1.99L cases filed under NDPS Act during 2017-19

The government on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that the Narcotics Control Bureau registered 1,99,716 cases related to drugs trafficking between 2017 and 2019 with maximum reported from Maharashtra (40,987) and Punjab (35,546). Responding to a question, MoS (Home) Nityanand Rai said, “Sharp vigil, effective surveillance, public cooperation, source-based intelligence and sensitisation of field officials for better enforcement have resulted in gradual increase in registration of number of drug trafficking cases.” TNS

Lockdown cost tourism sector over 2 cr jobs

More than 21.5 million (2.15 crore) jobs were lost in the tourism sector as a result of the lockdown imposed by the Centre last year. Answering a question asked by BJP MPs Ramesh Chander Kaushik (Sonepat) and Raju Bista (Darjeeling), Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that a study conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) found that 14.5 million jobs were lost during the first quarter of the lockdown, 5.2 million during the second quarter and 1.8 million jobs during the third quarter. TNS

Vajpayee’s room allotted to Nadda

Late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s room in Parliament will now be occupied by BJP president JP Nadda, sources say. Room No. 4 (bearing name boards for years of Atal Bihari Vajpayee; Chairman, NDA; and LK Advani) is right next to the BJP parliamentary party office. Though Vajpayee was allotted the room after he stepped down as PM in 2004, the room was mostly used by Advani. TNS