Air India has sealed its headquarters in Delhi for two days to conduct a thorough sanitisation of the building after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said on Tuesday. “Airlines House has been sealed for Tuesday and Wednesday,” an official said. The employee posted at the Gurudwara Rakabganj Road building tested positive on Monday evening, he said. The government-run Air India is the only airline participating in the Vande Bharat Mission, under which the carrier would operate 64 flights between May 7 and May 14 to repatriate around 15,000 stranded Indians from 12 countries on a payment basis.…
Author: Our Correspondent
India has witnessed a sharp spike in the number of coronavirus cases over the past few weeks. A single-day spike of over 4,000 positive cases was recorded yesterday, indicating that the country’s tally may go up sharply in the next few days. However, the government is now focused on reopening the economy as the burden of another lockdown extension could completely derail the economy. It has allowed railway services to resume in a graded manner from today and other services may open up soon, with lockdown 3.0 ending on May 17. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also asked state chief…
The Indian Air Force (IAF) deployed its fighter planes on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) last week after Chinese military helicopters were seen flying close to the Indian territory. “As soon as the movement of Chinese helicopters was picked up, the Indian fighter jets were rushed to the border areas in the Ladakh sector,” top sources in the government told India Today. The Chinese choppers didn’t violate the Indian airspace, the sources added. Sources said this is the first time in many years that India has responded to Chinese attempts to violate air space by deploying fighter aircraft. Last…
The Centre indicated that an economic package for the states was on the anvil, and the PM expressed the need to strengthen health infrastructure with onset of monsoon round the corner. The Centre indicated that an economic package for the states was on the anvil, and the PM expressed the need to strengthen health infrastructure with onset of monsoon round the corner. He acknowledged that the next challenge was to prevent the virus from “spreading to rural areas”. The fear of spread with the return of Indians stranded abroad was also flagged. A government statement issued after the meeting acknowledged…
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, has successfully developed India’s first indigenous antibody testing kit — ELISA — to combat COVID-19. The ELISA — enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay — antibody test is a kind of blood test. ELISA kits are similar to rapid antibody tests, which detect antibodies in the blood to find out if an individual was infected with COVID-19 infection or not. “National Institute of Virology, Pune, has successfully developed the 1st indigenous anti-SARS-CoV-2 human IgG ELISA test kit for antibody detection of COVID-19. This robust test will…
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, contesting his first election for a constitutional post, has declared that he and his family have assets worth Rs 143.26 crore, including movable and immovable property, but he doesn’t own a car. He has put liabilities at Rs 15.50 crore, including loans. In his maiden election affidavit submitted before the committee of India on Monday, Thackeray has revealed details of his financial assets and sources of income. His wife Rashmi Thackeray, who is additionally editor of Shiv Sena party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, is earning her income from various businesses, consistent with the affidavit. The other key…
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday said training of elite athletes will resume after the lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic is lifted, urging sportspersons and stakeholders to be patient. Reiterating a position he first took on May 3, Rijiju said health of the athletes is his top priority. The lockdown is set to end on May 17 after rising cases forced two extensions. “Once the lockdown is lifted, we will resume the training of our elite athletes followed by other SAI Training Centres in phased manner. I appeal sportspersons and all stakeholders not to rush because health and safety…
The Kolkata Police on Monday put up on its twitter account the list of 338 containment zones in the city. The list was accessed by the police from Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s source. Bengal at present has four red zones including Kolkata, neighbouring Howrah,North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts. There are 11 districts come under orange zone and eight are in green zone. According to the list of district-wise containment zones put up by the ‘Egiye Bangla’ website of the West Bengal government, Howrah has 76 such areas, while North Parganas has 92. In Hooghly, there are 23 containment zones…
In order to make sure the security of her children against the “invisible killer” coronavirus, actor Sunny Leone revealed that she has travelled to l. a. together with her family amid the pandemic. Leone, who has been residing in Mumbai since late 2000s, shared an image together with her daughter Nisha and sons, Noah and Asher from her LA house on Sunday on Instagram. Sending Mother’s Day wishes to the mothers round the world, the actor said, “In life once you have children, your own priorities and well being takes the rear seat. Both @dirrty99 and that i had the…
A CRPF jawan was killed in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Monday, officials said. They said the encounter took place in the Uripal forest area of the district at about 2 PM when a team of the Central Reserve Police Force and district reserve guard of the state police was out for a search operation. Constable Munna Yadav, 32, of the 170th battalion of the CRPF has been killed in action, they said. The deceased hailed from the Sahibganj district of Jharkhand.