Iqbal wanted to land the smuggled goods by helicopter on the Andaman Islands. DK asked, 'Iqbal, a helicopter will bring the consignment to the island, drop it there and then return. Won't radars detect it?' 'No.' 'How?' 'Radars can't detect aircraft that fly at a low altitude. Our helicopter, after entering India's air space, will dive and fly at four feet above the sea level.' 'For that, I have a German pilot in mind. He was an ace aviator in the last world war.' An enthralling excerpt from Aabid Surti's Sufi: The Invisible Man Of The Underground.
The COVID-19 caseload zoomed to 5,08,953, while 384 fresh fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours. The number of active cases stands at 1,97,387, while 2,95,880 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, according to the updated figure at 8 am.
According to the ministry, Maharashtra remained at the top with the total cases at 1,985, including 217 patients who have recovered/discharged and 149 patients died.
The 2.5 tonne air-to-surface missile has a range of around 300 km, and it will significantly enhance the IAF's combat capability, military officials said.
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Maharashtra has reported the most coronavirus deaths at 45, followed by Gujarat at 12, Madhya Pradesh nine, Telangana and Delhi seven each, Punjab six and Tamil Nadu five fatalities.
According to the health ministry data, Delhi has reported the highest number of confirmed cases at 503.
"Rigorous contact tracing is on across the 17 states which have reported cases related to Tablighi Jamaat congregation," the health ministry official said.
The country recorded 311 new deaths in the 24-hour period till Sunday morning while the recovery rate rose to above 50 per cent
India's tally is now at 2,97,535, while the death toll is at 8,498.
The recoveries surged to 15,35,743 with a record 54,859 more people recuperating in the past 24 hours, taking the recovery rate to 69.33 per cent. The case fatality rate has dropped to about 2 per cent, the govt said.
India's death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 6,642 with a record increase of 294 deaths in the 24 hours till Saturday 8 am.
Prakash was allegedly assaulted by Aam Aadmi Party MLAs during a meeting at the chief minister's residence in the evening of February 19.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 1,10,960, while 1,09,461 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.
In his fresh petition, Verma said he had filed a statutory complaint with the defence ministry, challenging appointment of Vice Admiral Singh as the next navy chief, and asked it to respond within 10 days.
The death toll has gone up by 193 since Saturday morning, of which 99 were from Maharashtra, 27 from Gujarat, 18 from Delhi, nine each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, seven from West Bengal, six each from Tamil Nadu and Telangana, five in Bihar, three from Uttar Pradesh, two from Punjab, and one each from Haryana and Kerala
In September, issue of new LPG connections had been put on hold pending a massive nationwide exercise to eliminate multiple connections
The creation of a CDS has got the head right. Issues that were not talked about for years are now being discussed, points out Ajai Shukla.
The country crossed the 12-lakh mark, just three days after it went past the 11-lakh milestone.
Govt moots new regional connectivity policy; plans to offer subsidy on non-viable destinations.
At any time, there is a need to operationally deploy two aircraft carriers in the vast Indian Ocean, asserts Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
'The Germans acknowledged the Holocaust. I would like to see the British coming to terms with their colonial past and acknowledge the harm they have done,' author Madhusree Mukerjee tells Arthur J Pais.
This is the seventh consecutive day when COVID-19 cases increased by more than 30,000.
The appointments of five governors, including for Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, and Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands by President Ram Nath Kovind were announced on Saturday.
This is the sixth consecutive day when COVID-19 cases increased by more than 30,000.
Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state due to the virus with 35,058 cases, including 1,249 deaths. It is followed by Tamil Nadu (11,760) and Gujarat (11,745).
The recovery rate stands at 62.61 per cent.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
Ramacharlu Manohar sent us a photograph of Radhanagar Beach in the Andamans.
The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 2,752 and the number of cases climbed to 85,940 on Saturday.
Some UTs to start from April 1 and other transfers to be launched from January.
This is the fourth consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 28,000.
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The states and UTs having a recovery rate higher than the national average include Ladakh (85.45 per cent), Delhi (79.98 per cent), Uttarakhand (78.77 per cent), Chhattisgarh (77.68 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (76.59 per cent), Haryana (75.25 per cent), Chandigarh (74.6 per cent), Rajasthan (74.22 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (73.03 per cent) and Gujarat (69.73 per cent).
A total 179 deaths deaths have been reported since Monday evening, of which 98 were from West Bengal, 35 from Maharashtra, 29 from Gujarat, six from Rajasthan, five from Uttar Pradesh, two from Punjab and one each from Chandigarh, Haryana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The death toll climbed to 20,160 as 467 more people succumbed to the disease.
Recording over 20,000 coronavirus infections for the third consecutive day, India is set to overtake Russia's tally. According to the Johns Hopkins University, which has been compiling COVID-19 data from all over the world, India is behind Russia with 399 cases.
Its recent decision to scrap rules that make it mandatory for airlines to deploy 10 per cent of their capacity on unviable routes like Jammu & Kashmir, the northeast and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and subsidise those that agree to do so flies in the face of logic.
A total of 77 deaths were reported since Thursday evening of which 27 fatalities were reported from Maharashtra, 17 from Gujarat, 11 from West Bengal, seven each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, three from Delhi, two from Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and one from Karnataka.
