Month: January 2022

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has restored the registration of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration after it “submitted necessary documents” needed to avail the Centre’s facility.

“Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, a Catholic religious congregation set up by Nobel laureate Mother Teresa, was restored on January 7,” said MHA sources on Saturday.

On December 25 last year, the MHA refused to renew the FCRA licence of Mother Teresa NGO’s due to some “adverse inputs”.

After the MHA rejected Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity request for licence renewal on December 25, the NGO secured a place among those 5,789 entities who lost their registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) on the ground of their failure in submitting a renewal application to enjoy the facility despite several reminders from the government.

After the political uproar for rejecting the FCRA licence of Missionaries of Charity, the MHA then issued a statement mentioning that “the renewal application under FCRA of Missionaries of Charity (MoC) was refused on December 25 for not meeting the eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011”.

“No request or revision application has been received from MoC for review of this refusal of renewal,” the statement read.

The MoC was registered “under FCRA vide Registration No 147120001 and its registration was valid up to October 31, 2021. The validity was subsequently extended up-to December 31, 2021, along with other FCRA Associations whose renewal applications were pending renewal”.

“However, while considering the MoC’s renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed. In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of MoC was not approved. MHA did not freeze any accounts of MoC. State Bank of India has informed that MoC itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts,” the MHA statement then mentioned. (ANI)

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday said that the national capital is estimated to report nearly 20,000 fresh COVID-19 cases today with the rise in positivity rate by 1 to 2 per cent from Friday.

Delhi on Friday logged 17,335 fresh cases with the positivity rate in the national capital on Friday being recorded at 17.73 per cent.

Addressing a press conference here, Jain said, “In comparison with the second wave, at this number of active cases, there was at least 6 times more number of hospitalizations then. There are fewer admissions and less severity. The data is being compiled. Delhi will report around 20,000 fresh cases today, positivity rate to rise by 1-2 per cent.”

“When there were 17,000 cases reported during the second wave, there were 2500 admissions, today there are nearly 200 to 300. So, the admissions this time are very less,” he added.

The Minister further said that there has not been any Omicron variant of COVID-19 detected death in the city so far.

“No patient detected with Omicron variant has died in Delhi so far,” he told media.

The Health Minister further informed that there are a total of 13,300 beds for the COVID-19 patients out of which 1,390 beds are occupied now.

“Almost 10 per cent of the available beds are occupied till now, 90 per cent are still available,” he said.

Asked about the healthcare workers also getting infected in the ongoing corona wave in the country, he said that most of them are in home isolation.

“When the disease is spreading, they may be getting infected as well. Most of them are in home isolation. It cannot be called an alarming situation. If we see our bulletin, healthcare workers are more than two lakh,” Jain said.

Asked about the 5,000 health assistants being prepared by the Delhi government, he said, “They are ready, wherever they are needed, they will be used. Their training is over.”

Meanwhile, India reported 1,41,986 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the daily positivity rate in the country to 9.28 per cent, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

With this, the country’s COVID-19 case tally has gone up to 3,53,68,372.

According to Health Ministry, the country has so far reported 3,071 cases of Omicron of which 1,203 have been recovered.

Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of Omicron cases (876), followed by Delhi (513) and Karnataka (333). (ANI)

India reported 1,41,986 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the daily positivity rate in the country to 9.28 per cent, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

With this, the country’s COVID-19 case tally has gone up to 3,53,68,372. According to Health Ministry, the country has so far reported 3,071 cases of Omicron of which 1,203 have been recovered.

Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of Omicron cases (876), followed by Delhi (513) and Karnataka (333).

The Ministry informed that India’s active caseload presently is at 4,72,169. It accounts for 1.34 per cent of the country’s total cases.

The weekly positivity rate is at 5.66 per cent, while the daily positivity rate is at 9.28 per cent.

With the recovery of 40,895 patients in the last 24 hours, the cumulative tally of COVID recovered patients, since the beginning of the pandemic, now stands at 3,44,12,740. The current recovery rate is at 97.30 per cent.

The country also reported 285 new fatalities in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 4,83,463.

India conducted 15,29,948 COVID-19 tests in the last 24 hours, and so far the country has conducted 68,84,70,959 tests as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data.

India has administered a total of 150.06 crore vaccine doses so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive.

The COVID vaccination drive began on January 16, 2021. Cumulatively, 1,50,61,92,903 people have been vaccinated so far in the country of which 90,59,360 were administered vaccines in the last 24 hours. (ANI)

In a video that has now been shared widely on social media, Muslim clerics from the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir can be heard issuing a fatwa against using DJs and playing music at any function of the community.

“Those who defy the fatwa will face a social boycott from the community and no cleric will offer prayer in any function of their family, be it marriage, funeral or any other occasion,” clerics can be heard saying in the video.

The fatwa also says that members of the community who engage in grass cutting in nearby forests should not engage in the practice of beating drums to keep the wild animals away.

“Those who defy the fatwa will have to publicly apologise at Friday prayers in the mosque and also pay a fine. In case a molvi (cleric) visits such a house, all clerics and the people will initiate action against him,” says the fatwa.

The decision was taken after clerics from nearby mosques held a meeting at Jama Masjid, Sagra, in Mendhar tehsil. (ANI)

Lauding citizens of the country after India achieved a milestone of administering over 150 crore COVID-19 vaccines, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that India is grateful to all those who have been working to make our vaccination drive a success.

The Prime Minister said that the vaccination drive has ensured that many lives are saved and advised all to keep following all COVID-19 related protocols.

“A remarkable day on the vaccination front! Congratulations to our fellow citizens on crossing the 150 crore milestone. Our vaccination drive has ensured that many lives are saved. At the same time, let us also keep following all COVID-19 related protocols,” the Prime Minister tweeted today.

He tweeted, “India is grateful to all those who have been working to make our vaccination drive a success. We thank our doctors, scientists, innovators and the health care workers who are vaccinating the people. I urge all those eligible to get their shots. Together, let’s fight COVID-19.”

India achieved yet another milestone in its COVID-19 vaccination drive as the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 150 crore mark on Friday.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya thanked the citizens of the country and said that India continues to be a world leader in driving the largest vaccination drive with over 150 crore COVID-19 vaccinations. The Union Minister further mentioned that over 1.5 crore teens between the age of 15-18 years have been vaccinated against COVID-19 since January 3.

“India continues to be a world leader in driving the largest vaccination drive with over 150 crore COVID-19 vaccinations. 90 per cent of our adult population was vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine dose. Over 1.5 crore children vaccinated against COVID-19 since 3rd January: PM @NarendraModi Ji,” the office of Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the second campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in Kolkata today via video conference. In his address, the Prime Minister mentioned that the country started the year with vaccination for children in the age group of 15 to 18 years.

“At the same time, India is also achieving the historic milestone of 150 crore – 1.5 billion vaccine doses, in the first week of the first month of the year itself. 150 crore doses in less than one year is a significant achievement and symbol of the willpower of the country. It denotes the country’s new confidence, Aatmnirbharta and pride, he said. As cases are rising due to the Omicron variant, this shield of 150 crore vaccines doses becomes all the more important,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister noted that today, more than 90 per cent of India’s adult population has received a single dose of the vaccine. “Within just 5 days, more than 1.5 crore children have also been given the dose of the vaccine,” he said. He dedicated this achievement to the whole country and every government. He especially thanked the scientists of the country, the vaccine manufacturers and the people in the health sector for this achievement. (ANI)

Delhi Police on Friday filed an FIR against a fake video being circulated after the demise of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, as it was trying to instigate communal disharmony.

“During the monitoring of social media, it was observed that a fake or morphed video has been shared on Twitter by some Twitter handles. In reality, the said video was of the meeting of the cabinet committee which took place on December 9, 2021, after the demise of CDS General Rawat. The said video was readily available on various news portals and social media platforms,” said KPS Malhotra, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Delhi Police Special Cell’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit (IFSO).

Malhotra said that the video was circulated with ill intent to promote enmity and to instigate communal disharmony.

“The video was morphed and a new voice over was superimposed, in which the alleged persons tried to show that this meeting was against the Sikh Community. Such act of promoting disharmony or enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony and can disturb public tranquillity and is an offence under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” he said.

He further said that a case has been registered by Delhi Police and investigation has been taken up

“In this regard, a case has been registered by Delhi Police and investigation has been taken up. The Twitter accounts which started the propagation of this video are found to be @simrankaur0507 and @eshalkaur1,” he added.

The Delhi Police further advised the general public not to believe in such videos and do a proper fact check before sharing the same on social media.

Rawat, who hails from Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand, died in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on December 8 along with 13 others including his wife Madhulika Rawat. (ANI)

Delhi on Friday logged 17,335 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, taking the positivity rate in the national capital to 17.73 per cent. This is the highest number of cases reported here Since May 2021.

As per the health bulletin, there are 39,873 active COVID cases in Delhi presently. With 8,951 recoveries from the virus in the last 24 hours, the cumulative recovery in Delhi stands at 14,41,789.

Nine deaths in the last 24 hours take the total Covid death tally of the national capital to 25,136, while the case facility rate reaches 1.67 per cent.

The health bulletin also informed that 1,390 people who tested positive for COVID are hospitalised, of which 31 are severe patients on ventilator support.

In the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive, 2,00,280 eligible beneficiaries were vaccinated in the last 24 hours. Of these, 56,204 were beneficiaries of the age group of 15-17 years. (ANI)

A Pune court on Friday granted bail to religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj who was booked for making an inflammatory speech at an event.

An FIR was registered against him for abusing Mahatma Gandhi during the religious event. The Pune court granted him bail on a surety amount of Rs 25,000.

However, he will continue to remain in judicial custody. Pune Police would be sending him back to Chhattisgarh. Kalicharan was arrested by Chhattisgarh police from Madhya Pradesh for his hate speech against minorities at ‘Dharam Sansad’ held in Raipur on December 26.

“A programme was organised at Natubaug Maidan on December 19 in Pune where Kalicharan made hate speeches that could incite people and hurt religious sentiments,” Pune police has said earlier. The other co-accused were Mohanrao Shete, Dipak Nagpure and Capt. Digendra Kumar. (ANI)

India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated to grow by 9.2 per cent in 2021-22 as against a contraction of 7.3 per cent recorded in the previous year, the government data showed on Friday.

GDP at Constant Prices (2011-12) in the year 2021-22 is estimated at Rs 147.54 lakh crore, as against the Provisional Estimate of GDP for the year 2020-21 of Rs 135.13 lakh crore, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

“However, these are early projections for 2021-22. Actual performance of various indicators, actual tax collections and expenditure incurred on subsidies in the following months, fresh relief measures for the vulnerable sections (such as providing free food grains which has now been extended till March 2022) and other measures, if any, taken by the Government to contain the spread of Covid-19 would have a bearing on subsequent revisions of these estimates,” the NSO said in a statement.

The growth in nominal GDP during 2021-22 is estimated at 17.6 per cent. Nominal GVA at Basic Prices is estimated at Rs 210.37 lakh crore in 2021-22, as against Rs 179.15 lakh crore in 2020-21, showing a growth of 17.4 percent.

Nominal GDP or GDP at Current Prices in the year 2021-22 is estimated at Rs 232.15 lakh crore, as against the Provisional Estimate of GDP for the year 2020-21 of Rs 197.46 lakh crore, released on May 31, 2021.

Actual figure for the first half of the current year has been officially released. The GDP expanded by 20.1 per cent during the first quarter of the current financial year while it grew by 8.4 per cent in the July-September 2021 quarter.

This is the First Advance Estimate of National Income for the financial year 2021-22. It was introduced in 2016-17 to serve as essential inputs to the Budget exercise.

“It is based on limited data and compiled using the Benchmark-Indicator method i.e. the estimates available for the previous year (2020-21 in this case) are extrapolated using relevant indicators reflecting the performance of sectors,” the National Statistical Office (NSO) said.

The sector-wise estimates have been compiled using indicators like (i) Index of Industrial Production (IIP) of first 7 months of the financial year, (ii) financial performance of Listed Companies in the Private Corporate sector available upto quarter ending September, 2021 (iii) 1st Advance Estimates of Crop production, (iv) Accounts of Central & State Governments, (v) Bank Deposits & Credits, (vi) Net Tonne Kilometres and Passenger Kilometres for Railways, (vii) Passengers and Cargo handled by Civil Aviation, (viii) Cargo handled at Major Sea Ports, (ix) Sales of Commercial Vehicles, etc., available for first 8 months of the financial year.

Projections for 2021-22 for passengers and cargo handled by civil aviation, cargo handled at major sea ports made available by the concerned agencies were also made use of in compilation of estimates of respective sectors, the NSO added.

The total tax revenue used for GDP compilation includes non-GST revenue and GST revenue. The Budget Estimates of tax revenue for 2021-22, as available on Controller General of Accounts (CGA) and Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) websites have been used for estimating taxes on products at current prices.

For compiling taxes on products at constant prices, volume extrapolation is done using volume growth of taxed goods and services. The total product subsidies were compiled using the latest information on major subsidies like Food, Urea, Petroleum and Nutrient based subsidy as available on CGA website and the expenditure incurred on subsidies by most States upto October 2021 as available on CAG website along with the Centre/State-wise BE provision for 2021-22.

Information available on Revenue expenditure, Interest payments, Subsidies etc. based on detailed analysis of budget documents of Centre and States for 2021-22 were also put to use for estimating Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GFCE), it said. (ANI)