Face masks will be mandatory again in Delhi and violating the rule will attract a fine of Rs 500

HT Daily News Wrap

Face masks will be mandatory again in Delhi and violating the rule will attract a fine of Rs 500, Supreme Court ordered the status quo in connection with a demolition drive in Delhi’s violence-hit Jahangirpuri ,Punjab Police have registered a case against former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kumar Vishwas in Rupnagar town for promoting enmity and other top news in today's bulletin.
Face masks will be mandatory again in Delhi and violating the rule will attract a fine of Rs 500, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) decided on Wednesday amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, even as it chose to keep the schools open for now. Delhi’s decision came two days after neighbouring cities such as Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad made face masks mandatory again in public places. However, the DDMA on Wednesday decided against bringing back any other restriction involving regulating markets or social gatherings. “Enforcing Covid-19 appropriate behaviour (CAB) was talked about at length and all district teams and police officials have been directed to once again start compliance drives in their areas of jurisdiction. Wearing face masks in public spaces will be mandatory and violating the rule will attract a fine of Rs 500,” said a senior member of the DDMA requesting anonymity. The DDMA also discussed data on Covid-19 cases among students and teachers from all schools in Delhi and decided not to shut physical classes. “Schools will not be closed as of now. A set of standard operating procedures (SOP) will now be prepared for schools for better management and prevention of Covid-19 cases in educational institutions. This SOP will be prepared in consultation with experts. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has already reviewed the first draft and is closely monitoring this. The SOP will have to be advertised properly in all schools and educational institutions,” said a second senior official who was present in the meeting. The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the status quo in connection with a demolition drive in Delhi’s violence-hit Jahangirpuri and said it will take up the matter a day later. “Okay, we order status quo. Let the matter be taken up tomorrow [Thursday] along with the other matter,” Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said. The other matter is a petition filed by the Muslim clerical organisation Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind against employing bulldozers to demolish properties of those suspected to be involved in criminal incidents. Ramana issued the order after senior advocates Dushyant Dave, Kapil Sibal, PV Surendranath, and Prashant Bhushan mentioned the matter before him. Dave called the demolition drive completely illegal demolition as no notice was given to anyone and nobody was heard. “We have moved an application.” The matter was mentioned in the Supreme Court amid heavy police and paramilitary forces’ deployment in Jahangirpuri ahead of Wednesday’s anti-encroachment drive. The drive was scheduled a day after Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi chief Adesh Gupta wrote to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and asked it to identify illegal constructions of “rioters” in Jahangirpuri and demolish them using bulldozers. To strengthen India’s counter-terrorism resolve, the Ministry of Home Affairs under Amit Shah has designated seven Pakistan based terror kingpins in the past fortnight under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for terror funding and strikes in Jammu and Kashmir. The seven terrorists banned under the UAPA on the recommendations of CID, J and K Police are all based in Pakistan. They are: Sajjad Gul, Ashiq Ahmed Nengroo, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar aka Latram, Arjumand Gulzar Jan aka Hamza Burhan, Ali Kashif Jan, Mohiuddin Aurangzeb Alamgir and Hafiz Talha Saeed. A total of 38 Pakistan-based terrorists have been banned under the UAPA by the MHA. According to top North Block sources, the reason for preparing a database of Pakistan based terrorists operating in the Valley is manifold. First, a ready-made dossier is being prepared on all these terrorists so that India can take up the issue with the UN and relevant countries. Two, associates of these designated terrorists will now feel the heat in the Valley as they would be targeted for supporting Pakistan jihadi groups and hence come under the strict scrutiny of law. Third, the properties acquired by these terrorists and their associates will be seized if they are found linked to terror funding or proceeds of crime. Rocked by a huge loss of subscribers amid inflation and the war between Russia and Ukraine, leading online streaming platform Netflix has announced that it may offer cheaper plans that have advertisements to bring back the lost users. This comes as the company reportedly lost 200,000 subscribers in its first quarter – the first such decline in a decade of its services – fuelled by growing competitors, as well as the loss of nearly 700,000 members who suffered when they announced suspension of services in Russia. Netflix fell well short of its forecast of adding 2.5 million subscribers in the first quarter and had predicted a further loss of 2 million subscribers during the April-June period despite releases like Stranger Things, Better Call Saul and Ozark, and big banner movies like The Grey Man. Netflix fell well short of its forecast of adding 2.5 million subscribers in the first quarter and had predicted a further loss of 2 million subscribers during the April-June period despite releases like Stranger Things, Better Call Saul and Ozark, and big banner movies like The Grey Man. Netflix had posted huge growth in the initial months of the Covid-19 pandemic when most people were stuck at home due to lockdowns. However, the same company’s stock went tumbling 26 per cent on Tuesday, erasing almost $40 billion or nearly half of its stock market value. Punjab Police have registered a case against former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kumar Vishwas in Rupnagar town for promoting enmity by allegedly make false statements against AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Khalistan links in the run-up to the February 20 assembly elections. Though the case was registered on the complaint of an AAP worker at Rupnagar’s Sadar police station on April 12, the matter came to light on Wednesday when a Punjab Police team reached the Ghaziabad house of Vishwas to summon him to join the investigation within 48 hours. He has been booked under Section 125 of the Representation of People Act besides Sections 153, 153-A, 505, 502, 116, 143, 147, 323 and 341 of the Indian Penal Code. The complainant said that when he was campaigning in a village along with AAP supporters, some masked men stopped them and called them Khalistani. Vishwas had triggered a controversy when he accused Kejriwal of wanting “to become the prime minister of independent Khalistan”. Kejriwal and the AAP remained under attack from both the Congress and the BJP over the issue and some AAP workers were also roughed up during the election campaign. The Centre went on to provide Y category security cover to Vishwas.