Omicron cases in india

The statement issued by Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was nothing short of an intimation, nay confirmation, of the apocalyptic economic crisis that the island nation confronts. The numbers thrown by Mr Wickremesinghe are self-explanatory of the mess that he will need to clean up to put Sri Lanka back on track. Government revenues cover only 40 per cent of the expenditure being incurred. The fiscal deficit is around 13 per cent of GDP. The foreign exchange reserves are virtually non-existent. According to Wickremesinghe, “It is a challenge for the treasury to find USD 1 million.” Petrol stocks are down to just one day. Sri Lanka is looking at power cuts of around 15 hours a day because a quarter of the electricity is produced from oil which the government has no money to buy. There are huge shortages of medicines. Shortages of virtually every other commodity, including food, are inescapable. With the government being “compelled to print money” to pay … [Read more...] about India Must Lead Quad Effort to Pull Out Sri Lanka from Clutches of China’s Debt Trap Diplomacy

The Supreme Court’s decision to release A.G. Perarivalan , a life convict in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case, is yet another addition to the “special coincidence” between the month of May and events and personalities associated with the case. It was on the night of May 21, 1991 in Sriperumbudur that a ‘human bomb’ killed Rajiv Gandhi and 15 others, including a Superintendent of Police. Exactly a year later — May 20, 1992 — the Special Investigation Team filed the charge sheet before the designated special court, constituted under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). [The law was repealed in 1995]. The charge sheet narrated the sequence of events from July 1987, when the India-Lanka Accord was signed by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayawardene , to the Prime Minister’s assassination in 1991. Forty-one persons were listed as accused in the case, of whom three, including the chief of the … [Read more...] about Rajiv Gandhi case-related developments invariably happened in May

The rise in the number of new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations in the Bay Area continues unabated, driven by fast-moving subvariants. Those new cases are once again wreaking havoc on the Bay Area’s restaurants , as the surge collides with an industry staffing shortage. The U.S. officially marked 1 million COVID-related deaths , a figure that is almost certainly an undercount. Latest updates: COVID shut down some of S.F.’s coolest hidden public spaces. It’s time to open them back up, says John King Even before the pandemic, some of the coolest public spaces in downtown San Francisco were easy to miss — perched on tall buildings or tucked inside towers, off the map unless you were in the know. Then came COVID-19. Now, even though workers are returning to the city’s downtown core, some of the best public spaces remain off-limits. We’re still living in harrowing times, no question. But at some point before too long, the city will need to give an official prod to … [Read more...] about COVID in California: Latest news as Bay Area cases climb

Thailand on Thursday received 200,000 doses of India-made Covovax vaccines as part of a flagship initiative of the Quad grouping to help countries combat the coronavirus pandemic. The vaccine doses were handed over to Thai Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in Bangkok by India’s Ambassador to Thailand Suchitra Durai, Australian envoy Allan McKinnon, Japan’s Nashida Kazuya and US Charge d’Affaires James Wayman, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. “The consignment comprising 200,000 doses of Made in India, Covovax vaccines was presented to Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Health of Thailand on April 21 in Bangkok,” it said. This is the second consignment of vaccines delivered by India under the Quad vaccine partnership, after the inaugural supply to Cambodia on April 12. The Quad vaccine partnership was announced by leaders of the four-nation grouping at their first summit on March 12 last year. The MEA said the vaccine doses … [Read more...] about Thailand Gets India-made Covid Vaccine Covovax Under Quad Initiative

The Supreme Court on Wednesday is scheduled to pronounce its judgment on whether the Tamil Nadu Governor was right in referring Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict A.G. Perarivalan’s plea for pardon to the President without taking a decision. Very early in the case, a Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao gave the Centre a choice between allowing Perarivalan, who has served over 30 years of his life sentence, to be released or argue the case and eventually get a judgment on merits. The Centre had chosen the latter. Under Article 161 of the Constitution , the Governor is bound by the advice given by the Tamil Nadu Council of Ministers to the Governor to release Perarivalan. The court, during arguments, had orally observed that the Governor prima facie had no authority to transfer the mercy plea to the President. There was no role for the President under Article 161. “We cannot shut our eyes to something that is happening against the Constitution. We have to follow our … [Read more...] about Perarivalan pardon case: SC to give verdict on May 18

The story so far: After reportedly remaining “COVID-free” since the start of the global pandemic, North Korea last week confirmed its first case. On May 12, the North Korean administration said the highly transmissible Omicron variant was detected in the country as thousands reported ill due to a fast-spreading fever. In an immediate response to what North Korea termed was the “state’s most serious emergency”, its leader Kim Jong Un imposed a nationwide lockdown. Also Read North Korea reports six deaths after admitting COVID-19 outbreak Five days since its first public admission, the country has reported around 15 lakh suspected COVID-19 cases, while at least 56 people have died. Saying that the outbreak has pushed North Korea into “great turmoil”, Mr. Kim Jong Un has called for an all-out battle to overcome the virus. On May 16, Mr. Kim ordered the immediate deployment of the military to stabilise the supply of COVID-19 medicines in the capital, Pyongyang. A … [Read more...] about Explained | Why North Korea’s COVID-19 outbreak is cause for worry

The Congress Wednesday expressed pain and disappointment over the release of Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convict A G Perarivalan, and slammed the government for creating “a situation” in the court that the killer of a former prime minister is released for “petty and cheap politics”. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said today there is a sorrow and fury not only in every Congress worker over the development, but in every citizen who believes in India and Indianness. “A terrorist is a terrorist and should be treated as one. Today, we are deeply pained and disappointed at the decision of the Supreme Court ordering the release of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassin,” he said. It is condemnable and very unfortunate that the assassin of a former prime minister has been released, he said. “Today is a sad day for the country. There is a sorrow and fury not only in every Congress worker, but in every Indian who believes in India and Indianness, who believes in fighting against extremism … [Read more...] about Cong ‘Deeply Pained, Disappointed’ Over Release of Rajiv Gandhi Assassin, Slams Govt

Google has announced a host of Pixel devices that include the company’s first Pixel Watch smartwatch and Pixel Android Tablet. We also saw the company unveil its next-gen Pixel 7 smartphone series as well as a toned-down Pixel 6a that looks similar to the current Pixel 6 devices. We will see the launch of the Pixel Buds Pro soon, an upgraded version of the Pixel Buds TWS earbuds. The India-specific availability details remain unclear, though Alphabet’s Google announced that the Pixel 6a would launch in the country “later this year”. All the announcements were at the Google I/O 2022 keynote last night, May 11. Google Pixel 6a Starting with the Google Pixel 6a, the phone will feature Google’s custom chipset called Tensor and M2 security chip. Google says the toned-down version will have many of the “must-have features” of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro devices at a lower price of $449(Rs 34,700 approx). In terms of specifications, the Google Pixel 6a features a 6.1-inch OLED display … [Read more...] about Google Unveils Pixel Watch, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7 Series, Pixel Tablet and Pixel Earbuds Pro

A documentary released by the People’s Movement Against Death Penalty (PMADP) here on Saturday claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had failed to record verbatim the confessional statement of A.G. Perarivalan alias Arivu, the convict facing death penalty in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The shocking but delayed revelation was based on the interview of a former Superintendent of Police of the CBI who admitted that he failed to record verbatim the confessional statement of Perarivalan. V. Thiagarajan IPS (retired) who was the then CBI SP of the Kerala Branch said he was assigned the task of recording the statement of accused persons in 1991. “Arivu told me that he did not know why they asked him to buy that [the battery]. But I did not record that in the confessional statement. Then the investigation was in progress, so that particular statement I did not record. Strictly speaking, law expects you to record a statement verbatim… we don’t do that in … [Read more...] about Former CBI official says he did not record Perarivalan’s confession verbatim

Former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation D.R. Kaarthikeyan has called for a special session of Parliament to debate whether India should abolish death penalty or retain it. In a message to the People’s Movement Against Death Penalty (PMADP) headed by the former Supreme Court Judge, V.R. Krishna Iyer, he said the best acceptable and pragmatic solution was for Parliament to take a firm decision unanimously or by an overwhelming majority, reflecting the general mood of the nation. “A special session of Parliament should be convened, where members should be enabled to express their opinion… the members should be given the freedom to exercise their views by voting on the motion, without being constrained by any party whip,” he said. Mr. Kaarthikeyan was the chief of the Special Investigation Team that probed the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. In an apparent reference to the delay in decisions on the mercy petitions of convicts facing death penalty, he said: … [Read more...] about Parliament should debate death penalty, says Kaarthikeyan