NEWS

Amid rising concern about certain states reporting a higher number of cases, the Centre issued strict warning on Friday against any lowering of guard as the second wave is still not over and sent teams to half a dozen states.

The Centre asked states to identify districts where weekly positivity rate is above 10% or bed occupancy is over 60% and impose highest level of restrictions for at least 14 days to break the chain of transmission.

"The second wave is not over. Though there is an overall decline in cases, some states are still reporting a high number of cases. We are not safe till the entire nation is safe. There is a need to contain the virus locally in districts where positivity is high," NITI Aayog member, health, Dr V K Paul said.

With the Supreme Court rejecting the review petition filed by the Centre and handing the mandate to identify the state list of OBCs to the central government, social justice and empowerment minister Thawarchand Gehlot on Friday said the Centre is considering a constitutional amendment to restore the power of states with regard to the local list of backwards.

Gehlot told media, “We are discussing the issue with the law ministry. Based on that and the guidance from the PMO, we will decide the future course of action. An amendment appears the only way out.... not another appeal in the court. We will decide on it soon.”

More than a quarter of all schoolchildren in India now study in English-medium schools though Hindi remains by far the biggest medium of instruction, accounting for over 42% of total enrolment. Among the states that have more kids in English medium than in vernacular are Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, besides most of the southern states and several smaller states and Union territories.

This was revealed in the latest UDISE (Unified District Information System for Education) report for 2019-20 which covers about 26.5 crore children from primary to senior secondary level in over 15 lakh schools. Anecdotal evidence suggests that in many so-called English-medium schools, instruction is often imparted in the local language, but the rise in enrolment in such schools nevertheless indicates an aspirational urge.

COVID had left Bank of Baroda's Malad branch manager Pramod Kumar on oxygen support for nine days last year. Seven other colleagues had also got infected, leaving them wary of handling customers. So in April, when a long-term account holder, Mahendra Pratap Singh, offered vaccination, Kumar jumped at the opportunity.

The vaccination camp was planned at Shivam Hospital for staffers and their family, around 40 people in all, for Rs 800 per shot. At the last minute, the venue for the second dose was shifted to the bank branch office on May 25. Singh and two others arrived that day carrying an ice-box with vials. While they noted down names and Aadhaar numbers of the beneficiaries, no one mentioned Co-WIN. The bank employees noticed this, but didn't think much about it.