LIVE: Sputnik Light Covid vaccine to be launched in India by Dec, says RDIF

Russia plans to sell the nasal form of its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to other countries next year, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund said on Wednesday

12:47 AM

Ladakh reports 20 new Covid cases

Ladakh has reported 20 new Covid cases taking the infection tally to 21,369, officials said on Wednesday. The Union Territory has registered 212 Covid-related deaths -- 154 in Leh and 58 in Kargil -- since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. No death was reported in Ladakh on Tuesday, officials said.

 

Meanwhile, 12 patients were cured and discharged from hospitals in Leh. The total number of cured patients is 20,931, they said.

 

All the 20 new cases were reported from Leh, they said. A total of 1,042 sample reports in Ladakh were found negative, they said. The total number of active cases in Ladakh has gone up to 226, including 211 in Leh and 15 in Kargil district, they said.

12:21 AM

Portugal sees jump in COVID-19 cases, eyes restrictions

Portugal on Wednesday reported its highest number of new daily COVID-19 infections since July amid a surge in cases across Europe, though hospitalisations are rising more slowly in the country where 86% of people are vaccinated.

 

The Portuguese government is due to announce on Thursday what new pandemic restrictions it is introducing, seven weeks after scrapping almost all of them because of the high vaccination rate and perceived lower threat from the coronavirus.

 

The General Directorate for Health officially reported 3,773 new cases Wednesday, with 681 in hospitals, 105 in intensive care units and 17 deaths. The number of patients requiring hospitalisation was the highest since September.

11:27 PM

Assam reports 214 COVID-19 positive cases , two deaths

Assam recorded 214 new coronavirus infections and two fresh fatalities on Wednesday, taking the state's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 6,15,995, a National Health Mission bulletin said.

 

The number of positive cases detected during the day was seven more from the previous day with the positivity rate increasing to 0.66 per cent from 0.56 per cent on Tuesday.

 

The new cases were reported from Kamrup Metropolitan (123), Kamrup (Rural)-12, Jorhat (11), and Sonitpur, among others during the day.

 

The COVD-19 death toll rose to 6,081 with two more persons succumbing to the infection during the day.

 

The current death rate is 0.99 per cent while 1347 COVID-19 positive patients have died due to other causes.

11:21 PM

Baghel writes to PM, seeks Rs 4 lakh payout to kin of Covid victims

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Wednesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that the Centre give a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of people who have died due to the coronavirus infection, officials here said.

 

Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made a similar demand for compensation and said the central government should provide "credible" data on COVID-19 deaths. In his letter to the PM, Baghel claimed the Central government has been collecting taxes from citizens by selling petrol and diesel at hefty prices and ensuring tax rebate to corporate friends, but denying any relief to the common people.

10:43 PM

Do not be averse to second dose of vaccine: Kerala CM

Aversion to taking the second dose of vaccine was one of the major causes for resurgence of the COVID-19 infection in many European nations, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday and urged the people of the State to take both jabs without any delay.

 

In a post on the social media, he said a lesson has to be learnt from the European nations' experience. In Kerala, only 60.4 per cent of the populace has received two doses of vaccine while 95.74 per cent got the first jab, he said.

 

He said reluctance to take the second jab is being seen in the State, which has to be avoided lest there be a major health crisis.

10:10 PM

TN logs 744 new COVID-19 cases; 14 fatalities

Tamil Nadu reported 744 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, taking the tally to 27,22,506, while the toll rose to 36,415 with 14 more deaths.

 

Recoveries marginally outnumbered new cases with 782 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 26,77,607, leaving 8,484 active infections, a health department bulletin said.

 

A total of 1,01,624 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 5,36,62,064.

 

Coimbatore and Chennai accounted for the majority of new infections with 117 and 115 cases respectively, while the remaining were scattered across other districts.

 

As many as 24 districts reported below 10 COVID-19 infections, while Theni had zero cases, the bulletin said.

9:47 PM

Mumbai sees 258 fresh COVID-19 cases, four deaths

The financial capital on Wednesday reported 258 new coronavirus positive cases and four fatalities, taking the tally to 7,61,776 and the toll to 16,315, a civic official said.

 

After reporting less than 200 cases for two consecutive days, Mumbai saw a marginal rise in infections and fatalities on Wednesday. On November 22, the megapolis had recorded 196 cases and one COVID-19 death.

 

With 37,808 new tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the number of samples tested so far in Mumbai went up to 1,22,32,780, he said.

 

Mumbai is now left with 2,353 active cases after 287 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the total number of recoveries to 7,40,547.

 

Mumbai's average recovery rate is 97 per cent. The average doubling rate of cases is 2,585 days. The average growth rate of cases stood at 0.03 per cent for the period between November 17 to November 23, the official said.

 

Currently, 12 buildings in Mumbai remained sealed after new cases were reported. The city continues to remain free of containment zones in slums and chawls since mid-August.

9:12 PM

Social distancing not enough to prevent COVID, UK study finds

A new study has shown that the airborne transmission of COVID-19 is highly random and suggests that social distancing alone is not effective in controlling its spread, reiterating the importance of vaccination and face masks.

 

A team of engineers from the University of Cambridge used computer modelling to quantify how droplets spread when people cough. They found that in the absence of masks, a person with COVID-19 can infect another person at a two-metre distance the measurement being used in the UK, even when outdoors.

 

The team also found that individual coughs vary widely, and that a so-called safe distance could have been set at anywhere between one to three or more metres, depending on the risk tolerance of a given public health authority.

9:08 PM

PM Modi chairs the meeting of 39th edition of PRAGATI

8:16 PM

India’s cumulative vaccination coverage crosses 1.19 bn milestone

India’s Covid vaccination coverage has crossed 1.19 billion landmark on Wednesday. Nearly 8 million have been administered till 7 pm today.

7:08 PM

Chhattisgarh CM writes to PM Modi

6:54 PM

Soon we'll see 17 airports in UP: Scindia

6:15 PM

I spoke to PM Modi on Tripura violence: West Bengal CM

5:50 PM

Police neutralises three terrorists in Srinagar

5:49 PM

Mamata meets Modi

5:00 PM

Traffic of 12 mn passengers per year is expected in first phase at Jewar airport: Official

4:57 PM

Will seek clarity on farmer issues from Govt in Parliament: Cong leader

4:34 PM

Centre expresses concerns over declining Covid testing rates

Citing multiple surges in coronavirus cases in several countries, the Union Health Ministry has written to 13 states and union territories, including West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra and Punjab, expressing concerns over declining weekly testing rates and spiking positivity rates in some districts.

 

In a letter to Nagaland, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Kerala, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Ladakh, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan stressed on maintaining high testing rates given the recent increase in travelling due to events like marriages, festivals and vacations that have recently concluded or are underway.

 

"A decrease in testing would undermine the actual infection spread within the community," Bhushan said in the letter.

3:15 PM

Cabinet decides to repeal three farm laws

3:14 PM

PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana extended till March 2022

3:02 PM

Madras High Court sets aside AIADMK government's decision on Jayalalithaa's house

2:41 PM

Railways restores catering services in premium trains

2:19 PM

Making all efforts to handover Air India ops by Dec-end: MoCA secy

2:16 PM

International flight operations expected to return to normal soon: Govt

2:06 PM

Normal functioning of Delhi govt offices to also resume from Nov 29

1:56 PM

Delhi govt eases pollution-related measures

12:13 PM

Market update: Here are the stocks to watch in today's trade

11:20 AM

Mobikwik defers its Rs 1,900 cr IPO, says will list at 'the right time'

Payments firm MobiKwik has pushed back its plan of a public listing to a later date. The company that had received Sebi clearance for its listing on October 7, had initially planned to list in November.

 

MobiKwik, whose business model is similar to fintech player Paytm, had filed its paper to raise Rs 1,900 crore via an initial public offering (IPO).

 

When contacted the company declined to comment directly on the delaying of its IPO plans but in an official statement said: “The company is witnessing a strong business growth, has a clear path to profitability and will list at the right time.”

 

Sources in the know are now saying that the company may go for a listing in 2022.

Read on...

11:01 AM

Delhi air pollution: SC begins hearing on the rising air pollution levels in Delhi-NCR

Delhi air pollution: SC begins hearing on the rising air pollution levels in Delhi-NCR

10:55 AM

Mamata Banerjee to meet PM Modi at 5 pm today

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to meet PM Modi at 5 pm today: Trinamool Congress