Here are the top 5 news updates of March 17, 2022:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm over a global spike in Covid-19 cases, despite reduced testing and several weeks of declining infections. WHO said cases are especially on the rise in parts of Asia, urging for vaccination coverage to be extended and caution to be exercised in lifting pandemic response measures. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing that globally increasing cases despite reduced testing "means the cases we are seeing are just the tip of the iceberg." "Continued local outbreaks and surges are to be expected, particularly in areas where measures to prevent transmission have been lifted," he added.
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh could follow the footsteps of his illustrious teammate Sachin Tendulkar as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha as he is likely to be Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) candidate for a seat in the Upper House. AAP, after sweeping the polls in Punjab, formed the new government with Bhagwant Mann being sworn in as the Chief Minister on Wednesday. AAP would like to send an icon from the state to the Upper House of Parliament and one of the foremost names to have emerged is that of 41-year-old off-spinner. "The top leadership of AAP, including the new CM has approached Harbhajan with an offer to become their nominated candidate for next Rajya Sabha term. The new CM wants Harbhajan to work towards lifting the standard of sports in the state, which has gone down considerably in past few years," a source close to the cricketer told news agency PTI.
A day after the crucial meeting of G-23 leaders, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi today met Bhupinder Singh Hooda and is learnt to have discussed revamping the party and the way forward following its loss in five Assembly elections. G-23 is a group of dissenting Congress leaders who have demanded organisational overhaul. After the meeting, Hooda, the former chief minister of Haryana, visited Ghulam Nabi Azad, a part of the G-23, at the latter's residence. Hooda and Azad were reported to have discussed concrete proposals to strengthen the Congress and ensure collective leadership and decision making as demanded by the grouping which met on Wednesday and signed a joint statement. Sources said told PTI that Deputy Leader of the Congress in Rajya Sabha and another G-23 leader Anand Sharma also joined Hooda at Azad's residence in the deliberations.
A sessions court in Mumbai today granted interim protection from arrest to Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Pravin Darekar till March 21 in a case where he is accused of fraudulently contesting a cooperative bank election in the 'labour' category. The Bombay High Court had on Wednesday refused to grant interim protection from arrest to the BJP leader. The HC said the BJP leader has other legal remedies which he can pursue, and it was "not inclined at present to pass an order granting relief". The sessions court will hear his plea on Monday. A lawyer representing Darekar claimed police have lodged a false FIR against the BJP leader. Hence, they have sought relief from the court.
Equity benchmark Sensex surged past the 57,000-mark by rallying over 1,000 points today, tracking an overall bullish trend in global equities despite the US Federal Reserve hiking rates. The 30-share BSE index closed 1,047.28 points or 1.84 per cent higher at 57,863.93. Likewise, the NSE Nifty surged 311.70 points or 1.84 per cent to end at 17,287.05. HDFC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 5.50 per cent, followed by Titan, Reliance, Kotak Bank, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma and Tata Steel. On the other hand, Infosys and HCL Tech were the laggards.
