1. The gap between two doses of Covishield has been increased to 12-16 weeks from the existing 6-8 weeks.

This is for the second time in three months that Covishield dosage intervals have been widened and the government’s move has once again garnered criticism, as a cover-up for not having enough vaccines for the people in India.

2. A COVID-19 patient was raped by a male nurse at a government hospital in Bhopal. She died within 24 hours of being raped.

The incident was made public only after a month recently following the arrest of the suspect.

3. A single dose of imported Sputnik V vaccine will cost ₹ 995.40 in India. The made-in-India variant may be cheaper.

4. NDRF has deployed at least 24 teams and put another 29 on standby owing to the warning of a cyclonic disturbance in the Arabian Sea. A red alert has been declared in three districts of Kerala and Lakshadweep.

5. A 35-year-old woman, who married for a second time post-divorce, was ordered by a “caste panchayat” to lick spit as punishment in Maharashtra’s Akola district.

The caste panchayat also ordered the woman to pay ₹1 lakh for her act. She has defied both the diktats and lodged a police complaint.

6. The Texas Senate has passed a law that would ban abortions after as early as six weeks.

The bill has been sent to the Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it into law.

7. The UN Security Council will publicly discuss the worsening violence between Israel and Palestinian militants on Sunday.

Today is the 5th day of violence in the region.

8. Amid constant rocket attacks on Israeli towns, Israeli forces fired artillery and launched airstrikes targeting a network of Palestinian militant tunnels.

According to latest government data, 109 people, including 29 children, were killed in airstrikes, in the last 4 days.

9. The US CDC has said that fully-vaccinated people can avoid wearing masks in most places.

In a major step towards returning to pre-pandemic life, the CDC also said that fully vaccinated people will not need to physically distance in most places.

10. K P Sharma Oli has been appointed Nepal’s Prime Minister once again after the opposition parties were unable to put together a coalition government by the 9 PM deadline.

Oli has lost the trust vote in the House of Representatives earlier this week.

11. The Chhattisgarh government issued orders to stop work and cancelled tenders of all projects in Naya Raipur with immediate effect.

Construction work on new Raj Bhavan, Assembly House, CM House, Ministers and Senior Officers residence and New Circuit House had already started in Naya Raipur.

12. Delhi’s deputy CM Manish Sisodia has said that the city’s requirement of oxygen has gone down from 700 metric tonnes to 582 metric tonnes per day and the AAP government has written to the Centre asking it to give the surplus quota to other states.

His statement:

There has been a sharp reduction in the number of Covid-19 cases in city. On Thursday, the city recorded 10,400 fresh infections and the positivity rate went down to 14 per cent. More beds are now available in hospitals and the oxygen situation has improved.

13. Amid criticism over the Central Vista Redevelopment Project, the Central Public Works Department has prohibited photography and video recording at the construction site near India Gate.

Sign boards have come up at the redevelopment site, which read: ”No photography”, ”No video recording”.  

Important ones, right?