New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): States and union territories would aggregate the demand of private hospitals for Covid vaccines based on which the Centre will facilitate supply to these governments for timely and equitable distribution to smaller and remoter private healthcare facilities, according to the revised guidelines issued on Tuesday. Also, vaccine doses provided free of cost by the Centre will be allocated to states and union territories based on criteria such as population, disea

Mumbai, June 8 (PTI): Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said views expressed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on various issues carry weight and that most of his demands were implemented by the Union government. Speaking to reporters here, Raut said, "Many things said by Rahul Gandhi in the past were factually correct. Not just that, several of his demands were later implemented by the Union government". Raut was responding to a question over whether Rahul Gandhi's

Chandrapur, June 8 (PTI): Seven daughters and two sons of a man carried out his last rites in Chandrapur city in Maharashtra as he was facing a social boycott for several years from his community members for marrying out of caste, police said on Tuesday. Prakash Ongle (55), a resident of Bhangram here, had been boycotted by the panchayat of the Gondhali community, to which he belonged, for the last 25 years for marrying a woman of another caste, said SR Nandedkar, Chandrapur Ci

New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): Amid debate whether the Centre's decision to provide free COVID-19 vaccine to all above 18 years was triggered by the Supreme Court's recent remarks on the jab policy, a class 5 student of Kerala has written to Chief Justice N V Ramana lauding the top court for its effective intervention and saving lives in the fight against pandemic. The 10-year-old Lidwina Joseph got lucky as the Chief Justice of India responded to her beautiful letter and heart-wa

New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): Over Rs 40,700 crore have been allocated to help over two lakh villages achieve solid and liquid waste management (SLWM) under the Swacch Bharat Mission (Grameen), the Jal Shakti Ministry said on Tuesday. While the Centre will spend around Rs 14,000 crore, states will spend over Rs 8,300 crore and the remaining funds will come from others sources, it said. Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria had on Monday reviewed the progress of SWB(G).

New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): The Centre has asked state governments to nominate more officers for central deputation at the level of deputy secretary, director and joint secretary, citing their shortage, according to an official communique. It also asked them not to nominate officers, who are on the verge of promotion, that often necessitates their early repatriation to their cadre to avail the benefit. "It may be ensured that the names of only those officers are forwarded who a

New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): The government on Tuesday stressed on avoiding large gatherings for a couple of months and following COVID-19-appropriate behaviour to avert any future wave, even as it noted that there has been a continued and sharp decline in daily new coronavirus cases in the country. In a joint press briefing on the pandemic situation, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said almost 79 per cent decline in daily new COVID-19 cases has been noted since the peak on

New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): India is taking all steps to ensure that the country becomes free of single-use plastic by 2022 as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday while launching 'Plastic Hackathon 2021' campaign. Kick-starting the two-month long awareness campaign on single-use plastics (SUPs), Javadekar, in an audio message, said the Environment Ministry has taken several steps towards eliminating single-use

Jodhpur, June 8 (PTI): A five-year-old girl died of thirst while her grandmother fell unconscious in Raniwara in Jalore district of Rajasthan, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place on Sunday afternoon when Sukhi (60) and her granddaughter Manju (5) were travelling by foot to see a family member in Roda village, Station House Officer Padma Ram said. While on the way, they felt thirsty but could not find water around as the place was uninhabited, he said. Later, some s

New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): The Centre should clarify in Parliament its policy and roadmap for providing COVID vaccines to all by December, the Congress said on Tuesday, as it alleged that the government was driven by headlines and not deadlines and asked why people still have to pay for the jabs at private hospitals. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said all Indians should get free vaccination for COVID-19 and there should be no mandatory registration on the CoWIN app as there are many w

New Delhi, June 8 (IANS) India on Tuesday logged 86,498 new Covid infections in 24 hours, less than one lakh cases for the first time in past 66 days, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry said. It is also the lowest number of cases since April 2 when the country logged 89,129 new cases. In the past 24-hour, 2,123 more people succumbed to the pandemic. On Monday, India had reported 1,00,636 cases, lowest spike since April 6. India's overall tally of Covid-19 case

New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): The Supreme Court has directed all the states and Union Territories (UTs) to take stringent action against NGOs and individuals who are indulging in illegal adoptions of children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic. The apex court was Monday informed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) that as per data submitted by different states and UTs till June 5, as many as 30,071 children were orphaned, lost a parent or abandoned mostly

NEW DELHI, JUNE 8 (IANS): From Tuesday onwards, Covid-19 vaccine doses provided free of cost by the Central government to states and the Union Territories (UTs) will be allocated based on criteria such as population, disease burden and the progress of vaccination. These elements were included in the fresh guidelines for implementation of National Covid vaccination programme. The revised guidelines will come into effect from June 21 this year and will be reviewed from time to time.

KOLKATA, JUNE 8 (IANS): With the Covid infection rate coming down below 10 per cent and the number of daily cases hovering around 5,000, the Mamata Banerjee government is mulling lifting of restrictions imposed on in West Bengal in phases. State government officials have already started communication with the transport authorities and different business chambers to formulate a strategy so that the relaxations do not give fresh stimulus to the disease. The government imposed the r

New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): Use of non-transferable electronic vouchers approved by the Reserve Bank of India will be encouraged to enable people to financially support COVID-19 inoculation of economically weaker sections at private centres, according to the revised guidelines issued by the Centre on Tuesday. While the Co-WIN platform provides every citizen the facility of conveniently pre-booking vaccination appointments, all government and private vaccination centers will also provid

New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): The government will spend up to Rs 1.45 lakh crore additional money to provide free vaccines and foodgrains to people devastated by the deadly second wave of COVID infections, sources said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of providing free inoculation to all adults will entail total spending of anywhere between Rs 45,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore. This is higher than Rs 35,000 crore that the government had budgeted. Extendi

NEW DELHI, JUNE 8 (IANS): The Centre on Tuesday approved the release of the guidelines for development of e-content for children with disabilities. Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' gave the approval to the move by taking forward a comprehensive initiative taken by the government on May 17 last year by launching PM e-VIDYA with an aim to unify all efforts related to online education. The programme inter alia envisages development of special e-content for

NEW DELHI, JUNE 8 (IANS): India on Tuesday logged 86,498 new Covid infections in 24 hours, less than one lakh cases for the first time in past 66 days, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry said. It is also the lowest number of cases since April 2 when the country logged 89,129 new cases. In the past 24-hour, 2,123 more people succumbed to the pandemic. On Monday, India had reported 1,00,636 cases, lowest spike since April 6. India's overall tally of Covid-19 cas

NEW DELHI, JUNE 8 (IANS): The climate emergency will have a catastrophic human and economic impact in India. Different threats will interact to devastating effect, as exemplified by cyclones Tauktae and Yaas during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. A new review by the global think tank, ODI, The costs of climate change in India, released on Tuesday, laid out how rising temperatures will jeopardise India's economic development through different channels, including falling

New Delhi, June 8 (PTI): More than 1.19 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday. Over 24 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states and UTs so far through Government of India (free of cost channel) and through direct state procurement category. Of this, the total consumption, including wastages is 23,47,43,489 doses, the ministry said. "A total of 1,19,46,925 COVID-19 vacc