New Delhi, Dec 24 :As many as 122 people have tested positive for Omicron, the new variant of Covid-19, during the past 24 hours in the country, taking the tally to 358.

Out of the 358 cases reported so far, Maharashtra reported the maximum at 88, followed by Delhi 67 and Telangana 37, the Ministry data showed.

Tamil Nadu reported 34, Karnataka 31, Gujarat 30, Kerala 27, Rajasthan 22, four each from Haryana and Odisha, three each from Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal, two each from Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and one each from Chandigarh, Ladakh and Uttarakhand.

Of these, 114 people were discharged following their recovery from the virus.

Meanwhile, the total Covid caseload in the country rose to 3,47,72,626 with detection of 6,650 new cases in the last 24 hours, while 374 deaths pushed the fatalities toll to 4,79,133.

The recoveries tally rose to 3,42,15,977 as 7,051 recuperated from the disease. Active cases stood at 77,516.

According to the latest bulletin the Ministry, 66.98 crore tests for Covid-19 have been done so far.

India has administered 140.31 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine so far under the ongoing nationwide vaccination drive.

New Delhi, Dec 23 : Recognising parliamentarians for their work in raising issues related to child rights, 11 MPs have been conferred the Parliamentarian’s Group for Children (PCG) Awards.

“The PCG is a multi-party, non-statutory, self-convened group of Parliament members interested in advancing child rights,” UNICEF India tweeted on Thursday.
“It provides a platform for MPs to exchange ideas and discuss issues and ways to advance children’s rights through their efforts,” it added.
The awardees include Vishnu Dayal Ram, Ashok Bajpai and Sudhakar Tukaram Shrangare of BJP, Geeta V. Vanga and Goddeti Madhavi of YSR Congress, Shiv Sena’s Rahul Ramesh Shewale, K. Ravindra Kumar of TDP, Tiruchi Siva of DMK, S Jothi Mani and Amee Yajnik of Congress and Fauzia Khan of NCP.

New Delhi, Dec 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting on Thursday to review the COVID-19 situation in the country, sources said.

Sources further said the PM Modi will convene the meeting at 1830 hours.

The meeting comes amid a spike in cases of the new variant of COVID-19 Omicron.

According to the latest bulletin issued by the Health Ministry on Thursday, a total of 236 cases of Omicron have so far been reported in the country.

Out of the 236 cases, 104 have been discharged following their recovery from the virus.

Maharashtra has reported the highest number of Omicron cases at 65, followed by Delhi 64 and Telangana 24.

As per the bulletin, the country’s overall caseload rose to 3,47,65,976 with the detection of 7,495 new COVID cases in the last 24 hours, while 434 fatalities pushed the death toll to 4,78,759.

The recoveries tally rose to 3,42,08,926 as 6,960 people reovered from the disease in the last 24 hours. Active cases stood at 78,291.

New Delhi, Dec 23: The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday filed a petition in the Supreme Court on the issue of reservation for Other Backward Class (OBC) in the state.

Informed sources said the petition may come up for hearing within a week or so.

New Delhi, Dec 23 : Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai on Thursday said the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was maintaining law and order properly in Jammu and Kashmir since Article 370 was axed and so stone pelting incidents have fallen.

The Minister said this while addressing the CRPF officers at a passing out parade of the 52nd Batch of Directly Appointed Gazetted Officers at Kadarpur Academy in Gurugram.
He said the CRPF was strategically keeping a strict vigil in areas affected by Naxalite activities.
The CRPF has succeeded in restraining Naxalite activities, he said, lauding its personnel for their sincere efforts in dealing with terrorists and Maoists.
“Our forces are well equipped and have professional skills to deal with any situation,” the Minister said.
He stressed the need to maintain cordial relations with people to earn their trust, which he said is an important work of the officers.
CRPF Director General Kuldeep Singh said the officers will be giver “cobra and guerrilla warfare training” to tackle any situation anywhere.

Varanasi, Dec 23: Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch on Thursday development works worth Rs 2,095.67 crore in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi.

These include 22 projects built at a cost of Rs 870.16 crores, including a newly constructed unified AYUSH Hospital, besides five projects worth Rs 1,225.51 crores, whose foundation stones will be laid.

This will Modi’s second visit to Varanasi in 10 days. On December 13, he inaugurated the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor.

Besides launching these schemes at Pindara tehsil, he will address a rally in Karkhiyaon.

The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of ‘Banas Dairy Sankul’ at UPSIDA Food Park, Karkhiyaon. Spread across 30 acres of land, the dairy will be built at a cost of Rs 475 crores and will have a facility for processing five lakh litres of milk a day.

Modi will also digitally transfer Rs 35.19 crores bonus into the bank accounts of more than 1.7 lakh milk producers associated with Banaras Dairy.

In another effort to reduce the land ownership issues, he will virtually distribute the rural residential rights record ‘Gharauni’ under the Swamitva scheme of Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj to over 20 lakh residents of Uttar Pradesh.

Modi will also lay the foundation stone for a biogas based electricity generation plant for the Milk Producers Cooperative Union Plant, Ramnagar, Varanasi.