分类： bharat

India on Wednesday suspended all tourist visas till April 15 in a bid to contain spread of novel coronavirus, according to an official statement.

The suspension will come into effect from 1200 GMT on March 13 at the port of departure.

The decision was taken at the meeting of group of ministers held in Delhi under the chairmanship of Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.

“All existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/International organisations, employment and project visas stand suspended till 15th April 2020. This will come into effect from 1200GMT on 13th March 2020 at the port of departure,” the statement said.

Visa-free travel facility granted to OCI cardholders is also kept in abeyance till April 15.

Any foreign national who intends to travel to India for compelling reason may contact the nearest Indian Mission, the release said, adding that all incoming travellers, including Indian nationals, arriving from or having visited China, Italy, Iran, Republic of Korea, France, Spain and Germany after February 15 will be quarantined for a minimum period of 14 days.

This discovery was made by a team of Chinese government epidemiologists. The study has also revealed that COVID-19 can also survive for days on surfaces where the infected water droplets have landed, which when comes in contact with another person, can easily infect them when he/she rubs the face without disinfecting or washing hands.

The survival rate of the virus is dependent on various factors such as the temperature of the environment. For instance, at 37 degrees celsius, it has the ability to survive for two to three days on surfaces made from glass, fabric, metal plastic and paper.

This study is based on an outbreak case from January 22 in Hunan province in China, where a passenger (who felt sick at the time) boarded a fully-booked long-distance coach during peak Lunar Year travel season (before coronavirus was declared a national crisis). He wasn’t wearing a mask, neither were other people on the 48-seater bus, resulting in many passengers getting infected on the four-hour journey.

Even though the sick passenger didn’t interact with others on the closed bus, but by the time the bus reached the next city, he had already infected seven others. This included people not just sitting next to him/her but also some sitting six rows away — around 4.5 metres away.

A leader of the students’ wing of the ruling JD(U) was shot dead here, allegedly by an associate who took exception to non-inclusion of his name in a poster put up for Holi festivities, police said on Wednesday.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajesh Singh Prabhakar, Kanhaiya Kaushik was killed in Patel Nagar area of the city on Tuesday night and two persons, Amar Kant Jha and Dharmendra, have been arrested in this connection.

Kush, the prime accused who had allegedly pulled the trigger, however, was absconding, he said.

Kaushik was a spokesman with the Chhatra JD(U) and the vice-president of the students’ union of A N College.

He had lodged a police complaint against Kush and his associates on Tuesday after they engaged a scuffle with him over non-inclusion of their names in posters printed for “Holi milan” function, organized on the eve of the festival.

Hours later, Kush called up Kaushik saying he wanted to patch up and requested that they meet at Patel Nagar late in the night, the deputy SP said.

As the matter could not be settled, Kush opened fire in a fit of rage, killing Kaushik, he said.

One of Kaushik’s associates also received a gunshot injury in the melee and was admitted to a hospital, Prabhakar said, adding that Kush, along with Jha and Dharmendra who were accompanying him, fled the spot.

Supporters of Kaushik staged a demonstration here in protest against the attack.

They were pacified by JD(U) MLC Ranvir Nandan, who described the deceased leader as “an active worker” of the party and gave assurances that the accused will be brought to justice soon.