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Doctors warn of Covid-19 'explosion' in Delhi
Thousands of commuters crowded into underground train stations and shopping malls on Tuesday as Delhi eased Covid-19 restrictions, prompting some doctors to warn it could lead to a resurgence in infections.
"Delhi's top mall saw a footfall of 19,000 people last weekend - as soon as it reopened. Have we gone totally mad?" asked Dr Ambrish Mithal of Max HealthCare on Twitter. "Wait for COVID19 to explode again - and blame the government, hospitals, country."
Mylab launches home test kit
Mylab Discovery Solutions hopes that its inexpensive Covid-19 home test kit - India's first - will help better track the pandemic's spread among the nation's 1.3 billion people.
The start-up expects the widespread access to CoviSelf - which costs Rs250 ($4.50) - will reduce pressure on overburdened laboratories. The kit uses a nasal swab and a QR code to connect to a mobile app which reveals results in 15 minutes.
Byju's becomes India's most valued start-up Education technology company Byju's has raised close to Rs2,500 crore (about US$340 million) in recent weeks from investors such as UBS, Zoom founder Eric Yuan and Blackstone as part of the US$1.5 billion it has accumulated since April.
This has placed Byju's value at around US$16.5 billion and makes it the most-valued start-up in India, ahead of Paytm which was valued at US$16 billion after its last funding round in late 2019.
Gap between vaccine doses based on scientific evidence
India's government on Wednesday defended its decision to double the gap between the two doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to up to 16 weeks, after three scientific advisers said there was no agreement on such a wide interval.
In multiple statements on Wednesday, the government said the interval was increased based on scientific evidence after thorough discussions among members of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) as well as its working group on Covid-19 in two meetings held in May.
India drops murder case against Italian marines
India's top court on Tuesday dropped long-running proceedings against two Italian marines who shot dead two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in February 2012, but said that the soldiers should now be tried in their own country.
Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre killed the unarmed fishermen while protecting an Italian oil tanker as part of an anti-piracy mission. India in April accepted a compensation offer of Rs100 million. The Supreme Court ruled that Rs40 million each would be given to the families of the two fishermen and Rs20 million to the owner of the boat used by the fishermen.
Ex-cop kills one son, injures another
Bhagwan Patil, a retired assistant sub-inspector with Navi Mumbai Police, was arrested on Tuesday on charges of firing at his two sons, one of whom died.
The incident happened at their home in Airoli on Monday when the family members were discussing family issues. During an argument, the 73-year-old whipped out his licensed revolver and fired at least three rounds at his sons. Elder son Vijay, 33, took bullets in the abdomen and shoulder and died later at the Indravati Hospital. Second son Sujay, 31, escaped with minor injuries.
Kerala man hid lover for 11 years in family home
The Palakkad district police in Kerala last week lifted the lid on an amazing love story in which a man secretly kept his lover, belonging to another community, in a tiny room at his family house at Ayiloor without letting anyone know for 11 years.
Rahman, 34, had feared a backlash when he ran away with Sajitha, 28, living a few blocks away from his house, on Feb 2, 2010. So he hid her in his room. She went out only at night to relieve herself.
In March this year, Rahman left his house and the family filed a missing persons case. The secret live-in partnership came to light when the police found Rahman at Nenmara town last week and questioned him. He reportedly told the police that he had moved to a rented house at Vithanassery to be with his lover.
Ousted Catholic nun refuses to leave convent
A Catholic nun who was dismissed from her congregation said on Monday that she was not heard by the Vatican and will not move out from her convent in Wayanad, Kerala.
Sister Lucy Kalapurakkal was dismissed by the Franciscan Clarist Congregation in August 2019 for disobeying church authorities. She had supported a nuns' strike in the state demanding the arrest of rape-accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal.
She then got an order from a court that she should not be forced out. But last Saturday she received a letter from her superiors that her appeal to the Vatican was dismissed and she has to leave the convent within a week.
"How is it possible?" she asked. "I was not even heard by the Vatican, which is a denial of natural justice. I am not going to move out."
Wife of legendary Olympian Milkha succumbs to Covid
Former Indian women's volleyball team captain Nirmal Kaur, who is the wife of sprint legend Milkha Singh, died at a hospital in Mohali, Punjab, after fighting Covid-19 complications for more than three weeks.
She was 85 and is survived by Milkha, a son and three daughters. Milkha could not attend her funeral as he is recovering from Covid at a hospital in Chandigarh.
Billionaire admits cheating to beat chess champion
Young Indian billionaire Nikhil Kamath has admitted to cheating in a shock win over five-time chess world champion Viswanathan Anand in an online charity event last Sunday, saying it was for "fun and charity".
The win caused quite a stir. But the next day he admitted to using "computers" and the help of "people analysing the game" to win.
Anand played down the whole affair. "It was a fun experience upholding the ethics of the game," he tweeted.
However, India's chess federation saw the incident as violating the spirit of the game.
Its secretary Bharat Chauhan said: "(Kamath) shouldn't have done it. This is really bad."
