Heena Sharma Blog

  India has so far provided nearly 18 crore vaccine doses (17,93,57,860) to States and Union Territories free of cost. Of this, the total consumption including wastages is 16,89,27,797 doses, as per data available at 8 am on Monday, said government. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Wellfare, more than one crore COVID Vaccine doses (1,04,30,063) are still available with the States/UTs to be administered. States with negative balance are showing more consumption (including wastage) than vaccine supplied as they have not reconciled the vaccine they have supplied to Armed Forces. Furthermore, more than nine lakh (9,24,910) vaccine doses will be received in addition by the States/UTs within the next three days. Meanwhile, the country registered 3,66,161 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours today. With this, the cumulative count of the cases has gone up to 2,26,62,575. Read More

  The Centre has told the Gujarat High Court that it is augmenting oxygen supply for COVID-19 patients from all available sources within India and also importing it from other countries through "diplomatic channels as well as personal intervention of the political executive". In a report on the supply of medical oxygen submitted before the HC on Monday, the Centre said a total allocation of 8,410 metric tonnes of oxygen has been made for 22 high burden states and Union Territories based on their demand, the Centre told the HC on Tuesday. The states should also make an effort to manage their oxygen demand through rational usage of this "scarce and critical resource" by continuous and close monitoring of hospitals and stringent audit of the oxygen usage, it said A division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice B D Karia had sought the Centre's response while hearing a PIL taken up suo motu (on its own) on the COVID-19 situation. Read More

The Centre and the CBSE Thursday informed the Supreme Court that they have decided to cancel the Class X and XII examinations scheduled from July 1-15 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and they would be conducted later. A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar was apprised by the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that a scheme has been formulated to assess the performance of class XII students on the basis of their performance in last examinations. The top court was also informed that the students will have the liberty to opt either for the examinations, to be conducted later, or go with the assessment process based on past performance. Read More

Will the coronavirus lockdown be extended in the national capital? The Delhi government will follow the Centre's guidelines, officials said on Monday. This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conference with chief ministers to discuss the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak and measures to deal with it. "We are preparing our submission which will be sent to the Centre soon," a senior government official said. The official said nine chief ministers spoke during the meeting with the prime minister in which they discussed a range of issues, including the possibility of extending of the lockdown, amid the rising number of coronavirus cases. Read More

The Kerala government on Monday revoked some relaxations it had provided under its revised guidelines for the lockdown. The move comes after the Centre chided it for diluting guidelines provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). In a letter to the state government on April 19, the Centre took objection to the move to allow the opening of certain activities prohibited by the MHA in its revised guidelines. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a press conference on Monday, said there was no tussle between the Centre and the State. Read More

The government on Wednesday announced the highest ever 5 per cent increase in dearness allowance (DA) which will bring cheer to 50 lakh central employees and 65 lakh pensioners ahead of Diwali. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the 5 per cent additional DA/DR (dearness relief) over the existing rate of 12 per cent of the basic pay/pension due in July, 2019, the government said. The decision will cost the exchequer Rs 16,000 crore, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said while briefing media on the decisions taken by the Cabinet. "This is the highest ever 5 percentage points increase in DA in one go by the central government," he said adding this will bring cheers to the government employees on the eve of Diwali. India celebrates the festival of light on October 27. Read More Article Source -> Business Standard

The Centre has decided that all its permanent employees must take at least 20 days of earned leave every year, instead of hoarding them up for encashment at the time of retirement. The government-run banks have already begun to send their employees on a block of ten days leave from late 2018. The measure, announced in several banks in October, had surprised the employees. It’s now time for the other central government employees to face a new leave ethic. The move is meant to improve the health of the employees, so they judiciously mix leisure with work. Central government employees have generous leave allowances. They are entitled to a block of 30 days paid leave each year (for defence employees it is 60 days). This is in addition to their ten casual leave and 19 notified holidays every year. However, few employees use their earned leave, and add their one or two days of leave to the weekends for a long break. Casual leaves cannot be accumulated. Read More Bu