Mallica Joshi

In Gujarat, where elections are expected this year-end, the party is already on campaign mode as it seeks to capitalise on its moment in history by filling the space vacated by a diminishing Congress.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged that this was being done "at the behest of the Centre."

Four months since the implementation of the policy, AAP has had to make an amendment, essentially banning liquor vendors from offering discounts, landing it in a court case. The government defended its move saying vends were getting overcrowded by customers, leading to law and order issues.

Unnao votes on Wednesday in the fourth phase of the Assembly elections.

🔴 Delhi reported 28,867 fresh cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, pushing past the peak of 28,395 cases reported on April 20, 2021, and 31 deaths, fewer than the toll of 40 from the previous day.

🔴 Of the 97 people who died after testing positive, 37 were between 41 and 60 years of age; 27 were between 61 and 80 years; eight were above the age of 80. Of the remaining 25, 7 were minors and 18 were between 19 and 40 years of age.

Delhi reported 10,665 cases at a positivity rate of 11.88% on Wednesday, up from 5,481 cases at a positivity rate of 8.37% a day before.

According to officials, a circular to amend the procedure for the issuance of SC/ST caste certificate based on a single mother’s caste certificate was issued in July 2020.

According to the available data, Delhi last saw over 14,000 active cases at the beginning of the second wave on April 4, after a significant gap. At that time, a total of 2,975 hospital beds were occupied.

The national capital is the first major metro to announce such stringent curbs, as a fresh Covid wave, driven largely by the more transmissible Omicron variant, sweeps across the country.

🔴 The decision was taken at the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting on Wednesday, which was called to discuss further restrictions and the vaccination programme.

As the Delhi government’s move to completely privatise the alcohol vends business begins to take shape, suppliers are running into some teething troubles. But officials are confident these are blips in a long-overdue process.

🔴 Cryptocurrency: The Sunday Express meets a range of stakeholders — from investors to coin exchange players and the government — on what could be the way forward.

Experts say linking Delhi’s poor air to one factor alone would be an oversimplification. After all, the stubble burning season lasts around 45 days, while air in Delhi remains polluted till February.

Nearly a third of Delhi government’s schools run in evening shifts and teach only boys which, going by historical data, leaves them at a disadvantage in comparison to those in regular morning shifts as well as those in co-ed institutions. The Delhi government’s plan to convert all evening shift schools to morning ones could change that.

The city has a 47% second dose coverage against the national average of around 30% at present. Each individual has to get two doses.

Each year in Delhi-NCR, a combination of dipping temperatures, low wind speed, and paddy stubble burning sends the air quality on a downward spiral.

According to officials and experts, the high case count seen in Delhi in April and May, and the resultant antibodies, is among the main reasons for the low case count at present.

Two of the three councillors expelled are expected to join the Aam Aadmi Party later in the day.

Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia Wednesday sought to lay the blame squarely on the Centre, saying that the Delhi government has no records of such deaths because the Centre did not allow it to form a committee to look into claims by patients’ families and doctors.

Oxygen deaths: “I have hundreds of messages from hospitals telling me about the lack of oxygen and that if they do not get stocks, patients would die. Were they lying?” Manish Sisodia said.

The government also alleged that the Centre, through Delhi L-G Anil Baijal, had been "pressuring the cabinet to give their nod to the list of lawyers sent by the Delhi Police".

Over the past two weeks, at least nine markets, including Lajpat Nagar, Gaffar Market, Sadar Bazar and Laxmi Nagar, were forced to shut down for flouting social distancing and other Covid protocol, though they were subsequently reopened after assurances from market associations and other stakeholders.

Classes, however, will remain online, and schools will be shut for students, even as the Delhi government looks to start a conversation on reopening.