The total number of infections crossed the 74,000-mark Wednesday to reach at 74,281. (File)
Coronavirus in India updates: The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund Trust Wednesday decided to allocate Rs 3,100 crore for the fight against Covid-19, a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said. “Out of Rs 3100 crore, a sum of approximately Rs.2000 crore will be earmarked for the purchase of ventilators, Rs. 1000 crores will be used for the care of migrant labourers and Rs.100 crores will be given to support vaccine development,” the PMO said.
Meanwhile, earlier today, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an economic package worth Rs 20 lakh crore or 10 per cent of India’s GDP in 2019-20, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a press conference announced a slew of measures to help businesses, including micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
With India reporting 122 deaths and 3,525 cases in the last 24 hours, the coronavirus pandemic casualties rose to 2,415 on Wednesday while the total number of infections crossed the 74,000-mark to reach 74,281 including the 24,385 people who have been treated and discharged so far.
Globally, 2,91,942 people have died and 4,261,747 have been infected so far. As many as 1,493,414 people have been cured across the world. The United States has recorded the maximum number of deaths and cases at 82,376 and 1,369,574 respectively.
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Demanding that they be allowed to return to their native places in Bihar, hundreds of migrant workers on Wednesday blocked National Highway (NH) 141 leading to Kandla port from Gandhidham town in Kutch. However, they dispersed after police informed them that special trains will run for them on May 16 and 17.
Hordes of migrant workers blocked the NH 141 section near Cargo Zupadpatti, a settlement of migrant workers near Kandla Special Economic Zone (KASEZ), in Gandhidham by placing boulders. The mob reportedly targeted a few trucks which were passing by. However, Kutch (east) superintendent of police (SP) Parikshita Rathod reached the spot and pacified the mob that eventually dispersed after around two hours. Read more here
The Mumbai Police Wednesday resorted to lathicharge after hundreds of migrant workers gathered at Belasis Road in Nagpada. Later, a case was registered against 400-odd migrants for violating lockdown norms.
The police said that the crowd started assembling around 10 am, demanding an immediate train to Uttar Pradesh. Officers said the workers questioned the delay in helping them, when thousands of migrants had been sent back to their respective states. “We assured them that we were in contact with the railway authorities and were awaiting approval from the state concerned, but they continued to stand there. At this, we had to take measures to disperse the crowd,” said an officer under the condition of anonymity.
IIT BOMBAY has decided to end its spring semester as well as scrap the final examination for 2019-20 academic year. The spring semester was scheduled to begin on June 1 and go on till July 13, as per a revised academic calendar shared with students towards the end of March. This year, the institute had also advanced and rescheduled its summer vacation from April 1 to May 31.
“The current trend of the outbreak in Mumbai and across India makes the return of students to the IIT-B campus in the coming weeks and resumption of the spring semester highly unlikely,” stated minutes of the e-senate’s meeting on May 11. Read more here
EVEN AS Maharashtra is trying to bring down the number of deaths from Covid-19, there are 12 districts that have not reported a single death due to the infection to date.
In the last one week, the number of new cases in the state averaged at 1,000 every day. A message has gone out to the district collectors to work out strategies to contain deaths due to Covid-19. Read more here
One more BSF jawan from 86th Battalion in Dhalai district, 100 Km from Agartala, tested positive for coronavirus, raising the total active case count to 152. Authorities have tagged Dhalai as ‘red zone’ and marked six containment zones across three battalion deployments, all of which are affected.
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb wrote in a late night Tweet, “652 civilians & BSF officials have undergone #COVID19 test, among them 1 BSF official of 86th Battalion, Ambassa found COVID-19 POSITIVE. We are conducting maximum number of COVID19 tests to ensure better safety of every people of this State. Stay safe! #TripuraCOVID19Count”.
Earlier this evening, law minister Ratan Lal Nath said 16 BSF jawans, among 151 under treatment, were discharged from the isolation unit of state-run GB Panth Hospital, Tripura’s only COVID-19 testing facility. They include two who have fully recovered and 14 others who are asymptomatic.
Nath also informed that thirteen more BSF jawans have completed 10-day observation today. They would be discharged from isolation tomorrow, to be quarantined for net 14 days. Thirteen others, also BSF jawans who are under treatment at GB Panth Hospital, would be discharged and shifted to quarantine centre on the day after.
-- Debraj Deb
One more BSF jawan from 86th Battalion in Dhalai district, 100 Km from Agartala, tested positive for coronavirus, raising the total active case count to 152. Authorities have tagged Dhalai as ‘red zone’ and marked six containment zones across three battalion deployments, all of which are affected.
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb wrote in a late night Tweet, “652 civilians & BSF officials have undergone #COVID19 test, among them 1 BSF official of 86th Battalion, Ambassa found COVID-19 POSITIVE. We are conducting maximum number of COVID19 tests to ensure better safety of every people of this State. Stay safe! #TripuraCOVID19Count”.
Earlier this evening, law minister Ratan Lal Nath said 16 BSF jawans, among 151 under treatment, were discharged from the isolation unit of state-run GB Panth Hospital, Tripura’s only COVID-19 testing facility. They include two who have fully recovered and 14 others who are asymptomatic.
Nath also informed that thirteen more BSF jawans have completed 10-day observation today. They would be discharged from isolation tomorrow, to be quarantined for net 14 days. Thirteen others, also BSF jawans who are under treatment at GB Panth Hospital, would be discharged and shifted to quarantine centre on the day after.
-- Debraj Deb
To suggest measures for the economic revival of Gujarat amid Covid-19 pandemic, the state government has formed a six-member panel of experts to be headed by former union finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia.
A decision in this regard was taken by the state cabinet in its weekly meeting, on Wednesday, chaired by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. The committee has been mandated to submit its interim report in two weeks and final report in a month’s time. Read more here
Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane Wednesday said 7 new COVID-19 cases had been reported in the state, via the TrueNat testing done at Ponda Sub-District Hospital. The minister added that the tests have been further sent to the Virology lab at GMC for confirmation, and results are awaited.
The first Covid-19 evacuation flight from London to Ahmedabad departed from Heathrow airport on Wednesday, with 327 Indians who had been stranded in the United Kingdom since the nationwide lockdown was first announced in March. Several of these passengers are residents of Gujarat, including Ahmedabad, Kheda, Anand, Vadodara and Surat districts.
On their arrival, the passengers will opt for paid or unpaid institutional quarantine. According to local administrations of the districts, the passengers will have to choose a quarantine in a location outside their home district as part of the protocol.
The Prime Minister’s Office in a statement said that an amount of Rs 1,000 cr will be given to states and UTs from PM-Cares Fund to “strengthen existing measures” taken for the welfare of migrants and poor.
"For augmenting the infrastructure to tackle COVID-19 cases across the country, 50,000 ‘Made-in-India’ ventilators will be purchased from PM CARES Fund at a cost of approximately Rs. 2,000 crore," the Prime Minister Office said in a statement.
“These ventilators will be provided to government-run Covid-19 hospitals in all States/UTs, for better treatment of the critical cases, it added.
The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund Wednesday has decided to allocate Rs 3,100 crore for the fight against Covid-19, a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said. "Out of Rs 3100 crore, a sum of approximately Rs.2000 crore will be earmarked for the purchase of ventilators, Rs. 1000 crores will be used for the care of migrant labourers and Rs.100 crores will be given to support vaccine development," the PMO said.
Jammu on Wednesday reported its first Covid-19 related death after a 75-year-old man died at his home on Tuesday and was tested positive this morning. According to Dr Dara Singh, Medical Superintendent of the Government Medical College Hospital, the deceased had been ill for the past few months. His son, however, had a travel history of coming from Delhi. The family had brought the man to the hospital Tuesday evening, where he was declared dead on arrival. The doctors, as a precautionary measure, had decided to take a sample for a Covid-19 test which later turned out to be positive.
On Wednesday, Guwahati reported 15 new cases of the novel coronavirus traced to a 50-year-old man who had tested positive on Monday in the city’s busiest commercial hub, Fancy Bazaar. Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirmed the new cases through a tweet: “Alert ~ 15 persons are tested #COVID19 + in Kamrup Metro. All are related to patient from Guwahati's Fancy Bazaar, who tested + recently.” He also said that those who tested positive were quarantined and asked people not to panic. These new cases now bring the total number of Covid-19 cases in the state to 79, out of which 39 have been discharged and 37 are active.
Following the lead from states like Delhi and Goa, Kerala Wednesday effected a major hike in liquor prices by raising the duty on all brands. While beer and wine brands will see an increase in retail prices by 10%, other IMFL categories will see a hike of up to 35%, a top official of Kerala State Beverages Corporation (BEVCO) confirmed. The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Wednesday.
Rail Bhavan, which is the headquarters of the Indian Railways in Central Delhi, will be shut for the next two days after an RPF staffer tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, officials said. The employee, working as a clerk in Railway Protection Force (RPF) Director General Arun Kumar's office on the fourth floor of Rail Bhavan, was in quarantine since May 6, they said. According to an order issued on Wednesday, the building, which houses the Railway Board, will be shut on May 14 and 15 and intensive sanitisation of all the rooms and common areas will be done.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday slammed the Union government, claiming the special economic package announced by it has nothing of help to the states and is "a big zero". Banerjee alleged the central government was "misleading people" during the COVID-19 crisis.
"The special economic package announced by the Union government is nothing but a big zero. It is an eyewash to fool the people. There is nothing for the unorganised sector, public spending and employment generation," she said while addressing a press conference here. "Yesterday, when the PM announced Rs 20 lakh crore package, we were hopeful that the interest of the states will be looked into, the FRBM limit would be increased. But today, after the Union finance minister made the announcements, it was found that everything that was said yesterday was a bluff," she said.
Hitting out at the Centre for allegedly not offering anything to the financially starved states, The Trinamool Congress supremo claimed it was trying to "bulldoze" cooperative federalism.
The number of coronavirus cases in Mumbai's Dharavi, considered to be the biggest slum of Asia, rose to 1,028 on Wednesday with 66 new patients being detected, said an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The death toll due to the pandemic in the area rose to 40 on Tuesday from 31, but no new COVID-19-related death was reported thereafter, he said.
These nine deaths had taken place on different dates but the information was collated on Tuesday, the official said. Dharavi recorded its coronavirus patient on April 1, 20 days after the first case of coronavirus infection was reported in Mumbai. (PTI)
Giving a major relief to the tax payers of the country, badly affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, the government on Wednesday extended the date for filing of Income-tax return for FY 2019-20 from 31st July, 2020 & 31st October, 2020 to 30th November, 2020 and Tax audit from 30th September, 2020 to 31st October, 2020. READ MORE
The first train carrying over 1000 stranded Manipuris from Chennai arrived at Jiribam railway station on Wednesday. Official sources said the special train with 1140 Manipuris onboard reached the station around 1 pm. Soon after the arrival of the train, a medical team of Jiribam began screening of passengers, district wise, in 12 screening counters set up at the station. Food and water were also provided to the passengers by the district authority. From the station, the passengers will head to their respective districts in buses arranged by the transport department of Manipur. Altogether 150 buses are being arranged by the department to ferry returnee. Passengers of Ukhrul district was the first to leave from the station. The buses carrying the Ukhrulites left the station around 4 pm followed by Senapati district. Jiribam station, bordering Assam, is the only railway station in Manipur which is about 216 km from Imphal.
As per the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the Government any passengers found symptomatic would be separated while the asymptomatic will be kept at community quarantine centres set up in their respective district for 14 days under strict surveillance of the health officials. However, there was no report of detection of symptomatic till the time of filing this report. Manipur Chief Secretary Dr. J Suresh Babu, said special train carrying around 1200 stranded Manipur will leave Punjab on Thursday. The train is expected to arrive at Jiribam railway station on Saturday, he said. This will be followed by another train carrying a similar number of stranded state natives from Bangalore. The train will leave the city on Friday, said Suresh Babu.
“The state Government is giving its best effort to bring the stranded back home safely. We are also planning to bring one more train from Chennai and Baroda. I appealed to the people to co-operate”, said the Chief Secretary. He also urged the stranded state natives who want to return home to get themselves registered in state’s official portal and also the portal of the respective state where they are stranded.