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.

Four Trinamool MLAs, One Candidate Join BJP Ahead Of Bengal Assembly Polls

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.