Breaking News December 23 | Highlights

Further relaxation in aircraft capacity deployment coupled with festive season air travel demand helped recovery in the domestic traffic with passenger volume seeing 22 per cent sequential growth in the previous month, ratings agency ICRA said on Wednesday.

Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala has tested positive for COVID-19. Though asymptomatic, he would be admitted to a hospital for observation, party sources said.

The senior Congress leader's wife and son had earlier tested positive for the infection. 

The Rajasthan government has imposed a night curfew on December 31 in all cities having a population of over one lakh. READ MORE

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday directed officials to start the distribution of e-health cards at the earliest and implement the health information management system (HIMS) by mid-2021. Under HIMS, various features such as a web portal and a mobile app will be launched to store database of health details of the residents of Delhi.

In a meeting to review the ambitious HIMS project, Kejriwal asked officials to finalise the tender for issuing of the e-health cards and select a vendor by February 2021, said a Delhi government statement.

The Delhi government has planned to issue QR code-based e-health cards to the people of the city to identify and track demographic and basic clinical details of individuals.

The residents of Delhi will be mapped for all eligible schemes and programmes through the card that will be integrated with HIMS, said the statement.

The local administration in Maharashtra's Latur city has imposed a night curfew from December 22 to January 5 in a bid to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread, an official said on Wednesday.

In keeping with the state government's directive, the collector, district magistrate and chairman of the disaster management authority have imposed a curfew from December 22 to January 5 between 11 pm to 6 am in the Latur Municipal Corporation limits, a release stated.

Those involved in providing essential services are exempted, it was stated.

In case of violations, action will be taken under section 188 of the IPC, Maharashtra COVID-19 Implementation Rules, Disaster Management Act 2005, Infectious Diseases Prevention Act 1897, the order stated. 

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will on Thursday inaugurate and lay foundation stones for highway projects worth Rs 8,341 crore in Rajasthan, an official statement said. These projects are for a total length of 1,127 kms.

"Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate and lay foundation stone for 18 highway projects in Rajasthan tomorrow," the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will preside over the virtual function, to be attended by Union Minister V K Singh and several ministers from the state.

"These projects for inauguration and foundation laying carry a road length of nearly 1,127 kilometers, involving construction value of Rs 8,341 crore," the statement added.

Paving the way for development of Rajasthan, these roads will enhance connectivity, convenience and economic growth in the state, it added.

Switzerland has started vaccinating people against the coronavirus, a few days before its European Union neighbors start their vaccination campaigns. The government in Lucerne canton (state) said that a woman aged over 90 at a nursing home in the central Swiss region became the first to receive the vaccine on Wednesday.

Switzerland became on Sunday the first country to approve the vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer for use under normal licensing procedures. The EU followed a day later. Britain, Canada and the U.S. had authorized the vaccine earlier, but in line with emergency procedures.

Switzerland, which has a population of 8.6 million, is not a member of the EU. Its neighbors in the 27-member bloc plan to start vaccinations on Sunday.

A huge fire broke out on Wednesday at a temporary migrant camp in northwestern Bosnia that has been strongly criticized by rights groups as unsuitable due to its lack of resources. Officials said former residents started the blaze.

Thick black smoke rose from the Lipa tent camp near the Croatian border that housed 1,200 migrants. Residents were seen running away in panic from the fire but no injuries were immediately reported.

Today’s Cabinet decision on post-matric scholarship will ensure greater educational access to youngsters belonging to SC communities. Ensuring top quality & affordable education to our youth is an important focus area for our Government: PM Modi

In a major relief for Marathas, the Maharashtra cabinet on Wednesday decided to provide reservation to the community under the Economically Weaker
Sections (EWS) category for educational admissions and jobs.

The 10 per cent EWS quota is earmarked for those who are not covered under any social reservations.

At least eight people were killed and 30 others injured when the boiler of an ice factory exploded in this southern Pakistani city, police said. The explosion at the factory in the New Karachi industrial area on Tuesday night was so powerful that it badly damaged three other neighbouring industrial units, while shattering the windowpanes of two houses in the adjoining residential block.

A large section of the boiler was flung into the air and landed some 250 yards away that damaged the industrial units and the residential facilities, police said on Wednesday.

According to rescue officials, while eight bodies were pulled out from the debris, 30 injured people were taken to a hospital.

"The explosion was intensified due to the presence of some chemicals in drums in the ice factory," a rescue official said.

The factory owner resides in Canada with his family, police said.

As part of its expansion plans, GoAir of the Wadia group would link Mumbai with Coimbatore with a daily direct flight from Thursday, a top company official said on Wednesday.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will establish a Regional Academic Centre for Space at IIT-Varanasi to facilitate short and long term projects at the institute.

ISRO and the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Wednesday and the move can help propel the culture of research and development among students, the statement said.

At least seven members of actor Rajinikanth's film shooting crew test positive for COVID-19 in Hyderabad; shooting stopped: Sources

The head of Khandrawli village in neighbouring Shamli district has been arrested in connection with a clash in which two men were shot dead and another was injured last week, police said Wednesday.

A case has been registered against village head Sompal, his two sons and his supporters, Station House Officer of the Kandhla police station Rozan Tyagi said.

The clash broke out between two groups following a dispute over the venue of a meeting of a sugarcane farmers’ society on December 19.
PTI CORR DPB
DPB

Maharashtra govt allows district collectors to impose night curfew in their jurisdiction after taking prior permission from the chief secretary.

A case has been registered against a man for firing with a gun during his wedding celebrations in Shamli district, police said Wednesday. Mohit Kumar and his brother have been booked under IPC sections and the Arms Act, the police said, adding that both are absconding.

The action was taken after a purported video surfaced online in which Kumar was seen firing with a gun at his wedding in Gogwan village in the district.

Indian Army chief General MM Naravane undertook on the spot inspection of the state of habitat of troops on the forward line of defences at Rechin La. He appreciated the efforts made by the formation to make troops comfortable along the LAC, said Indian Army.

Karnataka government imposes night curfew (between 10 pm & 6 am) in the state, starting today. The curfew to remain in place till January 2, says Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa

Paying tributes to former prime minister Charan Singh on his birth anniversary on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he remained dedicated to the development of villages and farmers all is life.

In a tweet, Modi sad Singh will be remembered forever for his dedication to the cause of villages and farmers.

Born in 1902 in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, Singh championed the farmers' cause and is credited with shaping several policies that helped them. He died in 1987

Rahul Gandhi will lead demonstration tomorrow at 10:45am from Vijay Chowk to Rashtrapati Bhavan with Congress MPs. After that he & other senior leaders will meet the President of India & submit a memorandum containing 2 crore signatures for his intervention, Congress MP K Suresh told ANI

A special police officer (SPO), posted on election duty, has gone missing in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Wednesday.

SPO Zakir Hussain Malik was posted on election duty at Frisal in Kulgam district. He is reported missing since Tuesday along with his service AK rifle, the officials said.

Security forces have launched a search for the missing SPO, who hails from Kulgam district.

IMD forecasts a minimum temperature of 3.7 degrees Celsius in Delhi for December 23; Hisar in Haryana is likely to record 2.7 degrees Celsius temperature.

Sikar was recorded as the coldest place in Rajasthan with a minimum temperature of 4 degrees Celsius, the Meteorological Department here said on Wednesday. Sikar was followed by Pilani, where the night temperature was recorded at 4.4 degrees Celsius, the MeT Department said.

The mercury in Churu, Bhilwara and Ganganagar settled at a low of 4.5, 5.7 and 6.3 degrees Celsius, respectively. The minimum temperature in Dabok, Jaipur, Ajmer, Kota, Jaisalmer, Barmer and Jodhpur was recorded at 7.5, 8.8, 9.1, 9.3, 10, 11.4 and 11.5 degrees Celsius, respectively, according to a MeT Department report issued on Wednesday.

Two-time Congress MP from Jammu-Poonch, Madan Lal Sharma passes away

Four men were killed in the early hours of Wednesday when the car they were travelling in rammed into a truck on the Jaipur-Ajmer National Highway in Rajasthan's Ajmer district, police said. The car, travelling from Ajmer to Jaipur, crashed into the unidentified truck in Kishangarh, they said.

The deceased were identified as Pavan Meena, Dalpat, Rishikesh Meena and Sanjay Sharma, all aged between 25 and 30 years. The bodies were shifted to a hospital in Kishangarh for post-mortem, police added.

The air quality index (AQI) in Delhi has plunged into the severe category with a count of 404 in the early hours of Wednesday. Noida is even worse with the PM 10 count at 582 and PM 2.5 count of 511, much higher than Delhi.

The PM 10 count is at 435 in the severe category and is only expected to deteriorate in the coming days of the week. It will cross the 500-mark during the day and worsen in the following couple of days, going up to the 522-mark.

The PM 2.5 count is also in the very poor category at 247 and will worsen to cross the 300-mark in the coming days.