Category: National

PTI

New Delhi: Ten days after recording two lakh COVID-19 cases, India surpassed the three lakh-mark on Saturday with the worst daily spike of 11,458 infections, while the death toll too climbed to 8,884 with 386 new fatalities, the Union Health Ministry said.

India took 64 days to cross the 1 lakh-mark from 100 cases, then in another fortnight it reached the grim milestone of two lakh cases. It has now become the fourth worst-hit nation by the pandemic with a caseload of 3,08,993, according to coronavirus statistics website Worldometer.

However, the Health Ministry said on Friday the doubling time of coronavirus cases has improved to 17.4 days from 15.4 days. And its data updated at 8 am on Saturday showed active cases at 1,45,779 and those who have recovered at 1,54,329; one patient has migrated.

“Thus, around 49.9 per cent patients have recovered so far,” a ministry official said.

The total number of confirmed cases include foreigners.

Of the 386 new deaths, Delhi accounted for the highest 129 fatalities followed by Maharashtra 127. The virus is moving rapidly in Delhi, which for the first time reported over 2,000 cases on Friday, and Maharashtra, where the number of cases has crossed one lakh.

Gujarat reported 30 deaths, Uttar Pradesh 20, Tamil Nadu 18, West Bengal, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh 9 each, Karnataka and Rajasthan 7 each, Haryana and Uttarakhand 6 each, Punjab 4, Assam 2, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir and Odisha 1 each.

Of the total 8,884 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 3,717 fatalities followed by Gujarat with 1,415, Delhi with 1,214, West Bengal with 451, Madhya Pradesh with 440, Tamil Nadu with 367, Uttar Pradesh with 365, Rajasthan with 272 and Telangana with 174 deaths.

The death toll reached 80 in Andhra Pradesh, 79 in Karnataka, 70 in Haryana and 63 in Punjab. Jammu and Kashmir has reported 53 COVID-19 fatalities, Bihar 36 and Uttarakhand 21, Kerala 19, Odisha 10 and Jharkhand and Assam 8 each.

Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh have registered 6 deaths each, Chandigarh 5, Puducherry 2, while Meghalaya, Tripura and Ladakh 1 each, according to the health ministry.

More than 70 per cent deaths have happened due to comorbidities, the ministry said.

Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of cases at 1,01,141 followed by Tamil Nadu (40,698), Delhi (36,824), Gujarat (22,527), Uttar Pradesh (12,616), Rajasthan (12,068) and Madhya Pradesh (10,443).

The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 10,244 in West Bengal, 6,516 in Karnataka, 6,334 in Haryana and 6,103 in Bihar. It has risen to 5,680 in Andhra Pradesh, 4,730 in Jammu and Kashmir, 4,484 in Telangana and 3,498 in Odisha and Assam each.

Punjab has reported 2,986 cases while Kerala has 2,322 cases.

A total of 1,724 people have been infected by the virus in Uttarakhand, 1,617 in Jharkhand, 1,424 in Chhattisgarh, 961 in Tripura, 486 in Himachal Pradesh, 463 in Goa, 385 from Manipur and 334 in Chandigarh.

Ladakh has registered 239 COVID-19 cases, Puducherry 157, Nagaland 156, Mizoram 104, Arunachal Pradesh 67, Sikkim 63, Meghalaya 44 while Andaman and Nicobar Islands has registered 38 cases.

Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu together have reported 30 cases.

The ministry said 7,984 cases are being reassigned to states and “our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR”. State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it added.

Razdan said she would be taking up the teaching role later this year.

Television journalist and news anchor Nidhi Razdan on Saturday announced that she will be leaving NDTV. In a tweet, Razdan said she would be taking up a teaching role at Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts & Sciences as associate professor later this year. Razdan had been with the television channel for 21 years.

“NDTV has taught me everything,” she said. “It has been my home. I am proud of the work we do, the stories we cover, the values we stand for, especially at a time when the much of the media has surrendered its objectivity.”

Razdan had become a leading name in English television journalism over the past two decades. She recently won the International Press Institute India award for excellence in journalism for her reporting of the Kathua rape and murder case in Jammu and Kashmir.

While she initially hosted NDTV’s night news bulletins, she later on went on to become the face of the channel’s programme Left, Right and Centre. Razdan has also authored a book titled Left, Right and Centre: The Idea of India, which was published in July 2017.

Some personal and professional news: after 21 years at NDTV, I am changing direction and moving on. Later this year, I start as an Associate Professor teaching journalism as part of Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences 1/n

— Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) June 13, 2020

Razdan added that she would miss her colleagues deeply and thanked NDTV co-founders Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy “for being the most incredible mentors and bosses”. She added: “You took me in as a 22 year old and believed in me. I never say never, so TV may one day beckon again. Wish me luck.”

Several prominent journalists and some politicians also congratulated her on the career change.

NDTV has taught me everything. It has been my home. I am proud of the work we do, the stories we cover, the values we stand for, especially at a time when the much of the media has surrendered its objectivity 2/n

— Nidhi Razdan (@Nidhi) June 13, 2020

With inputs from Scroll.in

Former Congress chief puts up graphics to show how COVID-19 cases are shooting up in country

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Friday put up animated graphics to show how COVID-19 cases are shooting up in India and stated that the country is on its way to win a ‘wrong race’.

“India is firmly on it’s way to winning the wrong race. A horrific tragedy, resulting from a lethal blend of arrogance and incompetence,” Mr. Gandhi wrote on Twitter with the graph that mapped India’s rise in COVID cases.

The video graphics showed that on March 22 — three days before the nationwide lockdown was announced — when India was at the bottom of the list to the number four position on June 12, behind the U.S.A., Brazil and Russia.

The graph also showed that India had now overtaken countries like Italy, Spain, Iran and the United Kingdom that also initially saw high number of cases.

Separately, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also questioned the low rate of testing in Uttar Pradesh.

“Protection from corona = maximum testing. This is in public interest. The ‘no testing = no corona’ policy is to keep the public in the dark and is a criminal act,” Ms. Vadra said in a tweet in Hindi.

With inputs from The Hindu

Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT

PTI

Petrol price on Saturday was hiked by 59 paise per litre and diesel by 58 paise as oil companies for the seventh day in a row adjusted retail rates in line with costs since ending an 82-day hiatus in rate revision.

Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to ₹75.16 per litre from ₹ 74.57, while diesel rates were increased to ₹73.39 a litre from ₹72.81, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.

This is the seventh daily increase in rates in a row since oil companies on Sunday restarted revising prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day hiatus.

In seven hikes, petrol price has gone up by ₹3.9 per litre and diesel by ₹4.

The freeze in rates was imposed in mid-March soon after the government hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel to shore up additional finances.

Oil PSUs Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), instead of passing on the excise duty hikes to customers, adjusted them against the fall in the retail rates that was warranted because of a decline in international oil prices.

PTI

Dehradun: Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane on Saturday said the country is passing through difficult times and its safety and honour depend on the ability of its young officers as military leaders.

Addressing gentlemen cadets at the Indian Military Academy here as the reviewing officer of a passing out parade, Gen Naravane said they are being commissioned as officers into the army under the most daunting of circumstances and the high standards of their military training will help them overcome the challenges lying in store for them.

The parade saw a total of 423 cadets being commissioned into the army including 333 from the country and 90 from friendly foreign countries.

“These are difficult times for the country. Its safety, honour and respect depends on your abilities as military leaders. You have to live up to the expectations of your countrymen. You have to ensure that whatever you do is for their welfare,” he said.

The army chief said there are no good or bad regiments but only good officers.

“Become one with your men. Win their trust and affection and they will win battles for you,” Naravane said.

He asked the gentlemen cadets to throw themselves into their new role as commissioned officers with passion but also be compassionate towards their men.

“When the going gets tough and all seems lost, it is the spirit of your men that helps you win,” he said.

He said the gentlemen cadets who are taking their first step as commissioned officers will have to take decisions in the tactical and operational domain as well as resolve ethical issues and they will have only their conscience to guide them.

“In such critical moments let the core values enshrined in the preamble of the constitution of India be your guiding light,” the Army Chief said.

Asking them to rise above petty considerations of caste, creed and religion, he said the army does not discriminate.

Apart from containing the external threats you may also have to defang internal forces out to destabilise the country.

He said the precise drill movements of the cadets had convinced him they will do their respective countries proud.

“In the autumn of your careers what will matter is not the position your finally attain but how honourably you have served your nation,” he said.

In a message to the gentlemen cadets’ parents, who were not allowed to attend the event due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Army Chief said, “Till yesterday they (gentlemen cadets) were your children but from tomorrow they will be ours.”

He promised to be with them through thick and thin.

The parade looked slighthly off colour this time with the enthusiastic crowds of parents and some usual features missing like the showering of the drill square with flower petals by helicopters.

PTI

Mumbai: A Maharashtra cabinet minister, who belongs to the NCP, has tested positive for COVID-19, sources said on Friday.

The minister, who hails from the Marathwada region, had attended the cabinet meeting held at the state secretariat here earlier this week, the sources said.

He is the third cabinet member in Maharashtra to test positive for the viral infection.

“It came to light on late Thursday night that the minister has tested positive for the disease. He has been quarantined in Mumbai,” the sources said.

Apart from the minister, a few members of his personal staff, too, have tested positive for the disease and are being isolated, they said.

Earlier, two cabinet ministers, Ashok Chavan (Congress) and Jitendra Awhad (NCP), had tested positive for the disease and recovered later.

Tamil Nadu reports 1,982 cases taking India’s total past 3,00,000

Maharashtra, which accounts for nearly one-third of India’s total case count, is expected to cross the grim 1-lakh mark today.

For the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak, India recorded over 10,000 new cases in a day taking the tally to over 2.97 lakh. As Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu continue to register new cases, rumors of another lockdown floated around in social media, prompting the Chief Ministers to rubbish them.

In Delhi, LG Anil Baijal and CM Arvind Kejriwal convened meetings on containment strategies and other measures to control the infection.

COVID-19 | INDIA’S STATUS (12 June)

Confirmed Cases: 300802
Total Deaths: 8552
Active Cases: 143148

With inputs from The Hindu

One Lagan Rai is said to have been detained by the Nepal police

One person was killed and two were injured in a firing on Friday allegedly by the Nepal police on the Indo-Nepal border in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district.

The deceased, Vikesh Kumar Rai, 25, and the injured, Umesh Ram and Uday Thakur, are Indian nationals.

One Lagan Rai is said to have been detained by the Nepal police.

Locals said the firing took place after a clash between some people working in their agricultural field at the Lalbandi-Janki Nagar border in Pipra Parsain panchayat under the Sonebarsha police station of the district. Rai died on the spot, they stated.

Sitamarhi Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar told The Hindu over phone, “In the firing incident, one person was killed and the injured are out of danger… they are admitted in a private hospital”.

Mr. Kumar denied that the incident had anything related to the recent border tension between India and Nepal.

Inspector General of Bihar sector of the Sashastra Seema Bal Sanjay Kumar said, “The incident took place between locals and the armed police force of Nepal… one person was killed, while two were injured in the firing by the Nepal police”. The SSB was not involved in the issue, he added.

Senior police and SSB officials are camping at the spot.

Later, Jitendra Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (headquarters) confirmed the incident.

The victim’s father, Nageshwar Rai, told local media persons that his agriculture land fell under Narayanpur in Nepal where his son was working.

Nepal shares a 1,850-km open border with India and people travel across for work and make family visits. Most of the Indians living in the bordering districts of Bihar are married on the other part of the border in Nepal.

Nepal closed its international borders on March 22 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A dispute had marked the relations of both the countries after Nepal had shown some areas of India like Lipulekh and Kalapani in its map.

With inputs from The Hindu

Top functionaries of companies, bank officials booked for causing loss to PNB

The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered three cases against 22 persons, including companies, for causing loss of over ₹120 crore to the Punjab National Bank (PNB).

Two cases have been registered against Linkson International, Linkson Ispat and Energies Private Limited, associated companies and their directors.

In these cases, the PNB had taken over the loan portfolios of Linkson International from State Bank of Indore and that of Linkson Ispat and Energies Private Limited in August 2007. However, due to alleged non-payment of dues, both the accounts were declared non-performing assets in 2014, causing a total loss of more than ₹90 crore.

Based on the complaints lodged by the bank, the CBI has booked top functionaries of the two companies, besides Lyra Housing and Finance Limited, Trimurty Commercial P Limited and Linkson Coal & Minerals P Limited, according to the FIRs.

In another case, the agency has booked Global Trading Solutions Limited (Bhubaneswar), its managing director Abhinash Mohanty, former directors Kaushik Mohanty and Anshuman Samantaray, and director Bidhubhusan Nayak.

The then PNB Chief Manager Nagmani Satyanarayana Prasad, Assistant General Manager S.C. Sharma, Chief Manager Manoranjan Dash and Senior Manager Priyotosh Das have also been named.

Conducts searches

“The CBI has conducted searches on the premises of the accused persons in Visakhapatnam, Kolkata, Jammu, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack,” said a CBI official.

It is alleged that the PNB officials concerned conspired with the company’s directors to commit cheating in the processing, sanctioning and disbursing of cash credit facility, bill discounting and issuing letters of credit during 2010-15, causing a loss of ₹31.92 core. The funds were diverted to other group companies, it has been alleged.

With inputs from The Hindu