India

NEW DELHI, April 14 (Xinhua) -- India's federal finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Indian government has no plan to impose a nationwide lockdown amid the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the Asian country.

Sitharaman said that the federal government does not want to totally arrest the economy and the second wave of COVID-19 in the country will be handled through isolation and quarantine methods at the local level.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India said Tuesday that it will approve the use of all coronavirus vaccines that have been given an emergency nod by the World Health Organization or regulators in the United States, Europe, Britain or Japan.

India’s Health Ministry said the decision was aimed at hastening the use of shots made in other countries and expanding the “basket of vaccines” available for domestic use. The country of almost 1.4 billion people is seeing a crippling surge of infections that is threatening to overwhelm hospitals in hard-hit cities.

Kanpur: Ramazan, a month of prayer and fast, now begins from Wednesday. There has been stress on pursuing guidelines. 

As crowd is not allowed in the wave of the deadly virus only five devouts are allowed in the mosque to offer prayers.

Some think it is like the arrangements made in the last year.

Obligatory prayers can be offered at home but taraweeh is not permitted. There is a condition of several people. 

When the gathering of people is restricted, the more people can not be collected even at the house.

New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI) The Supreme Court Monday termed as "absolutely frivolous" a petition filed by former UP Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi seeking removal of 26 verses from holy Quran and dismissed it with a cost of Rs 50,000.

A bench of Justices R F Nariman B R Gavai and Hrishikesh Roy rejected the petition in which Rizvi alleged that these 26 verses of Quran promoted terrorism.

Mumbai, Apr 13 (PTI) Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday alleged that the Election Commission's decision to bar West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours was taken at the behest of the BJP.

This was a "direct attack on democracy" and sovereignty of independent institutions of the country, Raut claimed in a tweet.

The Sena's chief spokesperson expressed solidarity with Banerjee, while terming as the "Bengal Tigress".

Assembly elections are currently underway in West Bengal.

Kolkata, Apr 13 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday sat on a dharna in the heart of the city to protest against the Election Commission's "unconstitutional" decision to ban her from campaigning for 24 hours.

Banerjee, still confined to a wheelchair owing to the injuries she sustained last month, arrived at Mayo road here around 11.40 am and began her sit-in next to a Mahatma Gandhi's statue at the venue.

No TMC leaders or supporters were spotted nearby.

New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI) India's drug regulator has granted permission for restricted emergency use of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V with certain conditions, the Union Health Ministry announced on Tuesday, while stating that Dr Reddy's Laboratories will import the vaccine for use in the country.

The approval by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) paves the way for a third vaccine to be available in the country.

Kolkata, Apr 12 (PTI) Shortly after the Election Commission on Monday barred West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC boss Mamata Banerjee from campaigning for 24 hours, her party claimed that the poll panel was behaving like a "wing of the BJP" and its decision smacks of authoritarianism.

Derek O'Brien, the ruling party's Rajya Sabha MP, said it was a black day for India's democracy.

"EC stands for Extremely Compromised. April 12 BLACK DAY in our democracy," O'Brien tweeted.

New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI) A 15-year-old boy died after a stray cow hit him with its horns while he was returning from a park in northwest Delhi's Bharat Nagar area, police said on Monday.

The deceased has been identified as Rudhir and the incident took place on Sunday afternoon, they said.

Police said he was taken to a hospital by an auto-rickshaw driver, but he died during treatment.

Srinagar, Apr 11 (PTI) National Conference (NC) on Monday questioned the latest CMIE data showing a drastic decrease in the unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it is a mockery of the plight of lakhs of unemployed youth.

The figures, it goes without saying, claiming spur in job creation are based on defective data, and erroneous tabulation, but it cannot change the basic facts about widespread unemployment in Jammu and Kashmir, NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said in a statement.