Month: June 2022

The Congress party on Wednesday continued to protest over the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe against Rahul Gandhi in connection with the alleged National Herald case.

Congress workers chanted “Rahul Gandhi zindabad” and held various placards in their hands reading “I am Rahul too” during a demonstration in the national capital today.
Police and other security personnel were deployed outside the Congress office, and barricades were put in place as Rahul Gandhi has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to appear before it for a third consecutive day on Wednesday.

The former Congress chief appeared before the ED for the second consecutive day on Tuesday for questioning. The ED had also questioned Rahul Gandhi for over 10 hours on Monday.

As per official sources, the Congress leader, a Z+ category protectee of the Central Reserve Police Force after the Union government withdrew the Gandhi family’s Special Protection Group cover in 2019, was confronted with several documents collated by the ED as evidence recovered so far in the case to get his version.

Rahul Gandhi was questioned in detail about the ownership of Young Indian Private Limited (YIL) by the Gandhi family and its shareholding pattern in Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company that runs the National Herald newspaper, said sources.

Investigators in the ED, sources said, have also asked Rahul Gandhi to describe the circumstances under which AJL was acquired by YIL in 2010, making it the owner of all assets owned by the National Herald newspaper.

The National Herald, started by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was published by the AJL. In 2010, the AJL, which faced financial difficulties, was taken over by a newly-floated YIL with Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda as directors, both of them Gandhi loyalists.

In a complaint in the Delhi High Court, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy accused Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds.

Officials familiar with the probe said Rahul Gandhi is being asked questions about the takeover of the AJL by YIL since the Gandhis have stakes in the latter. The Congress leader is being questioned under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED is also learnt to have recorded a statement from Rahul Gandhi to know about the incorporation of the YIL, the operations of the National Herald and the fund transfer within the news media establishment. The ED is also investigating the financial transactions as well as role of party functionaries in the functioning of AJL and YIL.

National Herald is published by the AJL and owned by YIL. It is also learnt that the ED will take the written statement of Rahul Gandhi statement under Section 50 of the PMLA.

Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal were earlier questioned in the case. Rahul Gandhi’s mother Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to appear before the ED on June 23. She was admitted on Sunday to the Ganga Ram Hospital following post-Covid complications.

There are allegations that AJL was founded in 1930s to print National Herald and had 5,000 freedom fighters as shareholders. AJL is now in Gandhi family ownership. AJL declared in 2008 that it won’t print newspapers anymore and will enter real estate.

In 2010, a new firm called YIL is incorporated with Rs 5 lakh and with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi among other Congress leaders as directors. It pledges to do charity but does none till 2016, as per allegations.

It is also alleged that AJL’s 9 crore shares (99 pc of all) are transferred to YIL, and that Rahul Gandhi alone holds 75 per cent shares while Sonia and other senior Congress own the rest.

There is another set of allegations that Congress gave AJL Rs 90 crore loan which Congress writes off in lieu of alleged ownership of AJL assets worth Rs 2,000 crore.

However, Congress claims that loan was given to pay the salaries of AJL staffers and to save National Herald and that YIL is a not-for-profit company and its ownership still vests with AJL.

“YIL can’t pay dividends to shareholders and not a penny has moved. How can there be money laundering without any money changing hands.”

The case to investigate alleged financial irregularities under the PMLA was registered about nine months ago after a trial court took cognisance of an Income Tax Department probe carried out on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.

Swamy had approached the court alleging that the assets of AJL were fraudulently acquired and transferred to YIL, in which Sonia Gandhi and her son owned 38 per cent shares each.

The YIL promoters include Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Swamy had alleged that the Gandhis cheated and misappropriated funds, with YIL paying only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that AJL owed to Congress.

Congress argued that YIL was a not-for-profit company under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 that can neither accumulate profits nor pay dividends to its shareholders. Calling it a case of political vendetta, senior Supreme Court advocate and Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi had said, “This is truly a very weird case — an alleged money laundering case on which summons are issued with no money involved.”

The federal agency’s move followed the questioning of senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Treasurer Pawan Bansal in April this year in New Delhi in connection with its money laundering probe into the National Herald case.

The agency then recorded the statements of both the Congress leaders then under the PMLA. While Kharge is the CEO of YIL, Bansal is the Managing Director of AJL. All roads leading to the ED office in central Delhi are still barricaded by the police amid heavy deployment of Rapid Action Force personnel and Delhi Police.

The Delhi Police has imposed provisions of Section 144 CrPC to prohibit assembly and entry of people on roads leading to the ED headquarters in Pravaratan Bhawan on A P J Abdul Kalam Road where some Youth Congress workers protested and scuffled with police while trying to push barricades a few minutes after Rahul Gandhi joined the probe on Tuesday. The police detained all the protesters and bundled them in separate buses to take them away from Central Delhi. (ANI)

In a major political development in Bihar, the ruling Janata Dal (United) on Tuesday expelled its spokesperson Ajay Alok from the primary membership of the party.

Besides Ajay Alok, JD(U) has also suspended state general secretaries Anil Kumar and Vipin Kumar Yadav from primary membership.

“Party’s state general secretaries Anil Kumar and Vipin Yadav and spokesperson Ajay Alok are relieved of their posts and suspended from party’s primary membership. Party leader Jitendra Neeraj is also being suspended from the primary membership of the party. This decision has been taken to strengthen the party and maintain discipline in the party,” Bihar JDU chief Umesh Singh Kushwaha told reporters here.

According to JD(U) statement, the leaders were expelled due to anti-party activities.

“For the last few months, there were complaints about running programmes against the interests of the party and misleading the workers. Some office-bearers were asked to refrain from such actions, but despite this, anti-party activities continued,” the statement said.

Following his expulsion, Ajay Alok said, “Badi der kar di meherbaan aate aate. I am thankful to the party for relieving me. It was a long association with the party and was a good experience. All my best wishes with you.”

The development comes days after JD(U) denied senior party leader RCP Singh’s re-nomination to Rajya Sabha. Singh was once considered a confidante of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

However, it is believed that the four leaders were expelled by JD(U) due to their closeness with the party leader and Union Minister RCP Singh.

Notably, Singh, who was the only minister from the JD(U) quota in the NDA government, is set to retire from Rajya Sabha on July 7. He will not be able to continue as Union Minister for more than six months once he ceased to be a Member of Parliament. (ANI)

Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday will hold a meeting with several Opposition leaders to discuss presidential polls and put up a united fight against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.

However, according to CMO sources, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is not likely to send a representative to Mamata’s meeting amid moves to forge consensus for an opposition-backed candidate. Further, sources also informed that Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party is not participating in the meeting. Sources in the party also informed that AAP will consider the issue only after the candidate for the upcoming Presidential election is declared.
The West Bengal Chief Minister flew to the national capital and met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar on Tuesday ahead of the meeting. The presidential elections will take place on July 18 and the results will be declared on July 21.

The leaders who would likely to take part in the meeting include former minister HD Deve Gowda and his son and Janata Dal (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Jayant Chaudhary and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti.

MK Stalin’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) will be represented by TR Baalu while Shiv Sena’s Subhash Desai will attend the meeting.

Samajwadi Party and National Conference will also attend the meeting.

Sources said Congress will also participate in the meeting to be held at the Constitution Club. Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, and Randeep Singh Surjewala are likely to attend the meeting.

Banerjee has also sent an invitation to former BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal but it is unlikely to attend the meeting.

Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja on Tuesday said that Left parties are likely to attend the meeting. CPI-M and other Left parties are rivals of the ruling TMC in Bengal.

Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal, which has been invited, is unlikely to attend the meeting.

Banerjee had earlier written a letter to 22 leaders, including Left parties, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and chief ministers of opposition-ruled states. (ANI)

As the investigation into the Salman Khan threat letter case intensifies, Maharashtra Home Department has now learnt that gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang sent the letter to extort money from big businessmen and actors.

Just days after the death of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala, popular Bollywood actor Salman Khan and his father received a death threat. Father Salim Khan’s security team found the letter outside their Mumbai home near the Bandra Bandstand promenade, where Salim Khan goes for his routine morning jog.
As per the information received from Maharashtra Home Department, the reason behind the Bishnoi gang threatening actor Salman Khan and his father Salim Khan was to create an atmosphere to show their power. “The gang was preparing to extort money from big businessmen and actors,” he said.

Meanwhile, Punjab Police has brought gangster Lawrence Bishnoi today under heavy security to the state from Delhi in the early hours of Wednesday to question him in the singer Sidhu Moosewala murder case. Bishnoi was produced before a court in Mansa district which remanded him to seven-day police custody.

A Delhi court on Tuesday granted Punjab Police the transit remand of Bishnoi to take him to Punjab in the case related to the singer and Congress leader Moosewala’s murder. The Delhi Court had passed the order as Punjab Police produced Bishnoi before it after formally arresting him in the case.

On June 8, Delhi Police said that the mastermind behind the killing of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala is gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. (ANI)

The first indigenously developed quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) vaccine against cervical cancer by the Serum Institute of India (SII) will be discussed by the Subject expert committee on Wednesday.

The application for market authorization of the qHPV vaccine was submitted to the DCGI on June 8 by Prakash Kumar Singh (director of government and regulatory affairs).

The application to the DCGI by Singh mentions the antibody response of the vaccine against HPV types in all dose and age groups.

The vaccine is expected to be launched in the market before the end of 2022, sources told ANI. The qHPV will be India’s first indigenously curated vaccine against cervical cancer.

To ensure its early availability in the country, the Pune-based Serum Institute of India has applied for market authorization after completing the phase 2/3 clinical trial with the support of the Department of Biotechnology. (ANI)

Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Tuesday allowed Punjab Police to arrest gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in connection with singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder and also allowed Punjab Police’s transit application.

The court also directed Punjab Police to ensure that the medical examination of Bishnoi be conducted as per law/rules before leaving Delhi and also before his production before the concerned Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mansa, Punjab.
Allowing Punjab Police’s application, Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Umer Kumar said, “The applicant Investigation Officer/SP Dharamveer Singh and the investigating agency are directed to take all the appropriate measures for safety and security of the accused Lawrence Bishnoi during transit till production of the accused Lawrence Bishnoi before the concerned Court at Mansa, Punjab.”

Earlier in the day, Punjab Police submitted in the court that Lawrence Bishnoi is a key conspirator of singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder while sought the gangster’s transit remand saying that his custodial interrogation is necessary.

Punjab Police further submitted that during the investigation of the Sidhu Moose Wala murder case, the confession statements of the arrested accused were recorded wherein it was clearly pointed out that Lawrence Bishnoi had tasked the co-accused to carry out the “planned killing” of Moose Wala.

“The same has been corroborated by the upload on social media wherein Lawrence Bishnoi has taken responsibility for carrying out the planned murder of Sidhu Moose Wala. Delhi Police had questioned the said accused Lawrence Bishnoi, and they have clearly stated that Lawrence Bishnoi was the key conspirator in the planned murder of Sidhu Moose Wala via press conferences,” Punjab Police said.

“The arrested accused also stated that they were in direct touch with Satwinder Singh alias Goldy Brar, who is a close associate of Lawrence Bishnoi. It is also pertinent to mention here that all the arrested accused are closely associated with Lawrence Bishnoi and his associates, and they have been involved together in multiple FIRs. The motive for the above said crime was found to be to avenge the killing of Vikramjeet Singh alias Vicky Middukhera, in which there was an alleged involvement of Shagundeep Singh, manager of Shubhdeep Singh, who is not absconding,” it added.

Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Jawaharke village of Punjab’s Mansa district on May 29. The incident took place a day after his security was withdrawn by the Punjab police among 424 others.

Meanwhile, Advocate General of Punjab Anmol Rattan Sidhu submitted that if the custody of the court Lawrence Vishnoi is given to the Punjab Police, then it will take full responsibility for the gangster’s security.

“There will be about 50 police personnel of Punjab Police, two bullet proof vehicles, 12 vehicles will run on the way which will clear the route. All routes will be videographed. The entire order of the Supreme Court will be followed and passed in such related cases,” he said.

However, Advocate Vishal Chopra appearing for Lawrence Bishnoi opposed the Punjab Police application and said that there is a security threat. There is apprehension that Lawrence Bishnoi may be “eliminated” if transit remand is granted.

Bishnoi’s lawyer submitted that we are not opposing virtual interrogation and investigation. “We are just opposing his physical transit remand to Punjab. Punjab Police can arrest him in the case, if needed, but in Delhi only,” he added. (ANI)

Enforcement Directorate asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to rejoin the investigation in connection with an alleged money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper tomorrow for the third consecutive day, sources said.

The former Congress chief appeared before the ED for the second consecutive day for questioning.
The ED had also questioned Rahul Gandhi for over 10 hours on Monday.

As per official sources, the Congress leader, a Z+ category protectee of the Central Reserve Police Force after the Union government withdrew the Gandhi family’s Special Protection Group cover in 2019, was confronted with several documents collated by the ED as evidence recovered so far in the case to get his version.

Rahul Gandhi was questioned in detail about the ownership of Young Indian Private Limited (YIL) by the Gandhi family and its shareholding pattern in Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company that runs the National Herald newspaper, said sources.

Investigators in the ED, sources said, have also asked Rahul Gandhi to describe the circumstances under which AJL was acquired by YIL in 2010, making it the owner of all assets owned by the National Herald newspaper.

The National Herald, started by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was published by the AJL. In 2010, the AJL, which faced financial difficulties, was taken over by a newly-floated YIL with Suman Dubey and Sam Pitroda as directors, both of them Gandhi loyalists.

In a complaint in the Delhi High Court, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy accused Sonia Gandhi and her son, Rahul Gandhi, and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds.

Officials familiar with the probe said Rahul Gandhi is being asked questions about the takeover of the AJL by YIL since the Gandhis have stakes in the latter.

The Congress leader is being questioned under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED is also learnt to have recorded statement of Rahul Gandhi to know about the incorporation of the YIL, the operations of the National Herald and the fund transfer within the news media establishment.

The ED is also investigating the financial transactions as well as role of party functionaries in the functioning of AJL and YIL.

National Herald is published by the AJL and owned by YIL. It is also learnt that the ED will take written statement of Rahul Gandhi statement under Section 50 of the PMLA.

Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal were earlier questioned in the case. Rahul Gandhi’s mother Sonia Gandhi is scheduled to appear before the ED on June 23. She was admitted on Sunday to the Ganga Ram Hospital following post-Covid complications.

There are allegations that AJL was founded in 1930s to print National Herald and had 5,000 freedom fighters as shareholders. AJL is now in Gandhi family ownership. AJL declared in 2008 that it won’t print newspapers anymore and will enter real estate.

In 2010, a new firm called YIL is incorporated with Rs 5 lakh and with Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi among other Congress leaders as directors. It pledges to do charity but does none till 2016, as per allegations.

It is also alleged that AJL’s 9 crore shares (99 pc of all) are transferred to YIL, and that Rahul Gandhi alone holds 75 per cent shares while Sonia and other senior Congress own the rest.

There is another set of allegations that Congress gave AJL Rs 90 crore loan which Congress writes off in lieu of alleged ownership of AJL assets worth Rs 2,000 crore.

However, Congress claims that loan was given to pay salaries of AJL staffers and to save National Herald and that YIL is a not-for-profit company and its ownership still vests with AJL.

“YIL can’t pay dividends to shareholders and not a penny has moved. How can there be money laundering without any money changing hands.”

The case to investigate alleged financial irregularities under the PMLA was registered about nine months ago after a trial court took cognisance of an Income Tax Department probe carried out on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.

Swamy had approached the court alleging that the assets of AJL were fraudulently acquired and transferred to YIL, in which Sonia Gandhi and her son owned 38 per cent shares each.

The YIL promoters include Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Swamy had alleged that the Gandhis cheated and misappropriated funds, with YIL paying only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that AJL owed to the Congress.

The Congress argued that YIL was a not-for-profit company under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 that can neither accumulate profits nor pay dividends to its shareholders.

Calling it a case of political vendetta, senior Supreme Court advocate and Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi had said, “This is truly a very weird case — an alleged money laundering case on which summons are issued with no money involved.”

The federal agency’s move followed the questioning of senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Treasurer Pawan Bansal in April this year in New Delhi in connection with its money laundering probe into the National Herald case.

The agency then recorded the statements of both the Congress leaders then under the PMLA. While Kharge is the CEO of YIL, Bansal is the Managing Director of AJL.

All roads leading to the ED office in central Delhi are still barricaded by the police amid heavy deployment of Rapid Action Force personnel and Delhi Police.

The Delhi Police has imposed provisions of Section 144 CrPC to prohibit assembly and entry of people on roads leading to the ED headquarters in Pravaratan Bhawan on A P J Abdul Kalam Road where some Youth Congress workers protested and scuffled with police while trying to push barricades a few minutes after Rahul Gandhi joined the probe on Tuesday.

The police detained all the protesters and bundled them in separate buses to take them away from Central Delhi. (ANI)

Kerala Gold smuggling case prime accused Swapna Suresh has levelled serious allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan saying that she had met the CM and his family at his official residence ‘Cliff House’.

She also pointed out how the CM had earlier claimed that he didn’t know her when she was in jail.

While addressing the media on Tuesday, Suresh said, “The Chief Minister has lied before also. He had earlier said that he did not know me. The Chief Minister and I, his wife, his daughter and son sat at Cliff House and discussed many matters and made decisions. If the Chief Minister has forgotten all that now, I will remind the Chief Minister and his family about the meetings through the media as the opportunity arises.”

She said that another case was lodged against her by the police on the complaint filed by CP Pramod, who is a CPI(M) leader.

Pramod had alleged that Swapna tried to incite violence by contradicting her earlier statement. The complainant claimed that Swapna was leaking statements and was sending wrong messages to the public. The case was taken by Palakkad Kasaba police.

Speaking about the case, she said, “I am blessed with another case today. Another case came up at 11 pm last night. I just have to say something very very clearly and short. No matter how many more cases come up against me, I will stick to the 164 statement that I have goven against the Chief Minister, his family and other accused in the gold smuggling case. Please register a case in all police stations across Kerala. But I am not going to withdraw my 164 Statement. This is a very strong decision i have made. If I want to get out of this, you have to kill yourself. Maybe it’s all over here after the killing. May be only. Because i have given all my evidences and everything to different people. It’s not over yet. If you want to put me in jail and beat me up for writing and signing something, just give it a try.”

She further said, “Right from day one till today, I am saying the same thing that decree of my involvement is also admitted in my 164 statement and in all the statements before all the investigating agencies. I am not looking forward for any freedom from the court. None of this is my drama. If I am punished, I will suffer.”

“This time non bailable offences are charged against Swapna. It will not last. There is serious conspiracy. Shaj Kiran who met Swapna and demanded to withdraw the allegations was an agent of somebody as he claimed Chief Minister. This is a pathetic situation. We believe in the court. Why is former minister KT Jaleel the only one to complain about Swapna? So there’s something to the allegation”, said her Advocate Krishna Raj.

Earlier the Cantonment police in Thiruvananthapuram has registered another case against her on the complaint of MLA and former minister KT Jaleel which alleged that she spread false allegations against him.

She also alleged that Shaj Kiran who was a journalist met her earlier and demanded her to withdraw the allegations against the CM is strongly connected with the CM.

The Kerala gold smuggling case pertains to the smuggling of gold in the state through diplomatic channels. It had come to light after 30 kg gold worth Rs 14.82 crore smuggled in a consignment camouflaged as diplomatic baggage was busted by the customs department in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5, 2019.

Swapna Suresh alleged that in 2016, M Sivasankar, the former Principal Secretary to the Kerala CM, had asked her to send baggage to Dubai which belonged to Vijayan.

However, when the bag was brought to the consulate, it was found that it contained currencies and the entire gold smuggling business had begun from then.

Swapna Suresh, the main accused of the gold smuggling case gave a confidential statement under section 164 (recording of confessions and statements) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) alleging the CM’s involvement.

Amidst the political furore, the state government has appointed a 12-member team led by the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) to probe Swapna for giving the 164 statements against the CM.

Swapna had also claimed that she was also threatened by the CM’s mediator to withdraw her statement.(ANI)

The Pakistan government has accused former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi of accepting PKR 5 billion and hundreds of kanals of land, during the tenure of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Tuesday alleged that Imran and his wife accepted land and cash in return for “providing protection” to the real estate firm in a money laundering case during the PTI government, the Dawn newspaper reported.

He said Bahria Town, an Islamabad-based privately owned real-estate development company, had “illegally transferred” PKR 50 billion to a Pakistani national in the UK.

The transfer, he said, was identified by the UK’s National Crime Agency, the Pakistan newspaper added.

Sanaullah claimed that Imran Khan had tasked his aide on accountability, to resolve the matter. They reportedly “settled” the entire case, while the PKR 50bn — which was state property and belonged to the national treasury — was adjusted against Bahria Town’s liability, the Pakistan interior minister alleged.

“The case did not just end here. Bahria Town, after its PKR 50bn was protected by the government, entered an agreement and allotted a 458-kanal land with an on-paper value of PKR 530 million to a trust owned by Imran and his wife,” he was quoted as saying by Dawn.

Earlier, it was reported that Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and her friend Farah Gogi made “billions” under the tenure of the PTI government.

“It started in 2019, when Imran Khan gave a relief worth Pakistani rupees 320 million to Ahsan Jamil Gujjar – Farah’s husband – under an amnesty scheme,” PML-N leader Atta Ullah Tarar said during a press conference.

The Express Tribune quoting Tarar reported that the former Prime Minister gave the relief due to his personal relations and friendship between Bushra and Farah.

Regarding this, he also played an audio tape — purportedly a conversation between a business tycoon and his daughter, revealing how Farah ‘demanded a gift’ for the ex-first lady.

During the conversation, the woman said to her father that Farah Gogi allegedly demanded a precious diamond as a gift for the ex-first lady in return for “removing locks” on a project site and withdrawing a report against her father, The Tribune reported. (ANI)

The national capital reported a sudden spike in new COVID cases with a jump of 82 per cent on Tuesday in comparison to yesterday as the city logged 1,118 infections in the last 24 hours.

As per the bulletin by the Delhi Health Department, the city had reported 614 new cases on Monday while the number increased to 1,118 today, a difference of whopping more than 500 cases.
With this, the active cases in the city rose to 3,177 which stood at 2,561 on Monday.

The case positivity rate is 6.50 per cent.

As many as 500 COVID patients recovered in the last 24 hours taking the tally of recovered patients since the onset of the pandemic to 18,85,130 while two patients lost their lives during this period. The death toll increased to 26,223.

According to the bulletin, 17,210 samples were tested and 24,047 beneficiaries were vaccinated in the last 24 hours.

The cumulative doses of vaccines administered in the city so far are 3,45,28,975.

Opposite to the city’s rise in the COVID cases, India witnessed a huge dip in the COVID-19 cases with the country reporting 6,594 fresh infections in the last 24 hours, around 18 per cent fewer as compared to the day before.

The country logged 8,084 COVID-19 cases on Monday. This was the third day when India reported more than 8,000 cases in a day.

Of the fresh cases, India’s active caseload stands at 50,548 today, accounting for 0.12 per cent of the total infections, according to the Union Health Ministry.

A total of 4,035 people have been recovered from the coronavirus infection in the past 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 4,26,61,370. In India, the recovery rate is 98.67 per cent.

The daily positivity rate is at 2.05 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate is at 2.32 per cent. (ANI)