Shortly after Congress announced that its president Rahul Gandhi will contest a second seat from Kerala, former CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said that the decisi

Left vows to defeat Rahul in Kerala

Shortly after Congress announced that its president Rahul Gandhi will contest a second seat from Kerala, former CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said that the decision clearly shows that the Congress wants to fight the Left, which is the main force against the BJP in the state. Accusing the Congress of going back on its commitment to fight the BJP, Karat said that the Left will work to defeat Rahul in Wayanad. "To pit a candidiate like Rahul Gandhi against the Left means that the Congress party is going to target the Left in Kerala. This is something which we will strongly oppose and in this election we will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad", said Karat. 

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Satav, who tested positive for Covid-19 in April, died on Sunday after being on ventilator support at a private hospital

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Satav, who tested positive for Covid-19 in April, died on Sunday after being on ventilator support at a private hospital in Pune. Satav was diagnosed with a new viral infection and was in critical condition. The 46 year old had tested positive on April 22, he was later admitted to the Pune's Jehangir Hospital and put on ventilator support. Expressing his anguish, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted, Satav was a leader with huge potential who embodied the ideals of the Congress. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also sent in condolences, she tweeted, Satav was one of her brightest colleagues, adding that he was clean of heart, sincere, deeply committed to the ideals of the Congress.

Cyclone Tauktae has intensified into very severe cyclonic storm and the Met department has said that the cyclone is likely to pass close to Mumbai and may cause he

Cyclone&nbsp;Tauktae has intensified into very severe cyclonic storm and the Met department has said that the cyclone is likely to pass close to Mumbai and may cause heavy rainfall in the city.&nbsp; As a precaution, the&nbsp;BMC has shifted 580 patients from Covid care centres in the city, and officials are also contemplating a possible shut down of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)&nbsp;has formed 100 teams and they are being deployed in the coastal regions of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
In Karnataka,&nbsp;four people have lost their lives and 73 villages have been affected by cyclone Tauktae. The storm resulted in heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over 6 districts in the past 24 hours.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday extended the lockdown by another week till May 24 to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the national capital. Delhi recorded

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday extended the lockdown by another week till May 24 to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the national capital. Delhi recorded 6,430 new Covid-19 cases and 337 fatalities on Saturday while the positivity rate dipped to 11.32%. Kejriwal asserted that the cases are &ldquo;slowly and steadily&rdquo; reducing in Delhi but urged citizens to continue following Covid-appropriate behaviour. Delhi for the second consecutive day, recorded less than 10,000 cases in a day. Metro services will remain suspended till further orders.

India reported 3,11,170 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the overall tally to 2.46 crore. As many as 4,077 deaths were reported across the country. The t

India reported 3,11,170 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the overall tally to 2.46 crore. As many as 4,077 deaths were reported across the country. The toll now stands at 2,70,284, while active Covid cases stand at 26.18 lakh. This is for the seventh consecutive day that India has recorded a rise of less than 400,000 daily cases. The fall in the country&rsquo;s daily cases come even as a number of states and Union territories (UTs) have imposed, or extended, curbs like lockdowns&nbsp;and&nbsp;corona curfews to check the spread of Covid-19. Meanwhile, the number of samples tested in the last 24 hours stood at 18, 32,950, according to figures tweeted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Sunday. Total 31,48,50,143 samples have been tested till May 15.

Oxygen crisis continues to wreak havoc at Goa Medical College (GMC), claiming eight more lives on Saturday. The total death toll since earlier this week due to lack of

Oxygen crisis continues to wreak havoc at Goa Medical College (GMC), claiming eight more lives on Saturday. The total death toll since earlier this week due to lack of oxygen at the premier government hospital now stands at 83. The doctors at the hospital, however, didn&rsquo;t attribute the deaths to the oxygen crisis, saying most of the patients died due to Covid pneumonia. According to the state health bulletin on Saturday, 58 Covid-19 patients lost their lives in the past 24 hours, with 33 of the deaths being reported from GMC alone. The state&rsquo;s positivity rate, which remains the highest among states in the country at 42%.

Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, the Uttar Pradesh government extended the partial curfew imposed till May 24, 7 am. The state on Saturday registered 281 fresh

Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, the Uttar Pradesh government extended the partial&nbsp;curfew imposed till May 24, 7 am. The state&nbsp;on Saturday registered 281 fresh Covid-19 fatalities, pushing up&nbsp;the death toll to 17,283, while the infection count climbed to 16,09,140 with 12,547 more cases.
The Yogi&nbsp;Adityanath&nbsp;government will also give 3 kg of wheat and 2 kg of rice each month to&nbsp;ration card holders&nbsp;for the next three months. Officials say this initiative will benefit as many as 15 crore people, who hold ration cards under the&nbsp;Antodaya&nbsp;scheme.
&nbsp;

Covishield and Covaxin, which trigger an immune response against Covid-19, appear to generate only half as many antibodies against the B.1.617 strain which was first de

Covishield and Covaxin, which trigger an immune response against Covid-19, appear to generate only half as many antibodies against the B.1.617 strain which was first detected in Maharashtra, according to early reports from scientists at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Several scientists said that this drop didn&rsquo;t diminish the fact that the vaccines are life-saving and are a potent tool against Covid-19.
The two vaccines- Covaxin and Covishield- being administered in India, were designed on the blueprint of the virus variant, called B1, that was the dominant strain in India by last April.&nbsp;Scientists at the ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune tested samples of the virus with B.1.617 mutations, on antibodies that were extracted from the blood serum of those with two doses of Covaxin, they found roughly 55% lesser antibodies than the antibodies generated against B.1. In case of Covishield, the antibody levels for B.1.617 it was 21.9 percent while it was 42.92 percent for the B.1 variant, again roughly half.

Veteran business journalist Sunil Jain died on Saturday evening due to Covid-related complications. He had been hospitalised at AIIMS for the past few weeks w

Veteran business journalist Sunil&nbsp;Jain died on Saturday evening due to Covid-related complications. He had been hospitalised at AIIMS&nbsp;for the past few weeks where he suffered two cardiac arrests on Saturday. He was 58 years old.&nbsp;
A Delhi School of Economics alumnus, Jain was managing editor of the Financial Express and had worked with Business Standard, Indian Express and India Today earlier.&nbsp;
Prime Minister Narendra&nbsp;Modi&nbsp;tweeted condolences, he said, he would miss reading his columns and hearing his frank as well as insightful views on diverse matters.

Plasma therapy could be dropped from clinical management protocol of Covid-19 as ICMR’s expert panel found that the therapy wasn’t beneficial in reducing th

Plasma therapy could be dropped from clinical management protocol of Covid-19 as ICMR&rsquo;s expert panel found that the therapy wasn&rsquo;t beneficial in reducing the progression to severe disease or death of patients, a CNN-News18 report said quoting sources.
The Indian Council of Medical Research is expected to issue an advisory on the same in the next few days. India&rsquo;s national task force on Covid-19 management met on Friday, to review the convalescent plasma therapy for infected patients. The present guidelines allow &ldquo;off label" use of plasma therapy at the stage of early moderate disease, that is, within seven days of the onset of Covid-19 symptoms and if there is availability of donor plasma.
A group of 18 clinicians, scientists and public health professionals had recently written to the government, saying the &ldquo;irrational use&rdquo; of plasma therapy &ldquo;raises the possibility of more virulent strains&rdquo; of Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. In their letter, the experts cited three studies &mdash; the ICMR-PLACID Trial, the Recovery Trial conducted by the University of Oxford, and Argentina&rsquo;s PlasmAr Trial &mdash; to argue that the country&rsquo;s existing guidelines on plasma therapy were not based on evidence.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Saturday said that no one should be denied vaccine, medicine, hospitalisation or treatment just because they do

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Saturday said that no one should be denied vaccine, medicine, hospitalisation or treatment just because they do not have an Aadhaar. The UIDAI made it clear that Aadhaar should not be misused as an excuse for denial of any essential service. 
In a statement, the UIDAI said there is a well-established exception handling mechanism (EHM) for Aadhaar, and that it should be followed to ensure delivery of benefits and services in the absence of the 12-digit biometric ID. If a resident does not possess Aadhaar for some reason, they must not be denied essential services as per Aadhaar Act.
The total number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 18 crore mark.

A court of inquiry was ordered after a 21st battalion Sashastra Seema Bal jawan posted a video on Youtube, alleging he had been physically abused by his senior officers

A court of inquiry was ordered after a 21st battalion Sashastra Seema Bal jawan posted a video on YouTube, alleging he had been physically abused by his senior officers at a camp in Bihar.
Constable Arvind Kumar Jaswara showed injuries on his back and shoulders and said that he was "whipped with a leash" by the commanding officer, his deputy and an Inspector of the unit&nbsp;inside the SSB camp on May 7. The constable alleged that the officers said that they could punish him anytime due to his rank and lower caste. The jawan also said that he was kept in a unit jail for 2 days and was made to sign on a blank paper.
Scared for his life, Jaswara requested senior SSB officers to help him.
The jawan is also under scanner in a case of illegal transport of wooden logs from the Valmiki Tiger reserve of the state to the residence of an SSB officer in Lucknow.
Both inquiries are being conducted simultaneously and a final report will soon be submitted to the SSB headquarters.

A government medical team bent rules to administer covid vaccines to Ujjain BJP MP Anil Firojiya's family, staff and supporters at his residence on Friday. The inc

A government medical team flouted rules to administer Covid-19 vaccines to Ujjain BJP MP Anil Firojiya's family, staff and supporters at his residence on Friday. The incident came to light after one BJP worker, Kapil Katariya, posted a picture of getting the jab at Firojiya&rsquo;s home and thanked him.
Friojiya&nbsp;pleaded ignorance and told news agency PTI&nbsp;that Katariya made the arrangements without his knowledge. The Member of Lok Sabha said that he himself got vaccinated at a hospital and believes that &lsquo;rules are the same for everybody&rsquo;.
An inquiry into the matter has been ordered and the Ujjain district collector has assured strict action will be taken.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday mocked Yogi Adityanath’s tweet on the declaration of Malerkotla as the 23rd district of Punjab as a ‘divis

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday mocked Yogi Adityanath&rsquo;s tweet on the declaration of Malerkotla as the 23rd district of Punjab as a &lsquo;divisive policy of Congress&rsquo;.
Insinuating irony, the Punjab CM rubbished his Uttar Pradesh counterpart&rsquo;s remark as utterly ridiculous, unwarranted and uncalled for.
The Congress leader called the remark a provocative gesture aimed at creating conflict amongst the communities in Punjab.
Without mincing his words, Captain Amarinder pointed out the spate of changes in names of various cities in UP, cow vigilantism which has led to lynching of Muslims in the state and Adityanath&rsquo;s &lsquo;open hatred&rsquo; for Taj Mahal as a legacy of Mughals.
The Punjab CM further added that Adityanath should focus his energy on saving his own state where the COVID situation is spiralling out of control.

Days after BJP president wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in response to her correspondence to the Prime Minister, another BJP patron has penned a letter. Defendin

Days after BJP president wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in response to her correspondence to the Prime Minister, another BJP leader has penned a letter to her.
Defending the Modi government&rsquo;s handling of the pandemic, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis shot off a 4 page complaint letter to Sonia wherein he targeted the Maha Vikas Aghadi government&rsquo;s handling of the pandemic.
While the country has lauded the &lsquo;Mumbai Model&rsquo;, the Opposition leader alleged fudging of data and mismanagement by the Uddhav government, which is in power in coalition with Congress.
Fadnavis asked Sonia to check the status in Congress ruled states and questioned her criticism of the Centre in these critical times.

A video of a head constable in Punjab was caught stealing eggs from a cart. While busy traffic zoomed passed him, the constable was caught on camera putting eggs inside

In a viral video a head constable in Punjab was caught stealing eggs from a cart. While traffic zoomed pass him, the constable was caught on camera putting eggs inside his pocket while in police uniform. The video continued to show head constable Pritpal Singh from Fatehgarh Sahib town quickly crossing the road the moment the egg-cart owner came back.
Punjab police suspended the head constable after the video went viral.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said that both the government as well as the public dropped their guards after the first wave of the Covid-1

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said that both the government as well as the public dropped their guards after the first wave of the Covid-19. The RSS&nbsp;chief, however, urged citizens to stay united and work as a team, instead of pointing fingers at each other. Bhagwat, while addressing a lecture series called 'Positivity Unlimited', highlighted the fact that a potential third wave of Covid-19 is on its way and said that people should not be scared.&nbsp;

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday questioned the decision of the Centre to increase the gap between 2 Covishield doses from 6-8 weeks to 12-16 weeks

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday questioned Centre's decision&nbsp;to increase the gap between 2 Covishield&nbsp;doses from 6-8 weeks to 12-16 weeks. He said while India has increased the gap, the UK has gone back to 8 weeks gap, at least for people over the age of 50.&nbsp;
Chidambaram&nbsp;also urged health experts and scientists not to play the Modi&nbsp;govt's&nbsp;game and speak the truth.&nbsp;
He said the govt is laying a trap in which scientists &amp; medical experts will fall and it will pass the blame on them.&nbsp;

A former IAS officer has been booked for allegedly spreading misinformation by tweeting a seven-year-old photograph of dead bodies floating in the Ganga in Unnao and cl

A former IAS officer has been booked for allegedly spreading misinformation by tweeting a seven-year-old photograph of dead bodies floating in the Ganga in Unnao and claiming them to be recent ones spotted in the river in Ballia, police said on Saturday.
In an FIR lodged at the Unnao Kotwali police station, the 1982-batch, UP-cadre officer Surya Pratap Singh has also been accused of claiming on social media that 67 bodes were buried on the Unnao riverbank using JCB and without performing any last rites.
Kotwali police station&rsquo;s SHO Dinesh Chandra Mishra said the case against Singh was lodged on May 13 on complaints by several city residents.
The former outspoken officer had been booked on May 13 after he tweeted the picture of floating bodies and wrote in Hindi, &ldquo;Tairati laashon aur ukharhtee saanso kaa UP model (The UP model of floating bodies and gasping breaths)." SHO Mishra said the case against Singh has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Information Technology Act, the Disaster Management Act and the UP Public Health and Epidemic Diseases Control Ordinance, 2020.
Quoting from the FIR lodged against the former IAS officer, Mishra said the case against Singh was registered on the complaint by various Unnao residents.
He said the residents also accused Singh of falsely claiming on social media that 67 bodies were buried on the riverbank using JCB and without performing their last rites, in an insult to the Hindu religion.
The SHO said the people also accused the former IAS officer of observing on social media that it was the Yogi model of the governance in Uttar Pradesh where the living ones fail to get the treatment and the dead ones their last rites.

Scores of houses were damaged, trees uprooted and power supply disrupted for hours across Kerala as incessant rains and strong winds continued to lash the state on Satu

Scores of houses were damaged, trees uprooted and power supply disrupted for hours across Kerala as incessant rains and strong winds continued to lash the state on Saturday even as severe sea incursion disrupted normal life in the coastal areas.&nbsp;
Hundreds of people&nbsp;living close to the sea have been rushed to the relief shelters set up by the state govt after the sea entered their homes.&nbsp;
According to the latest update of the Indian Meteorological Department, a red alert, indicating the possibility of extremely heavy rains, was sounded in five northern districts of Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s brother Ashim Banerjee died of Covid-related complications in Kolkata on Saturday. 60-year-old Ashim was

West Bengal Chief Minister&nbsp;Mamata Banerjee&rsquo;s brother Ashim Banerjee died of Covid-related complications in Kolkata on Saturday.&nbsp;
60-year-old Ashim was undergoing treatment at a private hospital since contracting the virus. The last rites will be conducted on Saturday as per Covid protocols. Meanwhile the Bengal&nbsp;government has also&nbsp;declared a lockdown&nbsp;for a fortnight from 6 am on Sunday, May 16, to 6 pm on May 30. It has also imposed a night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am beginning Sunday night.

National

46-yr-old Congress MP Rajiv Satav dies due to Covid complications

Cyclone Tauktae: BMC moves 580 Covid-19 patients, 4 dead in Karnataka

Covid lockdown in Delhi extended by another week, restrictions till May 24

India clocks 3.11 lakh new Covid-19 cases in 24 hrs, 4077 deaths

Oxygen crisis: 8 more patients die at Goa Medical College, toll at 83

Covid-19 surge: Uttar Pradesh govt extends lockdown till May 24

Covaxin, Covishield produce fewer antibodies against B.1.617: ICMR's preliminary report

Sunil Jain, veteran business journalist dies of Covid, PM sends condolences

Plasma therapy to be dropped from ICMR's Covid protocols?

Vaccine, essential services won't be denied for lack of Aadhaar: UIDAI

‘Fear for my life’: probe after SSB jawan allegedly ’whipped' by commanders

Probe after govt team vaccinates BJP MP’s kin, staff at his Ujjain home

Mind your own state: Amarinder replies to Yogi’s Malerkotla tweet

After Nadda, Fadnavis writes to Sonia Gandhi

On camera: Punjab head police constable steals eggs

Both government and public dropped guard after Covid-19 first wave: RSS chief

Govt will use you: Chidambaram to scientists on increased Covishield gap

UP police book former IAS officer for 'spreading Covid-19 misinformation'

Cyclone Tauktae: Incessant rains and strong winds destroy houses in Kerala

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s brother dies of Covid-19

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