Canada allows only fully vaccinated inbound travellers

TOP NEWS IN NUTSHELLS (08 August 2021)

**NATIONAL NEWS**

• PRAISE ON NEERAJ: Neeraj Chopra dedicates gold to Milkha Singh. He said that he fulfilled Milkah’s wish of Olympic medal in track and field events. Former Udan Pari P.T. Usha showers praise on Neeraj, saying Milkha Ji would have been very proud of him.
• INDIA’S FANTASTIC FINISH: Indian campaign at Tokyo Olympic begins with silver medal from star boxer Chanu Mirabai on the very first day and finished the campaign with a Gold won by Neeraj Chopra on the last day of the Games. India completed the campaign with 7 medals surpassing its best performance with 6 medals at London Olympic in 2012. In Tokyo Olympics, India hauls one gold, two silver and four bronzes.
• RAINING REWARDS: BCCI announced cash rewards of Rs. One crore for Neeraj Chopra. He won the men`s javelin throw with a best throw of 87.58 metres to claim a historic first Olympic athletics gold medal for India. He became country's first track and field athlete to win a gold medal in the Olympics.
• INVESTMENT IN UP:  Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) signed an MoU with the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM) on Saturday for bringing investment in the Defence Industrial Corridor of the state and for creating an ecosystem for developing defence industrial base in UP.
• J&J VACCINE PERMITED IN INDIA: India approves emergency use of Jonhnson & Johnson’s single- dose corona vaccine in the country. With this now five vaccines will be available to the people. Covaxin, Covishield, Sputnik and Mortana are already approved for use.
• DELHI UNLOCK: All weekly markets in the city will reopen from Monday. CM Arvind Kejriwal urges Delhites to strictly follow COVID protocols.
• PROBE IN ISIS PROPAGANDA: National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday arrested a key Islamic state operative, Jufri Jawhar Damudi alias Abu Hajir Al Badri, from Bhatkal in Karnataka. Damudi was arrested along with another accomplice Ameen Zuhaib in connection with NIA’s probe into ISIS’ online propaganda ‘Voice of Hind’ (VoH).
• EX-DGP DENIED BAIL: Mohali court denies bail to Punjab ex-DGP Sumedh Saini in corruption case.

**INTERNATIONAL NEWS**

• PAKISTAN EXPOSED: At UNSC, Afghanistan exposed Pakistan’s support to the ongoing Taliban offensive in the country. Afghan envoy to the United Nations,Ghulam M. Isaczai, speaking at United Nations Security Council said, "Taliban continue to enjoy a safe haven in and supply and logistics line extended to their war machine from Pakistan. Recently in a briefing to foreign envoys based in Kabul, Afghan Foreign Minister Atmar had also mentioned Lashkar's name.
• AFGHANISTAN CRISIS UPDATE: Military situation continues to be fluid in Afghanistan with government security forces waged in a fierce battle with Taliban all over the country. Ground intelligence reports reaching Delhi indicate that the Taliban have issued a fatwa in Badakhshan, Takhar and Ghazni provinces that girls above the age of 12 and widows can be taken by their fighters. Coinciding with the American forces’ withdrawal, foreign terrorists are freely operating under the Taliban umbrella, including those affiliated to Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, East Turkestan Islamic Movement and Islamic Movement of Uzebkistan.
• DELTA OUTBREAK IN AUSTRALIA: Australia continued its struggle to contain a delta outbreak across the nation’s east coast, with the race to increase vaccinations now key to prospects for a reduction in virus restrictions. The highly contagious delta variant has caused shutdowns across Australia’s eastern coast, its most populated area. Delta is placing increased pressure on the nation’s so-called “Covid-zero” strategy, which has relied on closed international borders and rigorous testing to eliminate community transmission of the virus.
• CANADA COVID GUIDELINES: With eye on Delta cases, Canada allows only fully vaccinated inbound travellers. The decision came even as more than 4,600 coronavirus cases linked to the highly infectious Delta variant have been reported in the North American country so far.
• AIR TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS EASES: Cochin Airport begins flight operations to Dubai and Sharjah as UAE eases travel restrictions from India.
• WILDFIRE RAVAGE: Wildfire continues to ravage part of California. Reports say, this is one of the worst wildfires in recent time that scorched through Northern California communities.