A staff workers sanitises a classroom after the Delhi government decided to reopen schools in a phased manner. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)Delhi Live News: Delhi continued to witness a decline in Covid-19 cases on Saturday as the city reported 1,604 new Covid-19 cases against the 2,272 cases reported on Friday. Delhi also saw a decline in the deaths on Saturday as the city reported 17 deaths. The positivity rate further dipped to 2.87 per cent. As of Saturday evening, the total active Covid-19 cases in the city were 9,979.
Since the vaccination for the 15 to 18 age group began, Delhi has vaccinated 82 per cent of adolescents with the first dose of Covid-19 before the schools reopen for 9th to 12th standard in the city on Monday. With the decreasing number of infections, the Delhi government has decided to reopen schools, colleges and gyms with strict Covid-19 protocols. The night curfew will continue in the capital but will begin at 11 pm instead of 10 pm.
On the weather front, the maximum temperature in the national capital was recorded at 19.5 degrees Celsius on Saturday, four notches below the season’s average, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The weather office has predicted dense fog for Sunday as well. The maximum and the minimum temperatures are expected to settle around 21 and 8 degrees Celsius respectively.
The weather office has predicted dense fog conditions in the capital for Sunday. The maximum and the minimum temperatures are expected to settle around 21 and 8 degrees Celsius respectively.
The maximum temperature in the national capital was recorded at 19.5 degrees Celsius on Saturday, four notches below the season's average, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
According to the IMD, several parts of the city witnessed dense fog in the morning and the minimum temperature settled at 6.9 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal. The visibility at the Safdarjung observatory, which provides representative data for the city, was 100 metres at 8.30 am. Visibility at the Palam observatory was 50 metres.
The Delhi government has instructed all district magistrates to review Covid-related expenditure and procurement along with allied relief activities and submit a report at the earliest.
A report by the districts for 2019-20 and 2020-21, would include expenses on tentage, ex gratia, food, vehicles, civil defence volunteers remuneration and others and submitted to the Revenue department headquarter at the earliest, said an order issued earlier this week. It has also instructed all the district magistrates to seek financial sanctions adhering to procedures laid down in general financial rules, citing many such proposals were improperly drafted.
The district magistrates have also been instructed to seek timely administrative approval of competent authority before awarding work to bidders. (With PTI)
Most gym and spa owners in the national capital have said they will open their establishments from Monday ensuring that all COVID-19 protocols are in place and sanitisation of the premises is conducted properly. The Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had on Friday announced the reopening of gyms after over a month of being shut on account of rising COVID-19 cases in the city.
The decision comes as a sigh of relief for fitness centre owners who have been staging protests and urging the government to allow them to resume businesses which have registered a major slump due to successive coronavirus-induced lockdowns. Owners of gyms in the city welcomed the state government's decision, saying it will help five lakh families survive the pandemic.
A 58-year-old man engrossed in his mobile phone slipped from a Delhi Metro station platform and fell onto the rail tracks, but was rescued by CISF personnel on patrol duty, officials said on Saturday.
The incident took place at platform no. 2 of the Shahdara metro station on Friday around 7.30 pm, they said, adding that the man sustained minor injuries.
"Constable Rothash Chandra of the CISF's quick reaction team acted swiftly and stepped down on the metro track and pulled the passenger out of the track, before arrival of the metro train. The passenger sustained minor scratches on the leg," a CISF spokesperson said. (PTI)
Most gym and spa owners in the national capital have said they will open their establishments from Monday ensuring that all Covid-19 protocols are in place and sanitisation of the premises is conducted properly.
The Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had on Friday announced the reopening of gyms after over a month of being shut on account of rising Covid-19 cases in the city.
The decision comes as a sigh of relief for fitness centre owners who have been staging protests and urging the government to allow them to resume businesses which have registered a major slump due to successive coronavirus-induced lockdowns. (PTI)
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has reiterated its push for industries in the National Capital Region (NCR) to switch to Piped Natural Gas (PNG) or biomass fuel.
In an order issued recently, the CAQM said that industries in the NCR which have not shifted to PNG or biomass fuel, despite the availability of natural gas infrastructure and supply, are to switch over completely by September 30, “failing which such industries shall be closed down and not permitted to schedule operations thereafter.”
Early in December, the commission had restricted operations of such industries not running on PNG or cleaner fuel to eight hours per day for five days a week, on account of deteriorating air quality in the NCR. These restrictions were in place till Friday, when the CAQM lifted them.
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Sir Ganga Ram Hospital has told the Delhi High Court that there are no laws or legal proceedings in the country to release frozen samples of an unmarried male to his legal heirs, in response to a petition seeking the release of a frozen semen sample of a 30-year-old, who died of cancer in 2020, to his parents.
“The sample is still kept cryopreserved at the centre of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and respondent is not in a position to release the semen sample to petitioner in the absence of any guidelines/regulations or directions,” the health institute told the court in response to the petition filed by a couple, who are in their 60s.
In June 2020, their son was diagnosed with cancer and other health problems. The patient was told by doctors that due to treatment, his capacity to produce sperm and its fertility level can deteriorate in future. The semen was subsequently preserved in the IVF lab at the hospital in June 2020. In September, he died.
In June 2020, their son was diagnosed with cancer and other health problems. The patient was told by doctors that due to treatment, his capacity to produce sperm and its fertility level can deteriorate in future. The semen was subsequently preserved in the IVF lab at the hospital in June 2020. In September, he died.
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Three men were arrested for allegedly robbing a tempo driver in northwest Delhi's Shalimar Bagh area, police said on Saturday.
The accused has been identified as Karan (18), Raghav (20) and Gulshan (25), all residents of Sahipur, they said, adding the three are childhood friends.
On Thursday, police received information about a person admitted to a hospital due to a stab injury, police said.
During enquiry, the injured person said he was going towards Madhuban Chowk from Badli in his tempo. He stopped his vehicle near a petrol pump in Haiderpur as it started raining, a senior police officer said. Three persons came on a scooter, threatened him with a knife and tried to rob him. When he resisted, one of them stabbed him in the stomach and others took away his mobile phone and wallet, Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest) Usha Rangnani said.
The three then fled the spot, she added. (PTI)
With schools gearing up to reopen for classes 9 to 12 from Monday, authorities have inoculated 82 per cent of adolescents in Delhi with the first dose since the exercise to vaccinate them against coronavirus commenced on January 3.
According to official data, 8.33 lakh adolescents have received the first dose and 0.39 lakh have been jabbed with the second dose.
Delhi has around 10.14 lakh beneficiaries in the 15-18 age group.
According to officials, 95 per cent of government school students have been vaccinated, while 73 per cent of students of aided school students have received at least one dose. Sixty-two per cent of private school students have been inoculated with at least one dose. (PTI)
The Delhi government on Saturday announced that polling days in Uttar Pradesh would be paid holidays for the people from that state employed in the national capital so that they can exercise their franchise.
Polling in Uttar Pradesh would be held in seven phases starting on February 10. The second phase would be held on February 14, the third on February 20, the fourth on February 23, the fifth on February 27 and the final phase on March 7.
Counting of votes will be held on March 10.
According to a notice by the General Administrative Department of the Delhi government, the waiver applies to every person employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking or any other establishment in the National Capital Territory of Delhi and entitled to vote in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. (PTI)
A 39-year-old manager of a warehouse was arrested from Rajasthan for allegedly stealing 590 LED TVs from his employers' godown here, police on Saturday said.
The accused has been identified as Dinesh Chittlangia, a resident of Nagaur in Rajasthan, they said.
On Tuesday, one Kamal Toshniwal had lodged a complaint regarding theft of 590 LED TVs from his godown in Sant Nagar, East of Kailash, police said. On technical surveillance of the billing system of the company, two e-way bills were found issued in the name of M/s SS Electronics, police said. It emerged that the manager of the complainant's company had issued these two bills and transported 590 LED TVs in two trucks to an unknown destination, they said. (PTI)
People travelling alone in private or commercial four wheelers will no longer need to wear masks, the Delhi Government said following a recent court hearing.
The decision came two days after the Delhi High Court questioned the government’s order that mandates wearing masks inside cars and called it “absurd”. The court said that the DDMA should look at several orders issued while relaxing Covid-19 protocols.
The matter was then discussed during Friday’s meeting. “The Covid-19 positivity rate has gone down substantially and a majority of the population has been vaccinated. Therefore, the DDMA after examining all the relevant facts related to the issue of penal provisions for not adhering to the covid protocol of wearing of mask at public places, decided that, in relation to the clause 3(h) (c) whereby not wearing of face mask/cover in all public places has been made an offence, the penalty under this provision of the said notification will not be applicable to a lone person in a self-driven four-wheeler vehicle,” the order issued by Delhi Health and Family Welfare department read.
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Delhi administered over 20,000 Covid-19 shots in children between the age of 15 and 17 for the last two days, showing an increasing trend after numbers had gone down in the last two weeks.
There were over 40,300 shots administered on an average every day (barring Sunday) during the first week of January when the drive was opened up, increasing to over 51,000 the next week. It then started dropping, falling to 29,000 in the third week, and 10,000 during the Republic Day week. Read more
A 35-year-old woman and her accomplice were arrested for allegedly killing her brother-in-law in Gurgaon on Friday.
Ikrar Husain (47), a driver working at a scrap yard in Sikanderpur and a resident of Delhi, was found dead in the busher near Khushboo chowk on Gurgaon-Faridabad Road on February 1. Autopsy revealed that he was strangled to death. Following the complaint of his brother, a case was registered at Sushant Lok police station. Read more
Dense fog caused poor visibility in parts of Delhi on Saturday morning. The visibility at the Safdarjung weather observatory was around 50 metres at 5.30 am.
The fog persisted at 8.30 am, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The visibility at Palam at 8.30 am was around 50 metres, while the visibility at Safdarjung had improved to 100 metres. When visibility is between 50 and 200 metres, fog is considered ‘dense’. Read more
At least 400 people, including a majority from the Ahir community, sat in an indefinite protest near the Kherki Daula toll on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway on Friday demanding the formation of an Ahir regiment in the Indian Army.
Leading the protesters, members of Sanyukt Ahir Regiment Morcha gathered around 11 am and later camped at a big tent on the under-construction Dwarka Expressway, culminating in traffic congestion for more than 40 minutes. Read more
With the decreasing number of infections, the Delhi government on Friday decided to reopen schools, colleges and gyms with strict Covid-19 protocols. Classes 9 to 12 will open in a phased manner while unvaccinated teachers will not be permitted to work, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority said in the order. The night curfew will continue in the capital but will begin at 11 pm instead of 10 pm.
Delhi continued to witness a decline in Covid-19 cases as the city reported 2,272 new Covid-19 cases and 20 deaths, as the positivity rate further dipped to 3.85 per cent. The city currently has 11,716 active cases.
The Delhi-NCR region felt tremors on Saturday morning reportedly caused by an earthquake measuring 5.7 magnitude recorded 395 km northwest of Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir, and 422 km northwest of Srinagar. More details are awaited.