Kerala to enforce more restrictions to arrest Covid surge

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday launched the revamped Central Government Health Scheme CGHS website and mobile app. The website is www.cghs.gov.in   and the mobile app is called “MyCGHS”. Mandaviya said that the website has several d features which shall hugely benefit more than 40 lakh beneficiaries with real-time information from the convenience of their homes. Health ministry has listed various features of the upgraded website. The site has been made Bilingual with Hindi and English with provision to make it multi-lingual in future. It said that the Website interface is intuitive and extensive search facility has been provided to access the website contents. It said that there is a direct link to the e-Sanjeevani Teleconsultation facility through the website. The website also provides link to the online Grievance Portal developed for CGHS beneficiaries with provision for the grievance to be sent directly to the concerned officer. It said that user friendly features have also been added for visually impaired persons like audio play of the text and option to increase font size. The website also has link to beneficiary login for accessing various online facilities such as tracking of Medical Claims, grievances, status of CGHS card, downloading of CGHS card, accessing history of medicines and online appointment system.

-The Congress party has said that it will work towards the repeal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 from Manipur if the party comes back to power after the assembly polls in the state. President of Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee N. Loken said that the party has already announced its list of 40 candidates for the first phase. He said, the party election manifesto will also be released very soon. He said, the Congress party strongly condemned the killings of innocent people by security forces at Oting in Nagaland recently. Meanwhile,The National People's Party (NPP) has released a list of 20 candidates for the upcoming Manipur Assembly Elections. The Chairman of Election Management Committee of NPP Manipur issued the names of 20 candidates including two women candidateson Monday. The NPP list consists of three sitting MLAs- Y. Joykumar, L. Jayentakumar and N. Kayisii. In the last assembly elections, NPP got four seats and the party formed alliances with BJP to form the coalition government. Letpao Haokip who was elected from Chandel AC on NPP ticket joined BJP recently.

-Kerala Government has decided to enforce more restrictions to bring down pace of third wave of Covid-19 surge in the State. Districts have been categorised into three based on the scale of pandemic transmission. Thiruvananthapuram is tagged as the worst-hit district followed by Ernakulam and seven other districts. The Covid Review meeting also decided to shut down schools and colleges that record less than 40 per cent attendance for three days in a row. Religious ceremonies will be allowed only on online mode. Meanwhile, Kerala on Monday reported 26,514 Covid-19 cases and 30,710 recoveries. Test Positivity Rate has risen to 47.72 per cent. Besides 13 new Covid deaths, health authorities also reported 158 deaths that are considered as Covid-19 deaths based on revised rules. Kerala has two lakh 60,271 active cases now.

-A delegation of BJP leaders led by Union Minister and party's Punjab poll campaign in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday met the Election Commission. They urged the Poll Body to act against former Punjab DGP and State Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu's close aide Mohammed Mustafa for making a provocative speech in Malerkotla. Later talking to media, Shekhawat said, the delegation urged the Commission that FIR must be filed immediately against Mustafa and he should be arrested. He said, the delegation urged Election Commission to take cognisance of the issue. The delegation comprised of Union Minister Hardeep Puri and Som Prakash, Punjab BJP in-charge Dushyant Goutam and others.

-In Uttar Pradesh, scrutiny of the nomination papers for the first phase of the polling on 10th of February was completed on Monday. A total of 658 candidates have been finalised. Nomination of 152 candidates was rejected by the Election Commission on various grounds. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is 27th January. Fifty eight assembly constituencies of 11 districts are going to polls in the first phase. These districts are Shamli, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Hapur, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Mathura, Agra and Aligarh. Nominations for the second phase of elections on 14th of February are also going on in the state. A total of 58 candidates have filed their nomination papers till date. Forty eight candidates filed their papers on Monday.