New Delhi, July 25 (IANS) The Centre in a report in the Supreme Court has proposed that state governments may consider Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY or CGHS rates as the benchmark basic rates for the treatment of coronavirus patients. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in the report in the Supreme Court gave suggestions for cost-effective treatment of Covid-19 patients after convening a stakeholders meeting following the court's direction on July 14. "States

Bhopal, July 25 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been admitted to a hospital here after he tested positive for coronavirus. Chouhan has been taken to Chirayu Hospital, a dedicated facility for the treatment of Covid patients in the capital city. Lokendra Parashar, in-charge of the BJP's media department, said that Chouhan himself said that he wanted to be treated in Chirayu Hospital. Parashar said the Chief Minister has chosen this hospital as

New Delhi, July 25 (IANS) Even as India's total novel coronavirus cases has crossed 13 lakh, the fatality rate has registered a sharp decline to 2.35 per cent, one of the lowest in the world, says the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data. Sharing the data on Saturday, the Ministry said it could be possible because of "effective and standardised clinical management protocols based on holistic standard of care approach" adopted in the country. The case fatality

New Delhi, July 25 (IANS) Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur on Saturday said its researchers have developed a portable diagnostic device that can detect Covid-19 infection in 60 minutes at an estimated cost of Rs 400. This entire non-invasive saliva-based test can be conducted in an ultra-low-cost portable enclosure as an alternative to specialised laboratory equipment, IIT Kharagpur said. The technology essentially deploys a disposable simple paper-strip for chemical anal

Bhopal, July 25 (IANS): Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj singh Chouhan has tested positive for Covid-19. This information was shared by himself on his Twitter handle. In the tweet, Chouhan wrote, "My dear people, I was having symptoms of #COVID19, after the test my report has come positive. I appeal to all my colleagues that whoever has come in contact with me, get corona test done. People close to me must move to quarantine." In another tweet, Chouhan said, "

Gurugram, July 25 (IANS): Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is likely to shift to a penthouse in Gurugram's Aralia residential complex. She visited the penthouse and spent the night there. Sources said that she may shift here after vacating the government bungalow in Lutyens' Delhi. Priyanka stayed here in her penthouse located at sector 43 on Golf Course Road on Friday night. The property is owned by her husband and businessman Robert Vadra. Following h

New Delhi, July 25 (IANS) Even as India races to develope a cure for the Covid-19 virus, and despite all safety protocalls in place for the last four months to contain the pandemic outbreak, the number of infectees are increasing drastically each day. A total of 48,916 fresh cases were reported on Saturday after 49,310 on Friday taking the total to 98,226 -- touching almost a lakh in less than two days. In the last 24 hours, 787 people succumbed to the deadly virus, as there is a hu

NEW DELHI, July 24 (Reuters) - Indian and Chinese diplomats agreed on Friday to a fast pull back of troops eyeballing each other across a disputed border in the western Himalayas where 20 Indian soldiers died in a clash last month, the Indian government said. There were no shots fired during the June 15 fighting in the Galwan Valley of India's Ladakh region when the Indian soldiers were beaten with rocks and clubs, but it still marked the worst clash in decades between Asia'

Phase I of the vaccine trial will be done on healthy people aged 18-55 years having no co-morbid conditions.   New Delhi, July 24 (PTI): The phase-I human clinical trial of India's first indigenously-developed vaccine against novel coronavirus, Covaxin, began at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on Friday with the first dose of the injection given to a man, who is in his 30s. Already, over 3,500 volunteers have registered themselves for the tria

New Delhi, July 24 (IANS) The Narendra Modi government still enjoys high approval ratings for its handling of the Covid-19 situation in India with more than three-fourths of respondents endorsing how the government is dealing with the crisis, as per the IANS-CVoter Covid-19 Tracker. As per the latest poll with a sample size of 1,723, 77.3 per cent respondents agree that the government is handling the crisis well, endorsing the Modi-led government's actions on tackling Covid-19 w

NEW DELHI, July 24 (Reuters) - Indian and Chinese diplomats were set for more talks on Friday to narrow differences on ways to pull back troops eye-balling each other across a disputed border in the western Himalayas, where 20 Indian soldiers died in a clash over a month ago. There were no shots fired during the June 15 fighting in the Galwan Valley of India's Ladakh region when the Indian soldiers were beaten with rocks and clubs, but it still marked the worst clash in decades

Kanpur, July 24 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has arrested Shivam Dubey, another aide of slain gangster Vikas Dubey who killed eight policemen in an ambush on July 3 in Bikru village. ASP, STF, Vishal Vikram Singh said that 24-year-old Shivam Dubey was present on the day of the ambush as per electronic evidences and also the statements given by other members of the gang who have been arrested earlier. Shivam was arrested on Thursday night from near Ghadi soap

Bhubaneswar, July 24 (IANS): At least two Maoists, including a woman, were killed in a gunfight with security personnel in Odisha's Kandhamal district on Thursday, police said. The gun-battle broke out after the left-wing extremists opened fire on a party of the state police's Special Operation on Thursday evening. The security personnel returned the fire, killing two insurgents, said state DGP Abhay. Two bodies (one male and one female in uniform), an INSAS rifle, a carb

New Delhi, July 24 (IANS): On the birth centenary year of late former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, the Congress in Telangana has commenced a year long celebration. Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi and former President Rahul Gandhi have also praised Rao who had initiated economic reforms in 1991. In a message, Sonia Gandhi said: "Rao's tenure was also marked by number of political, social and foreign policy achievements. He was a dedicated Congressman who served

New Delhi, July 24 (IANS) India on Friday recorded the highest single day spike of almost 50,000 fresh Covid-19 cases in 24 hours taking the total tally to 12,87,945, with the death toll also crossing 30,000 mark, the Union Health Ministry data revealed. India recorded 49,310 fresh Covid-19 cases with 740 fresh deaths, the overall toll reached 30,601. But the recovery rate stood at 63.45 per cent with as many as 8,17,209 cured, which is almost twice the number of active patients at

New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) After reports emerged that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is not withdrawing from the 'depth areas' as agreed in four rounds of talks between the corps commanders of India and China and 40,000 troops are still estimated to be present at the LAC, the Congress questioned the silence of the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister on the issue. The Congress demanded that the "status quo ante as it existed prior to May 2020 should be restore

New Delhi/Moscow, July 23 (IANS) Over a month after the India-China faceoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, Russia on Thursday said that it is satisfied with India's cooperation at BRICS -- the multilateral forum which includes China. In a webinar on 'Russia-India Relations and Pandemic Test of Global Governance', Russian Ambassador to India, Nikolay R. Kudashev, said, "We are very satisfied with the cooperation with India in the bilateral

New delhi, July 23 (PTI): he HRD ministry on Thursday announced a relaxation in the admission criteria for NITs and centrally funded technical institutions in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, doing away with the requirement of minimum 75 per cent marks in Class 12 board exams.        "Due to prevailing circumstances, Central Seat Allocation Board has decided to relax the eligibility criterion for admissions to NITs and other centrally funded technical instituti

New Delhi, July 23 (PTI): As many as 29,557 COVID-19 patients have recuperated in the past 24 hours, the highest recorded in a day so far, taking the recovery rate to 63.18 per cent, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday. According to data updated at 8 am, total recoveries have surged to 7,82,606 and exceeded the active cases of COVID-19 by 3,56,439 as on date. The number of tests for detection of COVID-19 has also crossed the 15-million mark as the number of cases surged t

New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) The Indian Army has started the process to grant permanent commission to short service commissioned women officers in 10 streams, the force said on Thursday. The Ministry of Defence has issued the formal government sanction letter for grant of permanent commission to women officers in the Indian Army, paving the way for empowering women officers to shoulder larger roles in the organisation. The order specifies grant of Permanent Commission to Short Servi