With Gujarat reporting a large number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities, medical experts from AIIMS, including its Director Dr Randeep Guleria, have rushed to Ahmedabad to provide expert guidance to doctors there on COVID-19 management. Following directions from the Centre, Dr Guleria, who is a pulmonologist, and Dr Manish Soneja from the AIIMS department of medicine left for Ahmedabad on special Indian Air Force flight on Friday evening, official sources said. With 390 more people testing positive for COVID-19 and 24 fatalities, the total number of cases in Gujarat climbed to 7,403 and the death toll reached 449 on Friday. Of the total coronavirus cases in the state, 5,260 have been reported from Ahmedabad district alone. "They will visit the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and SVP hospital on Saturday to provide expert guidance and advice to the doctors on treatment for coronavirus-infected patients there," a source said.

Thirty people, including 25 from BSF's 86th battalion, tested positive for COVID-19 in Tripura on Friday, taking the total number of cases to 118, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said. Of the 118 cases, 116 are active while two persons have been discharged from hospital after recovery from the infection. The fresh COVID cases were found among the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel of the 86 battalion and 138 battalion in Ambassa of Dhalai district, both of which were earlier declared as containment zones. A truck driver was also found to be among the new cases. Deb earlier spoke to the reporters at the civil secretariat here and said, "Even as large number of BSF personnel was infected by the deadly virus, there is no transmission among civilians. "I hope all COVID-19 patients in the state would recover," the chief minister said.

Maharashtra Cyber has registered 363 offences of rumour mongering, spreading misinformation, hatred and fake news on social media during the COVID-19 lockdown, an official said on Saturday. The state police's cyber wing has been monitoring online activities to prevent the spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. As many as 196 persons were arrested for sharing or uploading objectionable posts, videos and photographs on social media, the official said. In Sangli district, a case was registered against some people for uploading a Tik-Tok video about a particular community being responsible for the pandemic and also using abusive language against prominent social reformers, he said. At least 14 offences were registered by the cyber wing in the district since the lockdown was enforced, he added. Similarly, in Parli town of Beed district, some persons were booked for a social media post linking the spread of COVID-19 to a particular community, he said, adding that

Odisha on Saturday reported 17 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number to 287, the Health and Family Welfare Department said. Twelve new cases were reported from Ganjam district, three were detected in Mayurbhanj and one each in Bhadrak and Sundergarh district, it said. The total number of infected people rose to 83 in Ganjam district. The number of cases in Bhadrak stood at 25 and total 13 cases were detected in Sundergarh. At present, there are 222 active cases in the state and 63 people have recovered. Two people from Bhubaneswar have succumbed to the disease, an official said. There are currently 298 people in hospital isolation in the state, he said. The state health department had on Friday conducted 3,348 tests for COVID-19, he said, adding that Odisha has so far tested 56,322 samples. As per an analysis by the department, 240 of the state's total 287 cases have been reported from five districts. Ganjam reported 83 cases, Jajpur 55, Khurda 50, Balasore 27 and Bhadrak 25. In

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,981 and the number of cases climbed to 59,662 in the country on Saturday, registering an increase of 95 deaths and 3,320 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 39,834, while 17,846 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said. "Thus, around 29.91 per cent patients have recovered so far," a senior health ministry official said. The total number of cases also include 111 foreign nationals. A total 95 deaths deaths were reported since Friday morning, of which 37 in Maharashtra, 24 in Gujarat, nine in West Bengal, seven in Madhya Pradesh, four each from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, three from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and two from Delhi and one each from Punjab and Haryana.

The poisonous mushrooms that killed six people at a remote village in Meghalaya's West Jaintia Hills district have been identified as Amanita phalloides, commonly known as the 'Death Cap', a senior official said on Saturday. Six people, including a 14-year-old girl, of Lamin village along the India-Bangladesh border in Amlarem civil sub-division died after consuming wild mushrooms they collected from a nearby forest late last month. The wild mushroom has been identified as Amanita phalloides and is hepatotoxic as it directly affects the liver, state Director of Health Services (MI) Dr Aman War told PTI. He said it has been established after an investigation that the cause of the deaths was the poisonous mushrooms. At least 18 persons from three families were taken ill after consuming the mushrooms. The symptoms after consuming the poisonous fungus include vomiting, headache and unconsciousness, the senior doctor said. Most of those taken ill, including a pregnant woman, .

The Punjab Police on Saturday arrested from Haryana a drug smuggler who was wanted in a 532 kg heroin seizure case, police said. Ranjeet Singh Rana was arrested from a hideout in Sirsa in Haryana, Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta told PTI. Rana was wanted in a narcotics haul case in which the Customs department last year had seized 532 kg of heroin worth Rs 2,700 crore in rock salt consignments at the Integrated Check Post at Attari in Amritsar. He was the kingpin of the narcotics haul. Rana was nabbed following recent arrest of Hizbul Mujahideen operatives in Amritsar. "Following up further on arrests of Hizbul operatives in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, the Punjab Police juggernaut moved further to nab Ranjeet of Amritsar, one of the biggest drug smugglers of India from Sirsa today. Cheeta was wanted in 532 kg heroin haul from Attari in June 2019," the DGP tweeted. Along with Rana, his brother was also arrested in an operation conducted by the Punjab Police in ..

Fifty-seven new coronavirus cases were reported in Rajasthan on Saturday morning, taking the total number of cases in the state to 3,636 officials said. Maximum of the new cases -- 20 -- were reported from Udaipur and 15 in Jaipur, a government official said. Eleven cases were from Ajmer, three from Pali, two each from Rajsamand and Churu, and one each in Kota, Barmer, Jalore and Dausa, the official said. Rajasthan has reported 103 deaths due to COVID-19 so far and the maximum cases (1,160) and deaths (54) are from Jaipur.

17-year-old Pratyusha Jha, wakes up scrambling for newspapers these days to look for any news about her pending board exams and is anxious about what the future has in store for her. Similar concerns are shared by Bipin Kumar, a class 12 student, who says the announcement of board exams from July 1 to 15 brought limited clarity as the larger questions remain unanswered. The COVID-19 lockdown, came with a different set of concerns for class 12 students, whose board exams were postponed midway following the outbreak of coronavirus, putting on hold their future plans as well. "Everyday I have been looking for news about the exams and about entrance exam dates. I feel unfortunate that this happened during the year I was supposed to take the big college leap. I don't want my future decisions to be shaped by this very year as what I opt to study now will remain with me lifelong," Pratyusha told PTI. Ending some uncertainty for students, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' on Friday ...

Just a day before he was killed in the train accident in Aurangabad, 28-year-old Brajesh Singh had informed his father that he would be reaching their village by a special train soon. For Gajraj Singh, a resident of Antoli village in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol district, that phone call was the last conversation he had with his sons Brajesh and Shivdayal (25). Bodies of the two brothers, along with those of 14 other labourers, would be reaching their village on Saturday. At least 16 labourers, who were travelling to their home state Madhya Pradesh on foot, were mowed down by a goods train while they were sleeping on tracks near Karmad station in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district early morning on Friday. "Only a day before the mishap, my sons informed me that they had left on foot to board a train from Maharashtra and will reach Shahdol soon. They told me that they would sit in the train on Friday. But instead of my sons, the news of their death has reached me," said an ...

Thirty Six new COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in Karnataka, taking the total number of infections in the state to 789, health department said on Saturday. "36 new positive cases have been reported from last evening to this noon....Till date 789 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed. This includes 30 deaths and 379 discharges," the department said in its mid day situation report. The 36 new cases include- 12 from Bengaluru urban, seven from Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada, five from Davangere, three each from- Bantawal in Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga and Bidar, and one each from Tumakuru, Davangere and Vijayapura. While most cases are contacts of patients already tested positive, three are with travel history to Ahmedabad, two are from a containment zone in Bengaluru, and one person's contact is under tracing.

Homegrown mobile phone maker Lava on Saturday said it has resumed manufacturing operations with 20 per cent capacity. "Lava has resumed production at its manufacturing facility in Noida. The company has started operating with 20 per cent of its production capacity, post receiving an approval from the state authorities. 600 out of its 3500 workforce have resumed work," Lava said in a statement. The factory has been shut since the time the government announced the coronavirus lockdown. However, it kept meeting export requirements through its facility in China, it added. The government has given permission to mobile phone companies to start work at factories but the firms are expected to face bottlenecks in component supply and worker availability. "We welcome the government's move to permit mobile phone companies to resume operations. Though, we might face some challenge due to the delayed availability of manpower & materials, we have sufficient inventory to maintain the pace of our

The funeral of a 33-year-old man, who died of COVID-19, was held after protests by residents who refused to allow the cremation, fearing spread of the disease. When the Health Department's ambulance carrying the man's body reached Swarg Ashram in Chharbagh on Friday evening, residents came to know about the cremation and they started protesting. Police were called in to bring the situation under control. The final rites of the man were held on the banks of Yamuna river late night in the presence of police personnel. "The police personnel pacified the protesters and allayed their fears over the spread of the infection. To ensure that situation does not deteriorate further, the last rites were held on the banks of Yamuna river," City Magistrate Pankaj Singh said.

At least 1,200 people from Manipur stranded in Chennai will be brought back in a special train that will reach Jiribam at the state's border with Assam on May 12, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said. The train will start from Chennai later on Saturday, he said in a video message on Friday night. From Jiribam they will be brought to Imphal, around 200 km away, in special buses, Singh said. All of them will have to undergo isolation at the institutional quarantine centres set up at schools and colleges with the assistance of local MLAs and other organisations. Singh said that they will undergo full medical checkup before leaving Chennai and will further undergo check-up, including thermal screening, after reaching Jiribam. The cost of ferrying the stranded people from Chennai to Jiribam is around Rs 12,00,600, while the cost of transporting them in 50 buses is around Rs 1,05,000, Singh said. Two other special trains carrying migrants will also depart from Punjab and ...

The Central Industrial Security Force reported 13 fresh cases of COVID-19 among its personnel on Saturday with the maximum being in its Delhi Metro protection unit, officials said. The 1.62 lakh personnel strong force has a total of 48 active cases of coronavirus with the addition of the new numbers. Two of its personnel have succumbed to the disease over the last two days. Among the 48 active cases, maximum 31 are in the unit that guards the Delhi Metro followed by 13 in the Mumbai international airport guarding unit. The maximum rise in cases, at 10, over the last 24 hours has also been reported from the Delhi Metro guarding unit. Coronavirus positive troops have also been reported at CISF units like Delhi airport (3), Ahmedabad airport (2), Kolkata Port Trust (3) and one at its VIP security unit based at GreaterNoida. The force is tasked to guard civil airports (63 at present) in the country and vital infrastructure in the aerospace and nuclear domain. The paramilitary forces or ...

Meritorious students hailing from poor sections of the society in Odisha have been provided smartphones to help them attend online classes during coronavirus-induced lockdown to sustain their focus on the NEET exam scheduled on July 26 for admission in medical colleges. These wards of humble vegetable sellers, fishermen and marginal farmers are students of "Zindagi foundation" run by a non-governmental organisation for talented students of Odisha, to help them give wings to their dreams. The man behind the initiative is academician Ajay Bahadur Singh, who was forced to quit medical studies due to his father's kidney ailment in 1990 and had to sell tea and sherbet to help his family survive. There are 19 medical aspirants, both boys and girls, at present under the project from remote corners of Odisha who will be undertaking the national level undergraduate medical entrance exam on July 26 next to qualify for admission in medical colleges. The lockdown caused by the ...

A truck carrying fodder was damaged in a fire on Jammu-Pathankot highway in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said. The truck reached Pla-Morh from Punjab and was being unloaded when it suddenly caught fire as the driver tried to move it forward, a police official said. He said fire and emergency services personnel rushed to the scene and put out the blaze. The truck was completely damaged but its driver escaped unhurt, the official said.

Seventy-six fresh coronavirus cases surfaced in Rajasthan on Saturday, pushing the state's infection count to 3,655. The state has so far reported 103 deaths. Among the fresh cases, the maximum 23 were reported from Udaipur, followed by Jaipur where 20 people were found infected with the virus on Saturday. Thirteen cases surfaced in Ajmer; six in Jodhpur; four in Pali; three in Jalore; two each in Rajsamand and Churu; and one each in Kota, Barmer and Dausa, according to a government official. Jaipur is the worst-hit Rajasthan district with a total of 1,165 case, including 54 deaths.

A 23-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide at the AIIMS here after her mother died of cancer at the hospital, police said on Saturday. She was reported missing after her mother passed away on Wednesday and her body was found near the new private ward block of the hospital on Saturday, they said, adding that she fell to her death from a building. "Her mother was a cancer patient. She was being treated at the hospital and had died during treatment on Wednesday," Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said. Her father was busy in the formalities when she left the area. She was reported missing since Wednesday. The family hails from Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh, a senior police officer said. Hospital staff noticed the body and informed the police. The block was closed due to which nobody found out about it earlier, police said. Police said she had called her friends and told them that she was going to kill herself. The body has been recovered and an inquest ...

Over one lakh cases of lockdown violations were registered and 19,297 persons were arrested ever since prohibitory orders were enforced in Maharashtra in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, police said on Saturday. At least 1.02 lakh cases were registered under section 188 (disobeying an order passed by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, an official said. As many as 714 personnel, including 81 officers, of Maharashtra police contracted COVID-19, and of these 61 had recovered from the infection, he said. Maximum number of coronavirus cases reported in the police department were from Mumbai, he added. At least 194 cases of attacks on policemen were reported in various parts of the state, while 680 persons were arrested in these incidents and 73 policemen and a home guard were injured in these attacks, the official said. Nearly 32 cases of attacks on health workers were reported in the state till Saturday, he added. Meanwhile, the police have registered 1,289 offences of

A sugarcane farmer was killed and his brother sustained injuries in a clash between two groups of farmers over a land dispute at Jalalpur village in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, police said. Police said trouble started when Nareshpal and his brother Harender were confronted by Pardeep with a group of farmers who attacked him with sticks while working in his field. The injured Nareshpal was rushed to hospital where he was declared dead. Nareshpal and Pardeep's agricultural land lie adjacent to each other and a dispute arose over it, police pointed out. A case was registered on Friday under IPC Sections 147 (punishment for rioting) 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) while a search is on to catch hold of the accused, police added. According to the complaint lodged by .

A plea seeking linking of a metro card or token with a commuter's address proof was not entertained by the Delhi High Court as no representation about the issue had been made to the DMRC before moving the court. A bench of justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Narula disposed of the plea, but gave petitioners liberty to move a representation before the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on the issues raised in the plea. In case the petitioners move a representation to the DMRC, it is supposed to dispose of the plea within four weeks by a reasoned order after taking inputs from authorities concerned. The petitioners had contended in their plea that it should be mandatory for metro travellers to provide proof of their identity and address while purchasing metro cards or tokens to establish ownership in case such items are lost. They also contended that in the prevalent situation of coronavirus pandemic, the DMRC should be aware about the details of commuters as it will help in preventing ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought life to a screeching halt for many, but those with serious ailments such as blood disorders have been pushed to the edge with their lives now hanging by a thread in the absence of necessary medical interventions. Sonia Ghakkar, a Gurgaon resident, had been desperately looking for help, as her husband, a leukemia patient, waits for bone marrow transplant (BMT). "About two months ago, my husband was diagnosed with leukemia. Bone marrow transplant is his only chance of survival. We have sought permission from the health ministry for transport of blood stem cells, but to no avail. The match cannot reach the hospital under the present circumstances," she said. Stem cell transplant is the only cure for many patients suffering from blood disorders. According to a hematologist, it takes months, sometimes years, to find a donor, and many "high-risk" patients have limited time left. Transplants have come down to a meager 20 per cent nationwide, as most ...

Private cell phone operators resumed their services but mobile Internet continued to remain suspended on Saturday in the Kashmir valley, a move taken as a precautionary step after the killing of self-styled local chief of banned Hizbul Mujahdieen, Reyaz Naikoo, earlier this week. The situation in the valley, which has been witnessing lockdown since the third week of March due to COVID-19 pandemic, was generally calm barring a few local protests in some villages of Pulwama in south Kashmir. Seeing an improvement of the situation after Naikoo was killed in an encounter with security forces on Wednesday, the authorities allowed private telecom operators to resume their services from Friday night but asked them to keep Internet connection barred. Restrictions had been imposed in the valley after the death of Naikoo and additional paramilitary forces were deployed at vulnerable points to prevent any mischief or stone pelting. SMS services have been snapped across all telecom operators till

LG Polymers India Ltd on Saturday blamed leaking vapour from a storage tank for the leakage of deadly styrene monomer gas at its Visakhapatnam plant that killed at least 11 people and forced the evacuation of thousands. Status quo at the plant was restored on Saturday morning, the company said in a statement. The gas leakage from the plant was reported on Thursday morning after the company tried to restart operations following the partial easing of the coronavirus lockdown. "Our initial investigations suggest that the cause of the incident is prima facie by the leaking vapor from the Styrene Monomer (SM) storage tank near the GPPS (General Purpose Poly Styrene) factory on Thursday, May 7," the statement said. The unit of South Korean chemical giant LG Chem said it is committed to working closely with the concerned authorities to investigate the cause of the incident, prevent recurrence in future and secure the foundation for care and treatment. "While focusing on stabilizing the ...

Realtors' apex body Credai on Saturday said cement and steel rates have increased by 40-50 per cent in last few weeks despite the lockdown and alleged price cartelisation and unfair trade practices by the manufacturers. The association has written a letter to Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri seeking his intervention in the matter. "We would like to bring your attention to the cartelization by the cement and the steel manufacturers by imposing a sudden increase in their selling price," Credai said in the letter. Across various states, there has been an increase of Rs 100-250 per bag cement and about Rs 2,000-2,500 per tonne of steel, it added. During the past few weeks, there has been a sudden, steep increase in prices of essential raw materials such as cement and steel by 40-50 per cent despite the nationwide lockdown. The Centre has allowed construction work on sites where labourers are already available. Given the current crisis faced by the real estate ...

Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi, 74, was admitted in a private hospital here on Saturday after he suffered a cardiac arrest, doctors said, adding that his condition is critical. Citing the information provided by family members of Ajit Jogi, the hospital said he fell unconscious at his residence here in the morning. Ajit Jogi's son Amit Jogi told PTI from Bilaspur that the health of his father deteriorated suddenly while he was having breakfast. As per a health bulletin released by Shree Narayana Hospital, Ajit Jogi was given cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at his residence by a senior intensivist before he was rushed to the hospital. "Jogi suffered a cardiac arrest at his house only. As of now, his ECG and pulse have returned to normal which means his heartbeats are returning to normal functioning. But his respiration is still not normal. He is on a ventilator and his condition is critical," it said. Ajit Jogi's MLA wife Renu Jogi is with him at the ..

: Chief Minister of Puducherry V Narayanasamy on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to appoint an expert committee to help states overcome the fiscal situation in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown. He told reporters here that he had written a letter to the Prime Minister urging him to constitute immediately the expert committee to go into the poor fiscal condition of the states during the current lockdown and help mobilise funds to meet their commitments. The expert committee should be given a time-frame of one week to come out with its recommendations as to how the Centre could help the states wriggle out of the fiscal crisis and how States could rise to the exigency, he said. Narayanasamy hoped the Prime Minister would consider his suggestion and take appropriate action. "I am speaking candidly and making the suggestion for all states which no BJP-ruled state Chief Ministers will express,", Narayanasamy a former Central Minister, said. Already, he said, ...

: The number of active COVID-19 cases slid below the 1,000 mark to 999 in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday though the overall tally rose to 1,930 with the addition of 43 in the last 24 hours ending 9 am. The COVID-19 toll in the state also increased by three to 44 while 45 more patients were discharged from hospitals, according to the latest bulletin. Chittoor district saw a sudden spurt in cases, with 11 reported in the last 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday, as some people who returned from Koyambedu wholesale market in Chennai city tested posted for coronavirus. It is suspected that these people contracted the disease at Koyambedu and several others who also returned from the place were sent to quarantine, sources here said. Visakhapatnam too continued to show an upward trend as five fresh cases were registered, taking the total in the district to 62. The major hotspots Kurnool, Krishna and Guntur reported six, 16 and two fresh cases. In the last 24 hours, Krishna reported two

The number of active cases of coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh went up to 1,800 on Saturday, while nearly 1,400 people have been discharged so far, a senior official said. Principal Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said the national recovery percentage was 30 per cent but the figure was 43 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. "It is a matter of satisfaction that people are recovering and returning home," he said. The number of active infection cases is 1,800 as against 1,761 on Friday, while the number of people who have fully recovered has risen from 1,387 to 1,399, the official said. Prasad stressed that community surveillance will play an important role in coming days with the return of tens of thousands of migrants. There was a need for the 'gram nigrani samitis' in rural areas and 'mohalla nigrani samitis' in urban areas to work strictly, he said. "All those returning (to the state) are being kept in 21 days' home quarantine and those returning from abroad are also being put in quarantine.

Healthcare firm HLL Lifecare on Saturday said its arm HLL Infra Tech Services has floated a tender seeking supply of over 1 lakh units of medical supplies towards COVID-19 testing on behalf of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). "The tender is seeking quotations for 40,000 units of viral transport media, 33,000 RNA extraction kits and 29,000 Combo RT-PCR COVID-19 tests," HLL Lifecare Ltd said in a statement. The tender is closing by May 10, the state-owned company added. "The viral transport media is used for transport of swabs collected for testing, RNA extraction kits are used to draw out RNA, which are single strand genetic materials of viruses, from samples which are then converted into reverse-transcribed into DNA while Combo RT-PCR tests has proven to be the 'gold standard' of COVID-19 diagnosis,"it said. HLL Lifecare is the procurement agency for hospitals and healthcare organisations under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The Prem Singh Tamang government in Sikkim has decided to reduce the salaries of the chief minister and ministers by 35 per cent for the next one year to mitigate the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the state's economy. As per decisions taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by the chief minister on Friday, utilisation of discretionary funds of the ministers have also been put on hold. The state government has decided to impose a ban on appointments under regular/work-charged/muster roll/adhoc/consolidated pay/ temporary basis for six months, a press release issued by the Information and Public Relations department said. The state government has also decided to impose a ban on replacement and purchase of new vehicles, computers and peripherals while the allocation under revenue expenditure in all departments will be curtailed by ten per cent. Among other things, there will be restrictions on advertisement or publication of notice inviting tender except ..

A 25-year-old man was thrashed and left unconscious with serious injuries on suspicious of being a coronavirus carrier' in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh. The incident took place on Friday evening outside a chemist shop in the Shivpuri locality of Aligarh. Police have booked six people in this regard. Abdul Samad fell unconscious after the accused attacked him, alleging that he was a coronavirus carrier', police said on Saturday. He was rushed to Malkhan Singh District Hospital by members of his family who arrived at the spot after people raised an alarm. According to the victim's father Laiqur Rehman, Samad was feeling dizzy after his Ramzan fast on Friday night. He had gone to a chemist shop in the neighbourhood to purchase some medicine where he was accosted by some people, who abused and beat him up without any provocation. Had not the family rushed him to the hospital, the injuries could have been fatal, the father claimed. Samad is now out of danger and has been referred to Jawaharlal .

With 224 new instances of the novel coronavirus infection, the total number of cases reported in the national capital climbed to 6,542, the Delhi government said on Saturday. The fresh cases were reported between 4 pm to midnight of May 8. No fresh death due to the virus was reported in this period. Delhi has so far reported 68 deaths. Of the total cases reported in the city, 4,454 are active while 2,020 patients have been cured of the disease, the health bulletin stated.

The testing capacity for COVID-19 has been scaled up to around 95,000 tests per day and a total of 15,25,631 tests have been conducted so far across 332 government and 121 private laboratories, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday. The minister, who reviewed the status of COVID-19 in the northeastern states along with the measures taken for its containment and management, also stressed on the need to take concrete action to check the use of non-smoking tobacco and prohibiting spitting in public places which shall help in preventing the spread of the infection, according to a statement. During the high-level meeting with Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, Vardhan appreciated the dedication of all the states in combating COVID-19. "It is a huge relief and very encouraging to see green zones in most northeastern states. As of date, only Assam and Tripura have active COVID-19 cases. Other states are all in the green zone. ..

The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday set up a high-level committee headed by former Reserve Bank of India governor C Rangarajan to examine fiscal challenges facing the state owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and suggest the way forward to improve its fiscal position. The committee, which will also consist of Finance Secretary S Krishnan as coordinator, will submit its report to the government within three months, according to a Government Order. The committee, with 21 members, would assess the overall immediate and medium term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different sectors of the state's economy including the impact of lockdown, additional costs and implications due to social distancing and their precautionary measures. Also, it would assess the opportunities and threats in the short and medium term, suggest measures required to help the important sectors of the economy to overcome the impact of the virus pandemic. Apart from identifying specific reform measures to ..

Two fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported from Kerala on Saturday, both being foreign returnees who reached the state from Dubai and Abu Dhabi on May 7 and were among the expatriates airlifted by the Centre as part of its mission to bring back stranded Indians abroad. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said with the two new patients, the total number of cases in the state has gone up to 505 and there are currently 17 under treatment. "One patient from Idukki, who was under treatment, has been cured today.The two new cases are now under treatment in Kochi and Kozhikode. They reached the state on May 7 in the Abu Dhabi- Kochi andDubai-Kozhikode flights, respectively," Vijayan told reporters. "There are 23,930 people under observation in the state out of which 334 are in isolation wards of various hospitals," he said. Out of the total 505 infected, Kerala has till now cured 485,Vijayan added. The state has reported three deaths.

Five people were discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Saturday after recovering from the novel coronavirus infection, health officials said. Those discharged include two women and a five-year-old boy, an official informed. So far 43 people have been discharged while the number of active cases in the state is 16, he added. "Two women and a boy from Kabirdham, two men from Durg and Surajpur were discharged after two consecutive tests were negative for the infection. They will be kept in a quarantine centre as a precaution before they are allowed to go home," a public relations officer of AIIMS Raipur told PTI. Chhattisgarh COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 59; New cases nil; Deaths nil; Discharged 43; Active cases 16; People tested so far 23,629.

All the state universities in West Bengal will implement the academic calendar in their respective institutions within a month after the lockdown is lifted, Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said on Saturday. Chatterjee, who earlier in the day held a videoconference with vice-chancellors of all the state universities, told reporters at an online press conference that the VCs have decided on how to conduct the classes and the final semester examinations. "The academic calendar, including examinations, will be put into effect within a month after the lockdown is lifted," he said. Chatterjee said the institutions have also received the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines in this regard and the issue came up in the meeting held during the day. He had earlier said that the UGC guidelines reflect the recommendations made by the state government on issues such as conducting terminal examinations in the post-lockdown period. "The faculty members of the universities .

The Karnataka government has clarified that migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons can hire and use buses provided by state-run road transport corporations on payment basis for travel to other states with relevant permissions. Inter-State travel of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourist, students and other persons stranded in different states due to lockdown were recently permitted to travel through notified entry and exit points of Karnataka by the government. The Shramik special train services too have been ferrying migrant labourers stranded in the state to destinations like Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh among others. In a circular, Revenue (Disaster Management) Principal Secretary T K Anil Kumar said similar facility on payment basis be made available by state run road transport corporations- KSRTC/NWKRTC/NEKRTC/ BMTC to transport workers to industries permitted under the issued guidelines.

Nearly 3,000 patients were provided assistance for treatment and medicines by the Srinagar district administration in Jammu and Kashmir through its helpline amid teh coronavirus-driven lockdown, officials said. The IVRS-based call centre was inaugurated by Lt Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on April 17 and it replaced a series of helpline numbers launched in March aimed at attending to health emergencies on priority during the lockdown. A dedicated fleet of 10 vehicles and a team of 12 professionals have been deputed on the job round-the-clock for attending to issues related to health emergencies, demands related to dialysis, chemotherapy, diabetes and other such ailments, the officials said. Apart from the IVRS call centre, they said four mobile numbers have also been made available. Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar Shahid Iqbal Choudhary empanelled 13 dialysis centres across the city for providing dialysis services, the expenses of which are borne by the district administration. Most ..

The Sikkim government will allow people stranded in different parts of the country to return to the Himalayan state on their own vehicles from May 11. A limited number of vehicles will be allowed to enter Sikkim everyday and priority will be given to patients, a press note said. Over 6,200 persons of Sikkim stranded outside the state have registered for evacuation and more than 500 of them have returned by Sikkim Nationalised Transport (SNT) buses in the past four days. Since only regulated movement is allowed during the lockdown period so people intending to return on their own vehicles or vehicles hired for the purpose shall be required to fill a form at the COVID portal of the state government for seeking prior approval, the press note said. Persons desiring to travel on their own vehicles must wait for approval after they apply for permission. On approval, a link will be sent to the registered mobile number which can then be downloaded and carried along on the travel .

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