Heena Sharma Blog

  Amid a rise in coronavirus cases , the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Tuesday ordered that there will be no public celebrations in the national capital during upcoming festivals such Holi and Navaratri. Chief Secretary Vijay Dev directed authorities to ensure strict compliance of the order. "All authorities concerned will ensure that public celebrations and gatherings, congregations during upcoming festivals like Holi, Shab-e-Barat, Navaratri etc shall not be allowed in public places/public grounds/public parks/markets/religious places etc in NCT of Delhi," Dev said in the order. Delhi reported 1,101 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the highest in over three months, while four people succumbed to the disease, the health department said. It is for the first time since December 24 that the city has recorded more than 1,000 cases in a day. Read More  

  The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered a complete ban on the sale and use of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) from midnight Monday till November 30. The ban would also cover any city or town where the air quality goes below the ‘poor’ category on the Air Quality Index (AQI). As Delhi and adjoining cities battle worsening air quality every day, NGT said the threshold of pollution is continuously crossed in NCR and therefore an “absolute” ban is needed. Last week, the Delhi government banned firecrackers in the capital city. It was followed by Haryana which also announced complete ban of sale and burning of firecrackers. Governments of Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh, and the Calcutta High Court have already issued orders for ban on sale and use of firecrackers in the respective state/city. Read More

  The COVID-19 infection rate in the national capital is below 10 per cent, said Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday. "The coronavirus infection rate was increasing every day, that is, from 5-10 per cent to 20-30 per cent and had reached 40 per cent in Delhi. But, now it less than 10 per cent," Jain told media persons here. "Although, there is always a difference of 1-1.5 per cent," he added. In the latest update, Jain informed that 1,450 new COVID-19 infected cases have been reported and 1,250 patients have recovered while 16 people have lost their lives due to the virus. On being asked about the rising level of Yamuna river, the Health Minister said, " The water level of Yamuna River recorded at 204 metres in Delhi, which is well below the danger mark." Read More

India reported nearly 17,300 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 490,401, an increase of 3.7% according to the Health Ministry. Around 15,300 people have died in the country from Covid-19 so far, with 407 fatalities in a day. India is the fourth-most-affected country by total cases, and eighth by death toll. With 13,940 new recoveries being reported, India’s recovery rate has improved to 58.2%; however the death rate remains unchanged at 3.1%. The total number of confirmed virus patients have risen to 1,47,741 after 4,841 more patients tested positive in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra now accounts for 30.12% of all cases in India. And Of the 407 new deaths reported till Friday morning, 192 were in Maharashtra. Delhi recorded 3,390 fresh coronavirus cases today, taking the Covid-19 tally in the city to 73,780. Several experts have reasoned that the aggressive Covid testing is behind the spiralling of cases in Delhi. Read More

Amid rising cases of coronavirus in the national capital, the Delhi government has issued new guidelines for Covid-19 testing . The virus has infected over 200,000 people in the country so far. According to the order issued by Office of Director General of Health Services (DGHS) on June 2, the strategy for Covid-19 testing includes -- all symptomatic (ILI symptoms) individuals with history of international travel in the last 14 days; all symptomatic (ILI symptoms) contacts of laboratory confirmed cases; all symptomatic (ILI symptoms) healthcare workers/frontline workers involved in containment and mitigation of Covid-19; all patients of Severe Acute Respiratory infection (SARI). Read More

349 new Covid-19 positive cases reported in Delhi on Monday, taking the total number of cases to 4,898, Delhi Health Department said. No deaths reported due to Coronavirus recorded and 69 patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours. Currently, there is 3,403 active case coronavirus in the national capital while 1,431 have recovered so far. Read More

Around 150 liquor shops located outside Covid-19 containment zones in the national capital are likely to open from Monday as the Delhi government has announced implementation of the latest lockdown relaxations. According to an official, four government-run agencies, which are responsible for sale of liquor in Delhi, have submitted the list of the liquor shops which can be allowed to open following coronavirus guidelines. "About 150 liquor shops are likely to open in Delhi from Monday," the official said, adding that these are likely remain open till 7 in evening. Read More

The Delhi Government on Wednesday confirmed that no new locations were added in the list of Covid-19 containment zones here as till Tuesday 100 containment zones were declared across the national capital. A part of Shaheen Bagh was added into the list of containment zones on Tuesday. The step of declaring containment zones is aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus, which has swept across continents- from China to USA, killing thousands and crippling economies besides putting millions under lockdown and in quarantine. The containment zones are the areas where cases of Covid-19 have been detected. The containment operation includes sealing off the area with police barricades and shutting the entry and exit with tin walls. Read More

Seven more fatalities have been recorded at three hospitals, taking the total death toll in the northeast Delhi communal violence over the amended citizenship law to 34 on Thursday, according to senior officials. Till Wednesday night, the total count of casualties had stood at 27, 25 of those at GTB Hospital in Dilshad Garden. "Five more deaths recorded at GTB Hospital, and one more death at LNJP Hospital. One fatality was reported at Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital on Thursday, taking the total death toll to 34," a senior official of the Delhi Health Department told PTI. One person was declared brought dead by doctors, while another had died during treatment at the LNJP Hospital on Wednesday. Over 50 patients have been provided treatment at the LNJP Hospital since the violence broke out on Sunday in various parts of northeast Delhi, officials at the hospital said. Read More

Under a warm sun that marked the end of winter, Arvind Kejriwal took his third oath as Delhi chief minister in seven years. Keen to reshape his and his party’s image from that of disruptors to a centrist, problem-solving umbrella party, the 51-year-old bureaucrat-turned-politician sought cooperation from rival parties in making Delhi the “number one city”. Kejriwal reached out to supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, and other parties, and said he was now their CM too and they should approach him unhesitatingly. He said he was keen to move beyond the bad blood of elections, and sought cooperation and blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre. “ I had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi but he could not come as he may have been busy. We want to seek his blessings for smooth governance of Delhi,” Kejriwal said in his nearly 20-minute address. The prime minister, who was in his constituency Varanasi where he inaugurated several projects, later g

With his ambitious ' Mohalla clinic ' model to provide better health services in every area of the national capital and improving classrooms in government schools, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal has impressed the people of the city ahead of the Assembly polls with 71 per cent happy with his performance, a NETA App Survey report claimed on Monday. According to the survey findings, Kejriwal despite falling behind his Deputy Manish Sisodia and two other party MLAs, has impressed the people with his performance in education and development. The Neta App leader ratings for Delhi's sitting MLAs, released ahead of Assembly polls for the 70-member House on February 8, said that Kejriwal, who represents the New Delhi constituency, has scored 3.5 out of 5. The Neta App ratings of the AAP MLAs is based on the feedback of 650,000 respondents that has been carried out over the last two years. Read More

The Centre told the Delhi High Court on Thursday that blocking of online gaming sites, including those of card games, was " technologically infeasible " as many states have enacted laws which partially or fully allow such activities. The submission on affidavit was made before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) which said that it has to be determined first whether the games on the sites involved games of skill or chance in order to block them for propagating gambling activities. The Delhi government told the court it can only take action if a gambling site was being hosted in the national capital or if there were instances of offline gambling. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its affidavit, has said it has taken each and every step under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to prohibit, forbid and bar any kind of transaction which was illegal and contrary to forex

The metro network in the national capital has expanded to 296 Km through 214 stations Current Affairs News : The Metro service on the Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus -Lajpat Nagar section of phase III of the Delhi Metro network opened on Monday, August 6. The 8.10 km-long stretch has interchanging facilities at INA (with Yellow Line) and Lajpat Nagar (Violet Line). The service began for passengers at 1 pm. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri jointly inaugurated it at the Metro Bhawan.  The new stations are -- Sir Vishveshariah Moti Bagh, Bhikhaji Cama Place, Sarojini Nagar, INA, South Extension and Lajpat Nagar. Only Sir Vishveshariah Moti Bagh station is elevated, and the rest all are underground. The stretch is named ”corridor for shoppers” as it will be connecting four major markets of the city Sarojini Nagar, INA, South Extension and Lajpat Nagar (Central Market). This one stretch of the network will al

The 40 govt services include issuance of caste certificates, motor vehicle registration certificates, driving licences, handicapped and old-age pensions, as well as sewage connections Current Affairs News : Delhiites will be able to access around 40 government services, ranging from getting a water connection to caste   certificate, at their doorsteps by the end of July, an   official   said on Thursday. The   Delhi   government had in November announced the plan, which would save time and countless trips to government offices for the common man. Under the proposed scheme, if a person wants a certificate, he would have to make a phone call to a particular number and fix an appointment as per his convenience -- even outside normal working hours of government offices. A 'Mobile Sahayak' would then reach his residence or office and collect the necessary documents, take photo(s) and biometric details and process the application. This process would be out