reported.

Two youths were on Tuesday arrested from the Kolkata's Moulali area for allegedly making indecent gestures and passing lewd remarks at two schoolgirls, police said. The incident happened on Tuesday afternoon when the two girls were walking home from school along the AJC Bose Road. The two accused, who were then sitting inside a parked ambulance, made indecent gestures at the girls and also asked for their phone numbers, a police officer said. The two girls fled and sought help from the traffic policeman on duty, who contacted the nearby Entally police station. "A police team rushed to the spot and arrested the two. But since the place where the incident took place was under Muchipara police station limits, they were handed over to them," the officer said.

Tripura reported 34 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, taking the caseload to 1,00,697, while one more coronavirus death took the toll to 916, a health official said. The state had reported 13 new cases COVID-19 cases and two deaths on Monday. A total of 3,541 samples were taken up for COVID-19 testing on Tuesday, out of which 34 tested positive with a positivity rate of 0.96 per cent, State Surveillance Officer Dr Deep Debbarma said. The state now has 596 COVID-19 active cases, while 99,117 people have recovered so far. Altogether 68 coronavirus patients have been migrated to other states.

Odisha-based smoke artist Samarendra Behera pays tribute to legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar by making her portrait. "She is no more with us but her songs will keep her alive forever. I have used smoke art for her remembrance," he said. 

Global Covid-19 cases surpassed 400 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The global case count amounted to 400,244,031, with 5,761,208 deaths worldwide, as of 5:21 p.m. local time (2221 GMT) Tuesday, showed the data. The US reported 77,025,027 cases and 908,262 deaths, both the highest counts around the world, accounting for more than 19 per cent of the global cases and more than 15 per cent of the global deaths, Xinhua news agency reported. India recorded the world's second largest caseload of 42,339,611, followed by Brazil with 26,776,692 cases as well as the world's second largest death toll of 634,057.

The Air Force became the second military service to approve religious exemptions to the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine, granting requests from nine airmen to avoid the shots, officials said Tuesday. The nine approved so far represent just a tiny fraction of the more than 6,400 requested by Air Force troops, and they come as other service members are challenging the lack of religious exemptions in court cases. The Marine Corps is the only other military service to grant any religious accommodations, allowing three so far. The Army and Navy have not approved any. The services have come under criticism for their failure to grant religious exemptions, with members of Congress, the military and the public questioning if the review processes have been fair. All together, the services have received more than 14,000 requests for religious exemptions.

Rain lashed parts of the national capital in the early hours of Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted thunderstorms with light to moderate intensity rain in the national capital and its adjoining areas."Thunderstorm with light to moderate intensity rain and gusty winds with speed of 30-40 Km/h would occur over and adjoining areas of a few places of Delhi ( Narela, Bawana, Alipur, Burari, Karawal Nagar, Seemapuri, Safdarjung), Narnaul, Bawal, Aurangabad, Hodal (Haryana), Shamli, Kandhla, Khatauli, Sakoti Tanda, Hastinapur, Chandpur, Daurala, Khekra, Kithor, Garhmukteshwar, Pilakhua, Hapur, Gulaoti, Sikandrabad, Bulandshahar, Nandgaon, Barsana (U.P.), Tizara, Khairthal, Kotputli, Alwar, Nagar, Laxmangarh (Rajasthan) during next 2 hours," tweeted IMD. 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said it has provisionally attached immovable assets worth Rs 1.29 crore in connection with a money laundering case. The case was lodged against Ashish Prafulbhai, the Chairman of Shantinagar (Shela) Co-operative Housing Society Ltd, and others for cheating land buyers. Earlier, CID Crime, Ahmedabad had lodged an FIR under various sections of IPC on the basis of which the ED initiated a probe of Prevention of Money Laundering. The ED then filed a PMLA case against Ashish Prafulbhai Patel and others for committing alleged fraud of Rs 11.50 crore. They cheated land buyers on the pretext of selling them plots. They made sale deed but neither executed it nor they handed over the possession of land. The ED has learnt in its investigation that Ashish Patel and others had hatched a criminal conspiracy, with a motive to cheat the buyers of land. Patel and others executed sale agreement and against the said agreement received Rs 11.50 crore from the purchasers. But they neither executed the sale deeds nor handed over physical possession to the buyers.