Delhi news live: City records 63 fresh cases of Covid-19, three more deaths; positivity rate 0.09 per cent

Five people, including a woman, were arrested for allegedly running an illegal call centre and duping citizens of foreign countries by posing as representatives of a tech support company, police said on Friday.

Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Friday suspended BJP MLA Om Prakash Sharma for the next session for disrupting proceedings of the House. To protest of this ruling by the speaker, all BJP MLAs walked out of the House. The second day of the monsoon session of the Delhi Assembly witnessed pandemonium after BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht made a sarcastic remark about Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Somnath Bharti during question hour of the House.

Businessman Navneet Kalra, who is an accused in oxygen concentrator black marketing case, Friday informed the Delhi high court that the registration certificate to run his restaurants 'Khan Chacha' and 'Town Hall' in upscale Khan Market has been cancelled by the authorities.

The Division Bench of Delhi High Court on Friday sought response from the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) and others on five-time Paralympian shooter Naresh Kumar Sharma's petition challenging the order of a single bench regarding his non-selection in Tokyo Paralympic Games 2020 by the Paralympic. The Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued a notice to PCI and the Central government through the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and slated the matter for August 6.

The Delhi government on Friday warned that the water level of the Yamuna river has reached closer to the 'danger mark'. The Department of Irrigation and Flood Control said it has deployed boats in different areas of the national capital and has also put 21 others on stand-by for emergency situation. The Department added that the water level increased not only due to the torrential rain in Delhi, but also because Haryana has started discharging more water into the river from the Hathinikund Barrage.

The Delhi administration on Friday sounded an “alert” as the water level of the Yamuna in the capital rose to 205.22 metres, precariously close to the 'danger mark' of 205.33 metres, as rains continued to pound northwest India, officials said. The irrigation and flood control department has deployed 13 boats in different areas and put 21 others on standby. With Haryana discharging more water into the river from the Hathnikund Barrage, the Delhi Police and the East Delhi district administration have started evacuating people living on the floodplains of the Yamuna in the capital.

The health department has decided to set up 44 government session sites in the city on Friday as it has received 15,000 doses of Covishield and 2,000 Covaxin doses. Of the 44 government session sites, Covishield will be administered at 38 sites, Covaxin at five sites and Sputnik V at one siteV. Except for Sputnik V, all other session sites will provide only second doses. “We got 15,000 doses of Covishield and 2,000 Covaxin doses. Emphasis is on second dose at present. Since July 25, the demand for the second doses have increased and we are expecting the demand to rise further in coming days,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurgaon. A total of 10,358 people in the 18-44 age group and 3,309 people in the 45-plus category got inoculated on Thursday. As many as 186 healthcare staff and 441 frontline workers also received the jabs. In all, 14,294 shots — 7,999 first doses and 6,295 second doses — were given on Thursday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday predicted thunderstorms with light to moderate intensity rain over some parts of Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan during the next two hours. "Thunderstorm with light to moderate intensity rain would occur over and adjoining areas of isolated places South, Southwest Delhi, Hissar, Narwana, Fatehabad, Adampur, Mahendergarh, Charkhidadri, Narnaul, Kosli, Tosham, Mehem, Hansi, Bhiwani (Haryana)," IMD said in its tweet at 8am.

Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the response of Delhi Police on a bail application moved by former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain in a case relating to the northeast Delhi riots of 2020. Justice Mukta Gupta issued notice and directed that the bail application be listed before Justice Yogesh Khanna, who is hearing bail applications moved by Hussain in other riots cases, on August 6.

Delhi government has decided now to take over the management of another school having announced on Wednesday its intention to assume control of Apeejay School in Sheikh Sarai. On Thursday, it sent a notice to Bal Bharati Public School in Rohini with the concurrence of lieutenant governor Anil Baijal. The state government has taken this decision after the institution allegedly failed to comply with the directive to withdraw its “arbitrary” fee hike. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia reiterated on Thursday that the Kejriwal government would not allow schools to increase fees in this manner. “If any school takes such steps, we will take strict action against them,” said Sisodia.

While the skies were clear during the day, the situation in the capital changed quickly by the afternoon on Thursday. A three-hour spell between 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm brought 72mm of rainfall at Safdarjung, making it the third ‘heavy’ rainfall day of the season. Lodhi Road received 73.4mm of rainfall during the same period as intense showers lashed Delhi, catching commuters off-guard and causing waterlogging in a matter of minutes at several locations. Various arterial roads in the city faced waterlogging and witnessed traffic disruptions. Waterlogging was observed in places like Khyber Pass, Dilli Gate, Ring Road, Yamuna Bazar, between Signature Bridge and Yamuna Vihar, and ITO. Near AIIMS flyover, traffic snarls were observed due to very heavy waterlogging and even ambulances could be seen stuck in the traffic tangle.

Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the response of Centre and Delhi government on fast-tracking compensation to families and children who lost the sole breadearner to Covid. It was hearing a plea by two minor siblings whose father was infected with Covid-19 and was admitted to Jaipur Golden Hospital on April 18 and was put on oxygen support. He died on April 24 as he was allegedly provided very minimal oxygen support due to the shortage, the plea claimed.

City hospitals are reporting a sharp rise in complaints of hairfall among Covidrecovered patients. Normally, a spokesperson at Delhi’s Apollo hospital said, they would record four to five complaints of hair loss a week. However, hair loss cases “started increasing from mid-May and a consolidated report says we have been seeing double the number of cases since then,” he added. Usually, Covid-19 patients experience hair loss a month after recovering from the disease. In some cases, hair loss is observed during the infection period, too, doctors said.

We will not allow you to indulge in a “witchhunt” , the Delhi high court told the city’s drug controller on Thursday as it rapped the department for prosecuting political leaders who procured oxygen for needy patients during the devastating second wave of Covid -19 in the capital. “If this is the way you proceed, then half of Delhi can be booked, then please proceed against all the gurudwaras, temples, churches that arranged oxygen for patients when both the Centre and Delhi government failed to provide sufficient medical oxygen to the people. Why pick only one person? There were so many good Samaritans who helped with oxygen, go book them,” a bench of justices Vipin Sanghi and Jasmeet Singh remarked.

For the third time since the beginning of the second wave, no death due to Covid-19 was recorded in Delhi on Thursday. The fresh case count stood at 51 and the positivity rate at 0.08%. On July 18 and July 24, too, no Covid death was logged, according to official data, while 51 and 66 cases were reported, respectively. Before the second wave had swept the city during April-May, the national capital had reported zero death due to Covid-19 on March 2. On that day, the number of fresh infections was 217 and the positivity rate 0.33%.