New Delhi (PTI): Passengers arriving in India from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand will be mandatorily required to provide negative Covid reports from January 1, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday.

They will have to upload the negative Covid reports from RT-PCR tests on the Air Suvidha portal prior to their departure.

The tests have to be conducted within 72 hours of undertaking the journey to India, Mandaviya said.

This requirement is in addition to the random two per cent tests of all international passengers in all incoming international flights on their arrival in India irrespective of their port of departure, the minister said.

Amid a spike in coronavirus cases in some countries, the government has sounded an alert, tightened Covid guidelines and asked states and Union territories to prepare for any eventuality.

India recorded 268 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases increased to 3,552, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.11 per cent while the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.17 per cent, the ministry said.

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Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.

AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.

“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.

He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.

“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.

According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.

In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.

AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.