Hundreds of migrant workers, stuck in Surat amid the lockdown went on a rampage on Friday night, setting many vehicles on fire, police said. They are demanding that necessary arrangements be made for them to return to their native places and are also seeking quick disbursal of unpaid dues, an official said. Several migrant workers took to the streets and set ablaze handcarts demanding that they be allowed to return to their native states, police said. While the situation has been brought under control, police have also detained several migrant workers for engaging in violent protest, the official said. Workers,…
Author: Our Correspondent
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today asked the centre to extend the pan-India lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic till April 30. Mr Kejriwal was among several chief ministers who participated in a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi this afternoon to discuss whether the lockdown would end on Tuesday and other strategies to fight the infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus. “The decision to continue the lockdown should be taken on a national level,” Mr Kejriwal said. “If the states decide the length of the lockdown on their own, then the fight against the coronavirus won’t be effective,”…
Amid rising number of coronavirus cases, a locality in central Delhi – Chandni Mahal – has reported three coronavirus or COVID-19 deaths in three days and at least 52 positive cases after 102 people were evacuated from 13 mosques earlier this week. The area has been sealed under strict containment measures to control the spread of the virus. Many of those evacuated, including some foreigners, came from the Nizammudin headquarters of Islamic sect – Tablighi Jamaat – that held a religious gathering last month. The religious gathering has been linked to more than 450 coronavirus cases in the national capital.…
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen in a cloth mask this afternoon during a video conference with chief ministers to discuss the way forward amid the lockdown over the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed 239 and infected over 7,400 in India. He took feedback from the chief ministers on whether the three-week lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus would end on Tuesday. “I am available 24×7. Any chief minister can speak to me and give suggestions (on COVID-19) anytime. We should stand together shoulder-to-shoulder,” PM Modi said. Many states have said they want to extend the lockdown,…
Assam reported its first death due to coronavirus on Friday while one more positive case was detected in Tripura, taking the northeast region’s active cases to 34. Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, in a tweet, said that another Covid-19 positive case has been confirmed, taking the state’s total number to two. “The patient is a 32-year-old male from Madhya Pradesh and currently staying at Damcherra (in northern Tripura). He has travelled along with the first COVID-19 positive patient in train (from Guwahati),” said Deb, who also holds the Health portfolio. A 45-year-old woman first tested positive for coronavirus in…
Over 240 families of the Shahjahanabad society in national capital came to know about the sealing of their society through television on Wednesday night to contain the spread of Covid-19, after six people related to Tablighi Jamaat tested positive. The Delhi Police and the administration immediately sealed the society on Wednesday night after the announcement by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Besides the Shahjahanabad society, the Delhi government also sealed 19 other areas to contain the spread of Covid-19. A day later, Delhi government added five more areas in the sealing list. According to Delhi Police sources, the society in…
Apple and Google on Friday announced a joint effort to enable the use of Bluetooth technology to help governments and health agencies reduce the spread of the new coronavirus, with user privacy and security central to the design. Apple and Google are launching a comprehensive solution that includes application programming interfaces (APIs) and operating system-level technology to assist in enabling contact tracing. Given the urgent need, the plan is to implement this solution in two steps while maintaining strong protections around user privacy, Apple said in a statement First, in May, the tech giants will release APIs that enable interoperability…
Additionally, Beijing has also announced that it is ramping up of military industries in Wuhan, the original epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic. Last month, a People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft flew at night over the sea, crossing the Taiwan Strait, provoking an F-16 fighter jet response from Taiwan. Though conducting provocative military and naval operations near Taiwan is not new for the PLA, it was for the first time that its aircraft crossed the strait at night. On April 1, PLAAF undertook a 36-hour combat oriented exercise near Taiwan. The same day two PLA Navy Air Force maritime…
Five days after five Special Forces soldiers were killed in a major high altitude encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara, the Indian Army released drone footage of a major Indian retaliation in the same sector. The aerial footage shows a Pakistani Army ammunition dump being hit by Indian Bofors artillery guns. The video shows multiple explosions. According to Indian Army sources, Pakistani terror launch pads, gun positions and an ammunition dump were targeted across the Line of Control. The army says the targets were precisely hit and follows an unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistan in the Keran sector of Kupwara.…
The StrandedinIndia portal of the Ministry of Tourism continues to provide support to the tourists. Till 9th April the number of tourists who have been assisted are 1194. In addition the regular toll free helpline 1363 which the MOT runs has had 779 calls from 22 March to 9 th April. Beside this the Ministry officials are working round the clock with the tourism and hospitality industry to understand the immediate and long term issues that are coming up as an impact of COVID-19. It is a fact that because of lockdowns and with no travel possible, the industry is…