Tag: #INTERNATIONALNEWS

MOSCOW, Feb 19 (Sputnik) Six US Capitol police officers have been suspended with pay and another 29 have been put under investigation over their actions during the riots on Capitol Hill on January 6, CNN reported, citing a police spokesman. "Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman has directed that any member of her department whose behavior is not in keeping with the Department's Rules of Conduct will face appropriate discipline," police spokesman John Stolnis told the broadcaster.

INDIA STATES TIMES NEWS DESK NATIONAL • Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi on Thursday morning was in the "very poor" zone at 301. • Schools in Haryana will reopen for classes 6 to 8 from the first week of February, state Education Minister Kanwar Pal said. • The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday criticised BJP over Gujarat government's decision to rename dragon fruit as Kamalam. • Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday wished Joe Biden as he was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States. • Ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, senior vice-president of Aditya Birla Group Ranjan Banerjee joined the BJP in Kolkata. • Odisha government on Wednesday announced a reduction of tuition fees in all aided and unaided private schools for the 2020-2021 academic session due to the COVID-19 pandemic. • Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Tuesday gave an extension to 177 medical staff for the next three months following the completion of their contract.

INDIA STATES TIMES NEWS DESK NATIONAL • India has reported 10,064 new coronavirus cases and 137 more deaths in the last 24 hours, which is the lowest rise in the number of daily cases since June 2020 and the lowest rise in daily deaths since May 2020. • The Vadodara police have lodged a case against unidentified persons for allegedly stealing ₹1.25 lakh from a house located in the Adarsh Nagar slums. • At least five policemen were injured and two police vehicles were damaged when a mob attacked a police team with stones in a village, UP Police said. • Tata Steel, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra and Jindal Steel and Power are considering buying COVID-19 vaccines for their employees once they become available commercially. ITC and JSPL said they have reached out to vaccine manufacturers for bulk supply of doses. • India's four largest IT companies – TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Wipro – are collectively planning to hire 91,000 freshers from campuses for the next fiscal year. • During a recent interview, television actress Devoleena Bhattacharjee mentioned that actors don't need to join "groups and camps" to be successful in the entertainment industry. • Bangladesh Health Minister has confirmed India will send some doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh as "gift".

INDIA STATES TIMES NEWS DESK NATIONAL • India has reported 13,788 new COVID-19 cases and 145 more deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. • Smokers and vegetarians were found to have lower seropositivity indicating that they may be at a lesser risk of getting infected by coronavirus, according to a pan-India serosurvey conducted by the CSIR. • An FIR was registered in Lucknow against director Ali Abbas Zafar, Amazon Prime Video's India head of original content Aparna Purohit, producer Himanshu Mehra, writer Gaurav Solanki and others for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. • Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Sunday said that BJP's high command will remove Yediyurappa as the Chief Minister of Karnataka in April this year. • Three District Secretaries of actor Rajinikanth's political party Rajini Makkal Mandram joined Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in presence of party chief MK Stalin in Chennai . • The Vistadome coach on the Jan Shatabdi Express flagged off in Gujarat has 44 recliner-180 degree rotatable seats. There are automatic sliding doors at both gates of the coach and glass rooftops. • 456 health workers, out of the designated 800 beneficiaries, were vaccinated at eight centres in Pune's Pimpri-Chinchwad .

INDIA STATES TIMES NEWS DESK NATIONAL • India has reported 16,946 new COVID-19 cases and 198 more deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. • The Delhi International Airport will get first of its kind genome sequencing lab on Thursday for testing samples of arriving travellers who test positive for COVID-19. • The air quality index (AQI) in Delhi on Thursday deteriorated to 392 from 354 on the previous day, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recordings showed. • All 100 samples taken from Asia's largest chicken market in Delhi's Ghazipur have tested negative for bird flu, Delhi government's animal husbandry department said . • An IndiGo plane scheduled to take off for Delhi got stuck in the snow that was accumulated adjacent to the taxiway at the Srinagar airport. • Srinagar experienced the coldest winter night in the past 25 years on Wednesday with temperatures dropping to minus 8.4°C. • Maharashtra State Election Commission has cancelled the gram panchayat elections in Umrane village of Nashik and Khondamali village of Nandurbar after complaints and videos of auctions of panchayat seats there.

INDIA STATES TIMES NEWS DESK NATIONAL • India has reported 15,968 new COVID-19 cases and 202 more deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. • The government on Tuesday said that vaccine recipients will not be given a choice on which COVID-19 vaccine to take, Serum Institute of India's Covishield or Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. • The Army has decided to induct women as pilots in its aviation wing and the first batch is likely to begin training in July. • Air quality in the national capital deteriorated on Wednesday morning to 'very poor' category with the hourly average air quality index (AQI) at 7 am reaching 340. • Amid the farmers' protests in India, Mathura BJP MP Hema Malini on Tuesday said, "The farmers don't even know what they want and what is the problem with the farm laws, which shows that they're doing this because someone asked them to do it." • Noida-based entrepreneur Mohit Goel, who started the company Ringing Bells and offered 'Freedom 251' mobile phones for ₹251, has been arrested by Noida Police. Goel allegedly defrauded traders dealing in dry fruits to the tune of ₹200 crore.