oppn parties Testing, Or Verifiable Negative Report Must At Entry Points Of All States To Prevent Spread

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Tiranga Rally Is Excellent. Breaking The Law Was Not

October 17, 2026

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News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
Testing, Or Verifiable Negative Report Must At Entry Points Of All States To Prevent Spread

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2022-01-04 16:34:41

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.

The third wave of Covid infections is raging across India. For the last few days, the country is reporting new cases at a galloping rate. The weekly average is moving up at an alarming rate. The positivity rate is going up fast. Although the surge is being driven by Maharashtra, Delhi, Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, since there is no check on movement of people across India and testing at entry points is not being done seriously (a double vaccinated certificate is enough for entry from one state to another, although a large number of people who have taken both the doses are getting infected this time), it is just a matter of time before a surge is reported from other states too.

India reported 37327 new cases on Tuesday. Mumbai reported 10860 cases while the number in Delhi was 5481. Reports from many states were still awaited. The positivity rate in Delhi was 8.37 percent. This high positivity rate indicates that transmission is very high and a higher number of people will test positive if more tests are conducted. It also indicates that the multiplicity of infections will rise exponentially in the next few weeks. The same is the case in Maharashtra and Bengal where the positivity rate is rising fast. At his rate, in the next few weeks, India's medical infrastructure will be totally overwhelmed.

So what should be done? It is clear that governments, both at the Centre and in the states, are not in favour of imposing a crippling total lockdown. Local restrictions are being imposed and micro containment zones are being identified and sealed for preventing the spread. Administrations are getting strict with people who are not following Covid protocols like wearing the mask in public. But will this be enough?

Even if restricting the movement of people is not advisable, entry from one state to another must strictly be on the basis of production of Covid negative report for tests done 72 hours before arrival. With reports of many people carrying 'fake' or doctored reports, there must be a mechanism to test the veracity of the report online. Also, testing must be ramped up within the states and contact tracing must be taken up seriously. The local restrictions and micro containment zones will work only if untested outsiders, or even residents returning to their homes, are strictly tested in all states and at all entry points. Otherwise, the third wave will engulf the country in no time and the consequences will be disastrous. 

Pic courtesy: mid-day.com

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