NEWS

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) told the Bombay high court on Monday that it doesn't see the much-feared third wave of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hitting the city. The civic body based its prediction on a "smooth" vaccination drive, in which over 42 lakh people have been fully vaccinated and more than 82 lakh have received the first dose.

“The work is on. It is going on smoothly. Now, there is no shortage of vaccines too. Mumbai is safe. We do not see a third wave (of the Covid-19) coming,” BMC counsel Anil Sakhare told the high court, according to a news agency.

He also said that 2,586 bed-ridden people have so far been administered both the doses of Covid-19 vaccine while 3,942 such people have got the first jab.

The Centre on Monday approved the appointment of 12 J&K Police officers to the prestigious Indian Police Service (IPS) and allocated them to Jammu and Kashmir under the AGMUT cadre. This is after a gap of 11 years that local officers have been inducted into the IPS through promotion.

A panel headed by UPSC member T C Anant had cleared the proposal for induction of these officers — Shakti Kumar Pathak, Dr Haseeb Mughal, Javid Ahmed Koul, Sheikh Junaid Mehmood, Shahid Mehraj Rather, Dr Ajeet Singh, Altaf Ahmed Khan, Haseeb-ur-Rehman, Vikas Gupta, Abdul Qayoom, Nisha Nathyal and Javid Iqbal Matoo — during a meeting held on July 29. The President of India approved the appointment.

Giving an ultimatum to the RJD ahead of the bypolls in Kusheshwar Asthan, the Congress said that if the party does not withdraw its candidate Ganesh Bharti from the seat by Monday night then the grand old party will field candidates against RJD from both Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur assembly seats.

Congress Legislature Party leader Ajeet Sharma, while talking exclusively to India Today, said that the party was upset with the way in which RJD announced the name of its candidates for Tarapur as well as Kusheshwar Asthan seats on Sunday. Congress maintained that the RJD did not follow the coalition dharma while announcing candidates for both seats unilaterally.

A day after eight people were killed in violence during a farm protest in UP's Lakhimpur Kheri, a murder case has been filed against junior Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni's son Ashish Mishra. The minister, too, has been booked for criminal conspiracy. A deadlock between protesting farmers, who refused to cremate the bodies of those who died on Sunday, and the administration was resolved by Monday afternoon after a meeting. The government has promised a judicial inquiry headed by a former high court judge, compensation of Rs 45 lakh each to the kin of the dead and a government job each for the bereaved families.