分类： bharat

India is inching closer to business as usual with announcements of resumption of air and train services within the country even as the number of Covid-19 cases reached 1,06,750 on Wednesday.

The Centre said that with a recovery rate of 39.62 per cent and a mortality rate of 0.2 death per lakh population, India was ahead of the rest of the world in dealing with the Covid crisis. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan told the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Health Ministers’ meeting that the country’s policy of micro-identification, mass isolation and quick treatment helped prevent large scale deaths and spread of Covid-19.

Businesses have started to reopen in various parts of the country. Delhi’s neighbouring Gautam Budhh Nagar on Wednesday announced that markets can reopen using the odd-even formula. Delhi has already allowed shops to open on alternative days. Gujarat resumed the state transport bus services, while Haryana decided not to run interstate services and limited its buses within the state.

Movement of buses created a massive political flutter on the UP-Rajasthan border as UP CM Yogi Adityanath and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi locked horns over the transportation of migrants. Around 500 buses full of migrants had to turn back from the state’s border as UP did not allow them entry.

Meanwhile, the economic crisis due to Covid-19 pandemic once again became evident on Wednesday as taxi service Ola laid off 1400 employees. The company said that due to the lockdown its revenue has come down by 95 per cent in the last two months.

Nationwide tally

India saw a spike of 5,611 cases of Covid-19 infections and 140 deaths in 24 hours, ending Wednesday morning. The death toll climbed to 3,303 with as many as 140 fatalities.

The total confirmed cases include foreign nationals too who were tested in India. India’s recovery rate stood at 39.6 per cent on Wednesday.

Two BSF personnel were killed on Wednesday when militants fired upon them in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The two BSF jawans were part of a patrol and had gone to buy something from a nearby shop when two motorcycle-borne borne militants attacked them, said Vijay Kumar, IG Kashmir.

While one of the jawans died on the spot, another succumbed to injuries at the hospital.

The militants also snatched the guns of the two soldiers as they fled from the encounter site.

The area has been cordoned off and search operation is on.

A three-month old child was reportedly killed and his mother injured after a wall collapse in Bhadrak, Odisha as extremely severe cyclone ‘Amphan’ hurtled towards east coast on Wednesday, triggering heavy rains and strong winds in parts of Odisha and West Bengal. The cyclone is expected to cross Odisha coast at 4pm.

More than 1.37 lakh people have so far been evacuated from low-lying coastal areas of Odisha, said Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena.

The extremely severe cyclonic storm lay about 150 km northeast of Paradip in Odisha, and 95 km away from Digha (West Bengal),  said H R Biswas, the Director of the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar. The wind velocity reached a maximum of 106 kmph in Paradip.

It is likely to move north-northeastwards across northwest Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal  Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sunderbans during evening hours of Wednesday, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph.

IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra says 4-5-meter high tidal waves are expected in Sundarbans, and 2-3 meter high in Digha in West Bengal, but there is no threat to Odisha coast.

Intense rainfall was recorded in several areas of Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Ganjam, Ganjam, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts since Tuesday.

Jena said Paradip recorded 214 mm of rainfall since Tuesday, while it was 87 mm in Puri, 70.5 mm in Chandbali, 58.5 mm in Balasore and 50 mm in Bhubaneswar as heavy downpour battered many parts of coastal Odisha.

Heavy rains and strong winds are likely to continue in Bhadrak and Balasore districts for the next two-three hours. 

Heavy downpour accompanied by gusty wind also lashed Kendrapara where district administration has evacuated 38,000 people from vulnerable seaside pockets to the safety of multi-purpose cyclone shelter buildings.

Many trees and electric poles have been uprooted in various parts of the coastal districts. However, there has been no damage to life and property so far.

In Kendrapada district’s Mahakalapada, fire brigade personnel rescued a pregnant woman who was shifted to a hospital where she gave birth to a healthy baby.