Delhi is moving towards herd immunity from coronavirus, with 50 to 60 per cent of people in one district having developed antibodies to the virus, the latest round of sero-survey has found, sources said. Herd immunity is what the authorities are trying to achieve with the vaccination programme, in which a critical mass of immune people can stop the spread of the virus by breaking the chain of transmission.
Delhi has a population of more than two crore, spread across 11 districts. For the current survey -- conducted by the Delhi government in association with the National Centre for Disease Control -- scientists had collected the samples of over 25,000 people from various districts across the city.
Official figures from the health ministry say only 6.33 lakh people have been found infected in Delhi. But the survey indicates that the total figure could be more than 1 crore, sources said.
Meanwhile, ahead of their proposed tractor parade on Republic Day, protesting farmer Unions Monday announced they will march towards Parliament from different locations on February 1 when the annual Union Budget is scheduled to be presented.
Darshan Pal of the Krantikari Kisan Union said the protesting farmers remain firm in their stand of repealing the three new farm laws and their agitation will continue till their demands are met.
"We will march towards Parliament on foot from different locations on the budget day on February 1. As far as tomorrow's tractor rally is concerned, it will give the government an idea of our strength and they will know the agitation is not just limited to Haryana or Punjab but it is an agitation of whole of the country," he said.
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Afghanistan will soon receive five lakh doses of coronavirus vaccine from India, said Tahir Qadiry, Afghanistan's Charge d'Affaires, on Monday.
Janata Dal United on Monday became the first major party in Bihar to have its own mouthpiece, that will be published monthly both in Hindi as well as English, reported news agency PTI.
The inaugural issue of "JD(U) Sandhaan" was launched at the party's state headquarters in Patna by its national president RCP Singh.
Mr Singh said the party, under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has remained committed to realising the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, BR Ambedkar and Karpoori Thakur.
The government has conveyed to all officers, who have been invited to attend the Republic Day ceremony at Rajpath today, to compulsorily attend the event and warned of actions against those who fail to do so.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday blamed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers for the attack on state Congress Member of Parliament Ravneet Singh Bittu and Member of Legislative Kulbir Singh Zira at Delhi's Singhu Border, reported news agency ANI.
"The farmers had been protesting peacefully at the Delhi border for two months without resorting to any such acts. AAP workers present near the Kisan Sansad attacked and manhandled Ravneet Singh Bittu and Kulbir Singh Zira. AAP, and not farmers, are responsible for the attack," said Amarinder Singh while speaking to the media in Patiala.
He claimed that the only agenda of AAP is to weaken the farmers' fight by creating trouble at the behest of the BJP. "They (AAP) should understand that this country is thriving on "lokshahi" (democracy) and not "dhakashahi" (push and shove)," said the Chief Minister.
Delhi Police have beefed-up security at all power sub-stations and grids across the national capital in view of a threat received by a power distribution company over disruption of power supply in the national capital, reported news agency ANI. Delhi Police said it has beefed up security at the power grid and power substations of Bombay Suburban Electric Supply (BSES) in the national capital after a threat was received by the company about the disruption of power supply in Delhi. The police have also issued an alert to power distribution companies in view of the threat posed by banned outfit Sikhs for Justice.
A group of people who lost their temporary jobs at various hospitals, after a decline in the number of new COVID-19 patients across West Bengal, took out a rally on Monday in Kolkata demanding permanent employment as per qualifications, reported news agency PTI. They had got the jobs during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the state health department recently decided to terminate their contracts.
The number of active cases of the disease in the state now stands at 6,813, PTI reported.
Iran is soon expected to receive its first batch of foreign vaccines against the coronavirus from the World Health Organization-led COVID-19 vaccine procurement and distribution initiative, the COVAX Facility, the state-run IRNA news agency reported on Monday, citing an official.
President Joe Biden will impose a ban on most non-U.S. citizens entering the country who have recently been in South Africa starting Saturday in a bid to contain the spread of a new variant of COVID-19, a senior U.S. public health official told Reuters.
Biden on Monday is also reimposing an entry ban on nearly all non-U.S. travelers who have been in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and 26 countries in Europe that allow travel across open borders.
He added the Intensive Care Units (ICU) dedicated to COVID-19 patients in the state are also getting full, ANI reported.
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) ASI Mohan Lal who lost his life during the Pulwama attack in 2019, awarded the President Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) posthumously
- ANI (@ANI) January 25, 2021
(Photo source: CRPF) pic.twitter.com/Xvua2cN1Iy
Tata Group's healthcare venture is said to have started initial discussions with Moderna Inc for a partnership to launch its COVID-19 vaccine in India, the Economic Times reported on Monday."
#Coronavirus Facts vs Myths | Q: Is the vaccine only for corona positive people or for everyone?
- NDTV (@ndtv) January 25, 2021
A: The vaccine is for everybody who is eligible, not just for those who are or were #Covid19 positive. pic.twitter.com/PfoNyBdNW9
131 Central Reserve Police Force personnel and 71 Border Security Forces (BSF) jawans to be awarded Police Medal for Gallantry, President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service & Police Medal for Meritorious Service on #RepublicDay https://t.co/PjLcj0mzC6 pic.twitter.com/v1sRXm3v44
- ANI (@ANI) January 25, 2021
Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed along the Line of Actual Control near Naku La pass in Sikkim last week, the army confirmed today."
"The work you have done is special because it happened during the #Covid19 pandemic": PM Modi at his address to this year's Bal Puraskar winners pic.twitter.com/QAEeHBR03R
- NDTV (@ndtv) January 25, 2021
Watch | Oxfam releases Global Inequality Report; India's billionaires got richer by 35% during the lockdown even as the economy struggled to get back on track pic.twitter.com/ApgJ98U4r2
- NDTV (@ndtv) January 25, 2021
Of the 13,203 coronavirus cases reported in India in the last 24 hours, 6,036 cases or nearly 45 per cent of the infections have been reported from Kerala.
At least 11 districts in the southern state, including state capital Thiruvananthapuram, are among the top 20 district that continue to report high number of daily infections in the country, sources in the Health Ministry told NDTV.
"Apart from Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Alleppey, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta have been reporting high number of infections," they said, citing lack of contact tracing and low number of testing as the main reason for the increase in Covid cases in the state.
India reports 13,203 new #COVID19 cases, 13,298 discharges and 131 deaths in last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry
- ANI (@ANI) January 25, 2021
Total cases: 1,06,67,736
Active cases: 1,84,182
Total discharges: 1,03,30,084
Death toll: 1,53,470
Total vaccinated: 16,15,504 pic.twitter.com/zI1T3JKx2O
Even as coronavirus cases decline across India, #Kerala continues to record highest daily cases. NDTV's Sneha Mary Koshy with more details pic.twitter.com/aoBLCSfepf
- NDTV (@ndtv) January 25, 2021
Decisions by both factions didn't come in line with party's statute, so can't update Nepal Communist Party's details. We've notified KP Oli & Pushpa Kamal Dahal, making it clear that Commission will maintain party's existing details: Nepal Election Commission spox Raj Kr Shrestha https://t.co/HmNqzCzGPn
- ANI (@ANI) January 25, 2021
After his visit to Kolkata in West Bengal to pay tribute to freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose on his birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shared a video on Twitter from the trip, thanking the state "for the overwhelming affection.""
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday hit back at the BJP over accusations of nepotism in his party, daring the Centre to bring a legislation allowing only one member of a family in politics."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) awardees at 12:00 pm today via video conferencing. pic.twitter.com/9RL4XyPMXS
- ANI (@ANI) January 25, 2021
Kerala has been reporting highest daily COVID-19 cases in the country for days. The positivity rate or the percentage of how fast an infection spreads is 12.48 per cent in Kerala, while the national average is 1.9 per cent, according to government data.