Delhi

New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI) Taking a dig at the government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said its strategy to fight the COVID-19 pandemic consisted of imposing a 'Tughlaqi lockdown, ringing bells and singing praises to the Lord.

The Congress-led opposition has been criticising the government over its handling of the pandemic and the vaccination drive, while the Centre has maintained that its timely steps have been instrumental in fighting COVID-19.

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal welcomed the decision to cancel CBSE class 10 board exams and postpone class 12 exams in view of surge in COVID-19 cases, saying it will provide a great relief to students and their parents.

"I am glad that the exams have been cancelled/postponed. This is a great relief for lakhs of students and their parents, Kejriwal tweeted.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Wednesday cancelled class 10 exams and postponed class 12 exams in view of surge in COVID-19 cases.

New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) Petrol price on Thursday was cut by 16 paise per litre and diesel by 14 paise -- the fourth minor reduction in rates in three weeks that followed six months of relentless price increases.

Petrol now costs Rs 90.40 per litre in Delhi, down from Rs 90.56, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

A litre of diesel comes for Rs 80.73 per litre as against Rs 80.87 previously.

Rates have been reduced across the country and vary from state to state depending on the local incidence of taxation (VAT).

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said India will raise its climate ambitions but not under pressure, and that it will not allow anybody to forget their historical responsibility.

He also said that India is suffering because of the mistakes of others and "is not responsible for climate change that is happening".

Javadekar made the remarks during a speech after a meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian at the French Embassy.

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.

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.

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.

New Delhi, Apr 13 (PTI) The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has said more than 850 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine are going to be produced annually in India, which has also given approval for the emergency use of the vaccine against coronavirus infections in the country.

New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra is set to become the next chief election commissioner, sources said on Sunday.

Going by the convention of appointing the senior-most election commissioner as the CEC, the government is learnt to have cleared his name for the top post at Nirvachan Sadan.

The order of his elevation maybe issued anytime, the sources said.

Chandra will assume charge on April 13, a day after incumbent Sunil Arora demits office.

New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI) Ten states -- Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan have shown a steep rise in the daily COVID-19 cases accounting for 83.02 per cent of the new infections, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

India's daily cases continue to rise and 1,68,912 fresh coronavirus infections were registered in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day rise since the outbreak of the pandemic.