The number of containment zones in Delhi has gone up to 102 with the city reporting over 2,000 fresh coronavirus positive cases in past two days, Delhi government officials said.

 

The districts with higher containment zones included North (21), South-East (16), South (13), South West (12) and North West (10), official figures showed.

The districts with lower number of containment zones are West Delhi and New Delhi, three each, North-East (4) and East (5), the figures showed.

 

A total of 1,106 coronavirus positive cases were reported in past 24 hours, according to Delhi government health bulletin.

The figure was over 1,000 on Thursday.

 

An area reporting three or more positive cases of infection is turned into a containment zone to check further spread of the virus.

In Delhi, a total of 152 containment zones were formed in past over two months, out of which 50 have been reverted to normal status. The normal status of a containment zones is restored after no fresh case is reported for 28 days after the last case. 

 

The containment zones are thoroughly barricaded and sealed to prevent any unauthorised exit or entry. Inhabitants of the zone are supplied essential items at their doorsteps.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to US President Trump on Friday to discuss coronavirus response, according to a Downing Street statement. 

"They discussed the global response to coronavirus and the importance of ongoing international cooperation to develop a vaccine," a Downing Street spokesperson said.

On the upcoming G7 Summit, the prime minister and President discussed the importance of leaders meeting in the US in person if possible," the spokesperson added.

Johnson invited Trump to take part in the Global Vaccine Summit that the UK is hosting on June 4 "to raise vital funds to save the lives of millions of children around the world, the spokesperson said.

With 116 deaths reported on Friday, Maharashtra recorded the highest number of deaths in a single day.

"As many as 2,682 more people have tested positive of coronavirus today, taking the total count in the state to 62,228. One hundred and sixteen people have succumbed to the disease today. Till now, 2,098 deaths have been reported," reads an official statement issued by the state's Health Department. 

The statement further informed that 8,381 people have recovered and discharged on Friday. A total of 26,997 people have been discharged so far.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said that no death due to COVID-19 was reported in Dharavi area of Mumbai on Friday. Till now, 70 people of the area have died due to coronavirus.

"Forty-One people have tested positive of the coronavirus today, taking the total number of positive cases in Dharavi area to 1,715," said the BMC.

As per the latest update by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of coronavirus in the country stands at 1,65,799, including 89,987 active cases, 71106 recovered/migrated and 4,706 deaths. 

Thirty prisoners lodged in the high-security Puzhal Prison off Chennai have tested positive for the coronavirus, a senior official in the state police department said on Friday.

A team of health officials from Madhavaram collected samples from close to 90 inmates known to have been in close quarters with a few prisoners in Cuddalore and Tiruchi prisons.

According to a senior police official, seven of the 30 from Puzhal prison have been hospitalised while the remaining inmates stay in isolation inside the prison. Prison officials are closely monitoring the movement of prisoners now that the disease has pervaded even totally enclosed spaces like prisons.

Outside the walled prisons, the virus is appearing to have a field day in the capital Chennai. On Friday alone, 618 cases were recorded in the city out of the 874 positives across the state. Tamil Nadu has been recording more than 800 cases for the last three days in a row, a worrying sign for officials amid no detection of new clusters after the Nizamuddin conference and the Koyambedu market cluster.

Returnees from Maharashtra have been testing positive in a big way. In the breakup provided by the state government on Friday, exactly 129 cases were attributed to the returnees who came by road, and six cases by flights into the city.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.6 on the Richter Scale hit 16 km away from Rohtak in Haryana at 9.08pm on Friday, said the National Center for Seismology, leading to tremors in New Delhi and its adjoining areas.

Delhi has been jolted by a series of tremors over the last month. A low-intensity earthquake of magnitude 2.2 hit the national capital on May 15, which was the fourth since April 12, according to NCS.

On May 10, a medium-intensity earthquake of magnitude 3.4 hit the area near Wazirpur in northeast Delhi.

Wazirpur and its nearby areas were the epicentre of the earthquakes on April 12 and April 13, of magnitude 3.5 and 2.7, respectively. There are five seismic zones. Delhi falls in the fourth zone.

According to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority, seismicity around Delhi appears to be associated with a major geological structure known as the Delhi-Hardwar Ridge.

The Louvre museum in Paris is working to reopen on July 6, according to a statement released Friday on museum's website.

The museum's statement said it's implementing a new system that will allow people to visit with "optimum security conditions." The museum said it will follow all health rules, and visitors will have to book a slot to enter.

"Even if we were able to showcase the Louvres treasures virtually during confinement, nothing can replace the emotion of a real encounter with a piece of art, which is the raison dtre of museums," president of the Louvre, Jean-Luc Martinez, said.

On Thursday, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that museums and monuments across France would be allowed to reopen from June 2 as France eases some coronavirus lockdown measures.

The tally of COVID-19 cases in Dharavi, Mumbai's largest slum, rose to 1,715 on Friday after 41 more people tested positive for the infection, an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.

No new death was reported in Dharavi, due to which the toll remained unchanged at 70, the official said.

Of the 41 new patients, as many as seven were found in Matunga Labour Camp locality of Dharavi alone, he said.

Dharavi, considered as the largest slum sprawl of Asia, has a population of over 6.5 lakh living in an area spread over 2.5 square kilometres. 

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said that the state government will soon announce a financial package to steer the state out of the present economic crisis caused due to the COVID-19 situation.

Talking to reporters in Pimpri Chinchwad township near Pune, the senior NCP leader said that as a result of the pandemic and the lockdown, all financial activities have come to a standstill, and businesses as well as jobs have been adversely impacted.

"In a nutshell, we are facing an economic crisis and we want to find a way out. The state government will soon announce a financial package and a decision in that regard will be taken in the cabinet," Pawar said.

He said that although the Centre recently announced an economic package, there were still differences of opinion on  how much money will be given to the people.

"We are also seeking help from the Centre. We have been sending correspondence and raising the issue in the Prime Minister's video conferencing with all the states," he added.

Pawar urged the youths living in the backward areas of the state to take up jobs in the industrial sector as a vacuum has been created after a large number of migrant workers returned to their home states during the lockdown.

S Gopalakrishnan, lAS (TN, 1991), currently serving as additional secretary, MEITY, posted as additional secretary in the PMO.   

C Sridhar, lAS (BH, 2001), currently serving as deputy director in LBSNAA, Mussoorie, has been posted as joint secretary, and Meera Mohanty, lAS (HP, 2005), director in the Cabinet Secretariat, posted as director in the Prime Minister's Office.

Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday issued guidelines for stakeholders like pilots and engineers on how to deal with locust swarms, saying they pose a threat to aircraft in the critical landing and takeoff phase of a flight.

India is battling the worst desert locust invasion in more than 21 years.

The crop-destroying swarms first attacked Rajasthan and have now spread to Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

'Generally, locusts are found at lower levels and therefore pose a threat to aircraft in the critical landing and takeoff phase of the flight. Almost all air intake ports of the aircraft will be prone to ingestion in large numbers, if the aircraft flies through a swarm (areas like engine inlet, air-conditioning pack inlet etc.),' the regulator said in its circular.

Pitot and static sources can also get partially or fully blocked while flying through locust swarms, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said.  

'Blocked pitot and static sources lead to erroneous instrument indications, especially unreliable air speed and altimeter indications,' it said.

A pitot tube in airplanes is used to measure the flow speed of the wind.  -- PTI

Doordarshan News has shifted its operations from Mandi House to its studio in Khelgaon after a video journalist employed with it tested positive for coronavirus following his death, officials said on Friday.

According to his family, the 53-year-old video journalist had last gone to work on May 21 and after he returned home, he started feeling uneasy and took leave.

According to his elder brother, he did not have coronavirus symptoms but had 'mild breathing difficulty'.

On May 25, when he felt unwell, he consulted his family doctor who advised him against getting tested for coronavirus and asked him to undergo some blood tests.

"His blood test reports were normal. But on May 27, he collapsed and died en route to the hospital. He tested positive for the virus later. The doctor suspected that he had a heat stroke," his brother told PTI.

According to an official of DD News, initially they were told that he had a heatstroke and then they learnt he had a heart attack which led to his death.

However, when they learnt that he had died due to coronavirus, the areas he may have accessed were sanitised.

"The news operations have been shifted to the Khelgaon studio from the night of May 28. The floors of the Mandi House headquarters where news operations took place are being sanitised and it will take another two-three days," the official said.

The official said that the employee used to only access the camera section.

"We have been following strict protocol and the employees are mandated to collect the equipment and leave the building. No one was allowed to loiter," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"But as a precautionary measure, all the camera section employees, around 35-40 persons, are being tested at RML and if they want, they can also undergo a test at a private lab," the official added.

The official said the employees are being called on a rotational basis and May 21 (the day the deceased employee fell unwell) was only the sixth day in the month that he had reported for work.

"We have automatic hand sanitizer machines at the entrance of the building so that people do not have to touch them and those entering the building have to undergo thermal screening," the official said.   -- PTI

Famous astrologer Bejan Daruwalla succumbed to lung infection at 89 on Friday in a Gujarat hospital.

Daruwalla was put on ventilator in a private hospital in Ahmedabad after he complained of breathing difficulty.

Born in July 1931, the Ganesha devotee is well known for combining the principles of various techniques like Vedic astrology, Numerology, Palmistry, I-Ching, Tarot, Kabalah and even Western astrology for his predictions. He has also predicted the market volatility and movement from time-to-time.

According to his website, Daruwalla is known as one of the best astrologers in the USA.

His motto of a happy life has always been: 'Live, love and laugh'.

He always followed three principles in his life: Keeping an open mind, observing keenly and research completely.

Some big names such as Prince Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of City Palace Udaipur and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde have sought advice from him.

She announced that religious places can open up from June 1 and allowed full attendance at public and private offices.

Banerjee, who has been criticising the railways for the past few days for ferrying a large number of migrant workers to the state without consulting her government, claimed that it is being done without following the norms of social distancing.

"Is the railways running Corona Express trains, instead of Shramik Special trains?" she asked and wondered why more trains are not being run for the migrant workers returning from other states.   -- PTI

Air India said it will operate additional repatriation flights to six countries between June 4 and June 6 to bring back stranded Indians under the phase 2 of Vande Bharat Mission.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the six countries where these flights will operate are the United States, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and South Korea.

On Twitter, the national carrier said it will operate Delhi-Auckland flight on June 4, Delhi-Chicago flight and Delhi-Stockholm flight on June 5.

It said it will operate Mumbai-London flight and Mumbai-Newark flight on June 6.

It added it will run flights on Delhi-New York route, Delhi-Frankfurt route and Delhi-Seoul route on June 6.

The Narendra Modi government started the Vande Bharat Mission on May 7 to bring stranded Indians home on a payment basis amid the coronavirus lockdown.

It also permitted foreign nationals and valid visa holders to book seats on these outbound flights.

Under phase one of the mission, Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express operated 64 flights to bring 14,800 Indians home from 12 countries between May 7 and May 14.

Phase two of the mission began on May 16.   -- PTI

Twelve migrants, two of them women, fell seriously ill after having dinner at their quarantine centre in Sheikhpura, Bihar, an official said on Friday.

District Programme Manager, Shyam Kumar Nirmal, said the migrants had been lodged at the isolation facility in Karki under Ariyari police station area, about 25 km from the district headquarters.

"On Thursday night, soon after having dinner they began to vomit and complain of severe abdominal pain. They were immediately rushed to a hospital where their condition is now stated to be stable," Nirmal said.

Investigations are on to ascertain which item caused the food poisoning following which suitable action would be taken, he added.

More than 1.5 million migrants have returned to Bihar since the beginning of this month from places across the country where they had been stuck during the lockdown.

The state government is offering Rs 1,000 each to the returnees, inclusive of their train fares, following completion of a mandatory 14-day quarantine set up at district, block or panchayat levels.

Upkeep of many of these quarantine centres, including the quality of food served there, has been a matter of concern.

A PIL was recently filed in the Patna High Court seeking intervention in the matter.

Moreover, the state government has drawn flak over a recent communication whereby officials have been directed to ban the entry of journalists into these quarantine centres, understandably to check the spread of COVID-19 which has reported a very high incidence among migrants.

Opposition parties have, however, alleged that the move was aimed at preventing the condition of these quarantine facilities from getting exposed. -- PTI

A special court in Mumbai on Friday rejected the interim bail plea filed by activist Sudha Bharadwaj, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-alleged Maoist links case.

The activist had sought temporary bail on medical grounds in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) opposed Bharadwaj's bail plea saying that she was not suffering from any life-threatening ailment.

Her condition is stable as per the medical reports, special public prosecutor Prakash Shetty said.

Bharadwaj and 10 other civil rights activists were booked under stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly having Maoist links and conspiring to overthrow the government.

They were booked initially by the Pune Police after the violence that erupted at Koregaon Bhima in the district.

According to police, the activists made inflammatory speeches and provocative statements at the Elgar Parishadmeet held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which triggered the violence the next day.

The police also said that these activists were active members of banned Maoist groups. The case was later transferred to the NIA.   -- PTI

The Supreme Court will hear on June 2 a plea which has sought a direction to the Centre to amend the Constitution and replace the word India with 'Bharat' or 'Hindustan', claiming it will 'instill a sense of pride in our own nationality'.

The plea has sought a direction to the government to take appropriate steps to bring amendment in Article 1 of the Constitution, which deals with name and territory of the Union, to the effect that 'the same refers to the country as Bharat/Hindustan, to the exclusion of India'.

The petition was listed for hearing on Friday before the apex court but it got deleted from the list as Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde was not available.

As per a notice uploaded on the top court website, this matter would be listed for hearing on June 2 before a bench headed by the CJI.

The plea, filed by a Delhi-based man, has claimed that such an amendment will 'ensure the citizens of this country to get over the colonial past'.

'The removal of the English name though appears symbolic, will instill a sense of pride in our own nationality, especially for the future generations to come. In fact, the word India being replaced with Bharat would justify the hard fought freedom by our ancestors,' the plea claimed.

Referring to the 1948 Constituent assembly debate on Article 1 of the then draft constitution, the plea said even at that time there was a 'strong wave' in favour of naming the country as 'Bharat' or 'Hindustan'.

'However, now the time is ripe to recognise the country by its original and authentic name i.e. Bharat especially when our cities have been renamed to identify with the Indian ethos,' it said.  -- PTI

Ajit Jogi, who served as the first chief minister of Chhattisgarh after the formation of the state, died at 74 on Friday.

He is survived by his wife Renu Jogi, MLA from Kota, and son Amit Jogi.

Jogi, a bureaucrat-turned-politician, suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this month and has been in a Raipur hospital since then. 

He was in a comatose state till the time of his death.

Jogi served as the first chief minister of Chhattisgarh from November 2000 to November 2003 in the then Congress government, after the formation of the state.

He parted ways with the Congress in 2016 after he and Amit Jogi got embroiled in a controversy over the alleged fixing of bypoll to Antagarh seat in Kanker district in 2014.

He subsequently formed his own outfit JCC-J.

The decision to open shops in malls, will be taken soon, after taking into account the guidelines of the health ministry, the commerce and industry ministry said on Friday.

   

Issues of retail traders were discussed in a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday with representatives of traders associations through video conferencing.

 

Regarding some of the hardships being faced by the retail traders even after the relaxations of the guidelines, he said that a majority of shops have been allowed to be opened, without any distinction of essential and non-essential.

 

"The decision to open the remaining shops in the malls, will be taken soon, after taking into account the guidelines of the health ministry," the ministry said in a statement.

 

The minister said that that the Aatmanirbhar package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to fight COVID-19 provided for Rs 3 lakh credit guarantee for micro, small and medium enterprises, and it also covers traders.

 

Goyal told the traders not to feel threatened by the e-commerce juggernaut, as the common person has now realized that the brick and mortar kirana neighbourhood shopkeepers only helped them in their hour of crisis.

He added that the government is working on mechanism to facilitate business-to-business (B2B) for the retail traders and providing technical support to them to expand their reach.

 

Regarding other problems of the trader community pertaining to term loans, and mudra loans, the minister said that the matter will be taken up with the finance ministry to find a solution.

 

"Several indicators show that the economic recovery is on the anvil. The power consumption this month is almost at par with the corresponding period last year. Exports, which went down in April by almost 60 per cent, have started showing upward trend, and the preliminary figures indicate decline this month will be smaller," he added. -- PTI 

The Central Bureua of Investigation has begun preliminary enquiry against organisers of Tablighi Jamaat for alleged dubious cash transactions and hiding of foreign donations from authorities, officials said on Friday.

   

After registering a preliminary enquiry, the agency started its probe into the financial transactions of Tablighi Jamaat which had attracted headlines after many of its members, who had congregated at the Nizamuddin-based headquarters in March, were found to be carriers of COVID-19.

 

A preliminary enquiry is the first step towards deciding whether there exists prima facie material to proceed with a full-fledged investigation with an FIR, they said. -- PTI  

More than 38,000 doctors, including those retired from the Armed Forces Medical Services, have volunteered to help the government in its fight against COVID-19 pandemic, a senior official said on Friday.

   

On March 25, the government had made an appeal to doctors, including the retired ones, to come forward and join the efforts to fight the pandemic.

 

"38,162 volunteer doctors, including retired government, Armed Forces Medical Services, public sector undertaking or private doctors have signed up with the government to battle COVID-19 pandemic," the official told PTI.

 

The official further said Niti Aayog has sent a list of names of these doctors to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

 

In a statement posted on Niti Aayog's website on March 25, the government had said those who wish to contribute to this noble mission may register themselves through a link provided on the Aayog's website.

 

"The Government of India requests for volunteer doctors who are fit and willing to be available for providing their services in the public health facilities and the training hospitals in the near future.

 

"We appeal to such doctors to come forward at this hour of need. You could also be a retired government, Armed Forces Medical Services, public sector undertaking or a private doctor," the statement had said.

 

It had noted that in case the outbreak leads to a high number of infected individuals, India's public health facilities will face tremendous load to take care of a large number of patients.

 

Many countries, including the US, Italy, the UK and Vietnam, had also urged retired health workers to come back to work amid the pandemic.

 

The number of COVID-19 cases in India has climbed to 1,65,799, making it the world's ninth worst-hit country by the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The health ministry on Friday said the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 4,706 in the country. -- PTI 

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport on Friday announced that no ticket fares will be charged from migrant labourers when buses are made available for dropping them at the city railway stations for their journey to their home states.

A BEST spokesperson said that the decision was taken as per the directives of the Supreme Court.

The apex court on Thursday directed that no fare for travel either by trains or buses be charged from the migrant workers stranded across the country, and they be provided food and water.

Till Thursday, the BEST was charging regular fares from the migrants as per the distance for dropping them at the railway stations, he said.

The Mumbai Police have also been arranging special buses for ferrying the registered migrants to the railway stations.

The Railway Ministry has been running Shramik special trains to carry the stranded migrants to their native places since May 1, 2020.

The BEST is over a century old public transport body, which has a fleet of more than 3,500 buses. 

During its normal days of operations, it ferries around 35 lakh commuters everyday. -- PTI 

Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and informed him about the views of all chief ministers on the extension of the ongoing nationwide lockdown beyond May 31, officials said.

 

 During the meeting, Shah briefed Modi about the suggestions and the feedback he received from the chief ministers during his telephonic conversations on Thursday, a government official said.

 

The nationwide curbs were first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 for 21 days in a bid to contain the spread of novel coronavirus.

It was first extended till May 3 and then again till May 17. 

The lockdown was further extended till May 31.

 

The home minister's telephonic conversations with the chief ministers came just three days before the end of the fourth phase of the lockdown.

 

During his talks with the chief ministers, Shah sought to know the areas of concern of the states and the sectors they want to open up further from June 1, the official said.

 

Interestingly, till now, it was Modi who had interacted with all chief ministers through video conference before extension of each phase of the coronavirus-induced lockdown and sought their views.

 

This was for the first time that the home minister spoke to the chief ministers individually before the end of another phase of the lockdown.

 

Shah was present in all the conferences of chief ministers along with the prime minister.

China on Friday rejected United States President Donald Trump's offer to mediate between India and China to end their current border standoff. 

In a surprise move, Trump on Wednesday offered to "mediate or arbitrate" the raging border dispute between India and China, saying he was "ready, willing and able" to ease the tensions, amid the continuing standoff between the armies of the two Asian giants.

Reacting for the first time to the US president's offer, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, the two countries did not want the "intervention" from a third party to resolve the current military standoff.

 

"Between China and India we have existing border-related mechanisms and communication channels," Zhao told a media briefing in Beijing when asked about Trump's offer.

"We are capable of properly resolving the issues between us through dialogue and consultation. We do not need the intervention of the third party," he said. 

  

Several areas along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh and North Sikkim have witnessed major military build-up by both the Indian and Chinese armies recently, in a clear signal of escalating tension and hardening of respective positions by the two sides even two weeks after they were engaged in two separate face-offs.

 India has said the Chinese military was hindering normal patrolling by its troops along the LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim and strongly refuted Beijing's contention that the escalating tension between the two armies was triggered by trespassing of Indian forces across the Chinese side. -- PTI

A total of 1,438 people tested positive for coronavirus in Mumbai on Thursday taking the total number of cases in the city to 35,273. The metropolitan city reported 38 deaths on the day due to the disease. -- ANI

He, however, escaped from there on Wednesday night and arrived at his in-laws' place and allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself on Thursday morning, SHO Tindwari Police Station Neeraj Kumar Singh said. Prima facie it appears to be a fall out of marital dispute, the SHO said, adding that investigations are on. 

According to Prasad's father-in-law, upon reaching home on Wednesday night, he had an argument with his wife Rajkali over buying ration. "He committed suicide by hanging himself the next day,' he added. PTI

According to the officials, the workers will be airlifted by a SpiceJet flight departing at noon today from Leh.

The migrant workers will arrive in Delhi at around 2 pm and will be flown out by an Indigo flight departing Delhi at 6 pm and reaching Ranchi 8 pm, the officials said. Upon arrival in Ranchi, the workers are most likely to be received by Chief Minister Hemant Soren at the airport.

Concerned officials of Ladakh administration and the BRO are actively supporting the effort and all 60 migrant workers have been checked, thermal screened and transported by BRO to Leh and are in a transit camp.

The Jharkhand Chief Secretary had, on May 12, written a letter to the Union Home Secretary seeking permission to allow the State government to airlift stranded workers of Jharkhand from Andamans, Ladakh and the North-eastern states at its own expense.Chief Minister Hemant Soren had also personally written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the issue. 

However, officials said that no response was received from the Central government.Soren has said that two flights are being operationalised to get back around 320 workers from Andamans soon as well.

Migrant workers had May 10 reached out to the Chief Minister on Twitter seeking assistance for their return, following which Soren had urged Ladakh administration to provide assistance.

After the resumption of commercial air operations, Soren on May 26 personally entrusted a small team to work out all operational possibilities to ensure the safe return of 60 migrants from Dumka district stuck in Gorgodoh Village, Batalik in Kargil district, Leh.

Officials said that around 3.5 to 4 lakh of the approximate 7.5 lakh registered migrant workers have already returned to the state and further efforts are being made to ensure that no one is left behind. -- ANI

A division bench of Justices S B Shukre and A S Kilor directed Gawli to seek permission from the concerned police authorities to travel from Mumbai to Nagpur amid the COVID-19 lockdown and surrender before the Nagpur Central prison. His advocate Mir Nagman Ali informed the court that as per an order passed by another bench of the HC last week, Gawli had appeared before the authorities at Taloja Prison in Navi Mumbai to surrender. 

However, the prison authorities had refused to admit him in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ali said. After hearing Gawli's application seeking more time to surrender, the court said, "We are of the opinion that one last opportunity should be granted to the applicant (Gawli)." 

The bench directed Gawli to file an online application to the concerned police authority seeking permission to travel from Mumbai to Nagpur within a day. 

"The concerned authorities shall within a period of one day then grant permission to the applicant to travel from Mumbai to Nagpur. The applicant shall then surrender before the Nagpur prison within three days thereafter," the bench said. 

The court further clarified that if Gawli files another application seeking more time to surrender citing the COVID-19 pandemic or the lockdown, the same shall not be entertained. Gawli, who is serving a life sentence in a 2008 murder case, was lodged at the Nagpur Central prison. 

He was granted parole on March 13 to attend to his ailing wife Asha and was supposed to surrender on April 27. The parole leave was, however, extended for a period of seven days due to the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown. -- PTI

Jammu and Kashmir Police on Thursday averted a 2019 Pulwama-type attack when they chased and seized a car laden with about 45 kg of explosives in the south Kashmir district, officials said.

Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range) Vijay Kumar told reporters there were intelligence inputs about plans of banned Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammed terror groups to repeat an attack similar to last year's February 14 strike on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy that left 40 personnel dead.

"The police had intelligence inputs for past one week that Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists had plans to launch a big strike using a suicide bomber and car bomb to target security forces," he said.

The Indian Railways so far has transported 48 lakhs passengers to their home states through Shramik Special trains.The Railways Ministry had said yesterday that a total of 3,543 Shramik Special trains have been operationalized from various states across the country in the last 26 days. 

The researchers noted that bad blood sugar control did not directly seem to impact a patient's outcome, but the presence of diabetic complications and old age increased the risk of death. They said an increased BMI, which is a measure of the weight of a person with respect to their height, is associated with both increased risk of needing mechanical ventilation, and with increased risk of death. 

Complications were also noted in the eye, kidney, and nerves in 47 per cent of the subjects, while small blood vessel-related microvascular problems of the heart, brain, and legs were present in 41 per cent of the patients, the study noted. 

Across all patients in this study, the researchers said, one in five had been intubated by day seven, and placed on a ventilator in intensive care. By this time, they said about one in 10 had died, and a further 18 per cent had been discharged home. 

According to the researchers, microvascular complications more than doubled the risk of death at day seven. They said advanced age also substantially increased the risk of death, with the group of patients aged 75 years more than 14 times likely to die than younger patients aged under 55 years. 

Patients 65-74 years old were three times more likely to die than those under 55 years, the study noted. The scientists said the presence of the respiratory conditions like obstructive sleep apnoea, and symptoms like shortness of breath almost tripled the risk of death within a week. -- PTI

Chairman Rishad Premji will oversee day-to-day operations of the company until July 5.

Till recently, Delaporte was the Chief Operating Officer of Capgemini Group and a member of its Group Executive Board. During his 25-year career with Capgemini, he held several leadership roles including that of Chief Executive Officer of the Global Financial Services Strategic Business Unit, and head of all global service lines.

He also oversaw Capgemini's lndia operations, and led the group's transformation agenda, conceptualising and driving several strategic programmes across various business units. -- PTI

"I appeal to people suffering from serious ailments, pregnant women and those above 65 years and below 10 years of age to travel only when necessary in Shramik Trains. Railway Parivaar is committed to ensuring safety of all passengers," Goyal tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Railways appealed to the passengers stating, Indian Railways has been running Shramik special Trains on a daily basis throughout the country to ensure that migrants can travel back to their homes. It has been observed that some people who are availing this service have pre-existing medical conditions which aggravate the risk they face during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A few unfortunate cases of deaths related to pre-existing medical conditions while travelling has happened." In order to protect the vulnerable persons from COVID-19, in line with Ministry of Home Affairs, Order No 40-3/2020-DM-I(A) dated 17.05.2020, Ministry of Railways makes an appeal that persons with co-morbidities (for example - hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, immune deficiency conditions), pregnant women, children below the age of 10 years and persons above 65 years of age may avoid travel by rail, except when it is essential," Ministry of Railways stated.

"Indian Railway parivaar is working 24X7 to ensure that rail services are provided to all the citizens of the country needing to travel. But safety of our passengers is our biggest concern. So, we seek the cooperation of all citizens in this matter. In case of any distress or emergency please do not hesitate to reach out to your railway parivaar and we will help you as always (Helpline number - 139 and 138)," the Ministry added. -- ANI

According to Worldometer, India has now overtaken Turkey as the ninth worst-hit country in terms of total number of cases. 

The Health ministry said the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 89,987, while 71,105 people have recovered and one patient has migrated.  

"Thus, around 42.89 per cent patients have recovered so far," a senior Health Ministry official said. The total confirmed cases include foreigners. Of the 175 deaths reported since Thursday morning, 85 were in Maharashtra, 22 in Gujarat, 15 in Uttar Pradesh, 13 in Delhi, 12 in Tamil Nadu, eight in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, four in Telangana and one each in Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana. Of the total 4,706 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 1,982 deaths followed by Gujarat with 960 deaths, Madhya Pradesh with 321, Delhi with 316, West Bengal with 295, Uttar Pradesh with 197, Rajasthan with 180, Tamil Nadu with 145, Telangana with 67 and Andhra Pradesh with 59 deaths. The death toll reached 47 in Karnataka and 40 in Punjab. Jammu and Kashmir has reported 27 fatalities due to the disease, Haryana has 19 deaths, Bihar has 15 while Odisha and Kerala have reported seven deaths each. Himachal Pradesh has registered five COVID-19 fatalities, while Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and Assam have recorded four deaths each so far. Meghalaya has reported one COVID-19 fatality so far, according to the ministry data.  

According to the ministry's website, more than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities. -- PTI

"Great pleasure to 'call on' HE UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (through) video conference. He recalled warmly his visits to India, underlined the importance of India for the UN & appreciated India's assistance to other countries during COVID,' Tirumurti tweeted on Thursday. 

India has sent essential drugs, testing kits and other medical assistance to many countries around the world, including to the US, to help fight the coronavirus that has infected over 5.8 million globally. 

The death toll from the pandemic has surpassed 358,373. Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, had said that the UN chief looked forward to working very closely with Tirumurti in the years ahead. -- PTI

"The last conversation between Modi and Trump was on April 4 on the subject of hydroxychloroquine," a source said. On Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs made it clear that India is directly in touch with the Chinese side through established mechanisms and diplomatic contacts to resolve the row. PTI

"I like Modi. I like your prime minister a lot. He is a great gentleman. (He is doing a) great job," Trump told White House reporters in an Oval Office exchange on Thursday. For the second time in less than a fortnight, he confirmed of having spoken to Modi. 

Neither the White House nor the Prime Minister's Office has issued readouts of the two telephonic conversations, but from Trump's public remarks, it appears that he and Modi talk to each other regularly. Responding to a question, Trump acknowledged that he knew he was popular in India. 

"I know (I am popular in India). They (people) like me in India. I think they like me in India certainly more than the media likes me in this country," he said. From the very start of his presidency, Trump has gone out of his way to show his love and affection for Modi and India. 

After the historic "Howdy Modi" event in Houston last September and "Namaste Trump" rally in Ahmedabad this February, Trump has not let any opportunity go without praising Modi. "I just got back from India, right? I just beat COVID," he said. The two leaders like each other a lot, given their frequent conversations and twitter exchanges. -- PTI

Citing concerns regarding African swine fever, China has announced that it will put a ban on imports of pigs, wild boar and related products from India.

Chinese state media Global Times quoted a joint notice issued by the General Administration of Customs of China and the ministry of agricultural and rural affairs, saying that China is set to ban imports of pigs, wild boar and related products from India.

The ban comes amid border tensions between Beijing and Delhi. Global Times reported that "the ban comes after tensions between the two countries flared up in Galwan Valley region," which it blamed on "India's recent, illegal construction of defence facilities on the border to Chinese territory".

According to the daily, India reported its first case of ASF in both domestic pigs and wild boar in Assam earlier this month. The disease has killed more than 14,000 pigs in Assam, according to media reports.

On the border front, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Thursday said that India is engaged with the Chinese side to resolve the border issue peacefully.

New Delhi's remarks come a day after Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun Weidong, said the two countries pose no threat to each other and should resolve their differences through communication while not allowing them to overshadow bilateral relations. -- ANI

On Thursday, the IMD announced that conditions are favourable in Kerala for the onset of the southwest monsoon on June 1.

"A low-pressure area is likely to form over the southeast and adjoining east-central Arabian Sea from May 31 to June 4, 2020. In view of this, conditions are very likely to become favourable from June 1, 2020, for the onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala," the IMD said in its bulletin.

It also stated that the southwest monsoon has further advanced into some parts of Maldives-Comorin area, some more parts of south Bay of Bengal, remaining parts of Andaman Sea and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. -- ANI

United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at stripping social media giants like Twitter and Facebook of legal immunity for the content posted by third-party users.

 

The order comes a day after Trump accused Twitter of election interference, after it added fact-check links to two of his tweets.

 

"Today I'm signing an executive order to protect and uphold the free speech and rights of the American people. Currently, social media giants, like Twitter, receive an unprecedented liability shield based on the theory that they're a neutral platform - which they're an editor with a viewpoint," Trump told reporters after he signed an executive order on Thursday.

The executive order calls for new regulations, under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, to make it that social media companies that engage in censoring or any political conduct will not be able to keep their liability shield. 

"That's a big deal. They have a shield; they can do what they want. They have a shield. They're not going to have that shield," Trump asserted.

 

Trump said that the executive order further instructs the Federal Trade Commission to prohibit social media companies from engaging in any deceptive acts or practices affecting commerce.

 

This authority resides in Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, he said.

 

Trump also said he was directing the Attorney General to work cooperatively with the States.

"He's going to be working very much and very closely in cooperation with the states to enforce their own laws against such deceptive business practices. The states have brought in powerful authority to regulate in this arena, and they'll be doing it also and we encourage them to do it - if they see exactly as we've been seeing," he noted.

The President said that a handful of powerful social media monopolies controlled a vast portion of all public and private communications in the United States.

"We know what they are; we don't have to name them," he said.

 

These social media outlets have had unchecked power to censor, restrict, edit, shape, hide, alter virtually any form of communication between private citizens and large public audiences, he said.

"There's no precedent in American history for so small a number of corporations to control so large a sphere of human interaction. And that includes individual people controlling vast amounts of territory," he said.

 

Asserting that his administration can't allow that to happen, especially when they go about doing what they are doing, because they are doing things incorrectly. 

"They have points of view. And if we go by that, it's actually amazing that there was a success in 2016. But we can't let this continue to happen. It's very, very unfair," he said.

 

The choices that Twitter makes when it chooses to suppress, edit, blacklist, shadow, ban are editorial decisions, pure and simple. They are editorial decisions.  In those moments, Twitter ceases to be a neutral public platform, and they become an editor with a viewpoint, he asserted.

"I think we can say that about others also, whether you're looking at Google, whether you're looking at Facebook and perhaps others," Trump said.

"One egregious example is when they try to silence views that they disagree with by selectively applying a "fact check" - a fact check -- F-A-C-T. Fact check.  What they choose to fact check and what they choose to ignore or even promote is nothing more than a political activism group or political activism. It is inappropriate," he said.

Reiterating his offer to mediate on the border dispute between India and China, United States President Donald Trump has said that he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is not in a "good mood" over the "big conflict" between the two countries.

 

Interacting with journalists in the Oval Office of the White House on Thursday, Trump said a "big conflict" was going on between India and China.

"They like me in India. I think they like me in India more than the media likes me in this country. And, I like Modi. I like your prime minister a lot. He is a great gentleman," he said.

"They have a big conflict India and China. Two countries with 1.4 billion people (each). Two countries with very powerful militaries. India is not happy and probably China is not happy," the president said when asked if he was worried about the border situation between India and China.

"I can tell you; I did speak to Prime Minister Modi. He is not in a good mood about what is going on with China," Trump said.

A day earlier, the president offered to mediate between India and China.

Trump on Wednesday said in a tweet that he was "ready, willing and able to mediate" between the two countries.

Responding to a question on his tweet, Trump reiterated his offer, saying if called for help, "I would do that (mediate). If they thought it would help" about "mediate or arbitrate, I would do that," he said.

 India on Wednesday said it was engaged with China to peacefully resolve the border row, in a carefully crafted reaction to Trump's offer to arbitrate between the two Asian giants to settle their decades-old dispute.

"We are engaged with the Chinese side to peacefully resolve it," external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, replying to a volley of questions at an online media briefing.

"The two sides have established mechanisms both at military and diplomatic levels to resolve situations which may arise in border areas peacefully through dialogue and continue to remain engaged through these channels," he said.

 

While the Chinese foreignmMinistry is yet to react to Trump's tweet which appears to have caught Beijing by surprise, an op-ed in the state-run Global Times said both countries did not need such help from the US president.

 

"The latest dispute can be solved bilaterally by China and India. The two countries should keep alert on the US, which exploits every chance to create waves that jeopardise regional peace and order," it said.

Trump's unexpected offer came on a day when China took an apparently conciliatory tone by saying that the situation at the border with India is "overall stable and controllable." 

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday that both China and India have proper mechanisms and communication channels to resolve the issues through dialogue and consultations. -- PTI

United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday that coronavirus was a 'very bad gift' from China to the rest of the world, as America surpassed the grim milestone of over one lakh COVID-19-linked deaths.

'All over the World the CoronaVirus, a very bad 'gift' from China, marches on. Not good!' Trump said in a tweet.

'We have just reached a very sad milestone with the coronavirus pandemic deaths reaching 100,000,' he said.

The US reached the painful milestone of 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths -- the highest in the world -- on Wednesday.

'To all of the families & friends of those who have passed, I want to extend my heartfelt sympathy & love for everything that these great people stood for & represent. God be with you!' said the president.

The New York Times said that the death toll exceeds the number of US military combat fatalities in every conflict since the Korean War.

It matches the toll in the US of the 1968 flu pandemic, and it is approaching the 116,000 killed in another flu outbreak a decade before that, it said.

According to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the coronavirus has impacted all age groups and communities in the US.

Asian Americans accounts for 4.7 per cent of the total coronavirus cases and Black Americans 26.3 per cent.

Globally more than 355,000 people have died and over 5.6 million tested positive.

In the United States more than 1.7 million Americans have tested positive with COVID 19.  -- PTI