分类： bharat

The central government on Friday said that the lockdown has helped avert 54,000 deaths and 20 lakh cases of Covid-19. The Centre’s statement, quoting a study, came on the day when India’s positive cases tally reached 1.18 lakh and toll climbed to 3,583.

The government study said that the number of Covid-19 cases averted due to the lockdown is in the range of 14-29 lakh, while the number of lives saved is between 37,000 and 78,000. The government imposed the nationwide lockdown from March 25 to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and it is currently in its fourth phase.

On Friday morning, the Union health ministry said that India registered 6,088 new cases and 148 deaths in the last 24 hours. Among the new positives were Congress leader Sanjay Kha, who confirmed the news of social media.

The government has said that the cases of Covid-19 will peak between June 21-28. Meanwhile, 22 opposition parties came down on the Modi government for its alleged failure to protect the economy and lives during the pandemic.

Over 6,000 new Covid cases in one day

India recorded the highest single-day spike in the novel coronavirus cases on Friday morning, with more than 6,000 new cases of infections taking the country tally to 1.18 lakh.

Registering an increase of 6,088 cases and 148 deaths in the last 24 hours, the total number of coronavirus cases in India stood at 1,18,447 on Friday morning.

However, a tally of figures announced by different states and union territories, as of 9.20 PM, put the nationwide tally much higher at 1,22,656, the death toll at 3,634 and recoveries at more than 51,000.

Liquor will now be delivered at the doorsteps of Mumbai’s residents starting Saturday. A final decision was made in this regard by the city’s civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) that gave a green signal to home delivery of liquor except in containment zones.

According to the order by BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal, only registered liquor outlets can partner with E-commerce websites to deliver alcohol. Earlier, a mechanism was put in place by the Maharashtra state excise department, wherein customers could go to the official website and get a token. The customer would then collect the order from a registered outlet as per the date and time mentioned on the token. This system is not valid for Mumbai.

The new system will also see the participation of E-commerce platforms for the home delivery of liquor. In fact, Swiggy and Zomato have already started delivering liquor in the state of Jharkhand after securing all concerned permissions from the state government. The model is likely to be replicated in other states.

However, the Maharashtra government has clearly stated that liquor will not be sold over the counter from any outlet anywhere in Mumbai.

Other states that are working towards home delivery of liquor are Punjab, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Delhi government is also considering the same.

Liquor outlets were opened in Mumbai for one day earlier this month before the Maharashtra government retracted its permission in light of the rising number of new cases of the novel coronavirus in the city. Mumbai has emerged as the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak in Maharashtra, the state with the most confirmed cases in India.

The pilot of the ill-fated Pakistan International Airlines flight that crashed today in Karachi indicated moments before the disaster that he was facing problems with the plane’s engines. The pilot communicated this to controllers at the Air Traffic Control at Karachi airport with whom he was in touch (an audio recording and a transcipt of the coversation can be found at the end of this story).

The Lahore-Karachi Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 had around 100 people, including crew onboard. The plane, an Airbus A320, crashed in a residential area just outside the Karachi airport moments before landing on Friday afternoon. Several are feared killed but official word on casualties is awaited.

According to snatches of pilot-ATC communication put out by Pakistani media, the plane reported some sort of engine trouble moments before the crash. The pilot told controllers at the Karachi airport ATC that he had “lost engine”.

Hearing this, the ATC controllers asked the pilot to confirm if he’s carrying out a “belly landing”, i.e. landing without the landing gear extended. After some moments, the pilot is heard putting out a mayday call, which is the highest-level of distress call.

The ATC responded to the pilot by saying “both” runways at the Karachi airport were available for him to land. How — if — the pilot responded is not heard in the reported audio clip of the conversation.

However, PIA CEO Air Vice Marshal Arshad Malik said in a video message that the pilot had chosen to “go-around”, aviation parlance for aborting a landing the last moment and circling the runway for another attempt. Further investigation is underway, Air Vice Marashal Arshad Malik said.