The government on Saturday announced a string of measures, including a pension for dependents of those having lost their lives due to Covid-19, among other benefits for the families who lost their earning members to the pandemic.
Besides family pensions, insurance benefits under the Employees' Deposit-Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme have been enhanced and liberalised. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said these steps will help mitigate financial difficulties faced by these families. (PTI)
Puducherry government has extended the Covid lockdown till the midnight of June 7 to curtail the second wave of the virus in the Union Territory. The lockdown, imposed on May 10, was first extended beyond May 24 and would remain in force till May 31. Again, it has now been extended for a week till June 7, said a release from the office of the Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Saturday. (PTI)
West Bengal has reported 11,514 new Covid-19 cases, 18,774 discharges, and 148 deaths in the last 24 hours
Gujarat on Saturday reported 2,230 fresh coronavirus positive cases and 7,109 recoveries while 29 patients died, the state health department said.
With the new additions, Gujarat's tally of infections rose to 8,05,617 and the death toll to 9,790, it said.
The overall count of recoveries in Gujarat now stands at 7,57,124, the department said in a release. The state's case recovery rate has improved to 93.98 per cent.
Gujarat is now left with 38,703 active cases. (PTI)
An Uttar Pradesh traders’ welfare body has urged Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to extend the timing of opening shops and markets in the state to five to six hours a day during the lockdown from June 1. Uttar Pradesh Vyapaari Kalyan Board chairman Ravi Kant Garg made the request to the chief minister while appreciating his efforts to contain the second wave of the Covid pandemic. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu has reported30,016 new positive cases, 486 deaths, and 31,759 recoveries in the last 24 hours
"Our government announces Bal Seva scheme, under which Rs 3500/month financial assistance will be given to guardians/caretakers. Children not having guardians will be put in child care institutions. For quality education, they will be admitted to model residential schools,"Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa has said. (ANI)
National parks and tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh, which had been shut amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be kept open from June 1 to June 30, state forest minister Vijay Shah said on Saturday.
National parks and tiger reserves have remained shut since the last two months as a precautionary measure during the pandemic.
"Madhya Pradesh is known as a tiger and leopard state. National parks and tiger reserves had been shut due to the coronavirus outbreak. We have decided to keep these parks and reserves open from June 1 to June 30," Shah said in a video statement. (PTI)
Assam to provide Rs 3,500 per month each to the guardianof children orphaned due to Covid-19 for their education,CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced (ANI)
Andhra Pradesh has reported 13,756 new positive cases, 104 deaths, and 20,392 recoveries today
Goa reports 963 new positive cases, 155 recoveries, and 27 deaths in the last 24 hours
Doctors treating Milkha Singh on Saturday said the condition of the legendary Indian sprinter remained stable but the oxygen requirement of his wife Nirmal Kaur rose marginally days after being admitted to a city hospital with Covid-19 infection.
Milkha and his wife, who led the Indian women's volleyball team, continued to be closely monitored by the doctors at Fortis hospital in Mohali, where they are undergoing treatment after contracting the highly contagious virus. (PTI)
The daily Covid test positivity rate is under one per cent and there has been a continuous decline in fresh cases in Uttar Pradesh, the government said on Saturday, attributing the decreases to aggressive testing, tracing and treatment, and restrictions imposed in the state.
Uttar Pradesh recorded 2,287 new cases on Saturday, while it was 2,402 on Friday, 3,278 on Thursday, 3,371 on Wednesday and 3,957 on Tuesday. (PTI)
BREAKING | Kerala extends lockdown till June 9.Triple lockdown in Malappuram district has been withdrawn, CM Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
The coronavirus positivity rate in Madhya Pradesh was 2.1 per cent as on Saturday and the recovery rate was above 95 per cent, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.
Chouhan, who is scheduled to address crisis management groups working at different levels of the administrative hierarchy later in the evening, said the Covid-19 situation in the state was being "continuously controlled". (PTI)
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday said the question of extending the lockdown may not arise if only the public cooperated and there is a decline in Covid-19 cases. These would be the factors that would determine the State government's decision on the lockdown which the state is currently in till June 7.
Speculations have been rife that the government may extend the lockdown once again following the Centre's direction to continue with the COVID-19 guidelines till June 30.
"I felt bad. They humiliated me by running the one-sided information circulated by PMO. When I was working, they were doing this. For the sake of people, I am ready to touch your feet. Stop this political vendetta," West Bengal CMMamata Banerjee has said on the uproar caused when she didn't attend PM Modi's meeting for Cyclone Yaas review
"I appeal to PM Modi to end political vendetta, withdraw order recalling Chief Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay and allow him to work for Covid-infected," Mamata Banerjee has said.
Saudi Arabia is shipping to India more medical oxygen and tankers for ferrying them as it increases aid for the nation fighting the world's worst outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.
Last month, Saudi Arabia shipped 80 tonnes of liquid oxygen to India and now three more containers with 60 tonnes of oxygen and another 100 containers to ferry them.
"Deeply appreciate the gesture of HRH Prince Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy, KSA for the offer to send 3 ISO Containers with 60 tons of LMO, which are expected to arrive in Mumbai on 6 June 2021, and also to provide 100 ISO containers in the coming months to support #IndiaFightsCorona," Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan tweeted. (PTI)
Delhi records 956 fresh Covid-19 cases, lowest in over two months; positivity rate slips to 1.19 per cent (PTI)
A year after Mount Everest was closed to climbers as the pandemic swept across the globe, hundreds are making the final push to the summit with only a few more days left in the season, saying they are undeterred by a coronavirus outbreak in base camp.
Women in India suffered disproportionately because of the coronavirus outbreak last year and they are once again at the receiving end of the pandemic’s second wave, adding to the risks of economic recovery.
Vietnam health minister Nguyen Thanh Long said on Saturday the country has detected a new variant of the coronavirus, a mix of B.1.617.2 and UK Covid-19 variants that spreads quickly by air, online newspaper VnExpress reported.
India on Saturday continued to report a dip in daily Covid-19 infections with 1.73 lakh new cases in the last 24 hours. With 3,617 new fatalities, the death toll due to the virus reached 3,22,512.
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Mall owners have incurred a loss of around Rs 3,000 crore during the ongoing second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic over the last eight weeks due to lockdowns and restrictions imposed by various states across the country.
The Centre Thursday issued guidelines for vaccination near home, making it easier for the elderly and the differently-abled to get inoculated against coronavirus close to the places of their residence.
National Commission forProtection od Child Rights wrote to Principal Secretaries of all States/UTs sating that they (States/UTs) must upload the required data of all children who have become orphan or lost either of their parents to Covid-19 tothe Bal Swaraj portal under the Covid-Care link
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday the United States and India are united in trying to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic together and Washington wants to make sure it takes action to help India with its current coronavirus crisis.
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India on Friday registered its lowest daily count of Covid-19 cases in 45 days as nearly 1.71 lakh fresh cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.
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