Punjab imposes statewide night curfew, closure of schools & colleges
Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Jan, 2022 01:19 PM
Chandigarh, Jan 4 (IANS) With the spike in Covid-19 cases, Punjab on Tuesday imposed statewide night curfew daily from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and ordered closure of all educational institutions till January 15.
The educational institutions include the schools, colleges, universities and the coaching institutions. However, these institutions are expected to maintain the academic schedule through online teaching.
However, medical and nursing colleges may continue to function normally.
Only fully vaccinated staff will be allowed to attend the government as well as private offices, working spaces, factories and industries. No service will be provided in government or private offices to persons not wearing proper masks, said a notification by Principal Secretary (Home) Anurag Verma.
All bars, cinemas halls, multiplexes, malls, restaurants, spas, museums, zoos, etc., will be allowed to operate with 50 per cent capacity subject to all staff present being fully vaccinated.
The air-conditioned buses will run with 50 per cent capacity, it added.
India's civil aviation regulator, the DGCA, on Thursday extended the ban on scheduled international commercial flights till January 31.Earlier, India had announced plans to allow resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services from December 15 with certain conditions.
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the country's top security officers held a meeting on Wednesday over the situation arising out of the IAF chopper crash in Tamil Nadu that killed Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others onboard the ill-fated helicopter.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of the farmers protesting along the borders of the national capital over agricultural issues, have agreed to the draft proposal prepared by the Central government, and is expected make a "major announcement" on Thursday. A meeting is likely to be held on Thursday noon to decide the further strategy of the movement.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday lashed out at the Congress high command for appointing Ajay Maken as the Chairman of the screening committee for shortlisting candidates for the next Vidhan Sabha elections in Punjab. In a statement here, Amarinder Singh said Maken is the nephew of (late) Lalit Maken, who was one of the main culprits of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said the sand mafia in Punjab alone runs illegal business of over Rs 20,000 crore. There are serious allegations of direct involvement of ruling Congress MLAs, their ministers and their close associates, including the Chief Minister himself.
