Daily News Dose: SC declines to stay SilverLine survey in Kerala | Mar 28, 2022

Hello listener, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Ajish Jimmy George, and these are the major news stories of the day:

1) Govt employees can't participate in national strike, says Kerala High Court

2) Supreme Court declines to stay SilverLine survey in Kerala

2) Essential services hit in Kerala due to the nationwide general strike

4) Fuel prices see 6th hike in seven days

5) CODA bags best picture, Jane Campion wins best director at Oscars

Let’s get into the details.

1) The Kerala High Court on Monday barred government employees from participating in the ongoing two-day nationwide strike which began earlier in the day and asked the state government to declare dies non on both days. The high court's order came on a day when public life and government functioning came to a halt in Kerala with a number of trade unions staging a strike against the policies of the union government. Only 32 of the 4,824 staff were present at the Kerala government secretariat on Monday.

2) The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stop stone laying for K-Rail project (SilveLine) as part of the social impact assessment survey, which is facing stiff resistance in Kerala. Considering a petition filed by Aluva native Sunil J Arakal, the apex court said it cannot intervene in the survey proceedings at present.

3) The two-day nationwide general strike called by trade unions was complete in Kerala on Monday. Shops and commercial establishments remained shut in most parts. Private vehicles were stopped by protestors at several places. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) suspended its bus services. A few BPCL employees are protesting despite the Kerala High Court ban against the same. Employees who reached FACT in Kochi and KINFRA in Palakkad were sent back home. Meanwhile, its business as usual in several parts of the country including Delhi.

4) Petrol price on Monday was hiked by 30 paise a litre and diesel by 35 paise, taking the total increase in rates in the last one week to Rs 4 and 4.10 per litre respectively. This is the sixth increase in prices since the ending of a four-and-half-month long hiatus in rate revision on March 22.

In the first four occasions, prices were increased by 80 paise a litre - the steepest single-day rise since the daily price revision was introduced in June 2017.

5) "CODA", an intimate and heartwarming story about a family, scripted history by becoming the first film with a cast of predominantly deaf actors to win the best picture Oscar award.

The film, which also became the first movie from a streamer to win the best picture, bagged awards in all the categories that it was nominated for at the Oscars.

Jane Campion smashed records and the glass ceiling as she earned the best director Academy Award for her psychological drama "The Power of the Dog". Hollywood star Will Smith ended his dry run at the Oscars as he won best actor award for "King Richard". Actor Jessica Chastain bagged her maiden Oscar for her portrayal of American evangelist Tammy Faye Messner in the biographical drama "The Eyes of Tammy Faye".

Now, let’s check out the covid update:

6) With 1,270 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,30,20,723, while the active cases further declined to 15,859.

The death toll climbed to 5,21,035 with 31 daily fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated at 8am on Monday.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.29 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was 0.26 per cent.

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