WHO asks nations to scale up health infra, speed up COVID vaccination

WHO asks nations to scale up health infra, speed up COVID-19 vaccination to prevent another surge

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Sunday called upon countries in its south-east Asia region to scale up public health infrastructure, rigorously implement social measures and make efforts to accelerate vaccination to prevent another COVID-19 surge. This week, Maldives and Myanmar confirmed the transmission of coronavirus variants of concern.

Delhi eases COVID-19 curbs: Bars, restaurants can stay open till 10 pm from June 21

As daily COVID-19 cases in the national capital continue to drop, the Delhi government announced further relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions on Sunday. The Department of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) eased ongoing curbs by allowing bars, golf clubs, gardens, and public parks to reopen from Monday, June 21. DDMA has also allowed outdoor yoga activities.

Decision on making flex-fuel engines mandatory in 8-10 days: Nitin Gadkari

The government will take a decision over flex-fuel engines in the next 8-10 days as it is considering making these engines mandatory for the automobile industry, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Sunday while asserting that the move will help farmers and boost the Indian economy. Gadkari said that the price of alternative fuel ethanol is Rs 60-62 per litre while petrol costs more than Rs 100 per litre in many parts of the country, so by using ethanol, Indians will save Rs 30-35 per litre.

Govt open to taking additional measures to boost economy, says CEA Subramanian

The government is open to coming out with more measures to boost the economy which has been hit by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, says Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) K V Subramanian. However, the CEA also added that unlike the previous budget which was framed before the pandemic, the 2021 budget was presented amid the pandemic and had already incorporated significant fiscal expansion.

Centre lost all sense of balance, responsibility towards people: Cong on ex gratia for Covid victims

Hitting out at the Union government for telling the Supreme Court that it cannot pay Rs 4 lakh ex gratia to Covid-19 victims, the Congress on Sunday alleged the Centre has lost all sense of balance and responsibility towards people. The Centre has told the apex court that a compensation of Rs 4 lakh cannot be paid to the families of those who have died of Covid-19 as it is beyond fiscal affordability and the finances of central and state governments are under severe strain.

India should brace for third COVID-19 wave by Oct, say health experts

A third wave of coronavirus infections is likely to hit India by October, and although it will be better controlled than the latest outbreak the pandemic will remain a public health threat for at least another year, according to a Reuters poll of medical experts. But over 70% of experts, or 24 of 34, said any new outbreak would be better controlled compared with the current one, which has been far more devastating than any other.