Three Indian peacekeepers, who laid down their lives while serving in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions last year, are among 129 military, police and civilian personnel honoured on Thursday with a prestigious UN medal awarded posthumously for courage and sacrifice in the line of duty. Corporal Yuvraj Singh, who served with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), and two civilian peacekeepers — Ivan Michael Picardo, who served with UNMISS, and Mulchand Yadav, who worked for the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) — were honoured posthumously with the Dag Hammarskjold Medal during a sombre virtual ceremony on the occasion of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked West Bengal to give ₹ 1 lakh as compensation to each child impacted by the post-poll violence in the state. In a letter issued Thursday to the district magistrate of Cooch Behar, Pawan Kadiyan, the top child rights body said the children settled in temporary shelter camps in Bengal's Dhubri are still living in a general state of fear and shock as a result of irretrievable memories they endured due to eruption of the unprecedented violence.
The government is examining Pfizer's request for indemnity and will take a decision in the larger interest of people and on merit, NITI Aayog Member (Health) VK Paul said today. Mr Paul said: "Yes we are engaged with Pfizer and they have indicated the availability of a certain amount of vaccine in the coming months, possibly starting in July."
A day after Cyclone Yaas hit West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that the state has faced losses to the tune of ₹ 15,000 crore, and announced the launch of her "Duare Tran" (relief at doorstep) scheme next month, primarily aimed at reaching out to the affected people.
Within days of nearly 100 monks testing positive for Covid in Sikkim, at least 122 monks who are students at the Nyingma Institute in Martam have tested positive for the infection. Sikkim today recorded its highest single-day spike of Covid infections, clocking 408 new cases over the past 24 hours.
The Olympic-bound M C Mary Kom (51kg) and former youth world champion Sakshi (54kg) were among four Indian women boxers who stormed into the Asian Championship finals after notching up exciting victories while Pooja Rani (75kg) got a walkover here on Thursday. While six-time world champion Mary Kom prevailed 4-1 over Mongolia"s Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg, two-time youth world champion Sakshi upstaged top-seeded Kazakh Dina Zholaman 3-2.
On a day Delhi reported 153 new Black Fungus infections, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal issued regulations under the Epidemic Diseases Act, making it mandatory for healthcare facilities to report cases of the infection. The notification comes amid a spike in cases of Mucormycosis, commonly known as Black Fungus, in the national capital. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal yesterday said there were currently 620 cases of Black Fungus in Delhi. The number climbed to 773 today.
In a latest development related to the viral video of a girl believed to be from the Northeast who was tortured and sexually abused, four of the five accused have been arrested on Thursday evening in Bengaluru. A gang of five including a woman brutally tortured a young girl in their house in Ramamurthy Nagar. The police arrested four in Avalahalli and the accused have been identified as Sagar, Mohemmed Baba Sheikh, Ridoy Babu, and Hakeel. The woman who was seen in the video is still missing.
Apollo Hospitals will start administering Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V from the second week of June, the group said today. In a statement, Executive Vice-chairperson Shobana Kamineni of the Apollo Group of Hospitals said that the group has completed administering one million vaccine doses across 80 locations in India, prioritising frontline workers, high-risk population, and corporate employees.
The centre will provide financial assistance of ₹ 5 lakh each to the families of 26 journalists who died due to Covid this year. In the last financial year, the government had provided such assistance to the families of 41 journalists. The financial assistance will be provided under the Journalist Welfare Scheme of the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
