Omicron cases cross 100-mark in India; Delhi ramps up hospital services |
Delhi reported 12 new Omicron cases on Friday, most of them fully vaccinated
and asymptomatic. The Capital also witnessed a spike in other covid cases in
the past few days, registering the highest number in four months. The
Government has asked hospitals to augment their services. Maharashtra tops
the States with 40 Omicron cases. Other States detecting Omicron cases are:
Delhi (22), Rajasthan (17), Karnataka (8), Telangana (8), Gujarat (5), Kerala (7),
Andhra Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and Bengal (1).
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NEW DELHI, Dec 18: Twelve new Omicron cases were reported in Delhi on Friday,
taking the tally to 22 since the new covid variant was detected in South Africa
last month. Ten patients have been discharged so far. Most of the cases were
fully vccinated and asymptomatic.
The patients were in the 20-55-year age group. Only one of these has shown
symptoms, sources at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan hospital said. The patient
had body ache and upset stomach. There was none needing oxygen or ICU admission.
Of the 12 new cases, two are from UK, four from Dubai, two from Tanzania and
two from South Africa.
The Delhi Government has asked hospitals in the Capital to augment their services
by taking in more personnel in view of the emerging situation.
The number of Omicron cases across India has crossed the 100 mark, Maharashtra,
with 40 cases, reporting the highest. Other States are: Delhi (22), Rajasthan
(17), Karnataka (8), Telangana (8), Gujarat (5), Kerala (7), Andhra Pradesh
(1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and West Bengal (1).
Delhi had 69 new covid cases on Friday, according to the Health Department's
bulletin. On Thursday there were 85 cases, the highest number in four months,
and on Wednesday 57 cases.
So far in December there have been reports of two deaths from covid. They were
on December 6 and 8. Seven covid deaths were reported in November, the highest
count in the last three months in the national Capital. There were four fatalities
in October and five in September. The total deaths from covid so far is 25,100
in Delhi.
On Friday the test positivity rate (TPR) was 0.12 per cent while it was 0.15
per cent and 0.10 per cent, respectively, on Wednesday and Thursday.
A total of 57,298 tests were conducted on Thursday, out of which 51,813 were
RT-PCR tests and the rest rapid antigen tests.
Canada lifts ban on foreign travellers
Canada on Friday lifted the ban on foreign travelers from 10 African countries.
However, it has made testing mandatory. Pre-arrival negative PCR tests will
be a must from December 21. The travel restriction on flights from South Africa,
Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi
and Egypt will end at 11:59 pm on Saturday (0459 GMT Sunday), Health Minister
Jean-Yves Duclos told a news conference.
The travel curb was introduced by Canada last month when the Comicron variant
of covid began spreading to other countries from Soth Africa, where it was first
detected and officially announced on November 25. Now it is claimed that since
the new variant has already spread widely in Canada, there is no need to keep
the travel ban.
So far there have been nearly 350 cases of the Omicron variant across Canada
and the daily average of covid cases has risen to 5,000. "It is expected the
sheer number of (Omicron) cases could inundate the health system in a very short
period of time," said Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam.
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SELECTIONS FROM OUR ARCHIVES |
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Top Govt officer thrashed, kicked inside Bhubaneswar office: Incident sparks a debate
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The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.
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UK's House of Commons votes to legalise assisted dying: What it means | |
ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!
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What caused Air India Boeing 787 crash? Some questions, some answers | |
The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.
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Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line brings Kashmir Valley on India's rail map |
- The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
- The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
- The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest
railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)
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Work done, Elon Musk steps down from DOGE, leaves White House | |
Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.
PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.
Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people.
(Today's headlines )
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Ailing Asiatic lion Pataudi too dies of bird flu at Kanpur zoo
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Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.
Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.
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48 tourist destinations closed in Kashmir following Pahalgam terror attack
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As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.
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Trump slaps ‘kind’, ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on trading partners; a 'lenient' 26% on India!
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ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!
What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America!
(Today's headlines )
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Trump signs order to shut Education Dept - And the contrast with India
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PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).
In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.
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Sunita, Wilmore's Dragon splashes down in Gulf: What delayed their return? |
THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.
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All 80k health workers in US offered $25,000 voluntary buyout: Administering wrong prescriptions!
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The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.
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ARCHIVES
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Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Gujarat
Puducherry
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Neighbours Calling
Bhutan
Nepal
Malaysia
Dubai
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Visit Indian Travel Sites
Goa,
Kerala,
Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Uttar Pradesh,
Himachal Pradesh,
Assam,
Sikkim,
Karnataka,
Madhya Pradesh,
Jammu & Kashmir
Gujarat
Puducherry
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