NEWS

Delhi logged 17 deaths due to COVID-19 and 22,751 infections in a day as the positivity rate soared to 23.53 percent, according to the city health department's data released on Sunday.  The number of new cases reported on Sunday was the highest since 1 Ma when the city recorded 25,219 cases with a positivity rate of 31.61 percent.

A total of 1,618 Covid patients are in hospitals. Of them, 44 are on ventilator support, government data showed.   The city currently has 60,733 active cases of which 35,714 are in home isolation.   A total of 96,678 tests, including 79,954 RT-PCR ones, were conducted the previous day

Earlier on Sunday,Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the government has no plans to impose lockdown as yet.

Kejriwal, who himself had tested positive for COVID-19 a day after holding a rally in Dehradun on 3 January, and isolated himself at home, made the remarks earlier Sunday at a virtual press conference.

In Varanasi, members of the VHP and Bajrang Dal have reportedly put up posters that ban non-Hindus from entering the Ganga ghats.

Nikhil Tripathi, 'Rudra', the city convenor of Bajrang Dal, said the posters as a 'clear' message to those who use ghats like picnic spots.

"We are warning to them to stay away from the ghats of Ganga, as it is not a picnic spot but a symbol of 'Sanatan' culture," he said. 

VHP city secretary Rajan Gupta said those with no respect for Sanatan dharma must not visit ghats and temples.  

The Supreme Court on Friday struck down a condition specified in a clause in the CBSE’s evaluation policy of June last year which stated that marks obtained in the later examination will be considered as final for assessing class 12 students. A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and C T Ravikumar said the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) shall provide an option to the candidate to accept the better of the two marks obtained in the subject for final declaration of his or her results for the last academic year.

The apex court, which was hearing a plea filed by some students who had appeared in the CBSE exams last year for improving their marks in class 12, noted that a grievance has been made about the provision in clause 28 of the June 17, 2021 policy which stated that “….as per this policy, marks scored in later examination will be considered final”.

On Friday, Mumbai reported 20,971 new cases, 6 deaths and 8,490 recoveries in 24 hours. With this, active cases in India's financial capital stands at 91,731.

Out of 20,971 fresh cases recorded in Mumbai, 17,616 are asymptomatic, 1,395 have been hospitalised. The recovery rate in Mumbai stands at 87% and the doubling rate of the infection in the city is 56 days.

Urging people to remain caution, Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar told ANI, "The Chief Minister thinks that no lockdown should be imposed. But, people are still not serious and are not wearing masks. People must follow all COVID-19 SOPs." She added that a decision on seating capacity to be allowed for restaurants, hotels etc, is likely soon.