DH Evening Brief: June 13, 2021

Here are the top headlines this evening.

Will send illegal immigrants out of Karnataka: Yediyurappa

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday stated that he would send illegal immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh out of Karnataka.Speaking to media persons on Sunday, he said he has directed officials concerned to identify such people in the state. He also promised that he would make an honest attempt to allot residential plots to site-less people in the state before completing his term as chief minister. Read more

US embassy to give visa interview slots for Indian students from Monday

The US mission in India is "actively working" to accommodate as many student visa applicants as possible in July and August, and facilitating their legitimate travel remained a top priority for it, a senior American diplomat said on Sunday. Don Heflin, the Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs at the US embassy, also said that the US-bound students will not require any proof of Covid-19 vaccination to enter the country. They will need a negative report of their Covid-19 test taken within 72 hours prior to their departure. Read more

UK scientists develop gadget that sniffs out Covid-19

Electronic devices may soon be used to identify the presence of infection in a crowded space using body odour profiles after scientists in the UK have tested a so-called "Covid alarm". Early studies by scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Durham University show that Covid-19 infection has a distinct smell, resulting from changes in the volatile organic compounds (VOC) which make up the body odour – generating an odour "fingerprint" that the sensors can detect. Read more

Extrapolation sans epidemiological evidence: Centre trashes report on higher Covid-19 deaths

India Saturday refuted a report which claimed that its Covid deaths could be "five to seven times" higher than the official number, saying the assessment is based on extrapolation of data without any epidemiological evidence. In a statement, the Union Health Ministry also slammed the publication, without naming it, for the article which claimed: "India has suffered perhaps five to seven times 'excess deaths' than the official number of Covid-19 fatalities". Read more

In Pics | A look at the top 10 most valuable Indian startups

Since the turn of the previous decade, India has seen a rise in the number of startups operating mostly digital businesses. Over the course of the last few years, these startups have turned into unicorns and some are valued upwards of $10 billion. Read more

Children orphaned in pandemic stare at uncertain future, scramble for aid

Losing a loved one is never easy but if one were to compare, there would not be a loss that could quite match the severity of losing one's parents, especially for dependent children. The death of a parent strips away the child of not just the emotional blanket of comfort, but also in several cases takes away the financial support, leaving their futures in a lurch. Read more

Woman accuses Lucknow hospital doctors, staff of raping her mother; victim dies later

A woman was allegedly gangraped while she was undergoing treatment at a government hospital in the state capital of Lucknow. The daughter of the 40-year-old victim, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Amethi district, told Union Minister Smriti Irani, who represents the constituency in Lok Sabha, that her mother had told her that she had been 'gang-raped and 'assaulted' by the staff at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Lucknow. Read more

Congress needs widespread reforms to show it's no longer in inertia, says Kapil Sibal

The Congress must bring widespread reforms across all levels of the organisation to show it is no longer in a state of inertia and to present itself as a viable political alternative to the BJP, party veteran Kapil Sibal said on Sunday. Sibal, who was among the G-23 leaders whose letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi last year demanding a meaningful overhaul of the party had triggered a storm, hoped the organisational polls, recently postponed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, will “happen sooner than later”. Read more

Delhi to ease Covid-19 curbs from June 14: What's allowed, what's not

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that all activities, except some, will be allowed in the national capitalfrom 5 am on June 14. Other activities will also be allowedin a restricted manner as part of the easing of the Covid-19 lockdown. Read more