In view of the surge in COVID-19 cases in Odisha, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday issued an advisory making face masks mandatory for people living in areas under its jurisdiction. "All citizens residing within BMC area as well as outside citizens coming to BMC area or present in BMC area shall have to wear mask appropriately while moving out and while in public places," the advisory read. It further stated that all citizens need to maintain a social distance of two metres among themselves at all times while in public places. In the order, the BMC said, "All malls, shops

The Calgary Stampede has received more than $10 million from the federal government to help it bounce back after last year's event was scaled down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A report to the city this week showed the Stampede had an operating loss of $8.3 million in 2021. Last year's Stampede ran at half capacity because of COVID-19 public health measures and was cancelled all-together the year before. Daniel Vandal, the federal minister for Prairies Economic Development Canada, says the money aims to support a full-scale Stampede to deliver the ``authentic western experience'' this year. He

Reiterating the firm commitment of the state government to regularise the services of all the eligible contractual employees, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today announced to constitute a three-member Cabinet committee comprising Cabinet Ministers Harpal Cheema, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and Harjot Singh Bains to remove all the legal hurdles for passing a new bill in this regard, said the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Thursday. Announcing this at the floor of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the Chief Minister said that the state government is fully sensitive towards the need for regularising

Ketanji Brown Jackson has been sworn in to the Supreme Court, shattering a glass ceiling as the first Black woman on the nation’s highest court. The 51-year-old Jackson is the court’s 116th justice and she took the place Thursday of the justice she once worked for. Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement took effect at noon. Jackson took two oaths during the livestreamed event: a constitutional oath, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, and a judicial oath, administered by Justice Stephen Breyer. Biden nominated Jackson in February, fulfilling a campaign promise to nominate the firs

Air Canada‘s stock fell seven per cent in early morning trading after the carrier announced major cuts to its summer flight schedule. The Montreal-based airline said Wednesday night it will nix more than 15 per cent of its flights in July and August as airports face lengthy delays and cancellations amid an overwhelming travel resurgence. The move will see 154 flights per day on average dropped from the airline’s schedule– already operating at just 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels– affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers. Air Canada shares fell $1.27 or 7.4 per cent to $15.80 Th

Ahead of the crucial presidential elections which will take place on July 18, the BJP continues to reach out to various political parties seeking support for the NDA's presidential candidate, Droupadi Murmu. In line with this outreach initiative, BJP national president JP Nadda dialed the party's former ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal seeking support for Murmu's candidature. It may be noted that BJP and SAD were together for over 25 years. However, SAD left the BJP-NDA government over three farm laws, which were withdrawn a year later. Both parties also separately

Eknath Shinde, who led a revolt against Shiv Sena leading to the collapse of the 31-month-old Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Thursday evening. He was administered an oath by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Deputy Chief Minister. Fadnavis, who was Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2014-19, announced at a joint press conference in Mumbai on Thursday that Eknath Shinde will be the new CM. Fadnavis also announced at the press conference that he wil

India team skipper Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the rescheduled fifth Test against England to be played from Friday as he is affected by COVID-19. Rohit underwent a rapid antigen test Test on Thursday morning and tested positive for COVID-19. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Jasprit Bumrah as captain for the upcoming Test and Rishabh Pant as his deputy. The fifth and final Test against India will take place from July 1 onwards in Edgbaston. The rescheduled match is a part of last year's five-match Test series that had to be delayed after the fourth Test due to a COVID-1

Ten suspects have been arrested and face a total of 139 charges following the bust last summer of a drug lab south of Calgary. They are being charged with a variety of offences ranging from fentanyl production to criminal conspiracy. Police say seven of the accused are from Edmonton and three are from Okotoks. The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team says officers seized drugs, weapons, cash and vehicles in one of Canada's largest fentanyl seizures. ALERT says it seized 13.6 kilograms of fentanyl, 11.9 kilograms of fentanyl precursors, 6.6 kilograms of opioids, 9.9 kilograms of methamphetamin