Daily News Dose: Yogi Adityanath's remark sparks debate and more | Feb 11, 2022

Hello listeners, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Gopika KP.

1) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's request seeking votes for the ruling BJP so that his State would not become Kerala has once again sparked a debate on the aspects on which the
north Indian state is ahead of the south Indian one.
According to several NITI Aayog and Central government statistics, Kerala is way ahead of UP on several indices. NITI Aayog's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), released last year, showed UP lagging behind Kerala on 13 out of 15 indices.

2)  India's central bank chief delivered a stark warning against investing in cryptocurrencies, saying they lacked the underlying value of even a tulip - in a reference to a speculative bubble that gripped the Netherlands in the 17th Century. Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das gave his withering assessment of the digital currency craze just days after the Indian government established a taxation framework for cryptocurrencies

3) A section of officials in the Kerala Forest Department has turned against popular snake-catcher Vava Suresh, citing that he does not have the licence to catch snakes. They also point out that catching snakes without a licence is an offence that can attract a jail term of 3 to 7 years with a fine, under the Wildlife Protection Act.

4) The government has made it mandatory for automakers to provide three-point seat belts for all front-facing passengers in a car. The norm will also be applicable for the middle seat in the rear row of a car, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said at a press conference. Presently, only the front seats and two rear seats in most cars produced in the country have three-point seat belts.

5) A goods train carrying petroleum products derailed near Puthukkad today. The incident took place at 2 pm where repair works were underway. The Railways informed that steps are on to see the train removed from the track. It said that until then, traffic on the mainline will be affected.

6) India saw a single day rise of 58,077 coronavirus infections, which took the tally of cases to 4,25,36,137, while the active cases have declined to 6,97,802, according to Union health ministry data updated on Friday. The daily COVID-19 cases are being recorded at less than one lakh for
the last five consecutive days. The death toll has climbed to 5,07,177 with 657 daily fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

That brings us to the end of this episode! Be sure to come back tomorrow. As always, thanks for listening to Daily News Dose.