Breaking News LIVE, March 31:
Fire at garments shop in Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar; 15 fire engines on the spot
Major fire broke out at a readymade garments shop in East Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar on Wednesday morning. As many as 15 fire engines were on the spot.
India’s Covid-19 tally surged to 1,20,95,855 with 56,211 more people testing positive for the infection in 24 hours, while 271 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,62,114, the Union Health Ministry said Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, the active cases have increased to 5,40,720 comprising 4.47 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 94.19%. Amid the steady increase in cases, the Centre said the coronavirus situation is “turning from bad to worse” and is a huge cause of worry, especially for some states.
It said eight of the top 10 Covid-19 high-burden districts of the country are from Maharashtra and that Delhi, taken as one district, is also on the list.
Lockdown which was to be imposed from March 31 in Aurangabad, has now been cancelled. We had submitted a proposal regarding lockdown to the government. Revised guidelines will be presented soon, said Sunil Chavan, District Collector, Aurangabad.
In international team behind a long-awaited study of the possible origins of Covid-19 with Chinese colleagues on Tuesday called it a “first start,” while the United States and allies expressed concerns about the findings and China trumpeted its cooperation.
Team leader Peter Ben Embarek of the World Health Organization (WHO) presented the team’s first-phase look into the possible origins of the pandemic that has killed nearly 2.8 million people and pummeled economies since it first turned up in China over a year ago.
The report, formally published on Tuesday, said transmission of the coronavirus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is “extremely unlikely.” The WHO chief has said all hypotheses remain open.
Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut and Mumbai South MP Arvind Sawant set to be chief spokespersons of the party.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has written a letter to PM Narendra Modi, saying creation of an enabling environment is imperative for a constructive and result-oriented dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues between Pakistan and India, in particular the Jammu and Kashmir issue.