'Good news, Mumbai! Vaccination for ages 18-44 to continue at the 5 centres tomorrow, from 9am-5pm. Each centre will vaccinate 500 registered Mumbaikars each, hence no walk-ins allowed. Registration on http://cowin.gov.in mandatory,' BMC posted on Twitter.

Days after making an appeal to the government to make education free of cost till graduation for kids who have lost their loved ones to Covid-19, Sonu Sood has yet again requested the government and concerned organisations to come together and make cremation grounds free of cost, enabling people who cannot afford the charges a chance to cremate their loved ones in a proper and respectful manner.

Sood shared a video on Instagram and narrated how people, from rich to poor, are struggling in every step of their journey to fight Covid-19.

He narrated a story about a Covid-19 patient who passed away, and how his family struggled to cremate the body because they did not have the money.

Till around 2 am last night, we were trying to get a bed for a Covid patient. We were able to find a bed. But again, he struggled for a ventilator. Around 5 am to 6:30 am, we could provide a ventilator for him, but he passed away. Later, we struggled to cremate him. They (family of the deceased) could not find place in a cremation ground. Also, they didnt have money for it. Later, we could cremate the patient who passed away. But in all this, I thought to myself that in todays time, everyone, from poor to rich or middle class, they are struggling to get oxygen, then oxygen bed, then ICU and the ventilator. A lot of them give up in between. Some cannot even find a place in the cremation ground because they dont have money. We have been helping a lot of people, but there are still many who cannot reach out to us. I have a humble request to make to the concerned authorities and government to introduce a law that cremation grounds should not be charged. We are losing around 3 to 4 thousand people every day. It takes around 15-12 thousand to cremate one person. So, it is 6-7 crore expenditure in total, Sonu said in the video.

He said that if cremation grounds are made free of cost, people will be able to perform the last rites of their family members in a proper manner.

West Bengal on Saturday reported the highest one-day COVID-19 deaths with 103 people succumbing to the infection, the health department said in a

bulletin.

The state's coronavirus death toll is 11,447 now.

      

The tally rose to 8,45,878 as a record single-day spike of 17,512 cases was registered.

    

The state reported 14,374 recoveries in the last 24 hours. The discharge rate slipped to 84.86 per cent.

     

The number of active cases climbed to 1,16,659.

Since Friday, 56,297 samples have been tested for COVID-19. 

Mumbai reported 3,908 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.

It pushed the city's caseload to 6,52,532. 

With 90 fatalities, the death toll in  the city due to the pandemic reached 13,251.

As many as 5,900 people were discharged from hospitals.

As India logged a world record of over four lakh coronavirus infections on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the entire world is shaken by what is happening here and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "dropping the ball and throwing it to states" after prematurely taking credit for having "won against COVID-19" when the second wave was already underway.

"Rely on yourself is the motto. No one will come to help you. Definitely, not the prime minister," Gandhi said, while alleging that the COVID-19 situation has gone completely out of control for the Modi government, and wondered whether it was their way of making the states and the citizens truly 'Aatmanirbhar'.

The former Congress chief alleged that the government completely failed to understand or to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, right from the very beginning, despite repeated warnings including from scientists.

Training his guns on the prime minister and Home Minister Amit Shah, Gandhi said India must be the only country in the world facing this massive pandemic without the guidance of an expert and empowered group that is charged with fighting the virus and protecting the people, with planning ahead, anticipating needs and taking the decisions that will result in swift action to save lives.

Taking note of a surge in COVID-19 cases, Chief Justice of India N V Ramana advanced Supreme Court's summer vacation on Saturday to May 10, instead of May 14, after the full bench of the court concurred with the proposal.

On April 26, the CJI had taken note of the representations made by bar bodies such as the SCBA and the SCAORA seeking advancement of the summer vacation in view of the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases and decided to put them before the full bench for consideration.

"It is hereby circulated for information...upon consideration of the suggestions from the bar due to the surge in COVID-19 infections, the Chief Justice of India has been pleased to direct that the summer vacation of the Supreme Court calendar 2021 be rescheduled to commence on Monday, May 10. Court shall reopen after the summer vacation on June 27," a circular issued by the apex court said.

The Supreme Court Bar Association, led by its president and senior advocate Vikas Singh, and the Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association had met the CJI seeking advancement of the summer vacation in the wake of the rampaging second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The CJI held preliminary discussions with the bar leaders of the SCBA, the Bar Council of India and the SCAORA, and "decided to place the issue before the full court".

The full bench agreed to the proposal, a source, privy to the development said.

-- PTI

Colonel Inderjit Singh has been promoted to a Brigadier General, making him the senior most ranking serving Sikh in the Malaysian armed forces.

On 16 April, he took over as the commandant of the Army Senior Officers Institute based in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan. Here, he will oversee a team that runs PhD and master level courses as well as training future unit commanders.

The one-star general is the only serving Sikh general in the Malaysian armed forces at this juncture. He is also the fifth Sikh to make it as general in the history of the Malaysian Armed Forces.

The vaccination drive for the  people in the age group of 18 to 44 years took off in Mumbai with limited access even as the city civic body stressed to have achieved the set target of inoculating 1,000 people on the first day on Saturday.

A senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said the civic body has decided to increase the target of inoculating the individuals in the 18-44 age group to 2,500 on Sunday.

"We have decided to vaccinate 200 people from the 18-44 age category today at each of all the five centres and we have fully achieved this target. Each centre was supposed to vaccinate 200 people," said Additional Municipal Commissioner

Suresh Kakani.

The BMC has identified five centres for COVID-19 vaccination for the age group 18-44 at Nair Hospital, BKC Jumbo Facility, Cooper Hospital, Seven Hills Hospital and Rajawadi Hospital.

The vaccination for the above age group was allowed only through prior registration and walk-ins at the centres are not allowed to avoid crowding.

Senior Samajwadi leader Mohammad Azam Khan tested positive for COVID-19 along with 13 other prisoners in Sitapur jail, officials said on Saturday.

The 72-year-old Rampur MP and the other prisoners tested positive for the infection in both rapid antigen and RT-PCR tests, said R S Yadav, jailer, Sitapur Jail.

He said the COVID-19 tests were conducted after complaints of fever and cough. Initially, the rapid antigen was done and later the samples were sent for the RT-PCR test, the reports of which came positive late Friday night, he said.

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party demanded that Khan be shifted to a high-level hospital considering his age.

"News of MP Azam Khan getting COVID-19 infected is extremely saddening. 

Considering the age of Azam Khan, he should be immediately shifted out of the jail hospital, and admitted to a high-level hospital by the government," the party said in a tweet in Hindi.

After being lambasted by court over distributing COVID-19 drug Fabiflu, BJP MP Gautam Gambhir will now provide 200 oxygen concentrators to those having mild or moderate symptoms of the infection in the national capital.

  

The East Delhi MP said the oxygen concentrators will be provided free of cost and the step has been taken to strengthen the city's fight against the deadly second wave of COVID-19 which has cost so many lives.

The Delhi High Court had earlier this week questioned if Gambhir had license to procure and distribute Fabiflu in large quantities.

The BJP leader's office, in a statement, said he has arranged 200 oxygen concentrators for the people in Delhi.

"The concentrators, that have been bought by the MP out of his own pocket, will be made available to all those suffering from mild to moderate COVID-19 infection at home," the statement said.

Right now, the biggest concern for the people of Delhi is shortage of oxygen, especially for those who are in the process of finding a bed in hospitals, Gambhir said in the statement.

Delhi is likely to extend the Covid lockdown for another week, sources said on Saturday afternoon, adding that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal could announce the decision on Sunday.

The national capital is under lockdown till 5 am on Monday, as the ruling Aam Aadmi Party scrambles to contain a fresh wave of infections and a positivity rate that remains over 30 per cent.

"Coronavirus still continues to wreak havoc in the city. Public opinion is that lockdown should increase. So the lockdown is being extended for one week," Mr Kejriwal said last Sunday.

This morning the city recorded over 27,000 new cases and 375 deaths in 24 hours - the 13th straight day with more than 20,000 cases per day. The city's active caseload is now nearly one lakh - more than double the previous high of around 44,000 recorded in mid-November last year.

The frightening surge in Covid cases over the past weeks - exactly two months ago Delhi reported fewer than 200 new cases in 24 hours - has brought the city's healthcare system to its knees.

Hospitals are overflowing, doctors are traumatised, and medinces and oxygen are in short supply.

India Saturday received a shipment of Russias Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V as the first batch of 1,50,000 doses landed in Hyderabad from Moscow. 

Another three million doses of the Russian vaccine are scheduled to arrive this month.

The vaccines will be delivered to Dr Reddys Laboratories, which has joined hands with the Russian Direct Investment Fund to produce Sputnik V in India.

On April 13, the Drug Controller General of India approved the use of Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus in the country. India became the 60th country to approve Sputnik V.

Large-scale vaccination against COVID-19 for people between 18 years and 44 years in the national capital will start on Monday, said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The chief minister said, "Vaccination for people between 18-44 years started at only one centre. This is symbolic only. We have received 4.5 lakh vaccine doses. It is being distributed in all districts. Large-scale vaccination in Delhi will begin from the day after tomorrow. There is no walk-in for now. I request people to come only with registration and appointment." 

Asked about the shortage of oxygen in Delhi hospitals, Kejriwal said, "There is a major issue of oxygen. SOS is coming from all hospitals. We have spoken in the court and written to the Centre that Delhi requires 976 tons of oxygen daily but we have been allotted only 490 tons of oxygen. Yesterday we received only 312 tons. How will this work?"

The Delhi high court directed the Centre to supply 490 metric tonne of allocated oxygen to the national capital on Saturday itself, or face contempt. 

 

The court took note of eight deaths in Batra Hospital due to lack of oxygen supply and told the government 'enough is enough'. 

"Do you mean we will shut our eyes to the people dying in Delhi," it asked the Centre. 

"We mean business. Water has gone above the head," the court said and declined to defer its order.

The court said the government had made an allocation of oxygen to Delhi and should fulfill it.

Hospitals in the national capital must be given their full quota of medical oxygen today "by whatever means", the Delhi high court told the centre as it heard petitions on how the health infrastructure is trying to cope with the deadly second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Water has gone above the head. You have to arrange everything now. You have made the allocations. You have to fulfil it. Eight lives have been lost. We can't shut our eyes to it," the high court said today, referring to a hospital that reported loss of lives after oxygen supply stopped for 80 minutes.

The eight people who died at Delhi's Batra Hospital this afternoon included a doctor.

"We direct the centre to ensure that Delhi receives its 490 tonnes (of medical oxygen) today by whatever means. It falls on the centre to arrange tankers as well. The allocation was made on April 20 and not even one day Delhi has received its allocated supply. If this is not implemented, we may even consider initiating contempt proceedings," the high court said.

Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday announced that Kane Williamson will be taking over the captaincy for the remainder of IPL 2021, starting with Sunday's match against Rajasthan Royals.

Under Warner, SRH has had a disappointing start to this season, languishing at the bottom of the points table with just one win in six games. Williamson had once taken over as the SRH captain in 2018 after the suspension of regular captain David Warner because of the ball-tampering saga.

"The decision has not come lightly as the management respects the enormous impact David Warner has had for the franchise over a number of years. As we face the remainder of the season, we are sure David will continue to help us strive for success both on and off the field," SRH said in a statement.

Legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar has contributed Rs seven lakh to Maharashtra Chief Minister's relief fund to help combat the coronavirus pandemic in the state.

  

Directorate General of Information and Public Relations of the Maharashtra government shared the news on Twitter on Saturday.

"Bharat Ratna @mangeshkarlata has donated Rs 7 lakh to #CMrelieffund #COVID_19 Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has thanked her for the help," the tweet read.

DGIPR said the CM has also appealed to the people of the state to contribute in the fight against COVID-19.

Recently, actor-producer Priyanka Chopra donated money and urged the global community to help India, which she said is "bleeding" due to the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Many celebrities have stepped forward to help people either by donating funds or by using their social media account to amplify SOS calls.

 

India will receive a shipment of Russias Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V on Saturday as the first batch of 1,50,000 doses is on its way to Hyderabad from Moscow. Another three million doses of the Russian vaccine are scheduled to arrive this month.

The flight carrying the consignment of Sputnik V has flown from Russia, according to diplomats based in Moscow and New Delhi, a Hindustan Times report said. 

The vaccines will be delivered to Dr Reddys Laboratories, which has joined hands with Russian Direct Investment Fund to produce Sputnik V in India.

On April 13, the Drug Controller General of India approved the use of Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus in the country. India became the 60th country to approve Sputnik V.

The Batra Hospital in Delhi on Saturday told the Delhi high court that it was out of oxygen supply for over an hour, which resulted in the deaths of 8 Covid-19 patients, including a doctor.

Batra Hospital told the high court, "We didnt get oxygen on time. We ran out of oxygen at 12 noon. We got oxygen at 1:35 pm. We have lost lives, including one of our own doctors."

The hospital has said in a statement that 8 patients died on Saturday due to lack of oxygen, including one doctor. "We ran our operation for almost an hour without oxygen supply," said Dr. SCL Gupta, Medical Director of Batra Hospital.

In an SOS message, the Batra Hospital had earlier said, "Oxygen will last for another 10 minutes. 326 patients are admitted at this hospital."

With India battling a COVID-19 surge, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday urged the Centre to evolve a political consensus on a national policy to tackle the spread of the pandemic.

In a video message, she said it is time for the central and state governments to wake up and fulfil their duties.

Gandhi also said COVID-19 jabs should be provided free of cost to all citizens and sought compulsory licensing to ramp up vaccine production to speed up the country's inoculation drive.

"I urge the central government to evolve a national policy to deal with the COVID crisis in the country and bring about a political consensus over it," the Congress president said.

"This is the time for central and state governments to wake up and fulfil their duties," she said.

Gandhi urged the Centre to deposit Rs 6,000 in the account of every poor family to help them tide over the current crisis.

She also called for increasing testing and checking the black marketing of essential life-saving drugs.

Gandhi said the Congress party will stand with the Centre in the fight against the pandemic and appealed to all Indians to unite in these testing times.

The Fortis Hospital in Delhis Vasant Kunj issued an emergency SOS alert this afternoon, calling for immediate supply of medical oxygen. 

The situation is very very serious. We have left with 6 hours of liquid medical oxygen backup. We have more othan a 100 critical patients on oxygen support. Our supplier is INOX, but we are unable to sustain with such low supply. We are seeking urgent help from the concerned authorities to avoid the disaster, said the hospital authorities.

Facing a severe domestic shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, only six states in India start the process of inoculation for those above 18 years of age. 

The Serum Institute of India, which manufactures the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, is planning to start vaccine production in other countries as it struggles to meet supply commitments, its chief executive officer told The Times.

"There's going to be an announcement in the next few days," Adar Poonawalla was quoted as saying by the newspaper in an interview published on Friday.

Poonawalla said last week that the Serum Institute would be able to raise its monthly output to 100 million doses by July, later than a previous timeline of end-May. Several states in India have run out of vaccines against COVID-19.

He hoped to increase the Serum Institute's production capacity from 2.5 billion to 3 billion doses a year within six months, the Times reported, adding that he flew to London before Britain banned travellers from India eight days ago.

The second Oxygen Express for Delhi will carry the life-saving gas from West Bengal's Durgapur, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday.

  

The first such train arrived in Delhi from Chhattisgarh carrying 70 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen.

"Oxygen tanks are being loaded from Durgapur, West Bengal on Oxygen Express to provide Liquid Medical Oxygen for patients in Delhi," Goyal said in a tweet.

The second train will carry 120 tonnes of oxygen for the oxygen starved national capital.

Jailed former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin died of COVID-19 at DDU Hospital here on Saturday, Delhi Prisons Department said.

  

Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goel said, "Information has been received from DDU Hospital about the death of Mohd Shahabuddin, inmate of Delhi Prisons. He was suffering from COVID-19 and was admitted to DDU Hospital on April 20."

Prison officials said he was admitted to the ICU of the hospital two-three days ago.

It was an event that he was looking forward to with much anticipation, and should have celebrated a milestone in a truly remarkable life in law, human rights, press freedom and humanity. 

But with the number of Covid cases rising sharply, the celebratory dinner had to be hastily cancelled two days before the event. 

This year, there were festivities but on a subdued note, and the moment was never properly celebrated as Sorabjee deserved.

The Supreme Court on Saturday refused to stay the counting of votes for panchayat polls in Uttar Pradesh.

 

The apex court also said no victory rallies shall be permitted during the counting, beginning on Sunday, or after the process is over.

The State Election Commission, it said will fasten responsibility on gazetted officers for the observance of COVID-19 protocols at counting centres.

It also directed the state SEC to preserve CCTV footage of the counting centres in states till the Allahabad High Court concludes hearing the pleas before it.

A forum of scientific advisers set up by the government warned Indian officials in early March of a new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus taking hold in the country, five scientists who are part of the forum told Reuters.

Despite the warning, four of the scientists said the federal government did not seek to impose major restrictions to stop the spread of the virus. Millions of largely unmasked people attended religious festivals and political rallies that were held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and opposition politicians.

The worlds second-most populous country is now struggling to contain a second wave of infections much more severe than its first last year, which some scientists say is being accelerated by the new variant and another variant first detected in Britain.

The warning about the new variant in early March was issued by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium, or INSACOG. It was conveyed to a top official who reports directly to the prime minister, according to one of the scientists, the director of a research centre in northern India who spoke on condition of anonymity. Reuters could not determine whether the INSACOG findings were passed on to Modi himself.

Top US epidemiologist Anthony Fauci has suggested a lockdown for a few weeks in India as an immediate step to contain the spread of the coronavirus as its deadly second wave shows no signs of ebbing.

Fauci, in an interview to The Indian Express, said another most important thing in the immediate is to get supplies of oxygen, medication, PPEs.

He said looking at the magnitude of the crisis, India should look at putting together a crisis group that would meet and start getting things organised.

Without naming any government, he said one of the things that should have been recognised that "victory was declared maybe too prematurely".

"Well, one of the things you really need to do, to the extent that you can, is shut down temporarily the country, I think is important. If we want to time out and go back to what I said: there is the immediate, the intermediate, and the long range (measures to contain the virus).

Fauci said it is not necessary to shut down for six months, but it can be a temporary one to put an end to the cycle of transmission.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a medical advisory helpline to help those battling Covid-19 at a time when the country has been ravaged by the second wave of the deadly virus. He has also appealed to doctors to join the battle against Covid-19.

In a tweet on Saturday, Rahul Gandhi wrote, "India needs to stand together and help our people. We have launched Hello Doctor a medical advisory helpline. Please call +919983836838 for medical advice."

Rahul Gandhi then went to appeal to doctors and medical professionals to join the battle against Covid-19 and help those in need of medical advice.

This comes at a time when India on Saturday recorded over 4 lakh fresh Covid-19 cases and over 3,500 deaths in a global record. India now has over 32 lakh active coronavirus cases across states.

The Centre has released Rs 8,873.6 crore to states as the first instalment of the central share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for 2021-22 for various COVID-19 containment measures, including setting up of hospitals and oxygen generation.

The Union Home Ministry said as a special dispensation, the Department of Expenditure, under the Ministry of Finance, has released the amount in advance of the normal schedule at its recommendation.

An amount of Rs 8873.6 crore has been released to the states, an official statement said.

Normally, the first instalment of the SDRF is released in June according to the recommendations of the Finance Commission.

However, in relaxation of the normal procedure, not only has the release of the SDRF been advanced but the amount has also been released without waiting for the utilisation certificate of the amount provided to the states in the last financial year.

Up to 50 per cent of the amount released i.e. Rs 4,436.8 crore can be used by the states for COVID-19 containment measures, the statement said.

The funds from the SDRF may be used by the states for various measures related to the containment of COVID-19, including meeting the cost of oxygen generation and storage plants in hospitals, ventilators, air purifiers, strengthening ambulance services, COVID-19 hospitals, COVID care centres, consumables, thermal scanners, personal protective equipment, testing laboratories, testing kits, containment zone, etc, it said.   -- PTI

The United States will continue to maintain communication with India about its needs to address the COVID-19 crisis, the White House has said, as critical American aid supplies started arriving in the country.

Two American military aircraft on Friday brought to India large amounts of emergency medical supplies as part of the Biden administration's support to the country's fight against a devastating wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The first consignment of the supplies was brought to Delhi in a C-5M Super Galaxy, one of the largest strategic airlift aircraft of the US Air Force, while the second shipment was delivered by a C-17 Globemaster.

We will continue to communicate with India about their needs, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday.

The first military assistance flight that departed from Travis Air Force Base had cargo including 200 small oxygen cylinders, 223 large oxygen cylinders, regulators and pulse oximeters, she said.

It also included approximately 184,000 rapid diagnostic tests and 84,000 N-95s masks.

Psaki said that the Secretary of State Antony Blinken called his Indian counterpart External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to review ongoing US government efforts in support of the Indian government's response.

He also noted the outpouring of support from US industries, our ongoing discussions, non-governmental institutions, and private citizens, Psaki said.

In all, the United States expects to deliver more than $100 million in medical supplies to India.

The Pentagon said in the coming week, more oxygen cylinders will be sent, as will oxygen concentrators, oxygen generation units, additional personnel protective equipment, rapid diagnostic tests and therapeutics.

The US is also providing vaccine manufacturing supplies.

In fact, the US has redirected its order of AstraZeneca manufacturing supplies to India, which will enable the country to make more than 20 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, said the Department of Defence.

Meanwhile, top American Senator Elizabeth Warren in a letter to President Joe Biden urged him to leverage all tools and resources available to the United States to provide relief to India.

In light of this growing humanitarian crisis, I urge you to leverage all tools and resources available to the United States to provide relief to India, Warren said in a letter to Biden.

While I am pleased by your commitment to providing transportation and logistics assistance as well as doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to India, there is a critical need for more to be done, the top Democrat said.

She also encouraged Biden to divert any excess supply of ventilators, PPE, oxygen, diagnostic equipment, as well as vaccines to India to help treat those in need and mitigate the spread of the virus.

India is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis that threatens its 1.4 billion citizens, and billions more around the world. I urge you to leverage all resources and explore all tools available to the United States to alleviate this crisis, Warren said.

India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days, and hospitals are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.  -- PTI

India reports 4,01,993 new COVID-19 cases, 3,523 deaths and 2,99,988 discharges in the last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry.

Total cases: 1,91,64,969

Total recoveries: 1,56,84,406

Death toll: 2,11,853

Active cases: 32,68,710

Total vaccination: 15,49,89,635

Paying tributes to ninth Sikh guru Teg Bahadur on his 400th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that he refused to bow to tyranny and injustice and his supreme sacrifice gives strength and motivation to many.

On the occasion, the prime minister visited Sis Ganj Gurudwara in Delhi and offered prayers.

The gurudwara was built by Sikhs at the site where the ninth guru was beheaded by the Mughals in 1675.

The prime minister said Guru Teg Bahadur is widely respected globally for his courage and his efforts to serve the downtrodden.

Modi tweeted, 'On the special occasion of his 400th Parkash Purab, I bow to Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Ji. He is widely respected globally for his courage and his efforts to serve the downtrodden. He refused to bow to tyranny and injustice. His supreme sacrifice gives strength and motivation to many.'

Officials said PM Modi visited Sis Ganj Gurudwara without any special security arrangements.   -- PTI

India will start the vaccination drive for those in the 18-44 age bracket from Saturday as the country continues to battle the second wave of COVID-19.

However, some states have flagged the shortage of vaccines and expressed their inability to start vaccination of people above 18 years from today.

The Centre on April 19 had announced a 'liberalised' policy, making all above 18 years of age eligible to get vaccinated from May 1.

It has also allowed state governments and private hospitals to purchase vaccines from manufacturers.

Per the revised rules, the centre will receive 50 per cent of the vaccines supplied; states and private hospitals will get the remaining doses.

As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, more than 2.45 crore beneficiaries register themselves on Co-WIN portal till 9.30 pm on Friday for the Phase III of the vaccination drive.

However, due to the delay in procurement of vaccines leading to a shortage, several states have said they won't be able to kick off the drive on Saturday.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday also appealed to residents of the national capital not to queue up at vaccination centres as vaccines have not yet been received.

"I request you to not queue up at the centres tomorrow (Saturday). As soon as the vaccines come, we will make proper announcements. Only then people with appointments can start coming to the centres," the chief minister had said.

The West Bengal government on Friday said the vaccination drive for those between 18 to 44 years of age will begin as and when the state receives the vaccine doses.

It added that vaccination of those above 45 years will continue.

The Tamil Nadu government also deferred its roll out the massive vaccination drive for the 18-44 years age group on May 1 as originally planned.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy said that there appears a huge gap between demand and supply of vaccines in the country and it would not be possible to provide vaccination for those aged between 18 and 44 years beginning May 1, and hence they will have to wait at least till August or September.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has asked people in the 18 to 45 age group not to visit vaccination centres on Saturday as the government is yet to receive a new lot of vaccines.

He said that the government will inform well in advance as to when the vaccination drive will commence for this age group and the procedure for registration thereon.

The vaccination drive against COVID-19 for people aged 18 to 45 will be not be beginning from May 1 in Madhya Pradesh as vaccines are not available, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan informed on Thursday.

The chief minister said the state government had spoken to both the country's COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers -- Serum Institue of India and Bharat Biotech, and were informed that they would not be able to provide doses of the vaccine.

Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Friday urged the people of the state aged between 18-44 years to 'refrain from going to hospitals' on Saturday, saying that the state has not received the required COVID-19 vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India (SII).

Chhattisgarh Health Minister T S Singh Deo said that the state will start the vaccination from the poorest people who have Antyodaya ration card or BPL card due to shortage of vaccine.

Maharashtra Health minister Rajesh Tope on Friday also said that the state government will start a nominal vaccination drive on May 1 as Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray believes that vaccination for those between 18 and 44 must start vaccination from May 1.

India had started the COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16 with two vaccines -- Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca's vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India) and Covaxin (manufactured by Bharat Biotech Limited).

The second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive to inoculate people above 60 years and those over 45 with comorbidities against the coronavirus began on March 1.

The third phase began on April 1 for all above 45 years of age.

In the next phase beginning May 1, all above the age of 18 would be eligible to receive the shot. -- ANI

The restrictions on movement of individuals from 8 pm to 5 am were to end on Saturday. 

All shops and market places will close by 6 pm, though pharmacies, hospitals, animal care centres and veterinary clinics may operate without restrictions, being providers of essential services, according to an official order by Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah. 

Services like electricity, water and sanitation and public transport are also exempt from the purview of the night curfew, it said. 

Officials and persons entrusted with election-related work are exempted, too, on production of a valid identity card. 

Regarding containment zones, the order said district magistrates shall take the call. 

Assam on Friday reported 26 COVID-19 deaths and 3,197 fresh cases.

In a statement, the Guild condoled the deaths of journalists who have died because of Covid-19 over the past year. 

"In April 2021 itself, more than 52 journalists died because of the virus. Further, according to the Delhi-based Institute of Perception Studies, more than 100 journalists have died since the lockdown was first declared from April 1, 2020," the Guild said in a statement. 

"Many of these were brave journalists who had been reporting on the worsening pandemic and bringing to fore stories on the great human tragedy that has been unfolding before us. It also includes editors and other members of the editorial teams who have ensured that newsrooms keep churning out these stories without any break," it said. 

The Guild paid its homage to the fortitude and the commitment to work that these journalists have displayed over the past year. 

The Guild said it was extremely distressed that the central government has yet not taken any steps to hasten the vaccination of journalists over the last few months. Many of them were freelancers and hence were not insured, it added. 

"Others who worked for media organisations did not necessarily enjoy the assurance and comfort of being insured by their companies," it said. "To make matters worse, besides the health risks borne out of such reporting, there have been the additional pressures from some of the state governments and agencies that have threatened against independent reporting of the pandemic in an effort to control the media narrative," the Guild said. 

Few weeks ago, the Guild said it had demanded that journalists be declared as frontline workers and be vaccinated on priority to protect them from the new variant. 

"Despite the support from various state governments and media organisations, the central government has not responded to this request. Now, even though vaccination has been technically opened for all above 18 years of age, there is an acute shortage of vaccines," it said. 

Therefore, the Guild said it is its urgent demand that journalists be given priority along with other frontline workers. 

The Guild also urges all media organisations to take all the necessary steps to ensure the safety of their journalists, the statement said.