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  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
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  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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Covid: JN.1 Is Here And Spreading Fast, But No Need To Panic

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-12-22 08:57:37

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

Although the World Health Organization (WHO) withdrew the public health emergency notification for Covid nearly 7 months ago, the virus refuses to go away. In a new outbreak in India, the JN.1 sub-variant of Omicron is rearing its head. It began in Kerala (which is still the worst affected) and has now spread to distant states like West Bengal. India reported 640 new cases on Thursday, with Kerala alone reporting 500+ new cases on the day. It had reported 500+ cases on Wednesday too. The JN.1 variant is said to be a mild infection but a few deaths have also been reported, with three deaths on Wednesday and one on Thursday. The Union health ministry and medical experts have said that there is no need to panic but have advised people to start following Covid protocols like wearing masks in public places and washing hands frequently to avoid getting infected.

JN.1 sub-variant has mild to moderate symptoms such as fever, runny nose, sore throat, headaches, loss of appetite, and extreme fatigue. It may also lead to gastrointestinal problems. By all accounts, it is spreading fast. WHO is tracking its global spread and is expected to issue appropriate notification if things get out of hand. Right now, it has termed it only as a 'variant of interest' due to its high transmission rate. Within a period of one month, from November 5 to December 4, the sub-variant grew from just 3.3% of all Covid cases to nearly 27%. The CDC in the US termed it as the fastest growing variant in the country.

Despite the fact that JN.1 is known to evade immunity to infect people, medical experts are not unduly worried because the strain does not cause (or has not caused till now) serious illness. Experts say that widespread vaccination has helped people combat the new variant. They also advise vaccinating the vulnerable group of seniors, people with malignant diseases, people on immunosuppressive medications, uncontrolled diabetes and patients with chronic liver and kidney disease. Some experts have also advised boosters for those already vaccinated with two doses. Hence, people need not panic but exercise caution, take booster doses, wear masks, wash their hands frequently and if possible, avoid going to crowded public places. 

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