Category:

Policy

India witnessing downswing in second wave of COVID-19 cases: Govt

On Pfizer seeking indemnity, Paul said, ”Yes we are engaged with Pfizer and they have indicated the availability of a certain amount of vaccine in the coming months, possibly starting in July and we are looking at what their expectations from the government are and they are looking at what our expectations from them are.

“They have requested indemnity to all the nations including the country of origin. We are examining this request and will take a decision in the larger interest of people and on merits. This is under discussion and there is no decision as of now,” Paul said.

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Air India unions seek forensic audit of PF trusts

”It has come as a shock to all of us unions, many of whom were not involved or aware of the day to day functioning of the Provident Fund trusts of Indian Airlines and Air India that huge losses have been incurred by both trusts, due to questionable investments in companies like ILFS and Dewan Housing, among others, which collapsed,” the unions said in the e-mail, accessed by PTI.

The Forum claims representation of over 10,000 Air India staff members comprising pilots, engineers, cabin crew and ground staff.

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WhatsApp sues India govt, says new media rules mean end to privacy -sources

The lawsuit, described to Reuters by people familiar with it, asks the Delhi High Court to declare that one of the new rules is a violation of privacy rights in India’s constitution since it requires social media companies to identify the “first originator of information” when authorities demand it.

While the law requires WhatsApp to unmask only people credibly accused of wrongdoing, the company says it cannot do that alone in practice. Because messages are end-to-end encrypted, to comply with the law WhatsApp says it would have break encryption for receivers, as well as “originators”, of messages.

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SC seeks Centre’s reply on pleas for Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia to kin of those who died of COVID-19

Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, who appeared in-person, said that under section 12(iii) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, every family whose member died due to disaster is entitled for ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh.
Bansal said that since COVID-19 has been declared as a disaster and as per the order dated April 8, 2015, every family whose member dies due to disaster is entitled for ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh

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Biden directs US federal agencies to mitigate financial risk from climate

An executive order Biden issued Thursday calls for concrete steps to mitigate climate risks, while protecting workers’ life savings, spurring job creation and helping the United States lower greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

New regulations could be issued on the banking, housing and agriculture sectors, among others.

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