Daily Briefing: Active Covid-19 cases below 3 lakh for first time in 6 months; PM Modi launches digital health ID for every citizen

Read the latest on the covid-19 situation in the country, the impact of Bharat Bandh in Punjab and Haryana, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and our Idea Exchange with Union Minister Bhupender Yadav.

The Big Story

For the first time in six months, active Covid cases in the country have fallen below the 3-lakh mark. Though Kerala continues to contribute more than 15,000 Covid-19 cases daily, there has been a gradual decline in the state as well. However, the state that is causing the most concern right now is not Kerala, but Mizoram. The small Northeastern state has been reporting an unusually high number of cases for the past few weeks.

Only in the Express 

At an Idea Exchange session of The Indian Express, Union Minister and party general secretary Bhupender Yadav called the change of guard in BJP- ruled states  “new political philosophy” that sets a model for other parties and strengthens democracy. He denied that the Gujarat changes were prompted by the perception of mismanagement during the second Covid wave.

Paddy transplantation is both labour- and water-intensive. The  Indian Agricultural Research Institute has a solution. It came up with the country’s first-ever non-GM (genetically modified) herbicide-tolerant rice varieties that can be directly seeded and significantly save water and labour compared to conventional transplanting.

From the Front Page

Almost a year after it was implemented on pilot basis in six Union Territories, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission for the entire country Monday. It involves creation of not just a unique health ID for every citizen, but also creation of digital healthcare professionals and facilities registry.

The Election Commission has sought a report from the West Bengal government on incidents during the last day of campaigning for the Bhabanipur bypoll, which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee needs to win to make her way to the Assembly. The EC action followed a complaint by the BJP that its national vice-president Dilip Ghosh had been forced to cut short his visit to the seat after he was “kicked and pushed” and that tits workers were heckled by the ruling Trinamool, leaving at least two injured. 

Must Read

The 10-hour Bharat Bandh called by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) against three contentious farm laws hit normal life in Punjab and Haryana as protesters blocked highways and link roads, squatted on railway tracks. However, the impact in other states was varied.

The Delhi High Court, in a bail order on Monday, said the Northeast Delhi riots “did not take place in a spur of the moment” and that the conduct of protesters as per videos visibly portrays that it was a calculated attempt to “dislocate the functioning” of the government as well as to disrupt the city’s normal life.

At 8,960 feet, Sonmarg in Kashmir is covered in snow in the winter months, forcing local residents to shift to the Srinagar side. All commercial activity comes to a halt during winter, and due to avalanches, connectivity on the Srinagar-Leh highway gets blocked. Now, a 6.5-km all-weather escape tunnel of Z-Morh main tunnel will ensure that Sonmarg remains connected to Srinagar and supplies are maintained all year round.

And Finally…

Like grandfather, like father, like son. There was a third-generation Maldini on the scoresheet in AC Milan’s weekend win in the Italian football league. Daniel Maldini scored his first Serie A goal 13 years, 179 days after the last league goal netted by his father Paolo — against Atalanta in 2008 — and 60 years, 22 days after his grandfather Cesare scored against Catania in 1961. 

 

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