Coronavirus | Revised testing norms likely as number of cases continues to rise
The number of COVID-19 cases continued to rise in the country with 336 new cases reported in the past 24 hours taking the total tally to 2,547, while 18 more deaths were reported, the Union Health Ministry said on April 3. India has registered 62 deaths due to COVID-19 so far, while 162 patients have been discharged. Nationwide, 66,000 samples have been tested so far, which includes repeat tests on patients to confirm health status.
Data|State-wise tracker for coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates
The charts track the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and related deaths, and the testing rates across States and U.T.s.
PM-CARES | Centre sends conflicting signals on foreign donations
The government has sent conflicting signals over the question of foreign donations to the new Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund, better known as PM-CARES.
Migrant workers and their long march to uncertainty
“In my 20 years in Mumbai, I have never seen such a sight,” said Gopal Das as he recounted his ordeal on March 21 at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. Gopal was among the sea of people who had attempted to board what would be the last few trains out of the city to their homes hundreds of kilometres away. Gopal, a construction worker, did not manage to board the train. And nothing had prepared him for what was to follow.
Coronavirus | Modi’s blackout call puts power grid managers on high alert
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a nine-minute blackout at 9 p.m. on April 5 has raised concerns for power grid managers as they are gearing up for ensuring grid stability during the period.
U.P. villages tense as many skip quarantine
Authorities in Uttar Pradesh are struggling to contain people within coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) quarantine centres in rural areas. In many districts, migrants who returned home following the lockdown and consequent loss of jobs, and were kept inside these centres as per preventive protocol, have jumped quarantine or found reasons to leave the centres.
Union Home Ministry modifies Jammu & Kashmir domicile order, offers protection to all government posts
Amid protest from the Jammu unit of BJP, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) reversed its order issued on March 31 offering protection to domiciles only in Group D and entry-level non-gazetted government posts. A fresh order issued late Friday provides protection to domiciles to “any post” in the government including senior level positions in Group A and Group B category. Friday’s order also removed the clause that any person fulfilling the criteria of domicile eligibility will “deemed to be” a domicile.
The Hindu In Focus Podcast | Coronavirus daily update — States’ strategy to exit lockdown, and the BCG vaccine hypothesis
Besides the obvious news point in the Prime Minister’s video address on Friday, there’s more to discuss about the staggered exit from the 21-day lockdown that the PM discussed with Chief Ministers on Thursday, and we’ll give you a broad overview of the factors that need to be taken into consideration in this regard. Our Tamil Nadu Chief of Bureau Ramya Kannan joins us in this discussion.
‘Ruthless containment’ is key to controlling virus spread: Rajasthan Health Secretary
Rohit Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary (Medical & Health), steers the huge health workforce in Rajasthan , which is toiling round the clock to tackle COVID-19 and control the spread of the novel coronavirus. He discusses the strategies to deal with the situation in an interview to Mohammed Iqbal in Jaipur on Friday.
Thousands of Indians stranded overseas are disheartened as govt. refuses to lift passenger ban
Twenty-three-year-old Rahul V., an MBA student in East London, first heard about Air India flights coming to the United Kingdom from a British government website he has been tracking for the past two weeks, ever since India banned travel for passengers from the U.K. due to the coronavirus pandemic . The student from Hyderabad, one of hundreds stranded in the U.K., among the about 25,000 Indians stranded in different parts of the world, says he felt let down when he was informed that the flights would go back to India empty as the government has refused to lift its strict ban on any passengers, including Indian citizens, to enter India.
Trump, Macron plan UN Security Council talks on pandemic
U.S. President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Friday urged top-level UN talks on the coronavirus crisis, with France pushing for a focus on war zones around the world. The two leaders spoke by phone and “discussed convening P5 leaders soon to increase UN cooperation on defeating the pandemic and ensuring international peace and security,” the White House press office said.
Amid new research, U.S. CDC recommends face masks to stop virus spread
President Donald Trump on Friday recommended that Americans cover their faces with masks when outdoors, a policy U-turn following growing scientific research suggesting their widespread use can stem the spread of the coronavirus . Mr. Trump told a White House briefing that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was urging people to wear face coverings like scarves or homemade cloth masks, but to keep medical-grade masks available for health workers.
Mosques remain open in Pakistan as coronavirus cases rise to nearly 2,500
Several mosques remained opened on Friday across Pakistan and people offered prayers there despite a government ban on big congregational gatherings in order to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-19 that has killed 37 people and infected nearly 2,500 others in the country. The Sindh government had announced curfew like restriction from 12 noon to 3 p.m. to stop people from visiting mosques, while the Punjab government had issued fatwa for people to offer prayer in their homes.
International Olympic Committee revises qualifying deadlines
The International Olympic Committee has revised its qualification deadline for the Tokyo Games to June 29, 2021. The 2020 Olympics, postponed by a year due to COVID-19 pandemic , has forced the IOC and International Federations to rework their qualification and tournament calendar. While some of the events, like hockey, have already completed their qualification processes and would not be affected, several, including badminton and track& field were yet to complete the same.
Mixed feelings for Ramanathan Krishnan
When The Championships was called off a couple of days ago due to the coronavirus pandemic, many former stars expressed disappointment. Ramanathan Krishnan, the man who made the world look up at India with his exploits at the prestigious event in the sixties, shared his views too. “My immediate feeling about the cancellation was one of joy and sorrow,” he told The Hindu from Chennai.
Ashish Kumar learning from Vijender’s game
Middleweight boxer Ashish Kumar has not yet met Vijender Singh, but the 25-year-old from Himachal Pradesh draws inspiration from the Olympic bronze medallist. For Ashish, who booked an Olympic quota place at the Asia/Oceania qualifying event in Amman last month, watching Vijender box is a learning process. “I have never met Vijender bhai sahib , but I like his counterattacks and long-range game,” Ashish told The Hindu .
