The national capital saw an uptick in the new COVID cases as the city reported 2,419 fresh infections in the last 24 hours with the case positivity rate nearing the 13 per cent mark, as per a bulletin by the Delhi Health Department on Friday. This is the highest number of COVID cases reported in the last six months. The positivity rate is the highest in six and a half months. The city had reported 2,668 cases on February 3 earlier this year while the positivity rate was 13.32 per cent on January 23. The city logged 2,202 new COVID cases on Thursday with a positivity rate of 11.84 per cent. Wi

Alberta's police watchdog is investigating the arrest of a man at the Calgary Municipal Building earlier this week. Officers were called to the building early Tuesday morning for reports of a man brandishing a long-edged weapon and setting fires. Police have said the man likely got in by smashing the glass at the front of the building, which has been closed to the public since Tuesday. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team says in a news release that police tried to talk to the man, but were unsuccessful. It says several officers fired non-lethal weapons and the man was arrested with the

Star Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia clinched Gold Medal for India after winning the final against Canada's Lachlan Mcneil in men's 65 kg at the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022 at Birmingham on Friday. Punia was extremely dominant in the first period and did not let his opponent score. He finished with a 4-0 lead over McNeil at the end of the first period. But McNeil made a comeback with a strong effort and he cut down the deficit by two points to make it 2-4. Punia took the lead once again after scoring two more points. The Indian did not look back from there and won the match 9-2. Punia rea

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Friday, has asked for funds for various central welfare schemes being implemented in her state. In a letter to PM Modi, Banerjee said, "I request for urgent release of funds due to state for implementation of schemes including MGNREGA, PM Awas Yojna and PM Gramin Sadak Yojna. Dues from the central government on these schemes amount to about Rs 17,996 crore." Chief Minister Banerjee, who is on a four-day visit to the national capital, met Prime Minister Modi at his residence on Friday. During the meetin

A Vistara flight from Varanasi to Mumbai was returned back to its origin due to a bird hit, informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday. The DGCA said that the aircraft has landed safely in Varanasi and the radome is damaged. However, the aircraft has been declared aircraft on the ground (AOG). "The A320 aircraft VT-TNC operating flight UK622 (Varanasi-Mumbai) was involved in an air turn back to Varanasi due to a bird hit. The aircraft has landed safely in Varanasi and the radome is damaged. The aircraft is declared aircraft on ground (AOG)," said DGCA. Earlier on Fri

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney on Friday thanked Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for making clear that GST would not be charged on religious places and that sarais run by Sikhs will not need to pay the tax. "No GST will be charged in religious places. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave out this ruling today morning. I thanked Nirmala Sitharaman for accepting our demands and waiving off GST from Sarai's," said Vikramjit Singh Sahney. "If SGPC has paid GST charges after the circular which was July 17 to August 5 can claim for GST return and the

China has announced unspecified sanctions on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her visit earlier this week to Taiwan. A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said Friday that Pelosi had disregarded China’s concerns and resolute opposition to her visit to the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims. China views the island as part of its territory, but Taiwan has been governed independently since 1949, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. China repeatedly voiced its opposition to Pelosi’s trip to the disputed island, but the U.S. official decided not to cancel her plans. “In res

The Alberta government is tightening the rules around employee bonuses in light of the six-figure payout to the chief medical officer of health. Finance Minister Jason Nixon says the civil service has been directed to review and make changes to the rules to ensure future bonus payments during emergencies go through cabinet for approval. Nixon says the public service should not have the ability to sign off on such big-ticket bonuses. Earlier this week, the government's salary list revealed Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the chief medical officer of health, received a bonus of almost 228-thousand dollars fo

The United Conservative government has cancelled an emergency directive that called for some patients in Edmonton hospitals to be treated in hallways. The order was enacted to reduce pressure on emergency departments while Alberta Health Services worked to place some patients in other hospitals. The province says it was dealing with high demand, staffing shortages and higher numbers of patients due to COVID-19. The Opposition NDP says the government contributed to the staffing shortages by tearing up the master contract with doctors and fighting at one point to cut nurses' salaries.