The latest official figures also reveal that 98,476 people have tested positive for the virus, of 313,769 who have been tested across the country. 

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government will introduce new procedures to "limit the risk of infection" and allow people to say goodbye to loved ones "wherever possible" during the daily Downing Street briefing. 

 However, he stressed that the wider social distancing measures in place to curtail the spread of the deadly virus will remain in place for some time to come.

"This shared sacrifice is starting to work. But we will not lift these measures until it is safe to do so," said Hancock. 

"It is too early to make changes and the message to the public watching is they can play their part by staying at home, which protects the NHS (National Health Service) and saves lives," he said.

Under a four-point plan unveiled by the minister, besides provisions for family members to say goodbye, all care home residents who are discharged from hospitals will be tested before being admitted to a care home, and all symptomatic residents of care homes will be tested. 

A new online delivery system for personal protective equipment (PPE) in social care settings is being launched as well as a new social care brand to symbolise the social care profession, reflected in a new green and white badge for care workers. 

"This badge will be a badge of honour in a very real sense, allowing social care staff proudly and publicly to identify themselves, just like NHS staff do with that famous blue and white logo," Hancock said. 

The move comes as the UK government had come under pressure for not taking the deaths in care homes, for the elderly and vulnerable, fully into account in the mounting COVID-19 death toll. -- PTI 

A 55-year-old resident of Dharavi, who had attended the last month's religious meet at Delhi's Nizamuddin, succumbed to COVID-19 on Wednesday while undergoing treatment, said a senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official.

The man was undergoing treatment at Sion Hospital since April 10 after testing positive for coronavirus, he said.

With this, the number of COVID-19 deaths in Dharavi increased to eight, said the official of the BMC.

The sprawling slum colony at the heart of Mumbai has so far recorded 60 coronavirus cases, five of them in the last 12 hours, he said.

All the new patients -- three males and two females -- are from the Mukund Nagar locality of Dharavi, the official said.

"Contact-tracing of high risk contacts of new patients is under progress," the BMC official said.

He said the man who died on Wednesday was staying in an apartment opposite Dr Baliga Nagar in Dharavi, one of the biggest slum areas in Asia, and had attended the religious gathering in Nizamuddin.

The mega gathering at the Tablighi Jamaat's headquarters in Nizamuddin had emerged as a key source of COVID-19 spread in the country. -- PTI 

Six Indian companies are working on a vaccine for COVID-19, joining the global race against time to find a preventive for the deadly infection spreading rapidly across the world, says a top Indian scientist.

Nearly 70 'vaccine candidates' are being tested and at least three have moved to the human clinical trial stage, but a vaccine for the novel coronavirus is unlikely to be ready for mass use before 2021. 

As COVID-19 infects more than 1.9 million in the world and claims 1,26,000 lives, Indian scientists are also part of the global fight against the disease. 

"While Zydus Cadila is working on two vaccines, Serum Institute, Biological E, Bharat Biotech, Indian Immunologicals, and Mynvax are developing one vaccine each," Gagandeep Kang,  executive director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, told PTI.

Kang is also vice chair of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which noted in a recent study that the "global vaccine R&D effort in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in terms of scale and speed".

But it is a complicated process with many stages of testing and many challenges, explained experts. A vaccine for the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, may not take 10 years that other vaccines do but it could be at least a year before it is proven safe, effective, and made widely available, they said.

"Vaccine development is a lengthy process which often takes years, with many challenges," said E. Sreekumar, chief scientific officer at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology in Kerala.

 

"Generally, vaccines take several months to pass the different stages of testing, and then approvals also take time. For COVID-19, we don't expect a vaccine to come in this year," agreed Rakesh Mishra, director of the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad.

 

Vaccine testing typically begins with animal and lab testing before going on to  different stages of human testing.

 

"The human testing phase is composed of many phases, Sreekumar told PTI. 

"Phase one trials are small-scale, usually involving few participants, to assess whether the vaccine is safe for humans. Phase two trials often involve several hundred subjects, and mainly evaluate the efficacy of the vaccine against the disease," he said.

 

The final phase involves thousands of people to further assess the efficacy of the vaccine over a defined period of time, and can last several months, Sreekumar said.

 

"That is why we don't see a vaccine coming in at least a year from now."  

Even after the vaccine is ready, he explained, there are a lot of challenges, including whether the vaccine is effective in all populations, and if it can be used for different strains of the novel coronavirus, which might start mutating as time passes.

"There are lots of vaccines which are being tested for COVID-19, some of which are in the stage 1 clinical trial," Mishra added. 

 

"But we still don't know how fast they will proceed towards a vaccine and they can take several months to reach any point," he said.

   

According to the World Health Organization, three vaccine candidates are in the clinical testing phase, meaning they are able to be tested on humans, while nearly 70 are in the preclinical phase -- either in lab testing, or animal studies.

 

Though Kang named six companies, the WHO has listed only Zydus Cadila and Serum Institute from India as among the global firms working on a COVID-19 vaccine. 

 

As of April 8, 2020, said CEPI,  the global COVID-19 vaccine R&D landscape includes 115 vaccine candidates, of which 78 are confirmed as active and 37 are unconfirmed.

 

Of the 78 confirmed active projects, 73 are currently at exploratory or preclinical stages, noted the CEPI team in an analysis published in the journal Nature reviews drug Discovery last week. -- PTI

Seven persons had tested positive for coronavirus in the state.

State health minister Vishwajit Rane said that Goa's active COVID-19 cases have deceased to one as the repeat samples of another patient confirmed on Wednesday that the person is no more infected. 

"Seven persons had tested coronavirus positive in Goa. The last such patient was detected on April 3. 

However, till today, six of them have been discharged as they have completely recovered," he said.

Those who have been sent back home, are being kept under observation, he said. 

The minister expressed confidence that the only COVID-19 patient in the state will also recover and be discharged soon. In a statement, Rane said, 

"My heartfelt gratitude to the team of doctors and staff headed by Dr Edwin at ESI Hospital. We are hopeful that our active case will be at zero by the next week." -- PTI 

Alleging a political conspiracy to impose President's rule in Maharashtra, the Congress on Wednesday demanded a thorough probe into the gathering of migrants at Mumbai's Bandra Railway Station. 

 

Maharashtra PWD minister Ashok Chavan cited a South Central railway communication of April 13 about running special trains for migrants, saying it could have triggered the gathering at Bandra.  

 

He said the incident is an attempt to disrupt communal harmony in the state and negate the state's efforts in fighting coronavirus. 

 

Addressing a press conference through a video link, Chavan said the police is investigating the matter to ascertain who is behind the instigation of migrants, and the guilty will be brought to book. 

 

Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the Bandra Railway Station on Tuesday, after a large number of migrant workers gathered there forcing the police to resort to lathicharge to disperse them.  

 

Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help the stranded migrant workers reach their native villages. 

 

"For God's sake, Narendra Modi ji please help them," she said. 

 

Migrant workers have been stranded at various places, including at state borders, ever since the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 24 to curb the spread of coronavirus. 

 

The Congress also asked the Centre to probe the alleged role of the railway ministry in the Bandra incident.

 

Chavan cited the April 13 letter by deputy chief commercial manager of South Central Railways in Secunderabad which stated that 'Jansadharan specials' will be started to clear stranded migrant workers. 

 

Asked if he saw a conspiracy behind the Bandra gathering, the Maharashtra minister said, "The matter is being investigated. The chief minister has made a statement that this matter is going to be investigated." 

 

He added that social media is already trying to play out this matter, putting the entire blame on the government authorities.  

 

"I think we all know who is patronising the social media people in the country. There was this trending news in the social media about imposition of President's rule in the state of Maharashtra which certainly smacks of a political conspiracy. As you can see, this is not a time to play politics. Let us first investigate into it and this was a very serious incident," he noted. 

 

" there are some people behind this who want to disturb the communal harmony in Maharashtra, disrupt the efforts taken by the government to prevent coronavirus and create a very difficult situation," Chavan said. 

 

The Congress also questioned the central government on why railway bookings continued during the lockdown. -- PTI

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said that ensuring recovery of COVID-19 patients and preventing fatalities were the challenges being faced by his government as well as the medical fraternity.

In his interaction with CEOs of private hospital in Mumbai, along with members of the newly-set up task force of medical professionals through video conferencing, Thackeray underlined the need to put in place a robust patient management system.

The deliberations focused on issues like the patient care; need for medical equipment; availability of ICU beds, and ensuring protection of medical personnel treating coronavirus positive patients.

The CM further said that the focus should be on prevention of deaths of COVID-19 patients and saving those patients who are in a serious condition.

In a worrying trend, Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 232 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of the virus infected patients in the state to 2916, a health official said, adding that nine more people have succumbed to the infection, taking the death toll so far to 187.

Underlining the concerns of the state government, a senior officer had said that though Maharashtra stands at the fourth position in the country vis-a-vis the COVID-19 mortality rate at 7.34 per cent, the state is way ahead both in terms of the number of positive cases and fatalities. -- PTI

A television journalist was arrested from Mumbai on Wednesday over his report on resumption of special trains, which might have prompted gathering of migrant workers in suburban Bandra on Tuesday amidst the coronavirus lockdown, a police official said.

The accused, Rahul Kulkarni, was detained in Osmanabad in Marathwada region, where he is based, and brought to Mumbai where he was formally arrested.

The arrest of Kulkarni, who works with a Marathi news channel, was announced by state home minister Anil Deshmukh on his Twitter handle.

"Police arrested journalist Rahul Kulkarni for giving news report, due to which rumour was spread," Deshmukh tweeted.

In a recent news report, Kulkarni said Jan Sadharan special trains would resume for people stranded due to the lockdown, the police official said.

He has been booked under IPC Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant and 269, 270 (negligent, malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 117 (abetting commission of offence by public), the official said.

More than 1,000 migrant workers, most of them from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, gathered near Bandra railway station here on Tuesday afternoon.

They were demanding that the state government make transport arrangements so that they can go back to their native towns and villages. -- PTI 

The Indian Meteorological  Department's Mumbai centre on Wednesday predicted thunderstorms in parts of western Maharashtra and Marathwada till Sunday.

The centre issued the prediction for 10 districts of the state, while remaining areas will experience dry weather.

"Districts, including Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Solapur, Parbhani, Beed, Hingoli, Nanded, Latur and Osmanabad are likely to witness thunderstorms with lightening and gusty winds at isolated places till Sunday," the IMD stated.

The department also communicated to the concerned districts about the weather conditions. -- PTI 

At least 218 people who had tested positive for COVID-19 in Kerala havebeencured and discharged so far, the highest in the country and only one person was detected with the infection on Wednesday, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

     

The patient had got it through contact.

     

"Kerala has the highest number of cured cases in the country",Vijayan told reporters.

     

However, there is a need to stringently continue the vigil against the pandemic, he said.

     

Seven people were discharged on Wednesday -- four from Kasaragod, two from Kozhikode and one in Kollam, he said.

     

So far 387 positive cases have been reported from Kerala, out of which 167 are active cases.

     

Two COVID-19 patients had died.

     

At least, 97,000 people are under observation, 522 in hospitals. -- PTI  

For the first time plasma enrichment technique will be used to treat severely-ill COVID-19 patients on trial basis in a Delhi government hospital, officials said on Wednesday.

   

According to an official, clinical trial of the plasma enrichment technique will be conducted at Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences.

 

Under the technique, transfusion of plasma from recovered patients to severely-ill COVID-19 patients is conducted.

Convalescent plasma is an experimental procedure for COVID-19 patients. -- PTI

The contraction in the global economy is much worse than the 2008-09 financial crisis, a top IMF official said on Wednesday, urging the governments to take swift concerted action with fiscal tools taking a prime role to contain the COVID-19 spread and limit the damage to livelihoods. 

Speaking to PTI ahead of the annual spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington, DC, Vitor Gaspar, Director of Fiscal Affairs Department, International Monetary Fund, said the COVID-19 pandemic was hitting economies through multiple channels.

"The pandemic outbreak is causing supply disruptions and the social distancing efforts necessary to contain the spread of the virus have imposed a large burden on workers and their families," he said.

"The expected speed and depth of the contraction in the global economy is unprecedented, much worse than during the 200809 financial crisis. As such, there is no doubt that the government needs to take swift concerted action with fiscal tools taking a prime role to contain the virus' spread and limit the damage to livelihoods of people," Gasper said.

The governments can offer emergency lifelines to save lives -- by preventing, controlling, treating and containing the virus -- help families by protecting jobs and income, and support firms especially to avoid bankruptcies.

Countries are already taking significant fiscal measures amounting to about USD 8 trillion globally. Moving forward, governments can play a role to enable a recovery once the pandemic is contained, he said.

Noting that the coronavirus is having a profound impact around the globe, he said the human cost of the pandemic has intensified at an alarming rate, with confirmed cases in almost every part of the world.

It is affecting the productive capacity of countries as the containment measures implies less people working and disruptions to supply chains.

It is affecting demand, as fewer jobs and less income means less spending locally and globally.

Countries are also affected by the tightening of global financial conditions and some are hit by capital outflows. Finally, the large fall in commodity prices is hurting commodity (especially oil) exporters. What started as a health crisis is now a major global economic crisis, he said.

When asked what steps needed to be taken, Gasper said the first priorities are containment measures and support for health systems should continue. -- PTI

Indian Railways will forgo around Rs 1,490 crore in revenue as it is refunding the amount towards cancellation of a whopping 94 lakh ticket bookings made by passengers prior to the imposition of the nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Top Railways officials told PTI that an amount of Rs 830 crore will be refunded for 55 lakh bookings made for travel between March 22 and April 14. 

The railways had largely suspended its passenger train services on March 22, three days before the 21-day lockdown came into force.

 

Another amount of Rs 660 crore will be returned for around 39 lakh bookings made for travel between April 15 and May 3, they said.

 

India went under a total shutdown of 21 days from March 25 to April 14. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced extending the lockdown till May 3.

 

The railways had not stopped bookings for journeys beginning April 15.

 

It said that all passengers will get a full refund for tickets booked for the period during which passenger train services have been suspended.

 

The national transporter added that the money would be automatically refunded to online customers, while those who booked tickets at the designated reservation counters could claim the refund till July 31.

 

Following the prime minister's announcement, the Indian Railways extended the suspension of all its passenger services till the end of the lockdown.

 

According to official data, a staggering 20 million people travel daily on nearly 15,000 passenger trains across the country.

 

The railways said no advance reservation of train tickets, including e-tickets, will be allowed till further orders, though the facility of online cancellation will remain functional.

 

However, people on social media said that the Railways has deducted the convenience fee per online booking while making the refunds.

 

"When train is cancelled, the passenger is refunded full fare. Convenience fees is not refunded which are nominal to an individual and used for day-to-day maintenance and upgradation of the ticketing facility," the railways explained in a statement.

 

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation charges nominal convenience fee of Rs 15 per ticket for booking non AC travel and Rs 30 for air conditioned and first class tickets.

 

"A full refund will also be there for those cancelling advance bookings for trains not cancelled yet," the national transporter said.

 

Before the coronavirus outbreak, on an average, around 8.5 lakh tickets were booked on the IRCTC website daily. 

Two days after allowing manufacture and sale of liquor in the state, the Assam government on Wednesday withdrew the order following guidelines issued by the Centre on the extended lockdown due to coronavirus.

                

In the consolidated guidelines issued by the Union ministry of home affairs, no relaxation has been given to liquor manufacturing or retail sales, which was allowed in Assam from Monday by the state excise department.

             

The department issued an order this evening asking all deputy commissioners to close liquor shops, wholesale warehouses, bottling plants, distilleries and breweries indefinitely in the state.

           

It had on April 12 allowed liquor shops, wholesale warehouses, bottling plants, distilleries and breweries across Assam to open from Monday for seven hours daily. -- PTI 

All health services, including AYUSH, hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, telemedicine facilities, dispensaries, chemists, pharmacies as well as all kinds of medicine shops, Jan Aushadhi Kendras and medical equipment shops, will remain functional, according to the new guidelines issued by the Centre a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3.   

"Very strong containment measures will be implemented in the hotspot districts accounting for a large number of Covid-19 cases or with fast growth of cases," a government statement on the guidelines said.   

"Only essential services are to be permitted in these zones and strict perimeter control and strict restrictions on movement enforced," it said.   

"Hotspots'' -- areas of large Covid-19 outbreaks -- or clusters with significant spread of Covid-19 will be determined as per the guidelines issued by the ministry of health and family welfare, the guidelines said.   

The health ministry has classified 170 districts as hotspots, while non-hotspot districts where cases have been reported are 207 in number.   

In the hotspots, containment zones will be demarcated by states/union territories/district administration as per the guidelines of the health ministry, it said.     

"In these containment zones...There shall be strict perimeter control in the area of the containment zones to ensure that there is no unchecked inward/outward movement of population from these zones except for maintaining essential services (including medical emergencies and law and order related duties) and government business continuity," they said.   

The guidelines stated that medical laboratories and collection centres, pharmaceutical and medical research labs, institutions carrying out Covid-19 related research, veterinary hospitals, dispensaries, clinics, pathology labs and sale and supply of vaccine and medicine will remain operational.

Spitting in public without caring two hoots for regulations may not be so easy now with the Union home ministry making the act a punishable offence under the strict Disaster Management Act in its revised guidelines for lockdown issued on Wednesday to contain COVID-19. 

   

The guidelines issued by the ministry also make wearing of face masks in public places mandatory.

Spitting in public is an offence under municipal laws in various cities, but it is hardly taken seriously by the people in the country.

The Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation has imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 if anyone is caught spitting in public. 

Similar measures are also in place in municipal corporations of Delhi, and several other states.

Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Haryana, Nagaland and Assam have already issued orders on the ban of use of smokeless tobacco products and spitting in public places amid the COVID-19 outbreak.  

Under the consolidated revised guidelines issued by the ministry of home affairs on Wednesday in the wake of the extension of lockdown till May 3, spitting has been made punishable with a fine under Section 51 (b) of the Disaster Management Act.

"Spitting in public spaces shall be punishable with a fine. There should be a strict ban on sale of liquor, gutka', tobacco etc, and spitting should be strictly prohibited," the national directives issued by the ministry said.-- PTI

Three persons went missing  after a boat capsized near Madh jetty in Mumbai early Wednesday morning, the police said.

The incident took place around 1.30 am, said a police official.

The boat was carrying seven persons. After it sent a distress signal, Marine Police and Fire Brigade rushed to the spot and rescued four of them but three persons were still missing, he said. -- PTI

With the threat of coronavirus looming large and intense shelling by Pakistan, villagers living along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir are struck between the devil and the deep sea.

 

For the last month, Pakistan has targeted villages and army posts along the LoC and IB in the union territory killing and injuring several people besides damaging more than two dozen houses. 

 

While several attempts were made by infiltrators in the last few days to enter India along the LoC in Kupwara, Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu region with Pakistani army providing cover fire to them.  

 

There is heightened fear in the villages under the three districts especially after three civilians were killed last week in Kupwara due to shelling by Pakistan. 

 

"I was seriously injured in the shelling by Pakistan On one side we are fighting to save our families from the threat of coronavirus and on the other they (Pakistan) are targeting us in our houses," Showkat, a resident of village Kasba in Poonch district said. 

 

"We are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, he added. 

 

Corroborating his views, Balakote resident Mumtaz Bibi said the villagers have urged the administration to build bunkers for them but their plea seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

  

"We had demanded that bunkers be built so that we can save our families from Pakistan shelling. We met district officials but nothing has been done yet. Three shells hit our houses recently and we narrowly escaped," she said. 

 

"We can still save our families from coronavirus by following all guidelines but how do we protect ourselves from mortar shells? asked Mumtaz who said that her home had been totally damaged due to shelling. 

 

However, a district officer said the process of setting up bunkers along the LoC in all the border districts had been initiated sometime back but the due to the coronavirus pandemic, work had to be stopped.  

 

"We will ensure that bunkers are built for people living along the LoC," he said. -- PTI

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday moved the Bombay high court seeking cancellation of bail of DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhawan, who is an accused in a money laundering case, for violating his bail conditions   and travelling during the coronavirus lockdown.

Advocate Purnima Kantharia of the Enforcement Directorate mentioned the application before high court Justice P D Naik.

The court then issued notice to Wadhawan and posted the matter for further hearing on April 23.

Kapil Wadhawan, the 46-year-old chairman and managing director of Dewan Housing Finance Limited, was arrested on January 27 this year by the ED for his dubious dealings with gangster Iqbal, who died in 2013, and was booked under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

He was granted bail on February 21 by a special PMLA court in Mumbai.

Kapil Wadhawan, his brother Dheeraj Wadhawan and other family members travelled to their farmhouse at Mahabaleshwar hill station in Maharashtra's Satara district last week, in alleged breach of the lockdown imposed to check the spread of coronavirus.

Subsequently, the ED on Friday issued orders for seizure of five luxury vehicles in which they travelled to Mahabaleshwar from Khandala.

 

The Wadhawan brothers and 21 others, including their family members, are at present in quarantine in Mahabaleshwar. -- PTI

The Railways has recently started manufacturing of PPE coveralls. The prototype coveralls have already cleared the prescribed tests with the highest grades at the authorised Defence Research Development Establishment Laboratory of DRDO at Gwalior.

The Railways has also converted over 5,000 of its passenger coaches into mobile quarantine or isolation facilities to deal with COVID-19 patients.

According to the Union Health Ministry, a total of 11,439 people have detected positive for coronavirus, including 1306 cured and discharged and 377 deaths. Currently, the country has 9,756 active corona cases. -- ANI

-- The districts of the country will be classified into 3 categories - hotspot districts, non-hotspot districts but where cases are being reported and green zone districts.

"This is to make it clear that the man Vinay Dube arrested by @Navimumpolice and later by @MumbaiPolice is not a member of the NCP. "Some sections of News Media are calling him an NCP leader, which is false and appears to be a malicious campaign to malign the image of our party," tweeted Malik, the national spokesperson of the NCP. 

Dubey, a resident of Navi Mumbai, was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday after he was questioned over his posts on Facebook and other social media platforms that allegedly led to the gathering of migrant workers outside Bandra station on Tuesday. 

He had uploaded a video on social media demanding that the Maharashtra government make travel arrangements for migrants, who are stranded due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown and want to go back to their native places. -- PTI

Image: Mumbai Police march at the Magathane residential area. Pic: ANI 

Speaking on the partnership, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said: "We are happy to partner with Ola and help ferry doctors, healthcare workers and hundreds of frontline workers to help them perform their essential duties. We look forward to working with Ola to find more ways of helping Mumbaikars in our fight against COVID-19 in the true spirit of the city." -- PTI

As of now, "20 exclusive Covid hospitals" have already been made operational in 18 districts in the state with a total bed strength of 3,420 and 197 ICU facilities as part of the government's preparedness to deal with the pandemic, he said. "We are taking concrete steps to make 16 more dedicated Covid hospitals in rest of the districts within the stipulated time frame. "The aim is to add 2,282 more beds and 38 ICU beds very soon to strengthen our preparedness to contain COVID-19," the senior official said. 

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has given direction for making functional all the proposed Covid hospitals in the state within a week, he said, adding that officials are working on a war footing to achieve the goal. 

Among the upcoming dedicated Covid hospitals is a 110 -bedded facility being established at Jharsuguda. All the preparations in this regard are in full swing to ensure that the hospital is operational at the earliest, the official said. -- PTI

According to the researchers from the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in the US, studies will evaluate the potential for transmission across species to better understand the risks to human health. They said the newly discovered coronaviruses are not closely related to coronaviruses Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS CoV-1), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) or SARS-CoV-2. "Viral pandemics remind us how closely human health is connected to the health of wildlife and the environment," said Marc Valitutto, former wildlife veterinarian with the Smithsonian's Global Health Program, and lead author of the study. "Worldwide, humans are interacting with wildlife with increasing frequency, so the more we understand about these viruses in animals --what allows them to mutate and how they spread to other species -- the better we can reduce their pandemic potential," Valitutto said. Researchers detected these new viruses while conducting surveillance of animals and people to better understand the circumstances for disease spillover. -- PTI

An FIR was registered against the cleric on March 31 at Crime Branch police station on a complaint of the Station House Officer of Nizamuddin. He was earlier booked for holding the event, police said. 

"After several attendees of the Tablighi Jamaat event succumbed to coronavirus, we added IPC section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) in the FIR against the leader,' a police official said. Some foreigners who attended the event have also been booked for violation of visa norms. 

In an audio message, Kandhalvi had said that he was exercising self-quarantine after several hundreds who visited the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Nizamudddin Markaz tested positive for coronavirus. The FIR registered against the Tablighi Jamaat event says that the Delhi Police contacted the authorities of Nizamuddin Markaz on March 21 and reminded them of the government order which prohibited any political or religious gathering of more than 50 people. 

It says that despite repeated efforts, the event organisers failed to inform the health department or any other government agency about the huge gathering inside the Markaz and deliberately disobeyed government orders. 

"The sub district magistrate of Defence Colony inspected the premises several times and found that around 1,300 people, including foreign nationals, were residing there without maintaining social distance. It was also found that there were no arrangements of hand sanitizers and face masks," the FIR adds. 

The Nizamudddin centre, attended by thousands, turned out to be a hotspot for spread of coronavirus not only in the national capital, but the entire country. More than 25,500 Tablighi members and their contacts have been quarantined in the country after the Centre and the state governments conducted a "mega operation" to identify them. At least 9,000 people participated in the religious congregation in Nizamuddin. -- PTI

"Staff/workers required to operate and maintain zoos, nurseries, wildlife, fire-fighting in forests, watering plantations, patrolling and their necessary transport movement" to work in the states and Union Territories, the guidelines said. 

Reacting to these guidelines, wildlife activist Ajay Dubey said the Centre has taken a very important decision by allowing maintenance of zoos and wildlife. -- PTI

"I am standing in the queue from 10 am to get food. Sometimes we have to sleep hungry. I am not getting any help form my employer. He is not responding to my calls. We get food here daily at this school," Indraaj told ANI.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the government would provide food to people in the national capital after workers started rushing to their native places following the announcement of nationwide lockdown from March 25. A woman said she is not getting dry ration for want of a ration card but she is getting food regularly at the school.

People gathered there were seen following the norms of social distancing. They came with utensils so that they can take food for their family members as well.

The Chief Minister has earlier said that the government is serving food to around 6 lakh people at various night shelters and schools. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there are 1,561 coronavirus cases in Delhi including 30 cured/discharged and 30 deaths. -- ANI

Also read: Hell on the Yamuna as hundreds starved for days after Delhi shelters went up in flames

Since food security has become a major concern in the current COVID-19 situation, this association will aid in strengthening various feeding programmes through the company's products which are easy to share and consume. Mondelez India also said about 1 lakh meals were provided by employees through a company association with Akshaya Patra Foundation and will continue to do so through the month of April 2020. 

The company has also donated 1 lakh masks and about 225 litres of sanitisers in Mumbai to support the frontline members, including hospital staff and the police. 

Apart from this, the company extended support to local authorities around their factory locations by donating 1,800 relief kits consisting of critical masks and sanitisers and some snack products like chocolates, biscuits and Tang in Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, it added. -- PTI

Immediately after assuming office, Chouhan had said that his first priority would be to contain the spread of highly contagious Covid-19.

"I request all brothers and sisters to not panic," Chouhan added. According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 730 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state so far, out of which 51 patients have recovered and 50 have succumbed to the deadly virus. Indore is one of the worst affected in India with more than 400 cases and 35 fatalities. 

The Chief Minister suggested that the upward in Covid-19 cases indicates that more patients are being detected and thus the virus would be curbed. "It is necessary because if we had positive patients and no information about them, they would have passed on the disease to other people leading to not only endangering themselves but others as well," Chouhan said. -- ANI

Image:  Indore divisional commissioner along with senior officials inspect Tatpatti Bakhal area in Indore where health workers were attacked. Pic: ANI 

The compulsory no pay leave will affect around 1,200 employees in senior grades. The remaining 2,800 employees of the airline such as members of cabin crew and ground handling services will be unaffected. -- PTI

Small shops and hardware stores in Austria re-opened on Tuesday as the first step towards a "new normal" amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.As of Tuesday morning, shops of up to 400 square meters and hardware stores in the Alpine country have re-opened under strict precautionary measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing. "We are on track," said Kurz, who believed "The numbers of new infections and of hospitalisations are going in the right direction."

However, masks are mandatory in retail and public transport, he emphasized.The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in Austria has reached 14,159 as of Tuesday afternoon, with 384 deaths reported.

Spain, one of the European countries hardest hit by COVID-19, is handing out 10 million free masks from Monday to Thursday this week, to commuters going back to work after a two-week lockdown that forced all non-essential workers to stay home to combat the spread of COVID-19. Face masks are being handed out to commuters at train and metro stations as well as at bus terminals across Spain. Residents can pick up masks at 1,300 distribution points throughout Spain.

Starting from Monday, non-essential workers such as construction staff are allowed to return to work. Meanwhile, the rest of the country remains under lockdown until April 26.

Italy, another country devastated by the pandemic, on Tuesday took its first tentative steps towards reopening its economy five weeks after the first national lockdown entered into force. -- ANI

A Christian priest was arrested on Wednesday for conducting Holy Mass at a Church in Willingdon Island, in alleged defiance of government orders banning religious gatherings during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown.

   

Fr Augustine along with six others were arrested for celebrating Mass at Stella Maris Church this morning, police said.

They have been charged under IPC section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and relevant sections of the Kerala Epidemic Disease Ordinance, they said.

    

Later, the priest and others were released on station bail, they added.

More details coming up. 

The ministry emphasized that even the activities allowed under the new guidelines will not be permitted in the 'hotspot' zones, or the areas/clusters with high occurrence of COVID-19 cases.

The 'hotspots' will be determined as per the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). In these hotspots, containment zones will be demarcated by states/UTs/district administrations as per the guidelines of MoHFW. 

In these containment zones, the activities allowed under these guidelines will not be permitted, the MHA guidelines said.

"There shall be strict perimeter control in the area of the containment zones to ensure that there is no unchecked inward/outward movement of population in these zones except for maintaining essential services (including medical emergencies and law and order related duties) and government business continuity," it said.

Several hotspot zones have been declared by various state governments to contain the spread of COVID-19.The MHA has given a detailed list of services which will be allowed from April 20 in areas not demarcated as 'hotspots'. There, multiple services will be allowed with conditions. -- ANI

Image: Relatives wearing protective suits bury a coronavirus victim at the Ahle Islam graveyard in New Delhi. Pic: ANI 

Agriculture Minister and a legislator from the district VS Sunil Kumar told media that the state government and members of the two devaswom boards, which organises the festival, held discussions and consulted with the priests and "unanimously decided" to cancel the Pooram. -- PTI

Inflation in vegetables fell sharply to 11.90 per cent in March from a high of 29.97 per cent in the previous month. 

However, inflation in onion continued to rule high at 112.31 per cent during March. Fuel and power basket witnessed deflation of 1.76 per cent, while manufactured products witnessed inflation of 0.34 per cent. 

The government said, due to outbreak of coronavirus and national lockdown, the provisional figures of WPI for latest month are computed with low response rate. "The figures are likely to be revised in a significant manner during release of final month,' it added. -- PTI

"To mitigate hardship to the public, select additional activities have been allowed which will come into effect from 20th April. 2020. These limited exemptions will be operationalized by states/UTs / district administrations based on strict compliance to the existing guidelines," read the directive by the MHA.

"Maximum use of Doordarshan and other educational channels may be made for teaching purposes," it further read. -- ANI

"To mitigate hardship to the public, select additional activities have been allowed which will come into effect from 20th April. 2020. These limited exemptions will be operationalized by states/UTs / district administrations based on strict compliance to the existing guidelines," the MHA directive noted.

The bank branches and ATMs, IT vendors for banking operations, banking correspondents, ATM operation and cash management agencies will remain functional during the period.

The Bank branches will be allowed to work as per normal working hours until the disbursal of DBT cash transfers is complete.

The local administration has to ensure that there is adequate security personnel at bank branches to maintain social distancing and law and order.

The Ministry has also given an exemption to several other services including all health services, all agriculture, horticulture activities, and MNREGA works.The government has made it clear that strict social distancing norms have to be maintained. -- ANI

A patient can walk into the kiosk and a nasal or oral swab will be collected by healthcare professionals from outside, through built-in gloves. The kiosk is automatically disinfected without the need for human involvement, making the process free of infection spread. 

"There are 173 active cases in the state and 211 people have recovered so far including 13 people who were discharged today," she added. .

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has denounced US President Donald Trump's decision to halt funding to the World Health Organization in a tweet.

"Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds," Gates said in a tweet on his official account.

Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them, he said, adding the world needs the WHO now more than ever.

Trump announced Tuesday he is halting funding to the WHO while a review is conducted into its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The railways is set to cancel around 39 lakh tickets booked for journeys between April 15 and May 3 due to the extension of the nationwide lockdown and suspension of passenger trains till the extended period in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, sources told PTI.

With the national transporter allowing tickets to be booked during the 21-day lockdown announced earlier for journeys starting after April 14, around 39 lakh bookings were made by passengers.

However, with the lockdown being extended, the railways not only cancelled all its passenger services till May 3 on Tuesday, but also stopped advance bookings.

Even as the announcement stalled over 15,000 passenger trains, thousands of migrant workers gathered near Mumbai's Bandra railway station on Tuesday, hoping to catch trains back to their home states.

While they were dispersed subsequently, questions were raised as to why did the railways keep bookings open, despite the uncertainty over the extension of the lockdown period.

The Indian Railways, however, said all passengers will get a full refund for tickets booked for the cancelled trains as well as for those booked in advance.

It added that the amount would be automatically refunded to online customers, while those who booked tickets at the counters could claim the refund till July 31. 

Customers will also get a full refund of their ticket amount if they cancel their advance bookings for trains that are not cancelled yet, the railways said.

The statement from the ulemas, cited by Dawn, comes as the government announced it would continue the lockdown imposed in light of the coronavirus outbreak, easing restrictions for some industries which it said were 'low-risk'.

Authorities in all provinces had officially restricted congregations in mosques, including for Friday prayers, to five people or less for the past two weeks. However, several instances of violation of government orders, and confrontation with police trying to enforce these orders, have been reported since then.

Speaking at a press conference after the meeting between representatives from the Jamiat-e-ulema Islam, Jamiat-e-ulema Pakistan, Jamaat-i-Islami and Tanzeem-e-Islami among other religious parties at the Karachi Press Club, Mufti Taqi Usmani, a renowned religious scholar and former judge of the Federal Shariat Court, said it was decided that prayers would be held while observing precautionary measures, the newspaper reported.

Detailing the precautionary measures, Usmani said there would be proper distancing between rows and individuals during congregations. He urged the elderly to pray at their homes and other people to return to their homes as soon as prayers were over.

"In the present conditions, five daily prayers along with precautionary measures are essential," he added.

Prominent religious scholar and chairman Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Mufti Muneebur Rehman said the lockdown was not "applicable to mosques", adding that arrangements would be made for Friday congregational prayers and tarawih in Ramazan.Calling the congregational prayers a "necessity", a statement released after the meeting said that it was important to continue the prayers while observing precautionary measures. -- PTI

The Ministry of National Health Services said that Punjab reported 2,945 cases, Sindh 1,518, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 865, Balochistan 240, Gilgit-Baltistan 236, Islamabad 140 and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir 46. So far, 1,446 people have recovered from the disease and 107 deaths have been reported in the country. 

The authorities has so far conducted 73,439 tests, including 3,380 in the last 24 hours. Usman Buzdar, Chief Minister of Punjab province, tweeted that 89 more cases of the novel coronavirus were reported, taking the provincial tally to 2,945. He also said the death toll in the province has now reached 28 and 43,565 coronavirus tests have been conducted so far. 

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa health department tweeted 65 new coronavirus cases, taking the number of infections in the province to 865. Prime Minister Khan on Tuesday extended the lockdown till April 30, saying that the the ongoing restrictions have helped contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus. He, however, said that some key industries would be opened in order to start business activities.  -- PTI

In a recent news report, Kulkarni said Jan Sadharan special trains would resume for people stranded due to the lockdown, he said. He has been booked under IPC Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant and 269, 270 (negligent, malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life), 117 (abetting commission of offence by public), the official said. 

More than 1,000 migrant workers, most of them from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, gathered near Bandra railway station here on Tuesday afternoon. They were demanding that the state government make transport arrangements so that they can go back to their native towns and villages. 

-- PTI

The activist said that like always, time too, the ceasefire violation was started by Pakistan which created problems for locals, even in the areas of Jammu that do not even come in the jurisdiction of the ceasefire line.

Divulging further on the heinous activities conducted by Pakistan, the activist said, "There can be three reasons for them to do so. Firstly due to the coronavirus outbreak, the establishment has been exposed over the mishandling of the pandemic. The country does not even have proper hospitals, any quarantine systems or ventilators. Amid all that the worst condition is in PoK, where people are not even receiving any relief packages. There are no doctors in hospitals, and even if there are, then they don't have any PPE kits or other equipment. So, Pakistan has initiated a ceasefire violation to divert the minds of the people from the bleak situation.

"The second reason is that they want to "infiltrate jihadi terrorists" Mirza stated, adding that the ceasefire violations provide these terrorists cover fire and facilitates infiltration. "And now they (Pakistan) have decided to infiltrate those terrorists who are corona patients so that they can travel Jammu and Kashmir region and spread the virus," he said further.

Citing a third reason, Mirza added that the Pakistan army is planning to have "a massive deployment of its troops" in Gilgit-Baltistan. 

Medical supplies like surgical masks, gowns and ventilators are required in massive number across the globe because of the coronavirus pandemic that surfaced in central China's Wuhan city last year and spread to at least 185 countries and territories. 

The coronavirus pandemic has infected nearly two million people and killed at least 119,000 globally, according to estimates by the Johns Hopkins University. Indian-American Gita Gopinath, the IMF Chief Economist, told reporters here "We call on all countries to refrain from putting restrictions on exporting medical supplies. It is really essential, and this is the one, you know, one of the many areas where global cooperation is necessary. This is not a time to restriction the trade of medical supplies and essential equipment around the world. Addressing a news conference at the IMF headquarters here ahead of the annual spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank, Gopinath said that these are difficult times in terms of globalisation for dealing with this pandemic. There has been a restriction on travel of people around the globe. 

There has been because of the fact that people cannot go to work, the factories, there has been a breakdown of global supply chains, so this is a result of this crisis that we have seen, she said. "But it is very important that this does not become a feature where we reverse all the gains that we have got from globalisation,' the IMF Chief Economist said. 

"Now, the world needs a healthy recovery, it needs a strong recovery, and that will not come about if the world de-globalises because that would severely reduce productivity in the world and that's the last thing that we want at this time,' Gopinath said in response to a question. -- PTI

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issues consolidated revised guidelines on the measures to be taken by Ministries/Departments of Govt of India, State/UT governments & State/UT authorities for the containment of COVID19 in India. 

-- Inter-state, inter-district movement of people, metro, bus services continue to be prohibited till May 3.

-- Cinema halls, malls, shopping complexes, gymnasiums, sports complexes, swimming pools, bars to remain closed till May 3.

-- Educational institutions, coaching centres, domestic, international air travel, train services to remain suspended till May 3.

-- All social, political, sports, religious functions, religious places, places of worship shall be closed for public till May 3.

-- From April 20 activities permitted include agricultural, horticultural, farming, procurement of agri products, 'mandis'.

"Contact-tracing of high risk contacts of new patients is under progress," the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said. So far, seven COVID-19 patients from Dharavi have died. Dharavi is one the biggest slum areas in Asia. -- PTI

"All the five persons who died after contracting COVID-19 here were victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy," the official said. A hospital in the city dedicated for the treatment of gas mishap survivors has been turned into a facility for coronavirus patients, causing hardship to these people, Rachna Dhingra, member of the NGO Bhopal Group for Information and Action, told PTI. 

The first coronavirus victim in Bhopal, a 55-year-old man, died at a hospital on April 5 due to negligence of authorities, she alleged. Another 80-year-old gas tragedy victim, who was a retired employee of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, was also not given due medical care. He died on April 8 and his sample came out positive for coronavirus on April 11, Dhingra said. 

Besides, a 40-year-old gas tragedy victim, who was suffering from oral cancer for more than a year, died on April 12 and his sample test report later came out positive for coronavirus, she said. 

Another 52-year-old gas mishap survivor, who suffered from a permanent injury, had history of tuberculosis and could not get prompt care for his respiratory problems. 

He recently tested positive for coronavirus and died on his way to the COVID-19 ward at Hamidia hospital, she said. Also, a 75-year-old senior journalist, who survived the gas tragedy, died on April 11 and his sample test report came out positive for coronairus on Tuesday, she said. -- PTI

In a national broadcast on 14 April, Modi announced the decision to extend the lockdown till 3 May. The government did not consult the team of experts before taking the decision. "The committee has not met all of last week,' a member who spoke to me on 14 April, on the condition of anonymity fearing retribution from government, said. In that time, India's COVID numbers rose from 4,421 confirmed cases and 114 deaths, as of 7 April, to 10,363 cases and 339 deaths, on 14 April. Read the report here.

Health experts said that the Suifenhe city at the China-Russia border might become another Wuhan amid sharp increase of COVID-19 cases following an exodus of Chinese nationals from Russia. Also on Tuesday, 57 new asymptomatic cases were reported taking their total to 1,023, the NHC said. Asymptomatic cases refer to people who are tested positive for the coronavirus but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. They are infectious and pose a risk of spreading to others. 

The total death toll in China went up on Tuesday to 3,342 with one death reported from the epicentre Hubei Province. The overall confirmed cases in China reached 82,295 by Tuesday. This included 3,342 people who died of COVID-19,1,137 patients still being treated and 77,816 people discharged after the treatment. Also, as of Tuesday 1,012 confirmed cases, including four deaths have been reported in Hong Kong, 45 in Macao and 393 in Taiwan including six deaths, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. -- PTI

However, he also indicated at easing of lockdown restrictions in places, where there is no hotspot after April 20.India's total number of coronavirus positive cases rose to 11,439, including 9,756 active cases, 1,305 cured/discharged and 377 deaths, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said today morning. -- ANI

In Delhi, a female doctor was allegedly assaulted by patients at Lok Nayak Hospital,which is treating people with COVID19. It happened yesterday inside the surgical ward. When a male doctor came to rescue her, they were manhandled by patients. Doctors had to hide inside the duty room and call security.

As per the new updated figures from the Union health minister, India's Coronavirus tally has crossed the 11,000 mark with a total of 11,439 cases. 

The ministry reported that there were 38 deaths and 1,076 cases in the last 24 hours. 

The ministry also reported that a total of 1,306 people have been cured.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared an extension to the 21-day lockdown, stating that it would now be extended to May 3 in an attempt to fight this deadly virus. 

Add in Finland, Iceland and Denmark, and this pandemic is revealing that women have what it takes when the heat rises in our Houses of State. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that a news set of guidelines will be issued on Wednesday as he announced the extension of lockdown till May 3.

While making new guidelines, we have kept in mind the interests of the poor and daily wage workers. Harvesting of Rabi crops is also underway. Central government and state governments are working together to ensure that farmers face minimal problems, the prime minister said in his third address to the nation.

The daily wage labourers are my extended family. It is my priority to reduce the difficulties faced by these people. The government has tried to help them in every possible way through Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojana, the PM said.

A majority of Indias states have backed an extension of the lockdown so as not to fritter away the benefits that may have accrued from the strict social distancing norms put in place to keep the highly infectious virus at bay, but some sought an easing of the lockdown in areas outside the so-called red zones that include Covid-19 hotspots and containment zones.

At least seven states - Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana - have already announced an extension of the lockdown until April 30.

Pakistan's chief justice and his family were tested for coronavirus on Tuesday after one of his staffers tested positive for the deadly disease.

The Public Relation Officer of Supreme Court said in a statement that tests of Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, his family and his secretary were conducted and they all were found to be negative.

However, the Chief Justice did not preside hearing of any case due to the coronavirus scare.

The incident followed a day after Chief Justice Ahmed raised several questions over the size of the federal Cabinet and qualification of Advisor on Health Dr Zafar Mirza.

"Advisers have been given status of the federal ministers but despite this larger number of advisers, there is no betterment in the federal government performance to deal with the pandemic," he said while hearing a suo motu case on COVID-19.

United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced halting America's funding of the World Health Organization while a review is being conducted to assess its role in "severely mismanaging and covering up" the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The novel coronavirus, which originated from Wuhan City of central China's Hubei province in November, has so far killed at least 1,19,000 people globally, including more than 25,000 in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University.

"Today I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus. Everybody knows what has gone on there," Trump told reporters at his daily White House news conference on the pandemic.

The Trump administration has accused WHO of taking side with China in the coronavirus outbreak that has brought America's economy to a standstill.

American taxpayers provide between $400 million and $500 million per year to the WHO, in contrast, China contributes roughly $40 million a year and even less, he said.

"As the organization's leading sponsor, the United States has a duty to insist on full accountability, one of the most dangerous and costly decisions from the WHO was its disastrous decision to oppose travel restrictions from China and other nations," Trump alleged.

"They were very much opposed to what we did, fortunately, I was not convinced and suspended travel from China saving untold numbers of lives...thousands and thousands of people would have died," he said.

Due to the coronavirus lockdowns going on in both France and India, the delivery of the first batch of Rafale fighter aircraft has been delayed by a few weeks now.

"At present, the delivery schedule has been pushed back by a few weeks due to the lockdown but arrangements are being made in this regard," IAF sources said in New Delhi.

Sources said apart from the delays in deliveries from France, some preparations are yet to be completed at the Ambala airbase also which is going to house the first squadron of the French-origin fighters.

The aircraft were supposed to reach India by the end of May next month but now would be delayed by few weeks. 

The final delivery schedule would be known only after the lockdown.

The first squadron of Rafales in India would be the 17 Squadron which was earlier commanded by former Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa and the tail number of the fighters would also be BS.

The four trainers would come with tail numbers RB in recognition of the important role played by present Air Force Chief Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria in finalising the deal of the planes as head of the contract negotiation committee for buying 36 Rafales for around Rs 60,000 crore. -- ANI