#coronavirus effect jharkhand

[brighteduworld2]

India's shortage of doctors is a harsh reality

The National Medical Commission Bill has been heralded as a watershed moment that will significantly advance the state of medicine in India. National exit test latest news is the National Exit Test will be mandatory for students who graduated from MCI/NMC approved medical colleges abroad also.

 Our nation falls well short of the WHO requirement of 1000 doctors per 1000 people. Only one of of India's eleven states adhere to the WHO standard, and no healthcare organisations do.

 In addition to a severe doctor shortage, India's health care system is also struggling with ineffective human resources and subpar infrastructure. India has had a large number of fatalities over the past few years as a result of a lack of medical professionals, particularly doctors in government institutions.

 Only 9.26 lakh doctors may be actively accessible for service, assuming 80% of the doctors registered with the Board of Governors/State Medical Councils/Medical Council are available. Since some doctors may retire, move into hospital management, or move abroad without having their names removed from the record, the correct data is never a match.

 With over 1974 primary healthcare facilities operating without even a single doctor, the nation urgently needs at least 3000 doctors. With approximately 5000 surgeons needed, there is a significant shortage in community health facilities in rural areas.

 In India, there are 15,700 basic health centres that only have one physician on staff. The predicted 600,000-doctor shortfall in India is expected to be resolved by 2022 if there is an increase in the number of beds available in hospitals.

 Differences in the ratio between states

 The WHO recommends one doctor for every 1000 inhabitants, although states like Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Punjab, and Goa have more doctors than that. Despite this, the rural public health system lacks enough physicians. In the state of Tamilnadu, there are 4 doctors per 1000 residents. In Goa and Punjab, it is 1.3, 1.5 in Kerala and Karnataka, and 3 in Delhi.

 The majority of doctors from these states are wary of migrating to areas like Bihar or UP where there is a dire need for medical professionals. There is only one doctor for every 8000 or more people in Jharkhand, and per 6000 or more people in Haryana. There is just 1 doctor for every 3000+ people in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

  According to a study that was published in the Indian Journal of Public Health, India will require 2.07 million more doctors by 2030 in order to reach the 1:1000 ratio. Our government has set aside just 1.3% of the GDP for this, compared to the global average of 6% for public healthcare. More people can wind up paying high prices in private hospitals as a result of the lack of government doctors.

 Are we capable of managing the COVID-19 crisis?

 The first step in the fight against coronavirus is to maintain the ratio of doctors to the 1.36 billion people in the world's population. Addressing the imbalance between supply and demand for healthcare infrastructure is urgently needed. In order to stop the infection from spreading, most hospitals have strict shift policies for their medical staff. Nearly every other day, new reports surface of doctors quarantining themselves after getting the illness.

 To address this unusual scenario, all states must comply with the fundamental healthcare criteria, including having enough doctors, nurses, and personal protective equipment (PPEs).

The national exit exam for mbbs latest news is the NEXT, or National Exit Test, is scheduled to go into effect in December of 2023 at the earliest. It will be used instead of the NEET PG and FMGE tests for graduate school admissions. In order to learn more about NEXT for MBBS, read on.

[digimakacademy]

Corona Impact: 55 साल बाद पहली बार नहीं लगेगा झारखंड का प्रसिद्ध 'बलबल मेला', जानिए वजह

Corona Impact: 55 साल बाद पहली बार नहीं लगेगा झारखंड का प्रसिद्ध ‘बलबल मेला’, जानिए वजह

हाइलाइट्स: चार राज्यों के प्रसिद्ध बलबल पशु मेले में नहीं पहुंच रहे दूरदराज के व्यापारी मेला का आयोजन नहीं होने से स्थानीय दुकानदारों में मायूसी श्रद्धालु गर्म सूर्य-कुंड में स्नान का नहीं ले सकेंगे आनंद, ना होंगे बागेश्वरी माता के दर्शन वैश्विक महामारी कोरोना संक्रमण के खतरे को लेकर जिला प्रशासन ने मेले पर लगाई पाबंदी अशोक तुलस्यान, चतराझारखंड (Jharkhand News) के चतरा स्थित गिद्धौर प्रखंड में…

[ziqitzahealthcare]

Ziqitza - Budget 2021:Healthcare Industry welcomes the increased budget allocation

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the sector which is the biggest talking point this year is healthcare. The pandemic completely exposed India’s underfunded healthcare system. Critical patients all over the country were struggling to get ICU beds. Some lost their lives as the ambulances catering to the public of the state were less, while some died outside the hospitals waiting to get admitted. The pandemic exposed fundamental problems plaguing the Indian healthcare system, be it infrastructure, manpower, etc. Here’s the healthcare industry welcomed the government’s increased allocation for the healthcare sector and said that the move will provide access to medical care for all in the country, Budget presented by FM NirmalaSitharaman rolls out a 2.46 lakh crore healthcare budget for “rebuilding India that's a 137 % spike from last year's allocation under AatmanirbharSwasth Bharat Yojana. The budget adopts a holistic approach towards healthcare much needed hike in healthcare will make our country health and safe budget has seen a phenomenal increase in outlay for the healthcare sector with a focus on addressing the key issues facing India today.

The government encouraging new developments paradigm with a heightened investment towards healthcare infrastructure.The requisite focus for a stronger public health system, along with appropriate support for sustenance as well as the expansion of private healthcare infrastructure.

In addition to the National Health Mission, with whom Ziqitza Healthcare works in association with to provide quality pre-medical care to the people of states. The government has increased the spends on primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare.

Amitabh Jaipuria, MD & CEO, Ziqitza Healthcare Ltd says budget 2021 is a Budget of hope towards realizing India’s growth aspirations, strengthening the healthcare system, Ziqitza is happy to know this year’s budget is pragmatic, positive, and committed to the healthcare sector which needed a deliberate boost post unprecedented virus outbreak last year. It is commendable that the government has put healthcare on the forefront, putting the focus on curative and preventive health and wellbeing. The proposals would make quality healthcare accessible and affordable, besides standardizing healthcare infrastructure across the country.

Ziqitza is currently operating Ambulances, Medical Helplines, Mobile Medical Units, and Corporate Wellness Solutions across Mumbai, Bihar, Kerala, West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Punjab, Odisha, MP, and Jharkhand. Ziqitza Rajasthan has operated 108 ambulances in Rajasthan free for the public to ensure healthcare is accessible to all.

  Here are the budget 2021 highlights to make it easier for you.

 A. Part A - Policy Statements

1. Health

2. Infra

3. Inclusive development

4. Human capital

5. Innovation and Research

6. Minimum Govt and max governance

Synopsis 

In the backdrop of the numerous challenges that the finance minister faced, the Union Budget presented by her on Feb 01 is path-breaking to quite an extent. The FM continued on the Govt.’s prudent path avoiding populism.

The effort is clearly attempting to spur the economic growth on a faster path by upping spending on schemes/areas which have a multiplier effect. The Budget’s task was to push the long-term growth trajectory up. A virtuous spending cycle may be triggered by these provisions that could lift the rate of growth for the economy and businesses.  No material changes to direct or indirect tax rates or provisions are welcome from a taxpayer perspective who seeks stability in the tax regime.  Raising taxes to fund expenditure would have invalidated the expansionary effect of the spending. The deficit target of 6.8 per cent for 2021-22 (way higher than most forecasts) and the target reduction of fiscal deficit to below 4.5 per cent only in 2025-26 is perhaps as bold as the expansionary fiscal policy can get. The previous target of 3% fiscal deficit (laid out in FRBM Act) now seems to have been abandoned.  However, a significant portion of an increase in spending comes from taking on the food subsidy bill on the Budget instead of financing FCI (Food Corporation of India) via the NSSF (National Small Savings Fund) (impact 0.56% of GDP in FY20).  

Healthcare / Pharma to the National Health Mission

17000 rural and 11000 urban health and wellness centers will be set up. and create new institutions, to cater to detection and cure of new and emerging diseases. It will help pharma, healthcare & diagnostic companies. 

The Budget outlay for Health and Wellbeing is pegged at Rs 2,23,846 crores as against Rs 94,452 crores with a sharp increase of 137% over the previous year. Expenditure on health and family welfare has been increased from Rs 65,012cr to Rs 71,269cr.

 A positive development for pharma and healthcare sector. Key beneficiaries from our coverage. HCG, Apollo Hospitals, Alkem Labs, Sun Pharma, Sanofi India Govt. has provided Rs 35000cr for Covid-19 vaccine in the budget and remain committed to providing further funds if required. Positive for Healthcare and logistics Sector

[technobug]

Moderna says its vaccine is nearly 95% effective

Moderna says its vaccine is nearly 95% effective

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Data from biotechnology company Moderna showed that its Covid-19 vaccine candidate is nearly 95% effective. The company said they were planning to apply for approval to use the vaccine in the next few weeks.

The Jharkhand and Odisha governments on Monday ordered a ban on Chhath Pujacelebrations in water bodies, in view of the coronavirus crisis. Meanwhile, places of worship were allowed…

[raghnews]

India today reported 47,905 fresh COVID-19 cases, 8% higher than on Wednesday. The country has up to 86.83 lakh cases so far with 1,28,121 deaths, up 550. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh remained the top five most affected states in the country. The overall number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 till now stood at 80,66,501, rising 52,718 since a day earlier.

Here are the top-10 developments on this front from the past 24 hours:

In terms of the number of deaths due to COVID-19, the top five states were Maharashtra (125), Delhi (85), West Bengal (49), Punjab (31), and Kerala (29).

Up to 12,19,62,509 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till Wednesday, of which 11,93,358 were tested on Wednesday alone, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Jharkhand’s COVID-19 tally rose to 1,05,224 on Thursday as 284 more people tested positive, a health official said. Three fresh fatalities pushed the state’s coronavirus death count to 913, he said. Ranchi district reported the highest number of new cases at 78, followed by Bokaro (40), Dhanbad (37) and East Singhbhum (29), the official said. The state now has 4,009 active coronavirus cases, while 1,00,302 people have been cured so far.

Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine maker by volume, and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex body in India for biomedical research, today announced the completion of enrolment of phase 3 clinical trials for COVISHIELD in India. ICMR and SII have further collaborated for COVOVAX, developed by the US-based Novavax, and upscaled by SII, an ICMR statement said.

Delhi on Wednesday recorded its highest daily spike with 8,593 new cases in 24 hours, crossing the 8,000-mark for the first time. Its second-highest daily spike was on Tuesday with 7,830 cases. Delhi has recorded 85 deaths in the past 24 hours, the second-highest till now. The highest was 93 on 16 June. The total number of cases in Delhi stands at 4,59,975.

Odisha’s COVID-19 tally rose to 3,05,000 on Wednesday as 1,220 more people tested positive for the infection. Up to 15 fresh fatalities pushed deaths in the state to 1,469, a health official said. At least 1,340 more patients were cured of the disease during the day, taking the total number of recoveries to 2,92,477, which is 95.89 per cent of the state’s caseload, the official said.

The US has hit a record-setting 136,325 new daily cases of COVID-19, the latest data from Johns Hopkins University revealed on Wednesday. The country has reported over 10.3 million cases and more than 240,800 deaths caused by the disease, data showed. The third wave of COVID-19 infections is underway in the US as winter approaches.

Massachusetts-based Moderna Inc soon expects to have an announcement on the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine after it finished accumulating data for a first analysis of the vaccine, the company has said. Moderna is conducting a clinical trial of about 30,000 participants, with half of the participants receiving the vaccine and the other half receiving a placebo, which is a shot of saline that does not seem to have any effect, reported CNN.

The reopening of restaurants, gyms, and hotels carries the highest danger of spreading COVID-19, according to a study using mobile phone data from 98 million people. Researchers at Stanford University and Northwestern University used the data collected in March-May in cities across the US to map the movement of people. They looked at where they went, how long they stayed, how many others were there and what neighborhoods they were visiting from. They then combined that information with data on the number of cases and how the virus spreads to create infection models.

China on Wednesday reported 15 new COVID-19 cases, down from 17 cases a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Thursday. The National Health Commission said in a statement that one of the new cases was a local infection in Tianjin. The remaining 14 originated overseas, the commission said. The total number of new asymptomatic cases fell to six from 15 reported a day earlier.Read more

[rnewsworldenglish]

Jharkhand Extends Lockdown till July 31 as Coronavirus Cases Near 2,300

Jharkhand Extends Lockdown till July 31 as Coronavirus Cases Near 2,300

A healthcare worker screens a returning migrant worker at the Daltongonj railway station in Palamu, Jharkhand. (News18)

The extension order shall come into force with immediate effect, Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh said, adding that the movement of individuals shall continue to remain prohibited between 9 pm and 5 am.

PTI

Last Updated: June 27, 2020, 12:01 AM IST

The Jharkhand government…

[odishatv]

PM Modi Launches Rs 50,000-Crore Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan For Migrant Workers

New Delhi: Village, villagers and migrants – the tone of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch of Rs 50,000 cr Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan – a rural mega job scheme targeted at returnee migrant workers was loud and clear.

Hailing the role played by villages in successfully containing the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged, “India is a country with more than 6 lakh villages, where more than two-thirds of its population, which is about 80-85 crore people, lives. The rural India has effectively prevented the spread of infection. This population is even more than that of all the countries of Europe.”

The scheme which is aimed at the returnee migrant workers is a massive rural public employment scheme which seeks to provide livelihood opportunities to them along with other rural citizens.

Modi, addressing the migrant labourers, remarked, “The country understands your emotions as well as your needs. Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan starting from Khagaria, Bihar is a major tool to fulfil that very need.”

Joining the video conference, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, “During the lockdown, I interacted through video conference with labourers in different districts after they returned to the state. I realised that they don’t want to go elsewhere for work”.

The migrant crisis emerged as a political headache for the BJP-JDU combine in the state which will go to polls later this year. This scheme is expected to address much of its socio-economic concerns.

At least 25,000 migrant workers who returned home in the wake of the pandemic will be benefited in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha. UP and Bihar took the bulk of the load of the reverse migration.

The scheme that seeks to give means to the migrant workers to earn a living will involve intensified implementation of 25 different types of works which in turn will create rural infrastructure.

PM Modi also mentioned about the investment of Rs 1 lakh cr for building cold storage facilities to preserve agricultural produce. He also urged them to wear masks and maintain basic hygiene while going to work.

The Prime Minister began his address by remembering the sacrifice of our martyrs. “Everyone is proud of Bihar Regiment’s valour. Each and every Bihari is very proud of it,” he said.

The bulk of the fatalities and injury in the India-China violent clash was from Bihar regiment, which also lost its Commanding Officer Colonel B. Santosh Babu.

[brajeshupadhyay]

Coronavirus Outbreak Updates: Satyendar Jain's health improving but fever remains, says Delhi govt; global COVID-19 toll crosses 4.5 lakh

23:40 (IST)

Coronavirus in US Latest Updates

New York guv considers quarantine for people arriving in the state

New York governor Andrew Cuomo reportedly said the district administration was "considering a possible quarantine on people entering New York state as the virus continues to spread," CNN reported.

"Reminding reporters about other states, including Florida, which issued a mandatory quarantine on New Yorkers coming to their states approximately 100 days ago, Cuomo acknowledged that experts have advised him to issue a quarantine for people coming to the state and he is considering it now," the report added.

23:21 (IST)

Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Updates

Satyendar Jain's health is improving, says Delhi govt

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who is in hospital for COVID-19 treatment, showed some improvement on Thursday but his fever has not yet subsided, senior officials said.

The 55-year-old minister is getting oxygen support on and off as per requirement, they said.

Jain had tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) here after running high-grade fever and suffering sudden drop in oxygen levels.

"His fever is down a bit today. He was kept on oxygen supply for longer time today. But, his overall condition is improving," a senior official of the hospital said.

(PTI)

23:06 (IST)

Coronavirus in Tamil Nadu Latest Updates

Chennai Police instructed to 'strictly' implement 12-day lockdown, says report

  "With the 12-day lockdown set to begin in Chennai from Friday, the Greater Chennai Police issued a series of instructions for the city residents to follow during the period. Barring hospitals, labs, ambulances, pharmacies, and funeral hearses, there are restrictions on other activities. Auto rickshaws, taxi cabs will not be allowed to run in the city except in case of emergency," The Indian Express reported.

22:51 (IST)

Coronavirus in Jharkhand Latest Updates

Jharkhand reports 23 new COVID-19 cases

23 more COVID-19 cases, 47 recoveries and 1 death were reported in Jharkhand on Thursday. Total number of cases in the state is now at 1,919, including 710 active cases, 1,198 recovered/discharged and 11 deaths, the state health department said.

22:48 (IST)

Coronavirus in US Latest Updates

1.5 million more laid-off workers seek unemployment benefits

  About 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, a historically high number, even as the economy increasingly reopens and employers bring some people back to work.

The latest figure released Thursday marked the 11th straight weekly decline in applications since they peaked at nearly 7 million in March as the coronavirus shut down much of the economy and caused tens of millions of layoffs. The decline was much smaller, though, than in recent weeks, falling just 58,000.

The total number of people receiving unemployment aid also fell slightly, reflecting the return of many to their old jobs.

Still, analysts had expected a sharper decline in weekly applications, and some expressed disappointment that so many people are still seeking unemployment benefits even as restaurants, gyms and many categories of retail shops are reopening across the country.

(AP)

22:34 (IST)

Coronavirus in Chhattisgarh Latest Updates

82 new COVID-19 cases in Chhattisgarh today

The number of COVID-19 cases in Chhattisgarh rose to 1,946 after 82 new cases were reported on Thursday. "As many as 46 patients were discharged during the day from hospitals across the state following recovery," News18 reported.

22:25 (IST)

Coronavirus Pandemic Latest Updates

Race for virus vaccine could leave some countries behind

  As the race intensifies for a vaccine against the new coronavirus, rich countries are rushing to place advance orders for the inevitably limited supply to guarantee their citizens get immunized first ��� leaving significant questions about whether developing countries will get any vaccines in time to save lives before the pandemic ends.

Earlier this month, the United Nations, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, and others said it was a “moral imperative” that everyone have access to a “people’s vaccine.” But such grand declarations are unenforceable, and without a detailed strategy, the allocation of vaccines could be inequitable and extremely messy, said health experts.

“We have this beautiful picture of everyone getting the vaccine, but there is no road map on how to do it,” said Yuan Qiong Hu, a senior legal and policy adviser at Doctors Without Borders in Geneva. Few measures have been taken to resolve numerous problems for achieve fair distribution, she said.

(AP)

22:12 (IST)

Coronavirus Pandemic Latest Updates

Global COVID-19 toll crosses 4.5 lakh

The global toll due to coronavirus on Thursday crossed 4,50,000, according to a tally compiled by AFP.

21:59 (IST)

Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Updates

Railway Board chairperson visits isolation coaches in Delhi

Railway Board chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav on Thursday visited Anand Vihar terminal where around 300 COVID care isolation coaches have been set up, in view of the rise in #COVID19 cases.

Delhi: Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav today visited Anand Vihar terminal where around 300 COVID care isolation coaches have been set up, in view of the rise in #COVID19 cases. pic.twitter.com/twVwekdEJL

— ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2020

21:50 (IST)

Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Updates

Manish Sisodia says rapid antigen tests conducted at 193 centres

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said that the rapid antigen testing was conducted at 193 centres on Thursday.

"A total of 7040 people were tested for #COVID19, of which 456 tested positive. People who live in containment zones are being tested in the initial stage," he said.

21:43 (IST)

Coronavirus in Haryana Latest Updates

Haryana district admin imposes two-day curfew during solar eclipse, says report

"The Kurukshetra administration has decided to impose a two-day curfew from Friday to prevent people's gathering at the city's holy pools during the solar eclipse on June 21. District Magistrate Dhirendra Khadgata said the step is being taken to ensure that no one takes a dip at the city's Brahma Sarovar and Sannehit Sarovar during the solar eclipse in view of coronavirus outbreak," News18 reported.

21:32 (IST)

Coronavirus in Karnataka Latest Updates

COVID-19 cases in Karnataka rise to 7,944

Karnataka reported 210 new cases of coronavirus and 12 deaths. The total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 7,944, and the toll stood at 114.

21:24 (IST)

Coronavirus in Maharashtra Latest Updates

Mumbai reports 1,298 new COVID-19 cases

1298 COVID-19 cases, 518 recoveries and 67 deaths were reported in Mumbai on Thursday, the BMC said. Total number of cases in the city is now at 62,799, including 31,856 recovered/discharged, 27,634 active cases, and 3,309 deaths.

21:15 (IST)

Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Updates

Delhi HC says Kejriwal govt not using testing facilities optimally

The Delhi High Court on Thursday said that the AAP government "was not using testing facilities of private labs to their optimum capacity", News18 reported.

"A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad arrived at the conclusion after comparing testing data on Delhi government's website and the figures given in its affidavit placed before the court," the report said.

21:02 (IST)

Coronavirus in Maharashtra Latest Updates

3,752 new COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra today

Maharashtra records highest single-day spike with 3,752 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, total number of cases stands at 1,20,504. Death toll rises to 5,751 after 100 deaths were reported today. 60,838 patients have been discharged so far including 1672.

20:53 (IST)

Coronavirus in Manipur Latest Updates

Manipur reports 54 new COVID-19 cases

Manipur on Thursday reported 54 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the state's tally to 606. "All the 54 people who tested positive for COVID-19 had returned from other states," News18 reported.

20:41 (IST)

Coronavirus in Rajasthan Latest Updates

35 new COVID-19 cases in Rajasthan today

315 more COVID-19 cases, 17 deaths and 275 recovered in Rajasthan on Thursday. Total number of cases in the state is now at 13,857, including 2,785 active cases, 10,742 recovered and 330 deaths.

20:27 (IST)

Coronavirus in India Latest Updates

Centre lifts ban on hydroxychloroquine

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on Thursday lifted the export ban on hydroxychloroquine API and its formulations.

"This comes after a WHO scientist said that it has been proven doesn't work in stopping deaths among people hospitalized with the new coronavirus. The US FDA also revoked its emergency use after concluding that they may not be effective to cure the virus infections," News18 reported.

20:13 (IST)

Coronavirus in Punjab Latest Updates

118 new COVID-19 cases in Punjab today

118 fresh COVID-19 cases and five deaths have been reported in Punjab on Thursday. Total number of cases stands at 3615 and toll is at 83, the state department of information and public relations said.

20:03 (IST)

Coronavirus in Gujarat Latest Updates

COVID-19 cases in Gujarat rise to 25,660

510 new COVID-19 cases and 31 deaths have been reported in Gujarat in the last 24 hours. State tally rises to 25,660 including 17,829 cured/discharged and 1592 deaths, the state health department said.

19:57 (IST)

Coronavirus in Maharashtra Latest Updates

Dharavi reports 28 new COVID-19 cases

The BMC on Thursday said that 28 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Dharavi area of Mumbai, taking the total number of cases to 2134. A total of 78 people have succumbed to the disease in the area so far.

19:46 (IST)

Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Updates

Delhi govt starts antigen tests for COVID-19

The Delhi government on Thursday commenced COVID-19 testing through the rapid antigen methodology at 169 centres in and around containment zones of the city. A total of 341 teams are involved in the rapid-antigen testing which makes results available within 30 minutes.

(PTI)

19:31 (IST)

Coronavirus in Kerala Latest Updates

Kerala CM says discussions on over making COVID-19 tests available to expats

In those Middle East countries where expats don't have facility for rapid testing,discussions are underway to make Truenat Rapid Test kits available to them:Kerala CM on state govt's decision to make COVID-19 negative certificate mandatory for all passengers returning from abroad

Discussion regarding it is taking place with airlines and will need permission from respective Indian Embassies: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

19:16 (IST)

Coronavirus in Tamil Nadu Latest Updates

2,141 new COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu today

The Tamil Nadu health department said that 2,141 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state on Thursday, taking the total number of cases to 52,334. The toll is at 625 after 49 deaths were also reported.

19:05 (IST)

Coronavirus in India Latest Updates

MHA says UP, Haryana govts can lower price of COVID-19 test after internal consultations

The MHA on Thursday said, "Home Minister Amit Shah, while chairing a meeting to review preparations for COVID-19 management, said that Expert Committee has fixed a price of Rs 2,400 for tests and if the price for such tests is higher in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, they could decide to lower their prices after internal consultations."

18:46 (IST)

Coronavirus in India Latest Updates

Modi says Yoga will become more popular in post COVID-19 world

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday addressed the nation on Yoga Day this year and said, "In the post COVID-19 era, the focus on preventive healthcare will get stronger and that is why I am confident that yoga will become even more popular."

18:38 (IST)

Coronavitus in Delhi Latest Updates

Delhi authorities need to work on common strategy against COVID-19, says Amit Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said, "Keeping in view the structure of Delhi-NCR region, all the concerned bodies need to unite and work on a common strategy against coronavirus. In this context, I met Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, senior officials of Center and Delhi-NCR today to discuss a strategy."

18:32 (IST)

Coronavirus in Kerala Latest Updates

97 new COVID-19 cases in Kerala today

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that 97 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state on Thursday.

The toll rose to 21 after one death was also reported. Total cases in the state stand at 2,794 cases, of which 1358 are active cases.

18:20 (IST)

Coronavirus in Maharashtra Latest Updates

Over 15,000 migrant workers are returning to Maharashtra, says govt

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh said that over 15,000 migrant workers are returning to the state after they left the state during the lockdown.

"On average 11,500 workers were returning to Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai daily, while 4,000 to 5,000 labourers were returning to Gondia, Nandurbar, Kolhapur, Nagpur and Pune," he was quoted as saying by News18.

18:14 (IST)

Coronavirus in Tamil Nadu Latest Updates

First Tamil Nadu cop succumbs to COVID-19

Reports said that the first police personnel of the Tamil Nadu force succumbed to coronavirus on Thursday.

"A 47-year-old inspector working at the Mambalam police station in Chennai died due to COVID-19 and will be laid to rest with full honours on Friday," News18 reported.

18:02 (IST)

Coronavirus Pandemic Latest Updates

WHO studying trial data on HIV drugs as COVID-19 treatment

Large multi-country trials of the combination HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir to treat COVID-19 have recruited thousands of patients and the World Health Organization is now looking at interim data, the UN agency's chief scientist said. Soumya Swaminathan said several thousand patients had been enrolled in the lopinavir/ritonavir arm of the WHO-led Solidarity Trial and in a separate UK-led COVID-19 trial of the drug combination," News18 reported.

17:54 (IST)

Coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh Latest Updates

604 new COVID-19 cases in UP today

Uttar Pradesh on Thursday recorded 604 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases in the state to 15,785.

17:40 (IST)

Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Updates

Kejriwal says Delhiites shouldn't have problem with COVID-19 testing now

  दिल्ली में करोना की टेस्टिंग -आज दो महत्वपूर्ण घटनायें हुईं 1. दिल्ली में टेस्टिंग के रेट घटाकर 2400 रुपए किए 2. आज से दिल्ली में रैपिड ऐंटिजेन टेस्टिंग शुरू हुई जिसके नतीजे 15 मिनट में आ जाते हैं उम्मीद करता हूँ कि अब दिल्ली के लोगों को टेस्टिंग की कोई समस्या नहीं होगी

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 18, 2020

17:32 (IST)

Coronavirus in India Latest Updates

Centre tells states, UTs to ensure payment of salaries to doctors

According to the Supreme Court directions, the Centre on Thursday told state governments and union territories to ensure the timely payment of salaries to doctors and health workers on COVID-19 duty.

Live Law reported that the violation of this order will "be treated as offence under the Disaster Management Act'"

Following SC directions, Centre issues order invoking provisions of Disaster Management Act to direct States and UTs to ensure payment of salaries to doctors and health workers doing COVID19 related duty. Violation to be treated as offence under DMA.@MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/03H00ekq7d

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) June 18, 2020

17:17 (IST)

Coronavirus in Nepal Latest Updates

Nepal reports 671 new COVID-19 cases

The Nepal health ministry said 671 more COVID-19 cases were reported across the country in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases in the country to 7848.

17:14 (IST)

Coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh Latest Updates

425 new COVID-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh today

"The COVID-19 surge continued unabated in Andhra Pradesh with a record single day high of 425 new cases being added, taking the overall tally to 7,496. The coronavirus toll also continued its upward trend as two more patients died in Krishna district, making it a total of 92 so far in the state, according to the latest bulletin," News18 reported.

17:08 (IST)

Coronavirus in India Latest Updates

Centre to spend Rs 50,000 cr on livelihood scheme for migrant workers

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said within 125 days, for 116 districts, nearly 25 schemes of the government will be brought together under Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan, "we will reach saturation levels for each of those schemes within those 125 days."

She added, "Everyone who needs an assignment in these 116 districts will be given work under Garib KalyanRojgarAbhiyaan, broad estimated expenditure for the scheme is Rs 50,000 crores, the money allotted for this will be front-loaded."

16:55 (IST)

Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Updates

Kejriwal says Delhi, NCR can't be separated

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said, "The discussion with Home Minister Amit Shah was focussed on how we can save the entire NCR unit from COVID-19 because the NCR can't be separated. Delhi, Gurugram, Noida and Faridabad are the same."

16:44 (IST)

Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Updates

Kejriwal, Sisodia visit COVID-19 isolation centre

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia visited Radha Soami Satsang Beas centre, on Thursday. Kejriwal said, "This space is being converted into COVID-19 isolation centre. Around 10,000 beds can be set up here." 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia visited Radha Soami Satsang Beas centre, today. CM Kejriwal says, "this space is being converted into COVID isolation centre. Around 10,000 beds can be set up here." #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/zhsCeZ36mm

— ANI (@ANI) June 18, 2020

16:34 (IST)

Coronavirus in India Latest Updates

Nirmala Sitharaman says Centre 'meticulously mapped' skill sets of migrant workers

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday addressed a press conference ahead of the launch of a livelihood scheme for migrant workers.

"Workers from all over the country wanted to go back to villages a little while after the lockdown began and central and state governments made some arrangements, and they have gone back. We have looked at the districts to which they have largely returned.

"We have found that migrant workers returned in large numbers to 116 districts, spread over six states - Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

The central and state governments have meticulously mapped the skill sets of the migrant workers who have returned in large numbers to the 116 districts in 6 states," she said.

16:23 (IST)

Coronavirus in Maharashtra Latest Updates

Uddhav Thackeray appeals fro 'low-key' Ganesh festival

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday appealed for a "simple and low-key Ganesh festival" celebration this year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, "and asked Ganesh mandals to undertake social welfare programmes", News18 reported.

"Thackeray said the threat of coronavirus is not yet over and therefore, it will not be possible to celebrate the Ganesh festival with the usual pomp and gaiety. He said there should be no crowding or processions during the festival," the report said.

16:18 (IST)

Coronavirus in India Latest Updates

Nirmala Sitharaman addresses presser over Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday addressed a press conference at the launch of Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (GKRA).

"Faced with the challenge of providing employment to returning migrants in the wake of COVID-19, the Centre had launched the GKRA scheme, under which public works worth Rs 50,000 crore will be carried out," The Indian Express reported.

16:12 (IST)

Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Updates

Centre to give 500 ventilators, 650 ambulances to Delhi

The MHA on Thursday said that the Centre will give 500 ventilators and 650 ambulances to Delhi's hospitals, The Indian Express reported.

16:03 (IST)

Coronavirus in Delhi Latest Updates

Centre to conduct 6 lakh tests in Delhi via rapid antigen method

MHA MoS G Kishan Reddy was quoted by PTI as saying that the Centre will conduct 6 lakh COVID-19 tests in Delhi through the rapid antigen method at 169 new facilities.

15:48 (IST)

Coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh Latest Updates

Over 16,000 samples tested for COVID-19 in UP yesterday

The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday said that 16,546 samples were tested for coronavirus in the state on Wednesday.

"A total of 5,15,280 samples have been tested till date," said Principal Health Secretary Amit Mohan Prasad.

He added, "630 new cases reported in the state, in last 24 hours. There are 5659 active cases, 9638 people have been discharged after making full recovery from the disease. A total of 488 people have succumbed to it."

15:33 (IST)

Coronavirus in Assam Latest Updates

82 new COVID-19 cases in Assam today

Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that 82 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state on Thursday, taking the total number of cases to 4,777. The number of active cases stands at 2,111.

15:18 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Uttarakhand Latest Update

57 new cases reported from Uttarakhand, takes total to 2,079

Uttarakhand on Thursday reported 57 new COVID-19 cases till 2:30 pm today, taking the total number of positive cases to 2,079, according to the lastest update from the state Control Room COVID-19. 

15:11 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Odisha Latest Update

Odisha reports 174 new cases of COVID-19, total rises to 4,512

Odisha reported 174 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, taking the total to 4,512 in the state, officials said. Of the fresh cases, 146 were reported from different quarantine centres where people returning from other parts of the country are lodged, they said. The process of contact tracing and follow up action is being taken, a health department official said.

15:04 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Maharashtra Latest Update

Seven employees of Chinese firm contract COVID-19 in Pune

Seven persons, including a Chinese national, employed at a Chinese firm in Chakan town of Maharashtra's Pune district, have tested positive for coronavirus, a health officer told PTI on Thursday.

Following the detection of these cases, 130 employees, including nine Chinese nationals, have been quarantined, Dr Baliram Gadawe, a health officer from Khed tehsil said. The employees belong to a Chinese firm that manufactures machinery and mining equipment and has a unit in Chakan, he said.

14:54 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Update

PM's decision to make energy sector reliant will create over than 2.8 lakh jobs, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that in line with the vision of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” or self-reliant India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has flagged off the process to auction 41 coal mines for commercial mining. “This historic decision will make India self-reliant in the energy sector by introducing competition and boosting coal production,” said Shah, reports ANI.

The home minister says this decision of the Modi-led BJP government will create more than 2.8 lakh jobs, attract capital investment worth Rs 33,000 crore, and generate annual revenue of Rs 20,000 crore for the state governments.

Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh said that over 15,000 migrant workers are returning to the state after they left the state during the lockdown.

"On average 11,500 workers were returning to Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai daily, while 4,000 to 5,000 labourers were returning to Gondia, Nandurbar, Kolhapur, Nagpur and Pune," he was quoted as saying by News18.

Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Twitter said that a total of 3,820 police personnel tested positive for the coronavirus in the state. Of these, 2,754 have recovered and 45 have died of the infection.

The Supreme Court on Thursday while referring to the Rath Yatra at Puri’s Jagannath Temple in Odisha, said they will not allow it, according to Live Law. Lord Jagannath will not forgive us if we allow this to continue,' Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said.

The Delhi government has decided to fix the price limit of RT-PCR tests for coronavirus at Rs, 2400, PTI quoted Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia as saying on Thursday. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan launches India’s first mobile lab for COVID-19 testing in Delhi, ANI reports.

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the annual Rath Yatra and related activities at Puri's Jagannath Temple in Odisha, scheduled for 23 June this year, in view of the coronavirus outbreak, PTI reported.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said that as per the new testing protocol approved by ICMR, testing for COVID-19 will be done from today onwards as per the new Rapid Antigen methodology. 'This technique will be faster and cheaper, 169 testing centers set up in the National Capital. Priority for the supply of kits will be given to Delhi,' he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking at the launch of the auction of 41 coal mines for commercial mining today said: India will turn this Covid-19 crisis into an opportunity. It has taught India to be self-reliant. India will also reduce its dependence on imports.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah to hold a meeting today at 12 pm with senior administrative officers of Delhi-NCR, in view of COVID-19 management and situation in the national capital, reports ANI.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said as many as 62,49,668 samples have been tested till 17 June. Of these, 1,65,412 samples tested in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate has further improved to 52.95% with the recoveries/deaths ratio stands now at 94.07%.

India on Thursday reported 12,881 new cases and 334 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the latest update from the Union health ministry. With this, the country’s overall count rises to 3,66,946, including 12,237 fatalities.

Delhi Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has been given additional charge of the health ministry and other departments allocated to Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain after Jain tested for positive COVID19 yesterday, reports ANI.

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that testing of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in its large multi-country trial of treatments for COVID-19 patients had been halted after new data and studies showed no benefit, reports Reuters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asked states to make full use of the expanded COVID-19 testing capacity stating that saving lives is a top priority as India recorded a spike of 2,003 coronavirus deaths after Maharashtra and Delhi added earlier fatalities not attributed to the disease.

Modi also called for fighting the stigma associated with the novel coronavirus and that people should be assured there is no need to panic if somebody has contracted the infection as the number of recovered patients has also been rising. The COVID-19 recovery rate for the country currently stood at around 53 percent.

The prime minister's exhortations came on a day the country registered 2,003 COVID-19 fatalities in the past 24 hours, according to the health ministry, pushing the death toll to 11,903. This was after Maharashtra and Delhi added earlier deaths that were not attributed to the disease.

According to the health ministry, India's caseload rose to 3,54,065 with 10,974 new infections being reported in the last 24 hours. The active cases stood at 1,55,227, while 1,86,934 people have recovered, the ministry added.

Administrative measures

As COVID-19 cases spike, some states came out with new strategies to check the spread of the disease.

In a first, Tamil Nadu tested as many as 25,463 samples in a single day while 2,174 people tested positive for the coronavirus, the state's highest increase in a 24-hour period, propelling its tally to over 50,000.

The Maharashtra government has been testing samples aggressively and tracing new cases under "chase the virus" strategy, and has also ramped up health infrastructure, according to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

With this strategy, the virus spread has been significantly contained in Dharavi, the biggest and thickly-populated slum sprawl in Mumbai, an official release quoted Thackeray as having told the prime minister during a video conference.

Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally stood at 1,16,752, according to a state health bulletin.

The Karnataka government has decided to conduct random testing on slum dwellers, vendors and bill collectors at markets, delivery and courier boys among others, aimed at effective surveillance, an official circular said. On Wednesday, the state's toll reached 102, while the number of cases rose to 7,734 with 204 patients testing positive.

In Delhi, health surveys were conducted for 1.78 lakh people in 242 containment zones between 15 and 16 June in a bid to improve contact mapping in the National Capital, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs, days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah stepped in and announced a slew of measures to fight the pandemic.

Saving lives should be top priority: Modi

Saving lives should be the top priority, Modi told the chief ministers, as he called for expanding the health infrastructure of the states, according to an official statement.

Wednesday's interaction virtual meeting was the second and final segment of Modi’s sixth round of consultations with chief ministers of states and L-Gs of Union Territories in the last three months on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Referring to the rise in number of infections, Modi underscored the need for testing, tracking, tracing and isolating COVID-19 patients to deal with the pandemic.

Noting that the spread of COVID-19 is more in a few big states and cities, he asked the states to make full use of their existing testing capacity and also work to augment the health infrastructure.

India has stepped up testing capacity significantly to three lakh samples per day with a network of 924 laboratories including 674 in the government sector.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 60,84,256 samples have been analysed for coronavirus in the country till 16 June with 1,63,187 tested on Tuesday.

The prime minister said big crowds, lack of physical-distancing, daily movement of large number of people and small houses in some cities have made the battle against the coronavirus "more challenging".

State-wise figures

Of the 2,003 new deaths, Maharashtra accounted for the highest 1,409 fatalities taking its COVID-19 death tally to 5,537, while coronavirus deaths in Delhi surged by 437 taking its toll to 1,837, according to the Health Ministry data updated at 8 am.

Besides, Tamil Nadu has reported 49 deaths followed by Gujarat at 28, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana at 18 each, Madhya Pradesh 11, West Bengal 10, Rajasthan 7, Karnataka 5 and Telangana 4. Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Punjab, Puducherry and Uttarakhand have reported one fatality each in the last 24 hours.

Of the total 11,903 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 5,537 fatalities followed by Delhi with 1,837 deaths, Gujarat with 1,533, Tamil Nadu with 528, West Bengal with 495, Madhya Pradesh with 476, Uttar Pradesh with 417, Rajasthan with 308 and Telangana with 191 deaths.

The COVID-19 toll reached 118 in Haryana, 94 in Karnataka, 88 in Andhra Pradesh, 72 in Punjab, 63 in Jammu and Kashmir, 41 in Bihar, 25 in Uttarakhand, 20 in Kerala and 11 in Odisha.

Maharashtra has reported maximum number of cases at 1,13,445 followed by Tamil Nadu at 48,019, Delhi at 44,688, Gujarat at 24,577, Uttar Pradesh at 14,091, Rajasthan at 13,216 and West Bengal at 11,909, according to the Health Ministry's data.

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 11,083 in Madhya Pradesh, 8,272 in Haryana, 7,530 in Karnataka and 6,778 in Bihar. It has risen to 6,841 in Andhra Pradesh, 5,406 in Telangana, 5,298 in Jammu and Kashmir, 4,319 in Assam and 4,163 in Odisha.

Punjab has reported 3,371 novel coronavirus cases so far, while Kerala has 2,622 cases. A total of 1,942 people have been infected by the virus in Uttarakhand, 1,839 in Jharkhand, 1,781 in Chhattisgarh, 1,092 in Tripura, 649 in Ladakh, 629 in Goa, 560 in Himachal Pradesh and 500 in Manipur.

Chandigarh has registered 358 COVID-19 cases, Puducherry has 216 cases, Nagaland has 179, Mizoram has 121, Arunachal Pradesh has 95, Sikkim has 70, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 45 COVID-19 cases. Meghalaya and Andaman and Nicobar Islands have registered 44 infections so far.

Ensure payment of salaries to doctors, says SC

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to issue directions to states for payment of salaries and providing necessary quarantine facilities to doctors and healthcare workers engaged in treating COVID-19 patients.

The government told the court it would issue the necessary directions.

A bench of justices Ashok Bhushan, SK Kaul and MR Shah said that doctors and healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients should not be denied quarantine facilities.

The top court asked the Centre to file a compliance report within four weeks on payment of salaries and quarantine facilities to doctors and healthcare workers and warned that non-compliance would be viewed seriously.

The bench was hearing a plea filed by a private doctor raising questions on the Centre's 15 May decision that 14-day quarantine was not mandatory for doctors.

Doctor Arushi Jain, in her petition filed through advocates Mithu Jain and Arjun Syal, had alleged that front line healthcare workers engaged in the fight against COVID-19 are not being paid salaries or their wages are being cut or delayed.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre said that government would issue the directions to states and Union territories within 24 hours to ensure timely payment of salaries to doctors and health care workers.

With inputs from PTI

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11th, 12th, 13th June 2020 Current affairs Vignan IAS

RBI has released draft Frameworks for ‘Sale of Loan Exposures’ and ‘Securitisation of Standard Assets’ About: These draft guidelines are applicable to all Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks); All India Financial Institutions (NABARD, NHB, EXIM Bank, and SIDBI); and, all Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) including Housing Finance Companies (HFCs). The guidelines attempt to align the regulatory framework with the Basel guidelines on securitisation that have come into force effective January 1, 2018. The revisions also take into account the recommendations of the Committee on Development of Housing Finance Securitisation Market in India (Chair: Dr. Harsh Vardhan) and the Task Force on the Development of Secondary Market for Corporate Loans (Chair: Shri T.N. Manoharan), which were set up by the RBI in May, 2019.  Important Info : Salient features of draft guidelines: Only transactions that result in multiple tranches of securities being issued reflecting different credit risks will be treated as securitisation transactions.Two capital measurement approaches have been proposed: Securitisation External Ratings Based Approach (SEC-ERBA) and Securitisation Standardised Approach (SEC-SA).A special case of securitisation, called Simple, Transparent and Comparable (STC) securitisations, has been prescribed with clearly defined criteria and preferential capital treatment.The definition of securitisation has been modified to allow single asset securitisations. Securitisation of exposures purchased from other lenders has been allowed.Standard Assets would be allowed to be sold by lenders through assignment, novation or a loan participation contract . The Stressed Assets, however, would be allowed to be sold only through assignment or novation.Requirement of Minimum Retention Requirement (MRR) for sale of loans has been done away with.  Source : The Hindu (Economy) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the COVID Emergency Credit Facility covers all companies and not just Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) About: The Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) is the biggest fiscal component of the Rs 20-lakh crore Self-Reliant India Mission package announced by Finance Minister last month. Under the scheme, 100 per cent guarantee coverage will be provided by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) for additional funding of up to Rs 3 lakh crore to eligible companies and borrowers, in the form of a guaranteed emergency credit line (GECL) facility. For this purpose, a corpus of Rs 41,600 crore was provided by the government, spread over the current and next three financial years. The scheme will be applicable to all loans sanctioned under GECL facility during the period from the date of announcement of the scheme to October 31 or till an amount of Rs 3 lakh crore is sanctioned under GECL, whichever is earlier. The main objective of the scheme is to provide an incentive to member lending institutions to increase access and enable availability of additional funding facility to borrowers, in view of the economic distress caused by the COVID-19 crisis.  Source : All India Radio (Economy) Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) have recorded at least 14 earthquakes of low or medium intensity since April, 2020 About: As per the 2002 map by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), India is divided into four seismic zones – viz. Zone II, III, IV and V – based on seismicity, earthquakes occurred in the past and tectonic setup of the region. Delhi falls in Zone IV, which makes it vulnerable to earthquakes. Delhi does not lie on a plate boundary. It is located on a single plate, and the seismic activity is generated by internal deformities. Important Info : Seismic Zones: Zone II: This is seismically the least active region. It covers parts of India that are not included in Zone III, IV and V.Zone III: Comprises Kerala, Goa, Lakshadweep islands, remaining parts of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal, Parts of Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.Zone IV: It covers parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, Sikkim, Northern parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, parts of Gujarat and small portions of Maharashtra near the west coast and Rajasthan.Zone V: This is seismically the most active region. Parts of the Himalayan boundary in North and Northeast India fall in this zone. Kutch area in the West also falls here. Remaining parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttranchal, part of North Bihar and Andaman and the Nicobar Islands are included. Source : Indian Express (Disaster Management) A new study suggests that one of the ways of effective social distancing strategies to keep the Covid-19 curve flat include the idea of social bubbles About: A social bubble is a close-set of people i.e. like family, with whom we interact on a regular basis. During the current lockdown, a social bubble is limited to the members of a household with whom one interacts on a daily basis. However, as things normalise and conditions in general improve, this bubble can grow larger. It can then include close friends and relatives and neighbours. This in a later stage can expand further and include any person with whom we may need to get in contact with in our daily lives. The idea is that if people decide to expand their bubble gradually and make sure that they meet and contact only those who come inside their existing bubble, the risk of the spread of COVID-19 can be limited. It also reduces the psychological and financial harm of lockdowns. Research published by the London School of Economics and Political Science says that the concept of social bubbles proved effective for New Zealand since it allowed people who were isolated, vulnerable or struggling to receive the care and support they needed.  Source : Indian Express (Health) A 3,000-years-old Mayan temple has been discovered in Mexico through laser mapping technique, making it the ancient civilisation's oldest and largest monument About: The temple site called Aquada Fenix, in Mexico, is 4,600 feet long and up to 50 feet high, making it larger than the Mayan pyramids and palaces of later periods. It was built between 800 BC and 1,000 BC. One of the most remarkable revelations from the find was the complete lack of stone sculptures related to rulers and elites, such as colossal heads and thrones, that are commonly seen in other Mayan temples. This suggests that the people who built it were more egalitarian than later generations of Mayans. Source : News18 (Geography) Gairsain in Chamoli district has been formally declared as the summer capital of Uttarakhand. A notification was issued after state governor gave her assent to the move About: The development came three months after Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had announced making Gairsain the summer capital, besides Dehradun, during the budget session of the assembly on March 4. Now, with the announcement of Gairsain as the summer capital, there is a lack of clarity on the status of Dehradun.  Important Info : Background: Gairsain is a town and Nagar Panchayat in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand. Gairsain is situated at the eastern edge of the Dudhatoli mountain range.Uttarakhand was carved out as a separate state from Uttar Pradesh in 2000.Statehood activists had long contended that Gairsain, a tehsil in Chamoli district, was best suited to be the capital of the mountainous state as it was a hilly region falling on the border of Kumaon and Garhwal regions. But it was Dehradun, located in the plains, that served as the temporary capital.The state Assembly is located in Dehradun, but sessions are held in Gairsain as well. Source : Indian Express (Polity & Governance) The Ramon Magsaysay awards have been cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the only third time the annual awards were disrupted in six decades. The awards were also cancelled due to a financial crisis in 1970 and a disastrous earthquake that hit the Philippines in 1990 About: Ramon Magsaysay award is popularly known as Asia’s Nobel Prize. Criteria: It is given to individuals and organizations in Asia regardless of race, creed, sex, or nationality, who have achieved distinction in their respective fields. (There are some instances where the winners came from Non-Asian countries, but accomplished something in Asia). Name: It is named after Ramon Magsaysay, the third president (1953-57) of Philippines. Background: It was established in 1957 by New York based Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), with the consent of Philippine government. The first Awards were given in 1958. Vinoba Bhave of India was one of the recipients. Awardees are presented with a certificate and a medal. Source : Times of India (Awards) Scientists from Raman Research Institute (RRI), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science &Technology have found out that spectrin, which are flexible rod-shaped molecules present in axons, act as ‘shock absorbers’ to protect axons from stretch-induced damage About: The study can help in understanding and treatment of concussion from head injuries as well as stretch-induced nerve injuries. Axons are long tubular extensions of nerve cells that transmit electrical signals across long distances and can be up to a meter long in the case of humans. At such lengths, they are subjected to large stretch deformations during limb or other bodily movements. Axons in the brain too undergo significant deformations, even during normal activities like jumping. Important Info : Axons vs Dendrite: An axon is one of two types of cytoplasmic protrusions from the cell body of a neuron; the other type is a dendrite.Axons are distinguished from dendrites by several features, includingshape (dendrites often taper while axons usually maintain a constant radius),length (dendrites are restricted to a small region around the cell body while axons can be much longer), andfunction (dendrites receive signals whereas axons transmit them). Source : DD News (Science & Technology) The Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) Complex was inaugurated at Visakhapatnam About: The DSRV Complex is designed to accommodate the newly inducted Submarine Rescue System with state of the art facilities to store the DSRV assets in a Rescue-Ready state. The DSRV system consists of a Submarine Rescue Vessel, a Remote Operations Vehicle, Side Scan Sonar and associated equipment. It also has Diver Decompression Chambers and hyperbaric medical equipment to decompress submariners after being rescued from a sunken submarine. The DSRV system can be rapidly mobilised by air or road to facilitate submarine rescue operations even at distant locations. The Indian Navy has inducted two such systems which will provide rescue cover to submarines on the West and East coast of India respectively. Currently, there are about 40 nations that operate submarines in the world out of which only a few have any form of submarine rescue capability.  Source : All India Radio (Defence & Security) The World Accreditation Day (WAD) 2020 was celebrated on 9th June under the theme “Accreditation: Improving Food Safety About: The World Accreditation Day (WAD) is celebrated on 9th June every year to highlight as well as promote the role of accreditation in trade & economy. The theme for WAD 2020 is “Accreditation: Improving Food Safety”, as decided by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB) and National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), the two accreditation boards of the Quality Council of India (QCI), organised a Webinar to commemorate the event. Important Info : Quality Council of India (QCI)? Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up in 1997 jointly by the Government of India and the Indian Industry represented by the three premier industry associations i.e. ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI, to establish and operate national accreditation structure.The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, is the nodal ministry for QCI. Source : Economic Times (Economy) World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL) is being observed on 12 June under the theme “COVID-19: Protect children from child labour, now more than ever”, focussing on the impact of coronavirus crisis on child labour About: Nodal agency: It is an International Labour Organization (ILO)-sanctioned holiday aiming to raise awareness and activism to prevent child labour. Date of observance: The Day is observed every year on June 12. Background: It was first launched in It was spurred by ratifications of ILO Convention No. 138 on the minimum age for employment and ILO Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labour. Important Info : Target 8.7 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals calls for an end to child labour in all its forms by 2025. Source : United Nations (Social Issues) The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2021 were released About: The top 10 universities of the world comprised mainly the top-notch Ivy League colleges from the US, the UK and even one from Switzerland. While Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of the United States secured Rank 1, Stanford and Harvard universities secured the next two ranks in the list of the world’s best universities. UK's Oxford University took fifth place in the ranking. Indian scenario No Indian institute secured a position among the top 100 universities of the world. Like last year’s QS rankings, IIT Bombay, IISc Bengaluru, and IIT Delhi featured in the top 200 list, but all three saw a drop in their ranks this year. IIT Bombay dropped 20 spots -- from 152 to 172, IISC Bengaluru dropped just one spot from 184 to 185, and IIT Delhi dropped 11 spots from 182 to 193. The total number of Indian institutions in the top 1,000 global list has also fallen from 24 to 21. Important Info : Do you know? QS World University Rankings is published annually by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), a British company specialising in the analysis of higher education institutions around the world.It measures the world’s top 1,000 universities on 6 factors:Academic reputation (40%)Employer reputation (10%)Faculty/Student Ratio (20%)Citations per faculty (20%)International Faculty Ratio (5%)International student ratio (5%) Source : The Hindu (Education) Indian Railways has created a new world benchmark by successfully running first Double-Stack Container Train in high-rise in Over Head Equipment (OHE) electrified territory on Western Railway About: The Operations successfully commenced on 10th June from Palanpur and Botad stations in Gujarat. With this remarkable development, Railways has become the first to run Double-Stack Container train with high reach pantograph in high rise Over Head Equipment territory, which has contact wire height of 7.57 metre This achievement is a first of its kind in the entire world and will also boost the ambitious mission of Green India. Source : All India Radio (Economy) Union Ministry of Environment has issued an advisory for import of exotic species. The move comes as the outbreak of COVID-19 has raised global concern about illegal wildlife trade and zoonotic diseases Key highlights of advisory: The advisory defines ‘Exotic Live Species’ as animal or plant species moved from their original range (location) to a new one. ‘Exotic live species’ shall be construed to mean only “the animals named under the Appendices I, II and III of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora”. Species covered by the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 cannot be traded. People importing “exotic live species” will have to make a voluntary disclosure. For new ‘Exotic Live Species’, the importer should obtain a no-objection certificate from the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) of the State. For Existing Species, stocks “shall be declared by the owner/ holder to the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) of the concerned State or UT”.  Important Info : Comment: It will create a process where all imports will be screened. As of now, the imports are being made through the Director General of Foreign Trade and State Forest departments are not kept in the loop.Several exotic species of birds, reptiles, small mammals, fishes and even some plants are imported. Blue and gold macaws are popular exotic pets. Source : The Hindu (Environment) In the reporting on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) stand-off, the Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) road has often appeared. The Chinese build-up along the Galwan River valley region overlooks, and hence poses a direct threat to the DSDBO road About: Darbuk-Shyokh-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) is the 255-km long all-weather road built by India’s Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in eastern Ladakh. It runs almost parallel to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Aksai Chin, the eastern ear of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state that China occupied in the 1950s, leading to the 1962 war in which India came off worse. In October 2019, Defence Minister Singh inaugurated a 500-m-long Bailey Bridge on the road. The bridge is named after Colonel Chewang Rinchen, an Indian Army hero from Ladakh. Located at 14,650 ft, it is believed to be the world’s highest such bridge. Important Info : Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO)? DSDBO connects Leh to Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO), the northernmost corner of Indian territory in Ladakh. DBO itself is less than 10 km west of the LAC at Aksai Chin.DBO has the world’s highest airstrip. Source : Indian Express (Geography) International Albinism Awareness Day 2020 is being observed on June 13 under the theme "Made to Shine" to celebrate the achievements of persons with albinism worldwide About: What is it? Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized in humans by the complete or partial absence of pigmentation (melanin) in the skin, hair and eyes. It is non-contagious. Health impact: Albinism is associated with a number of vision defects, such as photophobia, nystagmus, and amblyopia. Lack of skin pigmentation increases vulnerability to the sun and bright light. As a result, almost all people with albinism are visually impaired and are prone to developing skin cancer. Cause: Albinism results from inheritance of recessive gene alleles. In almost all types of albinism, both parents must carry the gene for it to be passed on, even if they do not have albinism themselves. Prevalence: The condition is found in both sexes regardless of ethnicity and in all countries of the world. Treatment: There is no cure for the absence of melanin that is central to albinism. Source : United Nations (Health) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a Discussion Paper on ‘Governance in Commercial Banks in India’ for public comments About: The objective of the discussion paper is to align the current regulatory framework with global best practices while being mindful of the context of domestic financial system. Based on the feedback, fresh guidelines will be issued. The new norms will come into effect within six months after being placed the RBI’s website or April 1, 2021, whichever is later. The norms will be applicable to private, foreign and public sector banks. Some of the major highlights of the paper are as follows: Board members should not be a member of any other bank’s board or the RBI and should not be either a Member of Parliament or State Legislature or Municipality or other local bodies. Board of directors of a bank should not be less than six and not more than 15, with a majority being independent directors. The board shall meet at least six times a year and at least once every 60 days. A director on the board of an entity other than a bank may be considered for appointment as director on a bank’s board, if the person is not an owner of an NBFC or a full-time employee and that the NBFC does not enjoy a financial accommodation from the bank. Appointment, re-appointment and termination of wholetime directors (WTDs) and chief executive officers CEOs) should be with the previous approval of RBI. The upper age limit for CEO and WTDs of banks is suggested at 70 years. Banks will be free to set a lower age for such appointments. Source : The Hindu (Economy) About: The IFLOWS-Mumbai has been developed by the Union Ministry for Earth Sciences on the request of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). IFLOWS-Mumbai is a state of art Integrated Flood Warning system for Mumbai. It is expected to enhance Mumbai’s resilience by providing early warning for flooding specially during high rainfall events and cyclones. I-FLOWS comprises seven modules, namely Data Assimilation, Flood, Inundation, Vulnerability, Risk, Dissemination Module and Decision Support System. The system has provisions to capture the urban drainage within the city and predict the areas of flooding, which will be incorporated in the final system. Source : All India Radio Integrated Flood Warning System - IFLOWS was inaugurated in Mumbai by Union Minister for Earth Sciences and Maharashtra Chief Minister About: The IFLOWS-Mumbai has been developed by the Union Ministry for Earth Sciences on the request of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM). IFLOWS-Mumbai is a state of art Integrated Flood Warning system for Mumbai. It is expected to enhance Mumbai’s resilience by providing early warning for flooding specially during high rainfall events and cyclones. I-FLOWS comprises seven modules, namely Data Assimilation, Flood, Inundation, Vulnerability, Risk, Dissemination Module and Decision Support System. The system has provisions to capture the urban drainage within the city and predict the areas of flooding, which will be incorporated in the final system. Source : All India Radio (Disaster Management) Union Agriculture Minister launched Sahakar Mitra: Scheme on Internship Programme (SIP) About: Objective: To help cooperative institutions access innovative ideas of young professionals while the interns will gain experience of working in the field to be self-reliant. Bodies involved: The scheme is an initiative by National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), the cooperative sector development finance organization. Eligibility under scheme: Professional graduates in disciplines such as Agriculture and allied areas, IT etc. will be eligible for internship. Professionals who are pursuing or have completed their MBA degrees in Agri-business, Cooperation, Finance, International Trade, Forestry, Rural Development, Project Management etc. will also be eligible. Stipend: Each intern will get financial support over a 4 months internship period. Source : PIB (Economy) The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) will classify railway stations under the red, orange and green categories based on the quantity of waste water generated and the disposal of untreated water into the municipal drain system About: Railway stations generating waste water equal to or more than 100 Kilo Litres per Day (KLD) would be categorised as Red. Railway stations generating waste water greater than 10 KLD but less than 100 KLD would come under the Orange category. Railway stations with less than 10 KLD waste water generation would be branded Green. CPCB, by invoking powers under the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, had issued a direction to all State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) to categorise railway stations and send an action taken report. Source : The Hindu (Environment) Read the full article

[loyallogic]

Migrant Workers Crisis: Ignorance and Helplessness at its Height

This article is written by Aayush Akar and Yash Chhikara from National Law University, Odisha. The following article deals with the Migrant crisis relating to their livelihood during Lockdown.

Introduction 

The effect of the COVID-19 crisis on low-skilled foreign employees and casual workers has been catastrophic. Work deprivation, lack of social care, and being stuck in a foreign city or state would be problems that the nation would have to contend with well outside the post-COVID-19 era. Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees that every member of the community has a right to social security. The basic values and norms of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) cover employees in diverse industries which include freedom of speech, fair compensation for equal jobs, healthy working practices, removal of slave labour and racial segregation, equality of education, social security policy, the safety of foreign employees, reduction of sexual abuse against woman employees and other similar things.

The 2018-2019 Economic Survey notes that 93% of jobs are in the informal economy, while NITI Aayog’s “Strategy for New India @75” in 2018 reports that “India’s informal sector employs around 85 per cent of all employees”. Although sources can vary on the exact figures, the vastness of informal jobs is an acknowledged and well-known fact. Such jobs contribute 50% of India’s national income and make up a significant part of the country’s human resource base. Given the vast percentage of the population stuck in the informal network, the establishment of legal and economic security would be a significant undertaking throughout this pandemic. Although India has a broad variety of social security programs in the fields of employment, health care, training, food protection and pensions most of these initiatives are restricted to the formal market.

The 2011 census migration data was analysed and published in the 2017 Economic Survey based on the Ministry of Railways’ rail passenger traffic flows and new methodologies such as the “Cohort Migration Metric (CMM)”. Estimates using the 2011 census and the 2007-08 National Survey Sample put the proportion of migrants in the workplace between 17 and 29 per cent. There was a gradual growth in the number of internal migrants yearly, between 2001 and 2011, inter-state labour movement reached 5-6 million citizens, thus the inter-state migrant community constitutes 60 million and inter-district migration is 80 million. External work-related migration figures for 2011-2016 indicate that nine million workers are moving between states.

Recent migration trends show that states such as Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat attract large swaths of migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh’s Hindi heartland. West Bengal is now drawing a huge number of refugees from Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha neighbouring states. Because Maharashtra and West Bengal are the largest regional economies and regional magnets for migrants in the southern and western regions and the northern and eastern regions respectively, we are focusing in particular on how these two countries responded to the fear of coronavirus by protecting their migrants.

The pandemic has jarringly highlighted the gaps that remain in the regional discourse on safeguarding migrant labour rights. There is a glaring lack of focus on taking up an updated stock of the migrant population of states and providing them with social security based on labour standards. There are sparse disaggregated internal migration data in India- the official estimates of the number of migrant workers mainly originate from the census reports that identify a migrant as an individual who resides anywhere other than their birthplace or their last place of residence.

A concentrated push to collect state-of-the-art migrant data inside states is necessary to better gage the funds required to have sufficient access to the food supply, accommodation, sanitation, and financial services all factors that are currently difficult to access for migrant seasonal workers. Lack of granular data is a significant explanation why the country appears to have just risen to the migrant problem, no one understands the severity of the case and the evidence have come from simulations focused on results.

States will also ensure that, along with the growing increase in developing social insurance systems for informal industries, foreign employees are distinguished and compensated for additional issues such as the lack of evidence of identification and lack of collaboration with the country of origin. A roadmap should be drawn up for collaboration between states to alleviate the burden on interstate migrants without waiting for another pandemic to push its hand.

Even the Supreme Court has declined to order central government and state governments to ensure wage/minimum wage compensation for all migrant employees. However, it called on the government to take the requisite measures to address migrant workers’ problems.

The Court was hearing the petition seeking guidance from the federal government and the government of the state to collectively and severally ensure salary/minimum wage payments to all migrant employees within one week. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for petitioner Harsh Mander, had claimed that thousands of employees still denied exposure to essential services, following government initiatives. He also claimed that surveys carried out by NGOs found that there are many places in which the assistance does not enter migrant workers.

On the other side, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta filed a status report and stated that there are numerous steps in progress to resolve the migrant worker’s problems. He further claimed that the helpline number was given to report on implementation problems at ground level and that, if any feedback is received, the authorities instantly seek to resolve the same. Satisfied with the government’s response, the Court resolved to take certain measures as it considered appropriate to address the issues posed in the petition with the government’s approval.

On April 13, the bench headed by CJI SA Bobde scheduled a PIL seeking urgent guidance to pay simple minimum wages to migrant employees, adversely impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown. The Court had asked the Bhushan to pass the affidavit meanwhile. Bhushan advised the court that more than four lakh migrant workers stay in shelters and create a joke of social isolation. “If they’re kept in the shelter homes, even if one person has coronavirus they will all get infected.” adding that many people will die by Monday, Bhushan said, “They should be allowed to go back to their own homes. Families need money for survival because they are dependent on wages.” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the central government is at the top of this situation and is looking into the grievances that have been issued. He added that a call centre had also been established to address and resolve issues. Mehta said the Home Affairs Minister controls the helpline every day. The PIL requested an urgent order from the Central Government to pay reasonable minimum wages to migrant workers and argued that the lock-up, enforced in an attempt to deter coronavirus spread throughout the world, discriminated against residents. Last month, the bench of L. Negeswara Rao and Deepak Gupta, sent a notice to the Central Government of a petition seeking urgent guidance for the payment of simple minimum wages to migrant employees, adversely impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown.

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Reason of the Movement- Understanding the Reasons for the Core

Migrant workers are among the citizens that are the key foundation of GDP production. They are like the nowhere men that are present everywhere, whether it is household jobs or factory work. These individuals are most impacted by this lockdown. And, because of the loss of some sort of work or money in hand, these citizens needed to re-migrate. 

The lockdown was declared on March 25 and it was clear that, in this pandemic, most domestic employees, industrial labourers would lose their employment. They were all going to get their wages for their respective month in the matter of the next few days. So most of them submitted their remittals on the first week of the month. As a result, they were stuck with the negligible income because they didn’t receive the corresponding month’s salary despite the provisions of the decree issued on 29 th March.

Additionally, government-mandated to follow the lockdown directives. If these workers were spotted on the road, on the highways, they were brutally punished by the police. As a result, they preferred to move along the railway tracks and sleep on the respective platforms and, if they were not able to make it up to the station, they preferred to sleep on the tracks.

The government’s pledge to build shelters. Those places are (as stated by these migrant workers) filthy places with no proper roof and rough ground. They are forced to stay in those unhygienic conditions. In UP alone, nearly three lakh migrant workers were quarantined in shelters with no sufficient food supply and unhygienic conditions. As a result, these helpless workers decided to move to their native place.

It is not only the legal obligation on the part of the state to aid migrant workers, but it is their contractual requirement to provide them assistance to reach out to their home state. In Surat, angry workers were on the streets demanding the train to reach their destination, tear gas shells were fired at them. When they didn’t see any other way out, they were compelled to travel on foot to meet their target. 

With an inexorable lockout, where people think it easier to suffer from hunger than from corona, where people consider it safer to be disinclined to travel hundreds of miles than to stay in locked spaces, where people find it easier to sleep on the railroads than to be punished by the military. It depicts the great loss of trust of these millions of migrant workers towards the administration. The corollaries of this massive loss of trust are that they are forced to move to their home state.

Steps were taken by the States in the Pandemic

After the Janata Curfew, which was announced on March, 22nd, Centre has further pronounced a twenty-one-day lockdown on March, 24th. Till then many states had already invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897, putting stringent restrictions on the movement of the people. Section 2 of the “Epidemic Diseases Act” delivers power to the state government to “take special measures and prescribe regulations as to dangerous epidemic disease.” Further on March 24, National Disaster Management Authority had released an order under which it exercises its power mentioned in section 6 (2)(i) of the “Disaster Management Act” to direct the state government to take effective steps to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Later, on March 29, the Ministry of Home Affair had released an order stating the movement of migrant workers as a violation of the lockdown and the chairman of the National Executive Council implementing similar directions had directed the state authorities to ensure additional arrangements such as:

To provide transitory housing, and supplies of food to the disadvantaged public which includes the migrant workers who are stranded due to the lockdown and to the ones who had moved out, but could not reach their home state, provided they are properly screened for a minimum period of fourteen days as per standard health protocol.

All the employees whether it is in the commercial sector such as shops or the industrial sector such as labourers should be provided with the wages, without any subtraction for the time of closure during the lockdown.

Landlords of the property could not demand the rent from the workers including from the migrants for one month. Any force to vacate their land will be held actionable in the act.

Further development came on 3rd April when on the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the home ministry had announced to provide the funds of rupees eleven thousand ninety-two crores to all the state governments. 

Under which Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar has received the maximum amount of rupees 1611, 966, 910, 740, 708 crores respectively. Also, according to the census of 2011, these states, which includes Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar accounts for more than 50 per cent of the interstate migrants. Whereas Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh housed more than 50% of these migrants.

Though there is no recent data available as to how many migrant workers are stranded in various parts of the country. An RTI filed by the applicant Venkatesh asking the information about the data received from various districts of the states on the migrant workers, revealed that there was currently no data with labour’s commissioner office concerning the same. In this case, it becomes even more important for the states to take effective measures at the grass-root level to ensure that migrant workers who received the worst hit by the pandemic get the required support from the authorities.

Several state governments had come out with various guidelines and orders to support the stranded migrant workers. This article will focus on these steps taken by the state government.  

Uttar Pradesh

Seeing the hue & cry of migrant workers from the various parts of the country, the Uttar Pradesh government decided to bring back the workers who were stranded on the border districts. To do so, on 28 March, the government arranged thousands of buses to facilitate these workers. The government also prepared an action plan for the return of the migrants and tried to map all the workers who were there in the relief camps. 

The state government time and again had asked the stranded migrants to maintain patience and to be in touch with the respective state authorities. Government is of the view to bring the workers in different phases. It will be first bringing the workers who had completed their fourteen days quarantine in other states. The energy minister of the state Mr Shrikant Sharma said, The government is conscious of the challenges but is determined to convert them into opportunities. Government is of the view to generate employment opportunities for these workers so that they do not have to migrate again.

These measures taken by the state authority came after a long time. It took almost one month for the authorities to bring back these stranded migrants and still many are there in shelter homes or are on their way to reach their home state on foot. These lakhs of workers are forced to live on constrained resources and in an unsanitary condition in the shelter homes. This delay took a heavy toll on the lives of these stranded migrant workers. If these decisions would have been implemented earlier, these workers would have reached their state much before.

Delhi

Following the lockdown, there were lakhs of daily wage migrant workers who were there on the streets of Delhi to reach their home state. Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal asked these workers to not to leave their homes and shanties and asserted that the government could feed all the Delhi workers. The government had converted government schools to shelter homes and had also started buses to avoid travelling of workers.

The state government had announced plans to provide grains to 7.2 million workers living in the state and also started an e-coupon service for the workers who are not covered under the public distribution scheme. It had also started an online application system for the movement of workers to their home state and appointed nodal officers and had addressed the police officials to restrain the unregulated movement of the workers. 

Though the government tried to resolve the distress of these migrant workers through various schemes it had failed miserably to implement those. The Delhi ration registry works on the data of 2011 census but the situation has considerably changed in nine years. There would be many vulnerable families who will not be recognized under the said scheme. And the e-coupon scheme started by the government failed to recognize the fact that many of these poor migrant workers do not have the required mobile phones and the internet connection to register for the said scheme. The government needs to take some steps forward to execute the said scheme.

Bihar

Reaching to migrant workers who are stuck at different places and wanted to reach their home state, and also to the workers who had migrated to Bihar for employment, the government had taken various steps to reduce the miseries of these workers. For the daily wage earners, the government said that it had distributed rupees 100 crores from the Chief Minister Relief Fund to be used for these workers by the disaster management department to provide shelters. Also, the government said that it had provided the disaster relief centres for those workers also who had migrated to the state for the projects which are underway in Bihar.

The Bihar government had transferred the amount of rupees 1000 each to the bank accounts of 284000 workers and migrant labourers. The government had also appointed nodal officers and directed the police department for the easy movement of the workers. Tejashwi Yadav who heads the opposition party in Bihar had also offered the fair of 50 trains carrying migrant workers to Bihar.

The help which the state government tried to provide could not reach the significant number of migrant labourers. There are lakhs of these migrant labourers and the help provided by the government is limited. The government too did not have resources to help the workers. The total budget of the Bihar government towards the public expenditure on health was rupees 8,788 crores which was just 4.1% of the total budget. The government needs to take support from the centre because the economy of Bihar at present is facing an unprecedented situation and without the financial support, it won’t be able to support a large number of migrant workers in the state. 

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Maharashtra 

In crises, the government of Maharashtra had tried to support migrants. It has established 262 relief camps across the state which is providing shelter to the 70,399, number of migrants. The Maharashtra government had assured the workers of the proper meal and also of employment once this lockdown ends. The government had reduced the rate of meal which was offered under “Shiv Bhojan Scheme ” so that a large number of workers could be benefitted from the above scheme.

According to a report from the “SWAN (Stranded Workers Action Network),” 96% of the migrants which reached out to the network are unable to access the government rations. Also, 69% runs out of rations in a day. Thousands of migrants find it difficult to reach their home state and the Maharashtra government is not able to stand on the expectations of the workers.

Other States

In Kerala as well there was a great uproar of migrant workers. The workers wanted to leave for their home state after the lockdown was announced. But the government dealt with the migrant workers in a more human approach. It had not only provided the workers with enough food, medicines, sanitizers and masks but also recharged their mobile phones so that they might not feel away from their family. It has also provided 24-hour control rooms where the queries of migrant workers are listened to and resolved. At present Kerala had 18,912 relief camps, which is the maximum number of relief camps for migrant workers in the country.

In Odisha, the government had primarily focused on the Panchayats to deal with the issue of stranded migrants. The panchayats have delegated the power of district collectors to smoothen the movement of all the migrant workers. Also, the government decided to have a registration facility working in each panchayat under which each migrant has to undergo a registration process which could be done by his friends or their family members. Each migrant had to undergo a 14-day quarantine during which food and shelter would be provided free and once the quarantine was completed, he would also be provided with 2000 rupees.

Whereas in Karnataka, after the uproar from migrant workers to allow them to move to their home state, the state government had altered its decision and finally allowed these workers to leave. Interested migrant workers had to register themselves via an online portal and then the application will be sorted state wise. All the migrant workers will be screened by the health authorities and then officials would identify the selected migrants and provide them with the ticket at a price decided by the railways. 

Constitutional And International Obligations

Constitutional Obligations

The unprecedented lockdown on 25 March left the lakhs of workers in the varied places of the country stranded. The situation now is that there is a need to recognize and protect the rights of these workers. There is a continuous threat to their fundamental rights. These lakhs of workers in approximately two months had encountered threats on their livelihood, food, shelter, income, security and dignity. The government cannot turn a nelson’s eye on the plight of these workers and had to recognize and protect their rights. 

The nationwide lockdown had questioned two important fundamental rights, Article 14, which is “equality before the law” and Article 21, which is “protection of life and personal liberty.” The result of lockdown had a disproportionate impact on the lives of the workers. The construction workers, domestic servants and all the daily wage earners are disproportionately affected by this lockdown. Their daily chores by nature could not be done from their home. This disproportionate impact resulted in the “socio-economic class” which is a valid ground under the right to equality as held by the apex court in the case of “State of Maharashtra v Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association.” The very disproportionate impact of the lockdown on one set of people is not based on any “intelligible differentia” and is per se discriminatory. This, as a result, leads to a “positive obligation” on the part of the government to mitigate this disproportionate impact of its decision.

The impact of the lockdown has also affected the right to livelihood, which is present in Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Amidst the pandemic, it is difficult for these workers to perform their duty. The loss of livelihood, income resulted in these workers to leave their rented apartment. Consequences are that these workers had to starve because the government supplied food grains are unable to reach all the migrants. “Right to life” present in Article 21 is not limited to “bare animal existence” rather it consists of the “Right to live with dignity.” Hence it is the responsibility of the court to examine the impact of a government decision on the lives of the migrant worker.

In the time of this pandemic, it is not significant whether the intention of those in power is good or not, but rather, what is important is whether it infringes on the right of people. As in the case of ADM Jabalpur, justice Khanna pointed out “Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent …  [the] greatest danger to liberty lies in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but lacking in due deference for the rule of law.”

This lockdown has forced the government to take extraordinary measures but people who are in power must recognize and prevent any infringement of the rights of these workers. Measures taken by the authorities for the larger public good must not be at the cost of the rights of these people who had received the worst hit by the pandemic. Else the situation will get worse before it gets better and cure would be more dreadful than diseases.

International Obligations

Covid-19 which was earlier seen as a “pneumonia of unknown cause”, was first reported in China on 31 December 2019. In a matter of the next 30 days, it was declared as the Public Health Emergency. On 11th March 2020, it was also announced as the global pandemic. At the time of writing this article, there are 4.37 million cases worldwide. So, it is not hidden from us how threatening the coronavirus is. Hence, there are bound to be some international obligations over the nations.

Right to Health

“Right to health” is present in various “international human rights laws”. But the most noticeable of these is the “International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).” Article 12 of the said right provides “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” which includes steps for “the prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases.” 

Also, as per the United Nation body which monitors the working of ICESCR has clearly stated the various duties of the nation. In its general comment 14, it mentioned the core obligations on the part of states to maintain “right to health”. As it states, “States have a special obligation to provide those who do not have sufficient means with the necessary health insurance and health-care facilities and to prevent any discrimination on internationally prohibited grounds in the provision of health care and health services, especially with respect to the core obligations of the right to health.” Also, the nation, under any position, would not excuse its resistance with its “core obligations” which are “non-derogable.”

In India, due to the lockdown, there were lakhs of migrant workers on the street. These people lack resources and the means to carry out their daily needs which as a consequence resulted in their mass gathering. It becomes the responsibility of the state to take the required steps to maintain their “right to health” else these people would be at the maximum risk of getting infected.

Right to Social Security

Several measures have been taken by nations all over the world, it includes measures such as isolations, travel bans, limitation on public gathering and so on. These measures had disproportionately affected a class of migrant workers. These people left with insecure employment and low wages. These workers do not receive adequate social security benefits like they do not have paid leave or the sick leave and also face difficulties when they are being infected. In this case it is the responsibility on the part of the state to ensure that these workers get access to “social securities” such as sick pay, health care and parental leaves.

Preventing Stigma and Discrimination

The result of the spread of coronavirus was that there were reports of discrimination and stigma against the migrant workers at their home state. There was the general misconception that these people were spreading the coronavirus. These workers were as a result subjected to various atrocities. According to CESCR general comment 20, Health status is a prohibited ground for discrimination and state should ensure that these workers do not receive any social outrage and should not be discriminated. Any kind of discrimination would undermine their ability to enjoy their human rights. This discrimination would also lead to people hiding their symptoms and utilising the health care facilities, and also discourage people from adopting healthy behaviour.

Hence states should take substantial and directed measures to resolve discrimination and atrocities on the workers. It should come up with strategies, policies and plans to protect the workers from outrage and mistreatment. 

International Labour Organisation Recommendations

International labour organisations in Employment and decent work for peace and resilience Recommendations, 2017 had mentioned the response of the state in a situation of crisis. It says that the state should seek to ensure basic income security, specifically to the people who had lost their livelihood as a result of the crisis and also take essential health care measures for the people who have been made vulnerable by the crisis. ILO had also warned India and mentioned that there are about 40 crore workers in the informal economy who are at the risk of falling deeper into poverty due to the corona crisis.

Though India has controlled the COVID-19 pandemic quite efficiently with respect to European and many Western countries. But effective measures need to be taken by the government with proper compliance with both constitutional and international obligations to ensure that the rights of deprived are equally protected.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic is now known by corona, surveillance, thermal screening, isolation, vaccination and, most prominently, “stranded migrant workers.” At periodic intervals, we saw many tired labourers walking slowly along roads and such migrant workers added to the country’s growth through the sheer sweat of their foreheads, their labour, so that India could push towards the goal of being a trillion-dollar economy. The catastrophe of nature is that since these very same state-builders needed the support of the world to reach their modest residences, we denied them access to food, shelter and transport.

The media outlets have done nothing beyond just placed the focus on their frightening journeys. These are people who were decimated, mowed down, and fated to die of fatigue actually from starvation. This is a disgrace to humanity and an indignity to a country. The eye-catching disparity between two Indians has profoundly come to light. On the one hand, these workers suddenly lost their livelihood. Their hard-earned money was otherwise transferred to their households to satisfy the family needs, and their means of livelihood for themselves was immediately wiped out. Today, shorn of all, by selling their family valuables, these migrants have increased the cost of their travelling home. The lockdown forced them to speak differently about immigrants, whether they were educated or unskilled, blue or white-collar workers. Every migrant is confronted with trouble. Across these regions, therefore, appropriate facilities should be developed to solve their issues. Their skills are needed to balance demand and supply, and employers need to be flexible enough to build the facilities they need. Laws and regulations are thus needed to resolve any difficulties that migrants may comprehensively face in the future.

The ongoing situation also makes us worry to have a separate Ministry of Immigration, concerned exclusively with domestic migrants. The UPA government was innovative enough to set up the “Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs” to give sufficient consideration to the numerous issues facing Indian expatriates. To some extent, it has helped to boost conditions for Indians living overseas. We have to also pay attention to domestic migrant workers. The dedicated Ministry of Migrant Affairs will provide the full database of the migrants-their place of birth, the location to which they have travelled, the skills they possess, etc. To ensure transparency and helping to arrange their housing, transport and food in times of crisis, this will help to build adequate employment. The Ministry must engage with the respective States on the issue of migrants. Migrants across the globe prefer to migrate in search of new opportunities. 

The police and other officials should consider the anxieties and concerns of migrants. As ordered by the “Union of India”, migrants should be treated humanely. Because of the situation, we are of the view that the Governments of the “states/union territories” should endeavour to involve volunteers with the authorities to oversee the welfare activities of migrants. The government of India adopted four labour codes to try to revamp the labour and industrial law environment. Among them, the draft “Social Security and Social Welfare Labour Code 2018” called for the convergence of schemes and benefits in the world, respecting workers’ rights to receive benefits all over the country. However, the word “welfare” has fallen and certain provisions concerning the social welfare of workers have been diluted or omitted. Regarding how migrant workers have special safeguards, the new Social Security bill 2019 remains silent. The Bill covers essential areas such as work disability compensation and the allocation of funds for workers. The Government is taking measures but concrete measures are required to deal with such a pandemic in future. 

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The post Migrant Workers Crisis: Ignorance and Helplessness at its Height appeared first on iPleaders.

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[insightonlinenews]

In A First, Kerala Schools’ New Academic Year Begins Online

With authorities trying their level best to bring back normalcy to day-to-day lives of people — thrown haywire by the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent lockdown — Kerala has opted for online teaching to ensure the studies of schoolchildren in the coastal state does not suffer.

 Online classes have been enabled through state-owned KITE-Victers Channel to benefit about 4.5 million students from Class 1 to 12 of state syllabus schools.

 Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan appeared on TV at 8.30 am on Monday and announced the commencement of the online classes.

 “Each class will have separate time slots and schoolteachers concerned will have to constantly interact with their students to ensure that all follow the new routine of online classes,” said Vijayan.

 For students who miss online classes due to power failure or connectivity issues, there will be a daily repeat telecast, as also available on YouTube.

 But for the COVID scare, Monday would have witnessed the usual hustle and bustle in Kerala schools as students would have walked in wearing new school uniforms and carrying schoolbags.

 Vice-Chairman and Executive Director Anwar Sadath of Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) — which is behind the IT-enabled education in over 16,000 Kerala schools — told IANS that they have been working on the project for a while, with the biggest advantage that all digital content was ready.

 He said it could never ever be imagined that online classrooms would be put into effect so quickly.

 “We have prepared time-tables for all classes. The first class of the day was for Class 12 English subject for half an hour in which lectures recorded by two teachers were aired. This service reaches every student’s home through the KITE-Victers channel, which is aired by a cable TV network,” said Sadath.

 Daily, there will be four periods for Class 12, 3 for Class X and two each for Class 8 and 9, and one period each for all other classes. Each period will be of 30-minute duration.

 “KITE-Victers is holding online classes through the broadcast, web, and even offline. One or two teachers handle one subject for a 30-minute period. The telecast is watched by all the students of that particular class across the state. At the end of the day, the teachers concerned at every school interact with their students through mobile phones for feedback. It’s the responsibility of the teacher concerned to clear all doubts of his or her students,” said Sadath.

 Recording of all lectures for the next two weeks has been done while recording for the third week has commenced.

 Special arrangements have been made for students who do not have TVs or smartphones.

 “In-state schools, there are 1.20 lakh laptops, 80,000 projectors, and 4,500 TV sets. By now, teachers have identified students who do not have access to TVs. We have made arrangements to set up TV facilities in which 5 to 10 students can visit near their homes and attend online classes while observing social distancing norms. All these students need to come for just 30 minutes daily,” the KITE officer said.

 State Higher Education Minister (Colleges) K.T. Jaleel, who has been a history teacher, inaugurated the online classes for colleges by taking a lecturer on ‘renaissance’ for History students. For the colleges, it’s more of a web telecast.

 State Education Minister C. Raveendranth, a former college professor, said that the online classes were just a temporary arrangement and not an alternative to traditional classroom learning.

 “Once the situation normalizes, students can return to their classrooms. All shortcomings in the online system will be rectified,” said Raveendranath.

 A Class 12 student, who attended her first online class, said it was a new experience for her.

 “However, I wish to attend school and sit in a classroom with my friends. Online teaching does not give the same experience as one gets when in school. I wish and hope the schools reopen soon,” said the student.

 Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy pointed out that Victer's TV channel was launched by then-President APJ Abdul Kalam when Chandy was the Chief Minister in 2005.

  Source: Trusted Online News Portals in India

 Bihar News Patna |  Latest Jharkhand News in Hindi | Entertainment News India | Top Environment News |

[liveindiatimes]

Indian Railways sells tickets worth Rs 16 cr on day 2 - business news

https://www.liveindiatimes.com/indian-railways-sells-tickets-worth-rs-16-cr-on-day-2-business-news/

Indian Railways said on Tuesday more than 82,000 passengers booked reservations on the 30 special trains it has resumed on several routes across the country after almost two months.

Officials said 45,553 PNRs (passenger name records) were generated and the Indian Railways earned Rs 16,15,63,821 after tickets sale on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website. More than one passenger can travel on one PNR.

The Indian Railways resumed passenger train operations from Tuesday, nearly two months after these services were stopped amid the nationwide lockdown imposed as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The first train to run after the gap of 51 days, the first such break in the 167-year history of the railways, will begin its journey from New Delhi for Bilaspur at 4pm on Tuesday.

The railways opened bookings for passenger services on Monday with 15 trains a day connecting Delhi to Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and other big cities.

Bookings for these 15 pair of passenger trains started from 6pm on Monday, two hours behind the scheduled opening time, due to technical issues but all AC-1 and AC-3 tickets for the Howrah-New Delhi train were sold within the first 10 minutes. All AC-1 and AC-3 tickets for the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi special trains were also sold by 6.30pm.

The Indian Railways has issued several guidelines, health as well as those related to bookings and travelling, for effective contact tracing and follow social distancing both at stations and in trains.

Passengers will have to book general category tickets online — on the IRCTC website and on its app. A few reservation counters will be opened for HOR (high official requisition) holders, freedom fighters, and sitting and former lawmakers, among others.

The fare structure will be similar to that in the premium Rajdhani trains, and the special trains will have first, second and third AC classes. Tickets can be booked a maximum of seven days in advance, and only confirmed tickets can be bought online.

RAC (Reservation against cancellation), waiting list tickets and tickets issued on board will not be allowed. Online cancellation will be permitted up to 24 hours before scheduled departure, and the cancellation charge shall be 50% of the fare.

The government has decided to resume passenger train services, prohibited since March 22, connecting New Delhi with Dibrugarh (Assam), Agartala (Tripura), Howrah (West Bengal), Patna (Bihar), Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Secunderabad (Telangana), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Madgaon (Goa), Mumbai Central (Maharashtra), Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Jammu Tawi (Jammu and Kashmir).

Indian Railways operated nearly 14,000 passenger trains and ferried 23 million passengers a day before the lockdown was imposed on March 25 to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Source link

[studywithds]

29-02-2020 | Current Affairs

We provide you with the latest news updates and daily current affairs from The Hindu. Indian Express, Live Mint, PIB, Etc, … Today's Current Affairs important Headlines are like : Coronavirus infects global markets, investors dump equities: Growth slows to 4.7% in Q3, 'bottomed out', says Centre: Summer to be hotter than usual, says IMD: State lethargy amidst cough syrup poisoning: Regional bonding: WHO raises the global risk of the virus to 'very high': Core sector grows 2.2% as power output picks up: Today's Oneliner Current Affairs are: 1. Online payment processor Worldline India reported that Bengaluru accounted for the highest number of digital transactions in India in 2019. The aim is to move India towards a less-cash economy. 2. India’s Ambassador to Qatar P. Kumaran is to attend the signing of the peace deal between the US and the Afghan Taliban in Doha on 29 February. 3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will distribute Assistive Aids and Devices to Senior Citizens under Rashtriya VayoshriYojana (RVY) and to Divyangjan under ADIP Scheme at a ‘Samajik Adhikarita Shivir’ and a mega distribution Camp organized by Ministry of Social Justice and 4. Padma Shri Jadav Payeng will be conferred with the Swami Vivekananda Karmayogi Award on 29 February in New Delhi at a function instituted by My Home India. 5. NITI Aayog, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), in collaboration with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), launched an AI-based Module rolled out for students in Indian schools on 27 February. 6. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointed Sumant Kathpalia as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Induslnd Bank Ltd. The appointment with effect from 24 March 2020. He will hold the office for a tenure of three years. 7. A Joint Seminar on the theme “Challenges Of The Evolving Threats Facing India” was held at Air Force Station Tughlakabad, New Delhi. It was organized by the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS) and Maintenance Command, Indian Air Force (MC, IAF). 8. The President of India Ram Nath Kovind is to visit the States of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh from 28 February to 2 March 2020. 9. Malaysian Parliament has decided to pick a new Prime Minister in the first week of March. The announcement was made by the interim leader Mahathir Mohamad. The move comes after the collapse of the ruling alliance and snap elections will be called if the vote ends in an impasse. 10. Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad inaugurated Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and wifi service in Dehradun, Uttarakhand on 27 February. 11. Renowned Vedic Scholar Sudhakar Chaturvedi passed away in Bengaluru on 27 February. He was believed to be 122-years-old. 12. Centre approved the establishment of 80,000 Micro Enterprises to be assisted in the current financial year under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP). 13. Maharashtra state government has announced that it is to undertake the genetic study to conserve the native species of cattle. A meeting regarding the approval and initiation of the project on initiating was held in Aurangabad recently. 14. The “Programme for Capacity Building of Scheduled Tribe Representatives in Local Self Governments” was launched by the Union Tribal Affairs Minister Shri Arjun Munda at Bhubaneswar, Odisha on 27 February. 15. India and Myanmar signed several Memorandum of understanding (MoUs) during the State Visit of the President of Myanmar to India from 26-29 February. President Myint’s visit comes after the invitation extended by President Ram Nath Kovind. 16. The Union Cabinet approved to grant the status of National Importance to National Institutes of Food Technology (NIFT) at Kundli, Haryana, and Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, on 26 February. It was announced by the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar. 17. Losar festival was celebrated by the Tibetans from 24-26 February. The festival was celebrated in the Dharamshala, Lahaul Valley of Himachal Pradesh. The festival is aimed to preserve its unique identity and rich traditions. 18. National Science Day (NSD) is celebrated on 28 February in India. The day is celebrated every year to commemorate the discovery of the ‘Raman Effect’ by the Indian physicist Sir CV Raman. Read the full article

[educationcareernews]

Phased return to labs to revive research at DU Subscribe - https://ift.tt/2BvgxbE Facebook - https://ift.tt/3hRxoWV Twitter - https://twitter.com/EducationCaree6 Pinterest - https://ift.tt/2YpDlCG Tumblr - https://ift.tt/2NmT92U Blog - https://ift.tt/2NhbzC6 #Exam #Recruitment #Result #School #College #Study #NEP #New_Education_Policy #Admission In an attempt to revive the research education, the Delhi University (DU) has allowed phased entry of registered PhD students, whose presence in the laboratory is essential. Before joining the research laboratory, candidates need to obtain a certificate from their respective supervisor and further endorsed by the head of the department or director of the centre. “Getting a certificate to join the lab may be easy, but continuing the research work will not be simple. Establishing communication among the team, monitoring the experiments, supply from vendors etc are among other immediate challenges for PhD scholars,” says Ranjay Shaw, research scholar, Department of Chemistry, Delhi University (DU). Ranjay, a native of Dhanbad in Jharkhand has been living in Delhi for the last five years. He could not go to his hometown due to lockdown. Speaking to Education Times, Ranjay says those in the middle of their PhD are comparatively better placed than those who were supposed to finish their PhD by the end of April. “I had submitted my pre-synopsis before the start of the lockdown in March and was planning to complete other pending works by the mid of April. Had it not been the adverse situation due to Coronavirus, I would be applying for job interviews,” says Ranjay, who is now struggling to manage with finances, as his fellowship duration is over. "PhD submission is yet to be completed and the current situation has left me in the lurch." BK Singh, assistant professor, Department of Chemistry, North Campus, says that bringing students back to work with the same enthusiasm will take some time. “Those who join PhD soon after their postgraduate are enthusiastic. There might be a decline in motivation as they are re-joining work after a gap of five months. They have to redo the same experiments which could not be completed due to imposition of lockdown and closure of educational institutions,” says Singh. He adds that the outbreak of COVID-19 has a cascading effect on PhD candidates as uncertainty continues to loom. “Halt on education activities, non-payment of stipend during the lockdown are other problems faced by research scholars,” says Singh. Initially, the university has allowed only senior PhD students. “Depending on the outcome, gradually junior researchers will also be allowed,” he adds. The department has prepared a slot to allow students in their respective laboratories to restart their work. At any given time, the total number of students will not exceed 2-3 students per research laboratory. Source: https://ift.tt/2EYepuA

[brajeshupadhyay]

Coronavirus Updates: No lockdown in Odisha for 12 days in September to aid JEE, NEET examinees, says govt

00:06 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Delhi Latest Updates

Longer halting time for trains, less people in lifts: Delhi Metro's new normal plans

Limiting number of people in lifts and longer halting time for trains at stations to allow commuters to board and alight with social distancing norms, are among the measures the Delhi Metro will take to ensure safer travel for its passengers, when services resume on 7 September. The guidelines issued by the Central Government on resumption of metro services next month came on a day when Delhi recorded its highest single-day spike of 1,954 COVID-19 cases in August till now.

The Delhi Metro has been closed since 22 March in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read full report here

23:40 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Odisha Latest Updates

No lockdown in Odisha for 12 days in September

The Odisha government on Saturday said there will be no lockdown in the entire state for 12 days till September 14 in two phases for the ensuing JEE and NEET. The state government, in a partial modification of its 28 August order, said that there will be no lockdown or shutdown in force from August 30 to 7 September in the first phase and from  12-14 September in the next phase. The move is aimed at facilitating free movement of candidates and their guardians, examination personnel and staff/representatives of the service providers for the smooth conduct of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the fresh notification said.

PTI

22:45 (IST)

  Coronavirus Outbreak in Jharkhand Latest Updates

Fifty inmates in Dumka Jail test positive

  Fifty inmates of Dumka  Central Prison in Jharkhand have tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, a senior official said. The infected inmates, including convicts and under- trials, have been shifted to the isolation ward in the prison, District Chief Medical Officer, Anant Kumar Jha, said. More than 900 samples of inmates and staffers of Dumka Central Prison have been collected for COVID-19 tests so far, Jailor Ashwini Tiwari said. There are 1,287 inmates, including 1,213 men and 74 women, in the prison at present, he added.

  PTI

22:24 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

HUA Ministry calls meeting with metro corporations on 1 Sept to finalise SOPs

  The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has called a meeting with all managing directors of metro rail corporations on September 1 to finalise the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the functioning of metro trains allowed under the 'Unlock 4' guidelines, an official said.There are 17 metro corporations in the country. Once the detailed SOPs are issued by the ministry, they can issue their details keeping in mind local requirements, the official. The SOPs already circulated with all metro corporations will be discussed on 1 September through video conferencing, the official said.

  PTI

22:05 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Gujarat Latest Updates

Gujarat sees highest single-day surge of 1,282 new cases

   Gujarat recorded its highest single-day spike of 1,282 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the total count to 93,883, state health department

said. With 13 deaths, the toll rose to 2,991, it said. A total of 1,111 patients were discharged in the day, taking the number of recoveries to 75,662, the department said in a release. Gujarat's COVID-19 case recovery rate now stands at 80.59 percent, it said.

21:42 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

Ramp-up efforts to contain COVID-19 spread, follow SOPs: Centre to UTs

  The Centre on Saturday advised Union Territories to ramp-up efforts to contain the COVID-19 spread by sticking to the rules for prevention of the disease as well as following standard operating procedures (SOPs) in its treatment, a government statement said. The directions were issued on Saturday during a review meeting, where Home Affairs and Health secretaries Ajay Bhalla and Rajesh Bhushan took stock of the measures undertaken by the union territories to contain the coronavirus spread, it said.  The Centre advised the UTs to improve testing facilities, surveillance for early detection of COVID-19 cases, contact tracing and house-to-house surveillance by medical staff. It asked the UTs to better their monitoring of home isolation cases, strict enforcement of regulations in containment zones and their demarcation, the statement said.

  PTI

21:24 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Delhi Latest Updates

Delhi Metro to resume services from 7 Sep in calibrated manner: DMRC

  After being closed since 22 March in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Delhi Metro has received the nod from authorities to resume services from 7 September in a "calibrated manner", officials said on Saturday. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that he was "glad" the mertro services will resume operations in a phased manner.

  "As per the latest guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs under Unlock-4, the Delhi Metro will be resuming its services for public from 7 September onwards in a calibrated manner," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said in a statement. Further details on the metro's functioning and its usage by the general public will be shared once a detailed SOP is issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in the next few days, the officials said.

  PTI

I am glad that metro has been permitted to start its operations from 7 Sep in a phased manner.

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 29, 2020

21:07 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Delhi Latest Updates

Delhi reports 1,954 new cases, 15 deaths

  Delhi recorded 1,954 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the city's highest single-day spike in August till date, authorities said. With these fresh cases, the tally in the city has increased to 1,71,366. The toll due to the disease has mounted to 4,404, they said. Fifteen fatalities have been recorded in the last 24 hours, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.The active cases tally on Saturday rose to 14040 from 13,208 the previous day.

  PTI

20:56 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Maharashtra Latest Updates

IPS officer probing SSR suicide case tests positive

  An IPS officer who was part of the Mumbai Police's team which was probing actor Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case has tested positive for coronavirus infection, reports PTI. The IPS officer and all other members of his family have contracted the viral infection, a senior police official said on Saturday. He was sent on leave and has been quarantined at home, the police official said. The infected officer had questioned Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, and the CBI team which is now in Mumbai to probe the case had also met him recently, he said. Earlier two IPS officers of Mumbai police had tested positive for the viral infection.

20:51 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Maharashtra Latest Updates

Maharashtra's COVID-19 cases up by 16,867 to over 7.64 lakh

  Coronavirus case count in Maharashtra soars to 7,64,281 with record 16,867 new cases, toll reaches 24,103 with 328 succumbing to the viral infection, reports PTI.

20:32 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

Under Unlock 4.0, no restrictions on inter-state movement

Under Unlock 4.0, there will be no restriction on inter-state and intra-state movement of persons and goods. No separate permission/approval/e-permit will be required for such movements.

20:20 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

Lockdown to continue in containment zones till 30 September.

Lockdown shall continue in containment zones till 30 September, state the guidelines issued by the MHA. However, all activities, except the following, shall be permitted outside containment zones: (i) Cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres (excluding open-air theatre) and similar places. (ii) International air travel of passengers, except as permitted by MHA. Open air theatres will be allowed to function from 21 September.

20:11 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

Schools, colleges to remain shut till 30 September

  Under the new guidelines, schools, colleges, other educational institutions will remain closed up to 30 September but 50 percent of school staff can attend school from 21 September. Additionally, students of Classes 9 to 12 may be permitted to visit their schools, in areas outside the Containment Zones only, on a voluntary basis, for taking guidance from their teachers. This will be subject to written consent of their parents/ guardians.

20:02 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

Centre announces Unlock 4 guidelines

The MHA announces guidelines for 'Unlock 4', to be in force till September 30. Under the new guidelines, Metro rail services will be allowed to operate with effect from 7 September in a graded manner. Religious and political functions and other congregations will be permitted from 21 September with a ceiling of 100 persons.

Metro rail will be allowed to operate with effect from September 7 in a graded manner, by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA)/ Ministry of Railways (MOR), in consultation with MHA: Govt of India pic.twitter.com/rCPe7dzEOH

— ANI (@ANI) August 29, 2020

19:30 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Assam Latest Updates

Informal classes for Class 12, final year students in Assam from 15 Sept

  Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday that classes for standard 12 and final year of undergraduate programmes will commence on

15 September in an informal and experimental way. Speaking at a press conference, he said these,informal classes will be on till 30 September, but it will be

discontinued if any student or teacher tests positive in between. "The principals or heads will make four-five small groups, which will come and interact with teachers in informal classes," Sarma said. "In little primary or middle-primary schools, the kids are now coming once a week for collecting mid-day meals. From

15 September, they will come twice a week and the teachers will hand over a study material along with a question paper for submitting it in the next week," Sarma said. The teachers will evaluate the answer sheets in front of the students and will give tasks for the next week, he added.

  PTI

19:09 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Tamil Nadu Latest Updates

Tamil Nadu's cases surpass 4.15 lakh with 6,352 fresh infections

Tamil Nadu recorded 6,352 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 4,15,590 while the toll rose to 7,137 as 87 more died due to the disease, said reports.

18:58 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Jharkhand Latest Updates

BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj put under quarantine for flouting COVID-19 norms

BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj was forcibly home quarantined on Saturday for 14-day for violating COVID norms, a senior district official said.The MP from Uttar Pradesh had come to Giridih, over 200 km from Ranchi, to take part in a programme from Unnao via Dhanbad.Maharaj, who was returning to Dhanbad by road to take a train to Delhi, was intercepted by the district administration near Pirtand police station and sent on quarantine at Shanti Bhawan ashram, where he had gone to take part in a programme, Deputy Commissioner Rahul Kumar Sinha said.  The action been taken in accordance with a stategovernment order of 14 days quarantine for people coming from outside to the state, the DC said. "He had not informed the state government about his visit and therefore we have put him in quarantine for 14 days," Sinha said. The DC, however. said if he wanted he can apply for the exemption.

PTI

18:35 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

Brain dead man breathes new life into COVID-19 patient with severe lung infection

A brain dead man has breathed new life into a COVID-19 patient with severe lung infection as his lungs were transplanted to the recipient. The transplant also benefited more other recipients and was was made possible due to the donation from the deceased, who was declared brain dead at Gleneagles Global Hospital in Chennai after intracerebral hemorrhage on Thursday, hospital sources told news agency PTI.After his wife's consent, the man's organs were allotted to various hospitals. 

The 48-year-old recipient of lungs from Delhi turned out to be the first case of "successful completion of a critical bilateral lung transplant" on a COVID-19 positive patient, MGM Healthcare, where he is undergoing treatment, said. It claimed this was Asia's "first known lung transplant" on a COVID-19 positive patient and the second in the hospital since the lockdown began. The transplant was performed on August 27 and post the surgery, the patient was doing fine in the Transplant ICU at MGM Healthcare, the hospital said in a statement.

18:28 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Uttarakhand Latest Updates

Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker quarantines self

  Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Premchand Aggarwal on Saturday quarantined himself after he heard about state BJP president Bansidhar Bhagat testing positive for COVID-19. Aggarwal was in touch with Bhagat two days ago, his PRO Tajendra Negi told news agency PTI. The Speaker will undergo a coronavirus test a couple of days later but has gone into self-isolation as a precautionary measure, Negi said. He will take up work as advised by doctors after his report arrives, he said.

18:16 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

Recovery rate rises to 76.47% says health ministry

India's COVID-19 recoveries have crossed 26 lakh pushing the recovery rate to 76.47 percent, which the Centre said has been made possible due to the strategic policy of "testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently" in supervised home-isolation, facility-isolation and hospitals. The case fatality rate (CFR) has also been low when compared to the global average. It is on a continuous decline and currently stands at 1.81 per cent, the ministry underlined on Saturday.  With 65,050 patients having recuperated from COVID-19 in 24 hours, the total number of recoveries have surged to 26,48,998. "The recovery rate is following a continuous upward incline whereas the COVID-19 case fatality rate is constantly declining," the ministry said. 

PTI

17:48 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Telangana Latest Updates

Telangana logs 2,751 new cases, nine deaths

  Telangana logged 2,751 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 1,20,166, while the  toll rose to 808 with nine more fatalities. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) recorded 432 fresh positive cases, followed by Karimnagar (192), Rangareddy (185), Nalgonda (147), Khammam (132),

Medchal Malkajgiri (128), Nizamabad (113), Suryapet (111) and Warangal Urban (101) districts, a state government bulletin said on Saturday, providing data as of 8 pm on 28 August . All 33 districts in the state reported positive cases in double digits.

  PTI

17:35 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Tamil Nadu Latest Updates

Tamil Nadu's recovery rate has reached 85.45%, says CM

Tamil Nadu has achieved a recovery rate of 85.45 percent with 3,49,682 people having been cured of coronavirus, the "highest" in the country, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said on Saturday.The state's mortality rate was a "very low" 1.7 percent, he said. In his video-conference meeting with District Collectors on Saturday to review the lockdown being enforced to contain the spread of coronavirus, Palaniswami said his government had so far spent Rs 7,162 crore towards controlling the pandemic, treatment and relief measures.

PTI

16:59 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

Amit Shah recovers, likely to be discharged soon: AIIMS, Delhi

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was admitted to AIIMS-Delhi for post COVID care, has recovered and is likely to be discharged soon, the hospital said in a statement. Shah had tested positive for COVID-19 on 2 August and was discharged from Gurugram's Medanta hospital after testing negative on 14 August.

Home Minister Amit Shah has recovered and is likely to be discharged in a short time. He was admitted at AIIMS, New Delhi (on August 18) for post-COVID Care: AIIMS Delhi pic.twitter.com/9wIo4tg3r4

— ANI (@ANI) August 29, 2020

16:52 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

29 vaccine candidates in clinical trials, says Vinod Paul

  Dr. Vinod K Paul, Chairperson of the Empowered Group-1 on Medical Emergency management plan said that globally, 29  vaccine candidates, including two Indian ones, are in clinical trials out of which 6 are in Phase III. "Bharat Biotech’s vaccine candidate based on inactivated virus procured by ICMR is in Phase II trial along with Zydus Cadila’s candidate which is based on viral DNA. Oxford vaccine candidate by Serum Institute of India is already in Phase III trial," he said.

16:40 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

Eight states account for 73% active cases, says govt

Eight states (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana) contribute to around 73 percent of the current active caseload, the GoM was informed.  Also, seven states (Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal) account for 81 percent of total deaths due to COVID-19

16:23 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

Harsh Vardhan tells health ministry to formulate guidelines for Parliament, Assembly sessions

During the GoM meeting, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan instructed the health ministry to develop SOPs for the Members of Parliament and the Legislative Assembly sessions comprising COVID protocols and preventive measures. "The GOM also expressed concern about the forthcoming festival seasons and advised everyone to adopt safe and COVID appropriate behaviour," according to a government statement.

  16:17 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India Latest Updates

Only 0.29% of active cases are on ventilators, says Harsh Vardhan

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan chaired the 20th meeting of the high-level Group of Ministers(GoM) on COVID-19 on Saturday. In the meeting, he expressed satisfaction at "the tremendous strides" , stating that the fatality rate at 1.86 percent was among the lowest globally, while the recovery rate was at 76.64 percent. "Only 0.29percent of  the active cases are on ventilators, 1.93percent in ICU and only 2.88 percent of cases are on oxygen. A total of 1,576 labs at present have led to an upsurge in testing and the goal of 10 lakhs tests per day has been fulfilled," the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting quotes him as saying.

16:04 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Tripura Latest Updates

COVID-19 cases in Tripura surge by 443 to 10,879

  At least 443 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Tripura on Saturday, raising the state's tally to 10,879, a health department official said. The toll rose to 94 with five more persons succumbing to the infection, he said. All the fresh fatalities were reported from West Tripura district, the official said. A total of 198 people were discharged from Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC) on Wednesday, taking the number of recoveries to 7,037, he said. Tripura currently has 3,729 active COVID-19 cases. Nineteen patients have migrated to other states.

  PTI

15:32 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Haryana Latest Updates

Haryana minister Ranjeet Singh tests positive

  Haryana Power Minister Ranjeet Singh said on Saturday that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.Singh, who is an Independent MLA supporting the BJP-JJP government, had got his test done just before the one-day Assembly session on Wednesday and his report returned negative. However, he developed symptoms after the session and got himself tested again.

    Singh, an Independent legislator from Rania in Sirsa district, is the brother of former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and son of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal. Earlier, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Agriculture Minister JP Dalal, Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma, Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta and four other BJP MLAs had tested positive for the infection. The state currently has over 60,000 coronavirus cases and over 660 fatalities. 

मैंने अपना कोरोना टेस्ट फिर से करवाया है जिसकी रिपोर्ट पॉजिटिव आई है। मेरा स्वास्थ्य ठीक है परन्तु चिकित्सकों की सलाह पर होम क्वारंटाइन हो रहा हूँ। मेरा अनुरोध है कि जो भी लोग गत कुछ दिनों में मेरे संपर्क में आएं हैं, कृपया स्वयं को आइसोलेट कर अपनी जाँच करवाएं।

— Ch Ranjeet Singh (@Ch_RanjitSingh) August 29, 2020

15:24 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Jharkhand Latest Updates

Jharkhand govt allows public transport till Sept-end in view of JEE, NEET exams 

The Jharkhand government has allowed the reopening of hotels, lodges as well as restaurants and also given a go-ahead to public transport to ply within the State for a month till 30 September in view of the JEE, NEET examinations scheduled next month.

The relaxations under "Unlock 4" were announced in a notification issued late Friday night.

The Hemant Soren government also gave a green signal to reopening of malls outside the containment zones with immediate effect.

15:12 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Meghalaya Latest Updates

Meghalaya reports 2,248 COVID-19 infections

Eight more persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Meghalaya on Saturday, taking the state's overall count to 2,248, said the health department.

Meghalaya currently has 1,257 active COVID-19 cases, after 981 people have recovered from the disease and 10 patients have died, the official said.

14:58 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Maharashtra Latest Updates

BJP stages protests, demands reopening of temples in Maharashtra

Several BJP activists staged protests outside temples in Maharashtra’s Thane and Palghar districts and Pune city demanding the reopening of places of worship, which have remained shut amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

BJP MLAs, legislators, corporators and office-bearers led the protests in all cities of Thane and Palghar districts, with activists resorting to 'ghanta naad' (ringing of bells) and banging of plates outside temples.

14:34 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak Latest Updates

China CDC report points to likely COVID-19 transmission through plumbing system

Pointing to a China CDC report, Dr Ali Nouri, president of Federation of American Scientists said that diffusion of aerosols through sewage pipes is possible. The report cites the example of the possible spread of COVID-19 through the plumbing system from a 15th floor apartment occupied by COVID-19 positive persons to an empty 16th floor apartment, where traces of the virus have been found.

Nouri wrote that the WHO had cited the plumbing system as a possible culprit at a Hong Kong housing complex during the 2003 SARS outbreak. He recommended that prevention strategies consider aerosol transmission of the novel coronavirus.

2. Similarly, regarding 2003 SARS-C0V-1 super spreading in Hong Kong housing complex, WHO cited plumbing system as a possible culprit “dry U-traps in bathroom floor drains provided a conduit for contaminated sewage droplets to enter households"https://t.co/OklOQOA8NT

— Dr. Ali Nouri (@AliNouriPhD) August 28, 2020

14:16 (IST)

Coronavirus in Gernmany Latest Updates

Berlin braces for 'anti-corona' demonstration

Thousands of coronavirus sceptics are set to descend on Berlin on Saturday for a mass protest against pandemic restrictions that was allowed to go ahead after a bitter legal battle.

Police said they will turn out in force and strictly monitor compliance with mask-wearing and social distancing, with Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik warning that if the demonstrators do not adhere to virus safety rules, police will clear the area "very quickly". Around 3,000 police officers, including 1,000 federal police, will be deployed for the demonstration, alongside specialist equipment including water cannon, Slowik said.

Agence France Presse

14:13 (IST)

Coronavirus in China Latest Updates

First batch of Beijing students resumes classes

About one-third of students returned to school in Beijing in a staggered start to the new school year because of the coronavirus.

The first batch of 590,000 students in Beijing included all three years of high school, the first and third years of middle school and the first grade of primary school. Another 400,000 students are to start school on Tuesday, and the final 520,000 on 7 September.

China reported nine new coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing its official total to 85,022.

The Associated Press

13:39 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Ladakh LATEST Updates 

Another COVID-19 death in Ladakh takes toll to 28

One more patient died of coronavirus in Ladakh, taking the toll due to the disease in the Union Territory to 28, officials said on Saturday. The patient, who was suffering from various ailments, died at a hospital in Leh district on Friday, they said.

This was the 10th COVID-related death in Leh district, while rest of the 18 fatalities had taken place in Kargil district since the outbreak of the disease in March.

13:12 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Himachal Pradesh LATEST Updates 

More than 5,600 coronavirus cases in Himachal Pradesh 

Himachal Pradesh registered 5,661 COVID-19 infections  and 31 deaths, said the state health department on Saturday. The cumulative figure includes 1,433 active cases and 4,153 recoveries.

12:47 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Uttar Pradesh LATEST Updates 

UP minister Satish Mahana tests COVID positive

Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Satish Mahana said on Saturday that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and isolated himself at home. Mahana requested those who have come in contact with him in the past few days to get their coronavirus tests done.

"After initial symptoms of COVID, I got myself tested yesterday (Friday) and the report came positive," the infrastructure and industrial development minister tweeted. "I have isolated myself at home on the advice of doctors."

12:21 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in United States LATEST Updates 

First US COVID-19 reinfection case in Nevada

Nevada officials are reporting what may be the first documented case of coronavirus reinfection in the United States, following similar reports earlier this week from Hong Kong and Europe.

A 25-year-old Reno man with mild COVID-19 symptoms initially was found to have the virus in April, recovered and tested negative twice, and then tested positive again in June. He was much sicker the second time, with pneumonia that required hospitalization and oxygen treatment.

Genetic tests from each episode showed that viruses were similar in major ways but differed in at least 12 spots that would be highly unlikely from natural evolution of the bug if the man had it continuously rather than being infected a second time, said Mark Pandori, director of the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory.

12:09 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Assam LATEST Updates 

Assam's COVID-19 count crosses 1 lakh 

With 2,560 fresh infections, Assam's COVID-19 count crossed the one lakh mark on Friday, while eight more deaths were reported, Minister for Health and Family Welfare Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The state's caseload has reached 1,01,367 and the death toll mounted to 286. Kamrup Metro reported 562 new cases, Jorhat 167, Cachar 165, Dibrugarh 19 and Hailakandi 135.

11:51 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Uttarakhand LATEST Updates 

Uttarakhand BJP chief Bansidhar Bhagat tests COVID-19 positive 

Uttarakhand BJP president Banshidhar Bhagat tested COVID-19 positive on Saturday about five days after a major political event was held at his Dehradun residence on 24 August.

"I had undergone a Covid test yesterday in which the result was positive. I appeal to all the office-bearers and party workers who came in my contact in the last seven days to undergo a test," Bhagat tweeted.

11:44 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Telangana LATEST Updates 

COVID-19 toll in Telangana rises to 808 

Telangana registered 2,751 new COVID-19 infections, taking the overall count to 1,20,166 on Saturday. The toll climbed to 808 after nine more fatalities were reported in past 24 hours.

11:35 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Odisha LATEST Updates 

Odisha's COVID-19 cases nearly 98,000

At least 14 more COVID-19 deaths were reported in Odisha in the past 24 hours, taking the toll to 470, said the state health department on Saturday. The total number number of confirmed cases in the state climbed to 97,920 after 3,252 more people tested positive. 

11:04 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India LATEST Updates 

More than 4 crore COVID-19 samples tested so far: ICMR

Over four crore COVID-19 samples have been tested so far, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), adding 9,28,761 samples were tested on Friday alone.

10:23 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Odisha LATEST Updates 

Odisha govt to provide free transport, accommodation to JEE, NEET applicants 

The Odisha government on Friday announced that it will provide free transport and accommodation to candidates appearing in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) in the first week of September. This was announced by Chief Secretary AK Tripathy.

"Keeping in view the prevailing pandemic as well as flood situation in the state, the government will provide free transport and accommodation to candidates of the JEE," he told reporters. 

10:13 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Uttar Pradesh LATEST Updates 

Weekend lockdown in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj

Weekend lockdown being observed in Prayagraj to curb the spread of #COVID19. pic.twitter.com/PO1FdSTNj3

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) August 29, 2020

09:48 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India LATEST Updates 

India's COVID-19 cases over 34 lakh

The COVID-19 count in India crossed 34 lakh on Saturday after 76,472 more cases were reported in the past 24 hours, said the health ministry. With 1,021 more patients succumbing to the contagious disease, the toll reached 62,550. 

The overall figure includes, 7,52,424 active cases, 26,48,999 recoveries and 62,550 deaths. 

09:25 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in Rajasthan LATEST Updates 

Over 77,000 COVID-19 infections in Rajasthan

Rajasthan reported 12 more fatalities due to COVID-19 bringing the toll to 1,017, said the state health department. After 1,355 new infections reported, the overall count climbed to 77,370.

A total of 62,033 COVID-19 patients have recovered and the number of active cases in the state is 14,320. 

09:07 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India LATEST Updates 

Chidambaram pulls up Centre over economic mismanagement before COVID-19

Taking a swipe at the central government over mismanagement of the economy, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said: "If the pandemic is an 'Act of God', how do we describe the mismanagement of the economy during 2017-18 2018-19 and 2019-20 before the pandemic struck India? Will the FM as the Messenger of God please answer?"

08:38 (IST)

Coronavirus Outbreak in India LATEST Updates 

All Lok Sabha MPs to get tested for COVID-19 48 hours before start of the session: Speaker 

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has requested all MPs willing to participate in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament to undergo RT-PCR test.

At a preparatory meeting, chaired by Birla on Friday, it was decided that the RT-PCR test that usually takes 24-48 hours to come up with the results will be conducted.

Coronavirus LATEST Updates: After being closed since 22 March in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Delhi Metro has received the nod from authorities to resume services from 7 September in a "calibrated manner", officials said.

The Union Home Ministry on Saturday issued the Unlock 4 guidelines under which metro trains will be allowed to resume services from 7 September in a graded manner, while political, social and religious congregations of up to 100 people will be permitted from 21 September.

Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that classes for standard 12 and final year of undergraduate programmes will commence on 15 September in an informal and experimental way.

For every million population, India's coronavirus cases and fatalities are one of the lowest compared to the global averages, the high-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 was informed on Saturday.

The Jharkhand government has allowed the reopening of hotels, lodges as well as restaurants and also given a go-ahead to public transport to ply within the State for a month till 30 September in view of the JEE, NEET examinations.

With more than nine lakh samples tested for the third consecutive day, the number of tests for COVID-19 has crossed the four-crore mark in India.

Nevada officials are reporting what may be the first documented case of coronavirus reinfection in the United States, following similar reports earlier this week from Hong Kong and Europe.

Over four crore COVID-19 samples have been tested so far, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), adding 9,28,761 samples were tested on Friday alone.

With 1,021 more COVID-19 patients succumbing to the contagious disease, the toll in India reached 62,550 on Saturday.

Speaking about the GST Compensation gap, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday took a swipe at the Centre over mismanagement of economy before COVID-19 pandemic.

"If the pandemic is an 'Act of God', how do we describe the mismanagement of the economy during 2017-18 2018-19 and 2019-20 before the pandemic struck India? Will the FM as the Messenger of God please answer?, asked Chidambaram.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has requested all MPs willing to participate in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament to undergo RT-PCR test.

At a preparatory meeting, chaired by Birla on Friday, it was decided that the RT-PCR test that usually takes 24-48 hours to come up with the results will be conducted.

A record single-day rise of 77,266 coronavirus cases pushed India's total to over 33 lakh cases, the Union health ministry said on Friday. This spike in new cases is the highest in the world, crossing the number of new infections reported in the United States in the last 24 hours, reports said.

However, in terms of the total caseload, India is still at the third-highest rank, after the US and Brazil. The US has a total of over 58 lakh cases, while Brazil has a tally of over 37 lakh cases.

These figures were reported on a day the debate over whether or not to hold NEET, JEE exams continued and a sitting Member of the Parliament, Congress leader H Vasanthakumar, died of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, a current India cricketer is among multiple members of the Chennai Super Kings contingent who have tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the IPL franchise to extend its quarantine period in Dubai and causing  upheaval ahead of the event starting on 19 September.

The franchise is yet to issue a formal statement but a league source told PTI that the number of positive cases could be between 10 and 12.

Amid the rising cases, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla announced that every MP attending the Monsoon Session fo the Parliament will be asked to undergo to COVID-19 testing 72 hours before the session in September.

Meanwhile, recoveries in India surged to 25,83,948 on Friday, and the toll climbed to 61,529 with 1,057 new deaths in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The recovery rate stood at 76.28 percent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate further declined to 1.82 percent, the ministry added.

There are 7,42,023 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country, which comprises 21.90 percent of the total caseload, the data showed.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 3,94,77,848 samples have been tested up to 27 August, with 9,01,338 samples being tested on Thursday.

Tamil Nadu Congress MP H Vasanthakumar dies of COVID-19

Congress MP from Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari, H Vasanthakumar, died of COVID-19 at a hospital on Friday.

The 70-year old first time MP, and working president of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, who was admitted to the Apollo Hospitals on 10 August after he tested positive for coronavirus. Vasanthakumar is survived by wife, two sons and a daughter, PTI reported.

Apollo Hospitals in a statement later said the MP was treated in a critical care unit for severe COVID-19 pneumonia.

"Despite all active medical measures, his condition deteriorated gradually due to COVID-19 complications and he passed away today," the hospital said.

Vasanthakumar, a two-time MLA (2006-11 and 2016-19) was elected to the Lok Sabha last year.

Meanwhile, former Karnataka minister and JD(S) leader HD Revanna also tested positive for coronavirus on Friday and was admitted to a hospital, PTI reported.

State health minister B Sriramulu said he was praying for Revanna's recovery and added, "HD Revanna has tested positive for coronavirus. I pray that he recovers and gets back to serve people."

Amarinder Singh goes into self-quarantine after  MLAs test COVID-19 positive

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh quarantined himself after two Congress MLAs who met him during the one-day Assembly session on Friday tested positive for COVID-19.

The MLAs, Nirmal Singh and Kulbir Singh Zira, got tested for the disease after the one-day monsoon session.

"Punjab chief minister @capt_amarinder has decided to go into 7-day self quarantine, as per government protocol and the advise of his doctors, after two MLAs who met him in the Vidhan Sabha tested positive for #COVID19," tweeted Raveen Thukral, the media advisor to the chief minister.

Meanwhile the Chandigarh administration suspended the order of closing weekend markets, The Indian Express reported, quoting the order as saying that "congested markets will continue to open on odd-even formula till 3 September."

MPs to get tested for COVID-19 before Monsoon Session of Parliament

With the Monsoon Session of the Parliament set to begin in September, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that MPs will be asked to get themselves tested for COVID-19 at least 72 hours before the start of the session.

Besides MPs, Parliament staff and media personnel, among other entrants to the building, will also be required to get tested for the novel coronavirus.

Birla said arrangements have also been made for zero-touch security checks during the session and if required, random tests for COVID-19 can be conducted during the session.

Visitors will not be allowed during the session, which will be held as per the guidelines, including those on social distancing, issued by the health ministry in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Monsoon Session is likely to start from 14 September and conclude on 1 October.

To finalise the arrangements for the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament, Birla on Friday chaired a meeting of officials from the health ministry, ICMR, AIIMS, DRDO, Delhi government, and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats.

Second round of serological survey launched in Bhubaneswar

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday launched the second round of serological survey to assess prevalence of COVID-19 among people in the city, as the Odisha capital is witnessing a rise in coronavirus cases this month.

Five teams will collect 1,500 samples from various locations in the city, PTI reported.

"The current exercise will provide an indication of the community exposure level which was found to be very low during the first round of the serological survey," the report quoted an official as saying.

The Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) is providing technical support to the BMC to carry out the two-day survey in the city.

A serological survey is conducted to assess the prevalence of a disease in a society or population to see if people have developed antibodies against a virus. It shows how many or what percentage of population had contracted a particular disease and have acquired immunity against it.

State-wise deaths

Of the 1,057 fresh deaths, 355 are from Maharashtra, 141 from Karnataka, 109 from Tamil Nadu, 92 from Andhra Pradesh, 68 from Uttar Pradesh, 53 from West Bengal, 37 from Punjab, 24 from Madhya Pradesh, 22 from Delhi, 17 from Gujarat, 14 each from Jammu and Kashmir and Chhattisgarh, 13 from Rajasthan, 12 from Haryana, 11 each from Telangana and Jharkhand.

Ten casualties have been reported from Kerala and Puducherry, nine from Uttarakhand, eight from Bihar, seven from Odisha, six from Goa, four each from Assam and Tripura, two each from Chandigarh and Ladakh, while Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Himachal Pradesh have registered one fatality each.

Of the total 61,529 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 23,444 followed by 6,948 in Tamil Nadu, 5,232 in Karnataka, 4,369 in Delhi, 3,633 in Andhra Pradesh, 3,217 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,017 in West Bengal, 2,962 in Gujarat, and 1,306 in Madhya Pradesh.

So far, 1,256 people have died of COVID-19 in Punjab, 1,005 in Rajasthan, 799 in Telangana, 671 in Jammu and Kashmir, 646 in Haryana, 538 in Bihar, 448 in Odisha, 373 in Jharkhand, 278 in Assam, 267 in Kerala, 245 in Chhattisgarh and 228 in Uttarakhand.

Puducherry has registered 190 fatalities, Goa 171, Tripura 89, Chandigarh 43, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 42, Himachal Pradesh 33, Ladakh 27, Manipur 25, Nagaland nine, Meghalaya eight, Arunachal Pradesh five, Sikkim three and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 percent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

With inputs from agencies

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