Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on December 24 said RTPCR test for the detection of COVID-19 would be made mandatory for international passengers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand. Any passenger from these countries found symptomatic or testing positive for coronavirus would be quarantined, Mr. Mandaviya said. He also said filling up of the ‘Air Suvidha’ form to declare the health status will also be made mandatory for passengers coming from these countries.
Centre asks States to ensure availability of oxygen, functional life support equipment at hospitals
With some countries witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases, the Centre on December 24 urged States and Union Territories to ensure the availability of Liquid Medical Oxygen, adequate inventory of cylinders and functional life support equipment such as ventilators at hospitals to face any challenge. The Health Ministry asked the States to ensure Pressure Swing Adsorption oxygen generating plants are kept fully functional and regular mock drills are conducted to check them. In a letter to all States and UTs, Health Ministry Additional Secretary Manohar Agnani said the operationalisation and maintenance of these medical infrastructure is of utmost importance to meet any eventuality even though the number of cases in the country is low now.
A district court in Mathura has sought a survey report by a revenue department official of the Shahi Idgah mosque complex on January 20, according to the counsel for petitioners who have sought its shifting claiming it was built at the birthplace of Lord Krishna. The order by Civil Judge Senior Division (III) Sonika Verma came in the suit Bal Krishna and others Vs Intezamia committee and others, petitioners’ counsel Shailesh Dubey said on December 24. The hearing in the case could not take place on December 22 as the judge was on leave on that day. The court has now fixed January 20, 2023 as the next date of hearing.
BJP uses communal hatred as weapon to divert people’s attention from real issues, says Rahul Gandhi
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP on December 24, 2022 of using communal hatred as a weapon and spreading it across the country to divert the attention of people from real issues. Addressing a big rally outside the Red Fort as the Congress’s “Bharat Jodo Yatra” entered the national capital, Mr. Gandhi said he has not seen violence or hatred anywhere in the country while walking hundreds of kilometres from Kanyakumari to Delhi, but he sees it being spread on television all the time at the behest of the powers controlling the media.
Complaint against Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh court for Savarkar comments
A complaint has been registered in a court in Lucknow against former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for making alleged derogatory remarks against Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in Maharashtra recently. In an order on December 23, additional chief judicial magistrate A. K. Srivastava directed complainant Nripendra Pandey to produce evidence under Section 200 of CrPC. Once he examines himself and his witnesses under Section 202 of CrPC, the court would decide whether or not to take cognisance of offences and issue summons to Mr. Gandhi. The court fixed January 9 as the next date of hearing.
PAN not linked with Aadhaar by end of March 2023 to be rendered inoperative: I-T Dept
The Income Tax department on December 24, 2022 issued an advisory that those permanent account numbers which are not linked with Aadhaar by the end of March next year will be rendered “inoperative”. The ‘exempt category’, according to a notification issued by the Union Finance Ministry in May 2017, are those individuals residing in the states of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya; a non-resident as per the Income-tax Act, 1961; of the age of 80 years or more at any time during the previous year and a person not a citizen of India.
A special court in Mumbai on December 24 remanded ICICI Bank’s former CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation till December 26 in connection with alleged cheating and irregularities in loans sanctioned by the bank to Videocon Group companies. The Kochhars were arrested by the probe agency on December 23 night after a brief questioning session. The CBI has alleged that they were evasive in their response and did not cooperate in the investigation.
Shells pummel Ukraine’s Kherson; at least seven dead, 58 wounded
Russian shells pummeled the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on December 24, killing at least seven people and injuring 58 more in the city that Moscow’s forces were forced to abandon last month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted photos of the wreckage on his social media accounts and noted the destruction came as Ukrainians were beginning Christmas celebrations that for many Orthodox Christians will culminate in the traditional celebration January 7.
Packed ICUs, crowded crematoriums: COVID-19 roils Chinese cities and towns
As China grapples with its first-ever national COVID-19 wave, emergency wards in small cities and towns southwest of Beijing are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, relatives of sick people are searching for open beds, and patients are slumped on benches in hospital corridors and lying on floors for a lack of beds.
Iran Supreme Court accepts appeals of two protesters sentenced to death
Iran’s Supreme Court has accepted the appeals of two protesters sentenced to death due to flaws in investigating their cases, the country’s judiciary said on December 24. “The Supreme Court accepted the appeals of Mohammad Qobadloo and Saman Saidi Yasin, accused of the recent riots,” the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported. “Due to research deficiencies, the Supreme Court has referred them to the same courts for re-examination.” Iran hanged two protesters earlier this month: Mohsen Shekari, 23, was accused of blocking a main road in September and wounding a member of the paramilitary Basij force with a knife. Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, who was accused of stabbing to death two Basij members, was publicly hanged from a construction crane.
Byju’s to stop selling tuition to lower-income families, start ‘affordability checks’: report
Education technology giant Bjyu’s has said it will stop selling tuition to poorer families who may struggle to afford it, according to India’s child rights body, which summoned the company’s CEO on Friday to answer over a Context investigation. In response to a two-part Context expose of Byju’s working culture and treatment of customers, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issued the summons—saying that the company had “indulged in malpractices to lure parents”. On December 23, one of Byju’s founding partners—Pravin Prakash—attended the closed-door hearing on behalf of CEO Byju Raveendran. It is believed to be the first such notice issued against an edtech company in India over its sales practices.
IND vs. BAN, 2nd Test | India stares at defeat as Bangladesh spinners get into action
Bangladesh spinners, led by their talismanic skipper Shakib Al Hasan and young Mehidy Hasan Miraz, forced Indian batters to press the panic button in a tricky chase of 145 as the visitors ended an engaging third day’s play, tottering at 45 for 4 in the second Test on December 24. Having dominated for the better part of two and half days, Bangladesh’s lower middle-order, led by Litton Das (73 off 98 balls) and supported by Nurul Hasan Sohan (31 off 29 balls) and Taskin Ahmed (31 off 46 balls), counter-attacked to take their second innings score to 231, giving their bowlers something to defend.
