General News India crosses 100 crore COVID vaccinations milestone; over 106.14 crore vaccinated so far. India COVID tally touches 34.2 million, Active cases account for 0.48% of total infections; recovery rate improves to 98.18%. PM Modi launches Swachh Bharat-Urban 2.0, AMRUT 2.0 for ‘Garbage Free’ and ‘Water Secure’ cities. PM Modi launches Jal Jeevan Mission App and Rashtriya Jal Jeevan Kosh. 16th East Asia Summit: PM Modi calls for free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. PM Modi hosts Danish PM; both countries agree on 5-year plan to implement green strategic partnership. G20 Summit: PM Modi highlights India’s contribution to fight against COVID. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla calls on Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa. Jaishankar, UK counterpart agree to facilitate travel between two nations. US Navy chief Admiral Mike Gilday arrives in Delhi; holds talks with Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh. Gen Naravane meets Sri Lanka’s top civilian and military leadership; discusses steps to boost defence ties. Jaishankar takes part in new quadrilateral with Israel, UAE and U.S. Jaishankar calls on Israeli President, PM; discusses bilateral full potential of bilateral relations. S Jaishankar-UK counterpart Liz Truss review progress on roadmap 2030; discuss terror, Afghanistan. S Jaishankar holds talks with UK CDS […] Read more
General News India COVID tally touches 33.7 million, 883 million vaccine doses administered so far. Active cases account for 0.80% of total infections; recovery rate improves to 97.84%. Govt allows door-to-door COVID vaccination for differently-abled persons. PM Modi launches Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, health ID for every citizen. PM Modi holds first bilateral meeting with Biden; discusses Indo-Pacific, climate, COVID. PM participates in the first in-person Quad Summit; addresses at 76th session of UNGA. India, Australia holds ‘2+2’ talks to strengthen defence, strategic cooperation. Jaishankar meets China’s Wang Yi; calls for early resolution on LAC issues in eastern Ladakh. S Jaishankar meets with UK’s Foreign Secretary; calls for resolution of ‘quarantine Issue’. Indian envoy to Qatar meets Taliban leaders, says Afghan soil must not be used for terrorism. India to host G-20 summit in 2023 for the first time; Piyush Goyal appointed sherpa for grouping. Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari to be new chief of Indian Air Force. IAF plane carrying Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari conducts mock emergency landing in NH 925 in Barmer. India signs a project agreement with the US for air-launched unmanned aerial vehicles. India, Singapore conduct major naval exercise near South China Sea. Defence Ministry places […] Read more
General News India celebrates its 75th Independence Day; PM Modi announces ₹100 lakh crore Gatishakti plan for holistic growth and National Hydrogen Mission. PM Modi declares August 14 to be observed as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day. Parliament session ends 2 days ahead of schedule; 22 Bills passed by both the Houses. Rajya Sabha records 29% productivity and Lok Sabha records 22%. President Kovind gives assent to Constitutional Amendment Bill allowing States to identify OBCs. India COVID tally touches 32.8 million, active cases account to 1.14% of total infections. India administers over 65.41 crore doses of COVID vaccination; recovery rate stands at 97.49%. Centre releases 2nd tranche of COVID Emergency Package to help states improve health infrastructure. DGCI approves study on mixing of Covaxin and Covishield doses; trial to involve 300 volunteers. Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose COVID vaccine gets approval for Emergency Use in India. Many states announce COVID relaxation measures; schools, colleges , cinema halls set to reopen. Kerala govt reimposes Sunday lockdown, announces night curfew from 10pm to 6am from August 30. India, China agree to disengage from a key patrol point in Ladakh. Bhubaneswar becomes first Indian city to achieve 100% COVID-19 vaccination. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launches […] Read more
General News Monsoon session of Parliament: Both houses face repeated adjournments over Pegasus, farm laws. All citizens aged 18 and above to be vaccinated by December 2021: Health Ministry tells Parliament 36 new ministers take charge after Cabinet revamp; 7 promoted, 12 ministers dropped. PM Modi offers India’s Co-WIN platform to the world for adaptation to local use. India COVID tally touches 31.6 million, 470 million vaccine doses administered so far. Active cases account for 1.28% of total infections; recovery rate improves to 97.34%. Global Coronavirus caseload crosses 198.5 million; US cases surpass 35.7 million. PM Modi inaugurates, lays foundation stones of projects worth over ₹1,500 crore in Varanasi. Tirath Singh Rawat tenders resignation as CM of Uttarakhand; Pushkar Singh Dhami takes oath as CM. Union Minister Thawarchand made Karnataka Governor; 7 other States get new Governors. Basavaraj Bommai sworn in as the 30th Chief Minister of Karnataka. S Jaishankar holds delegation level talks with Iranian, Russian and Georgian couterparts. S Jaishankar discusses outstanding issues along the LAC in the Western Sector with China’s Wang Yi. US Secretary of State Blinken meets PM Modi, discusses regional challenges, cooperation on COVID. President Kovind visits J&K, Ladakh; pays tributes to Kargil martyrs […] Read more
General News India COVID tally touches 30.4 million, 335 million vaccine doses administered so far. Active cases account for 1.70% of total infections; recovery rate improves to 96.94%. Global Coronavirus caseload crosses 182.9 million; Brazil death toll surpasses 5.18 million. Centre begins next phase of nation wide COVID 19 vaccination drive to all above 18 years of age. Centre submits vaccination roadmap to SC, says entire population will get jabbed by the end of 2021 •₹780 for Covishield , ₹1,410 for Covaxin and ₹1,145 for Sputnik V: Centre fixes rates at private centres. Many States and UTs announce more lockdown relaxations as virus cases continue to dip. PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana: Govt extends free foodgrains scheme till Nov for 80 crore beneficiaries. Rajnath Singh approves budgetary support of nearly ₹499 crore for innovations in defence sector. India, China discuss ‘early resolution’, agree to hold 12th military talks. India, Kuwait sign pact for cooperation on recruitment of Indian workers. India calls for open & inclusive order in Indo Pacific region: Rajnath Singh at ASEAN meet. India and Bhutan ink MoU for developing cooperation in area of environment. S Jaishankar attends G20 ministerial meetings in Italy. Thousands of farmers march against […] Read more
General News Assembly Elections: Mamata Banerjee, M K Stalin, Pinarayi Vijayan take oath as Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala respectively. BJP-led NDA retains power with majority in Assam; Himanta Biswa Sarma takes oath as CM of Assam. N Rangasamy sworn in as Chief Minister of first NDA govt in Puducherry. India COVID tally crosses 28 million, 213 million vaccine doses administered; recovery rate at 92.07%. Global Coronavirus caseload tops 171 million; US leads the global tally with 34 million cases. Govt announces pension scheme, insurance cover to support COVID-19 victims’ dependents. Centre and States provide financial aid, education to children orphaned by COVID. Centre directs States to notify black fungus or mucormycosis as an epidemic. States imposes fresh restrictions to Curb COVID; essential services exempted. Plasma therapy dropped from India’s corona treatment protocol: ICMR. DRDO’s anti-COVID drug 2-DG launched; to be available at hospitals from June, price fixed at ₹990/sachet. Serum Institute to produce 10 crore doses by August, Bharat Biotech promises 7.8 crore jabs. SC constitutes 12-member National Task Force to facilitate public health response to COVID crisis. Many States declare journalists ‘frontline workers’, to vaccinate them on priority. S Jaishankar meets UN Chief Antonio […] Read more
General News India COVID tally crosses 19.1 million with over 2 million deaths; recovery rate stands at 81.84%. Global Coronavirus caseload tops 152 million; US leads the global tally with 33 million cases. 15.22 crore vaccine doses administered; more than 1.28 crore doses administered Tika Utsav. States to set up Containment & micro Containment Zones; to ramp up tests to break transmission chain. Centre says national directives for COVID-19 management will continue throughout country till 31st May. Several states impose lockdown, night curfew to curb Covid surge. All Centrally protected monuments, sites & museums under ASI closed till May 15. Centre imports 20 cryogenic tankers, allocates them to states to address shortage of oxygen tankers. India to import 4.50 lakh vials of Remdesivir; first consignment to arrive today. Oxygen Expresses delivers cumulative 510 metric tonnes of oxygen to UP, Maharashtra, Delhi and MP. Over 40 countries offered assistance to India to fight COVID-19. Assembly elections: West Bengal records 81.76% voter turnout; 72.81% in Tamil Nadu; 81.88% in Puducherry, 74.57% in Kerala, 82.04% in Assam. Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra set to become the next CEC. PM Modi, Seychelles President Ramkalawan jointly inaugurate several Indian projects in Seychelles. India, France and Australia […] Read more