Latest News: India Reports 18,599 New COVID-19 Cases, 97 Deaths In Last 24 Hours

Delhi Police Celebrates Women's Day By Honouring Women Achievers, Giving Command Roles

"22 women police personnel were honoured for their remarkable efforts beyond the call of duty during Corona pandemic period and 15 civilian women from various fields like medical services, social services, entrepreneurs, trainers and good Samaritans, who have made a significant contribution to the society," said Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava at the event.

Over 8,000 Women Given Covid Vaccine On International Women's Day In Mumbai

The centres were set up in Seven Hills hospital, and jumbo facilities in BKC, Goregaon, Mulund and Dahisar, where women who came for the inoculation were given roses and chocolates, a BMC release said.

The centre at BKC administered the vaccine to 1,982 women, followed by 1,932, 1908, 1852 and 418 at Goregaon jumbo facility, Seven Hills hospital, Dahisar jumbo facility and Mulund Jumbo facility respectively, it said.

Gujarat Reports 555 New Covid Cases, One Death And 482 Recoveries

The number of recovered cases went up to 2,66,313 with 482 patients getting discharged from hospitals.

The death of a COVID-19 patient in Ahmedabad pushed up the toll to 4,416, said the department in a release.

The state's recovery rate stands at 97.22 per cent.

There are a total of 3,212 active cases in the state, out of which 41 patients are on ventilators.

Ahmedabad recorded 129 new cases, the highest in the state, followed by Vadodara with 103 and Surat 100 cases.

Jammu And Kashmir Records 70 New Covid Cases, One Death

Of the new cases, 11 were from the Jammu division and 59 from the Kashmir division, they said.

Srinagar district recorded the highest 33 cases followed by 11 in Jammu district, officials said.

While 11 districts did not report any new cases, seven other districts had cases in single digits.

The number of active cases stands at 871 in the union territory, while 1,24,280 patients have recovered so far, officials said.

The COVID-19 death count stands at 1,963. One death was reported from Jammu division in the past 24 hours, they added.

Covid Situation "Alarming": Maharashtra Minister Says "Some Complacency"
Days after a number of urban centres in the state began to impose restrictions on people's movement, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope today said the Covid-19 situation was indeed alarming. He has warned that strict action may have to be taken once he talks to the Chief Minister, District Collectors, and Police Commissioners today. He even went to the extent of using the word "lockdown" for some districts, even though he qualified it with "if required".

44 Indian Firms Get FDI Approval To Make Defence Items With Foreign Companies
A total of 44 Indian companies, including public sector units, have received approvals related to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) till now for joint production of defence items with foreign companies, Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik said on Monday.

Amid Concerns Over Shortage, Kerala Receives Additional 48,960 Covaxin Doses
Amid widespread complaints of COVID-19 vaccine shortage in Kerala, 48,960 doses of Covaxin, indigenously manufactured by Bharat Biotech, have reached the state now, reported news agency PTI.

Thiruvananthapuram received 16,640 doses of the vaccine, while Ernakulam received 19,220 doses and Kozhikode got 13,120 doses of the vaccine, sources state Health Department said today.

According to information received from the union Health Ministry, more doses of vaccine would reach the state in the coming days and the number of vaccination centres can be increased as per its availability, they said.

Mumbai Airport's Terminal 1 To Resume Operations Wednesday With Five Domestic Airlines
Mumbai Airport said five domestic airlines will operate 102 flights to 27 destinations on Wednesday when flight operations from Terminal-1 will resume, reported news agency PTI. The operations from T1, which serves domestic passengers, remained suspended even after a restart of domestic air services in the country on May 25 last year following a two-month suspension of air services in late March to contain the pandemic. As of now, all operations - domestic and international (under various special initiatives) - at the Mumbai airport are being carried out from Terminal 2 (T2). The resumption of services from T1 will help maintain social distancing measures, uphold passenger safety, and ensure a seamless transit, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) said in a statement today.

Bengal's Jute, Assam's Gamusa On PM's #WomensDay Shopping List
To encourage entrepreneurship among women, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today shared on Twitter a list of traditional handicraft items from several states that he has bought online.

Madhya Pradesh Passes Freedom Of Religion Bill In Assembly
The Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021 was passed in the Assembly on Monday.

Mamata Banerjee At Kolkata March: India Will Be Named After PM Modi One Day
Painting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a self-absorbed leader who renames stadiums after himself and has his photographs printed on coronavirus vaccination certificates, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said the day is not far when the country will be renamed after him.

Lok Sabha Adjourned Till 7 PM Today Amid Uproar Over Fuel Prices
Lok Sabha adjourned till 7 pm today amid uproar by the opposition over the rising fuel prices, reported news agency ANI.

Education, Health Departments Top Performers In Delhi's Outcome Budget 2020-21
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today presented his government's "Outcome Budget" for 2020-21, showing education, health, Public Works Department (PWD) and environment departments as the top performers.

BJP Takes Over Malda Zila Parishad In Bengal Ahead Of Polls
BJP takes over Malda Zilla Parishad in Bengal as majority of the members join party ahead of the Assembly elections, reported news agency PTI.

Congress, Sena, Indian Union Muslim League Give Adjournment Motion Notices In lok Sabha Over Fuel Price
The Congress, Shiv Sena and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) today gave adjournment motion notices in the Lok Sabha over the continuous rise of petrol, diesel and LPG prices in the country, reported news agency ANI.

Meanwhile, the price of petrol in Delhi stands at Rs 91.17 per litre while that of diesel at Rs 81.47, according to the Indian Oil Corporation.

The second part of the budget session of parliament began on March 8 amid the uproar on fuel price hike in the Rajya Sabha.

Delhi Logs 239 New Covid Cases, Positivity Rate Increases To 0.50 Per Cent
Delhi recorded 239 new coronavirus cases and three deaths today, as the positivity rate rose to 0.50 per cent, the Health Department said, reported news agency PTI. The new cases came from 47,689 tests, including 35,968 RT-PCR tests and 11,721 rapid antigen tests, conducted the previous day, the bulletin said. The number of active cases stood at 1,803. Three fatalities took the death count to 10,924, according to the data. The positivity rate stood rose to 0.50 per cent from 0.31 per cent a day before. On Sunday, 286 new cases and two deaths were recorded. The city had registered 321 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily count in nearly one-and-a-half months, and a death on Saturday, and 312 cases and a fatality on Friday.

Six States Account For 86.25 Per Cent Of New Covid Cases In Last 24 Hours: Health Ministry
Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu cumulatively account for 86.25 per cent of the new coronavirus cases reported in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry said today, reported news agency PTI. Maharashtra reported a maximum of 11,141 fresh cases in a single day, accounting for 59.90 per cent of the total new cases recorded, while Kerala registered 2,100 new infections, accounting for 11.29 per cent of the new infections. Punjab recorded 1,043 new infections (5.60 per cent of total new cases) in the past 24 hours while Karnataka recorded 622 fresh cases that account for 3.3 per cent of the total new infections, the ministry said. Gujarat recorded 575 new infections in the past 24 hours which account for 3.09 per per cent of new cases while Tamil Nadu recorded 567 new infections that account for  3.04 per cent of the total new infections, it said. In the last 24 hours, 18,599 new cases were registered, the health ministry said.

Average Levels Of Pollutants In Delhi In 2020 Lowest In 7 Years: Delhi Economic Survey
The average levels of various pollutants, including PM10, PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide, in Delhi last year were the lowest since 2014, according to the Delhi Economic Survey report.

Batla House Encounter: Accused Ariz Khan Convicted Of Inspector's Killing
A local court today convicted Indian Mujahideen terrorist Ariz Khan in the case of the 2008 Batla House shootout which he had escaped. His sentencing has been scheduled for next Monday. The encounter between the Delhi police and a bunch of terrorists holed up in the Okhla area of the national capital led to the death of one police officer while two others sustained injuries. He is also the alleged mastermind of the 2008 serial blasts across Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh.

Madhya Pradesh Passes Freedom Of Religion Bill, 2021 In The Assembly

The Bill had been approved earlier in December last year, by the state Cabinet in a special meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

"We won't allow forced conversions in Madhya Pradesh. Under the new bill, anyone who does it will face jail term up to 10 years and minimum Rs 50,000 fine. Many incidents came to light where minor girls were converted, married and made to contest Panchayat polls," Mr Chouhan had said.

"Under the new Bill, forcing religious conversion on someone will attract one to five years of imprisonment and a minimum Rs 25,000 fine," State Minister Narottam Mishra said.

2 Chhattisgarh ministers test positive for coronavirus

The health minister in a tweet on Monday informed that he has contracted the viral infection, PTI reported.

Women farmers take centre stage at protest sites

Noting that women contribute significantly to the country's farming sector, the organisers have laid out elaborate plans to let women farmers manage the stage, arrange food and security and share tales of their struggles on the occasion.

Nepal receives 348,000 doses of Made-in-India COVID-19 vaccines under COVAX initiative

In a tweet, the Embassy of India in Nepal wrote, "Today, the first COVAX shipment of 348,000 doses of AstraZeneca ''Covishield'' vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), together with 350,000 syringes and 3500 vaccine safety boxes arrived in Kathmandu. #VaccineMaitri @MEAIndia @PMOIndia."

Will continue protest demanding discussion on fuel price hike in Parliament, says Mallikarjun Kharge

His remarks came as Rajya Sabha witnessed repeated adjournments following repeated sloganeering by the Opposition MPs demanding on fuel price hike in Parliament. Later, the Upper House was adjourned till 11 am tomorrow, ANI reported.

Women's Day: All-women team takes control of Delhi ATC at Indira Gandhi International Airport

"It is a very great experience. We feel special to have an all women's team here. The air traffic is increasing day by day post COVID lockdown. All the women are handling the traffic very well. This is a male-dominated job. However, I believe that women are equally capable of handling such stressful air traffic monitoring job," Shilpam Ratan, manager, Air Traffic Control (ATC) told ANI.

COVID-19: Western Railways collects Rs 8.83 lakh in fine in March 1st week

"A sum of Rs 8,83,100 was collected in the form of fine from people not wearing masks from 1st March till 6th March," informed Western Railways in a statement.

International Women's Day celebrates contributions, achievements of women, says Venkaiah Naidu
Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu on Monday extended his greetings on International Women's Day and said that it is a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, political contributions and achievements of women across the globe, ANI reported.

Nainital highway 9, NH-24 closed due to farmers' protests

The police said there is heavy traffic on both the sides, ANI reported.

Maharashtra Chief Minister lauds contribution of women ''COVID-19 warriors''

In a video message on the occasion of the International Women's Day, Mr Thackeray said the pandemic threat is not yet over and in the last one year, women have stood like a rock supporting their families and fulfilled different responsibilities courageously, PTI reported.

Rahul Gandhi to address Indian Youth Congress'' national executive meeting today

Taking to Twitter, Youth Congress National President Srinivas B V said: "Indian Youth Congress is all set to organize National Executive meeting 2020-21 at IYC HQ."

Entry, exit closed at Delhi metro stations from Tikri Kalan to Brigadier Hoshiar Singh

"Security Update: Entry/exit gates of stations from Tikri Kalan to Brigadier Hoshiar Singh on green line are closed," read a tweet on the official handle of DMRC.

36 people test COVID-19 positive in Maharashtra legislative assembly

"A total of 2,746 samples were tested for re-entry to the legislative assembly for the budget session of Maharashtra on March 6 and 7, out of which 36 were found positive," JJ hospital said in a statement.

Coronavirus: 18,599 fresh cases in India, marginally lower than yesterday; 1.12 crore total cases, 1.57 lakh total deaths

Chile reports third consecutive day of over 5,000 daily cases of COVID-19

The ministry also reported another 69 deaths, bringing the death toll to 21,077, and said that 28,557 people are currently in the active stage of the disease, ANI reported.

Meghan Markle Says Royals Fretted Over "How Dark" Son's Skin Would Be


Meghan Markle accused the British Royal Family in a sensational interview broadcast Sunday of fretting over how dark her son's skin would be.

Markle, who is African American, says her husband Prince Harry revealed his family's concerns over Archie's skin tone, as well as the security he would be entitled to, ahead of his birth on May 6, 2019.

Will Meet Bengal Farmers On March 13, Says Farmer Leader Rakesh Tikait
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait today said he would hold a meeting with farmers on March 13 in Kolkata, West Bengal."We are going to Kolkata on March 13. We will speak with farmers there about their concerns and ask if their produce are being bought at MSP or not," Mr Tikait said while visiting Bala Sahib Dialysis Hospital in Delhi.

"The government has gone to Kolkata. They will return in one and a half month. We are also going there. We will meet the government there only," he added.

When asked about the stalemate between farmers and the Centre even after more than 100 days, Mr Tkait said that the government, sooner or later, will have to pay heed to farmers' issues.

India's Covid Vaccine Rollout "Rescued The World": Top US Scientist
The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines by India in collaboration with leading global institutions has "rescued the world" from the deadly coronavirus and the contributions by the country must not be underestimated, a top American scientist has said.

India is called the pharmacy of the world during the COVID-19 pandemic with its vast experience and deep knowledge in medicine. The country is one of the world's biggest drug-makers and an increasing number of countries have already approached it for procuring coronavirus vaccines.