In a letter to the states and union territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan advised implementing strategic interventions for containment like imposition of night curfew, strict regulation of large gatherings, curtailing numbers in marriages and funerals besides increasing testing and surveillance.
The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 29,685, while 11,761 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.
"Didi has already said in Delhi that if Akhilesh Yadav needs our help, we are ready to extend help. The gesture of senior SP leader Jaya Bachchan seeking votes for the TMC during the West Bengal Assembly elections will be reciprocated in Uttar Pradesh," said Laliteshpati Tripathi, who recently joined the TMC.
Mumbai, with an estimated population of nearly 20 million, has been testing 1,200-1,400 people per day. Delay in the delivery of rapid antibody test kits has forced the BMC to restrict its testing net.
Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state.
The first weekend lockdown in the state began at 8 pm on Friday and it will continue till 7 am on Monday.
'Farmers will block rail tracks in various places. Markets and transport services will be closed during 'Bharat Bandh'
Since 2016, Sebi has made many rules to prevent unauthorised trading by stockbrokers. Yet, one comes across dozens of cases of blatant overtrading in client accounts, every year, leading to massive losses to investors, observes Debashis Basu.
Three MLAs abstained, while 20 legislators, most of them from Congress and the NCP, including Congress's Ashok Chavan and Vijay Wadettiwar, both former ministers, were absent during the trust vote.
'The impression that Uddhav saheb is naram (soft or not-so-aggressive), anukool (congenial), manmilau (amiable) is true.' 'But he is Balasaheb's son. So, aggression comes naturally to him.'
'She has just one objective. To win the next election. Nothing else matters.'
A host of top Congress leaders wished him on his birthday, with former prime minister Manmohan Singh among the first to send his best wishes through a letter in the morning.
Some states have flagged the shortage of vaccines and expressed their inability to start vaccination of people above 18 years from Saturday
Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state with 41,642 cases, followed by Tamil Nadu (13,967 cases), Gujarat (12,905 cases), and Delhi (11,659 cases).
A 58-year-old man died after a power transformer fell on him in Raigad district. 2 people died and 3 were injured in two separate cyclone-related incidents in Pune.
On reports of the BMC's move to take over some premises of the Wankhede stadium for quarantine facility, the commissioner said, "We are not taking over the cricket stadium or any other open space because in Mumbai it sometimes rains continuously for a week. It will not be useful at all for the administration to take care of people."
'They totally blew us away during that partnership of Jonny and Ben Stokes. We didn't even have a chance during that partnership.'
Top companies reported that despite most of them making staples and essential products, movement of raw material, goods and labour remained restricted, impacting sales.
People must also avoid mass gatherings, and new year celebrations need to be at low intensity, the government said.
The Bombay high Court on Friday initiated a judicial inquiry into the building collapse incident in Malwani area of Mumbai on Wednesday, which claimed 12 lives.
The prime minister thanked the people but said it was the start of a long battle, as he urged them to follow social distancing to stop the chain of transmission of Coronavirus which has infected 360 people and claimed seven lives in India.
Passengers should undergo RT-PCR test and be isolated in a separate unit of an institutional facility if found positive
Christmas was celebrated across the country on Saturday, but the festivities were low-key for the second year in a row due to Covid, with churches and other events witnessing lower footfalls, people avoiding large get-togethers and the administration in some areas imposing certain curbs.
The status of the current submarine force level is alarming and we need to address the threat perceptions expeditiously. Critical decisions pertaining to national security cannot be delayed any further due to the rapidly changing maritime threat perceptions and growing strategic importance of the Indian Ocean region, asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Let us know who gets your vote.
'If people are not cooperating and do not follow policies laid down by the government or follow scientific infection control management, then all will be lost.'
Passengers who are disallowed from travelling on trains because of symptoms associated with the novel coronavirus will also receive full refund for their tickets, the railways has said.
Union officials said with increasing possibility of further extension of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, several auto and taxi drivers are going to their native places in their black and yellow coloured auto rickshaws and taxis.
'Considering Mumbai's population density, one can expect to see more positive cases in areas like Dharavi in the days to come.' 'That is the challenge before the public health infrastructure and preparation of the city in dealing with such crises.'
Fighting the coronavirus pandemic is hard, in fact it seems impossible. Doctors, nurses, carers and paramedics around the world are facing an unprecedented workload in overstretched health facilities, and with no end in sight. They are working in stressful and frightening work environments, not just because the virus is little understood, but because in most settings they are under-protected, overworked and themselves vulnerable to infection. The risk to doctors, nurses and others on the front lines has become plain: Italy has seen at least 18 doctors with coronavirus die. Spain reported that more than 3,900 health care workers have become infected. In dire times such as these, people are trying their best to show their appreciation to the frontline workers. Here are some images -- from clapping for them to singing for them.. A 'thank you' in any way goes a long way around.
'She came yesterday, she came today... we talked to her all day, questioned her. So, I cannot say she is not cooperating. She will come tomorrow too. 'So we are getting her cooperation,' NCB deputy director general (DDG) (south-west region) Mutha Ashok Jain told reporters after the questioning session.
Patole, the MLA from Sakoli in Bhandara district, had resigned as speaker of Maharashtra assembly on Thursday.
The question mark over Vodafone Idea's survival is gone after the government's telecom package, managing director and chief executive officer Ravinder Takkar said in an interaction recently. The extended moratorium for spectrum payments and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues has indeed ensured that Vodafone Idea survives, at least for the time being, but questions remain. Answers to those questions may determine the future of Vodafone Idea and its power to stay in a difficult telecom market in the coming years.
'There will be ups and downs, and we have to plan how we live with it now.'
This is the sixth consecutive day when COVID-19 cases increased by more than 30,000.
India go into the game 0-1 down after Australia registered a 10-wicket win in the lung-opener at Mumbai
Bollywood folk attended U2's first-ever concert in India at the D Y Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, December 15.
Given the fiercely competitive political environment, observers naturally associated an element of appeasement with the Shinde government's move, Shyam G Menon points out.
Of the 171 Mumbai scribes tested on April 15, 53 tested positive on April 20. Of the 53 tested positive, 31 were treated and discharged on April 26. A large number of positive cases and later a quick recovery within less than a week have baffled many. Amritha Pillay reports.
The Santacruz observatory recorded 286.4 mm rainfall during the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday, making it the fourth highest rainfall in Mumbai since 1974, an Indian Meteorological Department official said.
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