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Friday, 30 April 2021

UPPSC postpones Agriculture Service Prelims, Principal Exams due to COVID-19; check uppsc.up.nic.in

The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) has indefinitely delayed the Agricultural Services prelims exam 2020 due to the surge in COVID-19 cases the state.

The examination was scheduled to be held on 25 and 30 May. In addition, the Principal Exam (Category 2), Vice Principal, Assistant Director (Screening) 2019 Exams have also been postponed, as per the latest notification.

The new dates will be announced by the commission after reviewing the coronavirus situation.

After the preliminary examinations, selected candidates will move to the next round of scrutiny. Shortlisted candidates will then take the written examination. After that, another list will be created and the selected aspirants will go to the interview round. The final merit list will be created after the final round. The exam will be held for both Group A and Group B posts. For Group B, candidates will be selected after the main examination and no interviews are held.

The recruitment drive is to fill 564 posts including District Horticulture Officer, Principal Government Food Science Training Centre/ Food Processing Officer, and Senior Technical Assistant.

The notification for this exam was announced on 29 December last year. The last date for filling the application form was 25 January, as reported by Hindustan Times.

Earlier, the commission had released a list of application forms with objected status. These forms were found to have mistakes in the uploaded scanned coloured photograph or signature. Such candidates are requested to again upload the documents in the correct format.



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Coronavirus LIVE Updates: India becomes first country to register over 4 lakh daily COVID-19 cases; toll crosses 2.11 lakh

10:07 (IST)

Coronavirus LATEST Updates

Vaccine centres in Pune to be shut for two days: Ajit Pawar

We had planned a big event for Saturday, but we received only 3 lakh vaccine doses. Out of that 20,000 have been given to Pune district. Today we don't have vaccines to inoculate people aged 45 years and above. Hence vaccination centres in Pune dist are closed for next two days, said Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday.

10:02 (IST)

Coronavirus LATEST Updates

India becomes first country to register over 4 lakh daily COVID-19 cases

With 4,01,993 new COVID-19 cases recorded in the past 24 hours, India on Saturday became the first country in the world to register over 4 lakh infections in a single day. As many as 3,523 new deaths were also reported on the day.

09:56 (IST)

Coronavirus LATEST Updates

India's COVID-19 recoveries over 1.56 crore

The total number of people who recuperated from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours rose to 2,99,988 on Saturday, said the health ministry. With this, the total number of COVID-19 recoveries surged over 1.56 crore. 

The national COVID-19 recovery rate is currently at 81.83 percent.

09:48 (IST)

Coronavirus LATEST Updates

3,523 COVID-19 deaths in India in a day 

With the death of 3,523 more COVID-19 patients in the past 24 hours, the total number of fatalities in the country climbed to 2,11,853 on Saturday, said the Union health ministry. This takes the national fatality rate to 1.1 percent.

09:47 (IST)

Coronavirus LATEST Updates

More than 4 lakh COVID-19 cases in India, biggest spike in 24 hours

India registered 4,01,993 fresh COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, taking the overall tally to more than 1.91 crore on Saturday, said the Union health ministry.

09:28 (IST)

Coronavirus LATEST Updates

Delhi won't begin third phase of inoculation drive today 

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday asked the people between the age group of 18 and 44 not to queue up outside COVID-19 vaccination centres from 1 May (Saturday), adding the National Capital hasn’t yet received doses. He said around 0.3 million doses of Covishield are expected by 3 May.

Kejriwal said his government has placed orders for 6.7 million doses each of Covishield and Covaxin which will be delivered over three months. "We aim to vaccinate everyone in the next three months if a sufficient quantity of vaccines is supplied by the companies," he added.

09:03 (IST)

Coronavirus LATEST Updates

Gujarat govt to provide Rs 4 lakh each to kin of victims of Bharuch hospital fire

I express my condolences to the patients, doctors and hospital staff who lost their lives in the fire accident at Bharuch Hospital. The state government will provide assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the families of each of the victims of the accident, said Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday.

08:58 (IST)

Coronavirus LATEST Updates

At least 17 states, UTs to miss phase 3 vaccination launch today

A whopping 17 states and Union Territories have expressed doubts over their ability to launch the third phase of COVID-19 vaccination, set to begin today (Saturday, 1 May), for people between the ages of 18 and 45.

These states include Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Telangana. In other states like Uttar Pradesh, the government said that the third phase of the nationwide vaccination drive will be launched only in certain districts.

This is even as India saw 3,86,452 new coronavirus infections in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far, pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,87,62,976.

Read full article here...

08:50 (IST)

Coronavirus LATEST Updates

Joe Biden restricts travel to US from India

US President Joe Biden on Friday issued a proclamation, restricting travel to the United States of all non-citizens who have stayed in India in the past 14 days.

The proclamation, which comes into effect on 4 May, has been issued due to the "extraordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in India".

US nationals, those on Green Cards, their non-citizen spouses and children below 21 years of age, are among the various categories exempted from the restrictions.

The new travel restrictions have been imposed for an indefinite period and will require another presidential proclamation to end it.

Read full article here...

08:41 (IST)

Coronavirus LATEST Updates

Gujarat hospital fire kills 18 COVID-19 patients 

At least 18 coronavirus patients died after a fire broke out at a hospital in Gujarat's Bharuch in the early hours on Saturday.

Gut-wrenching visuals of the tragedy showed remains of some patients burned alive on stretchers and beds.

There were around 50 other patients at the four-storeyed Welfare Hospital when the fire broke out in the COVID-19 ward at 1 am. They were rescued by locals and firefighters, an official said.

Read full article here...

Coronavirus LATEST Updates: With the death of 3,523 more COVID-19 patients in the past 24 hours, the total number of fatalities in the country climbed to 2,11,853 on Saturday, said the Union health ministry. This takes the national fatality rate to 1.1 percent.

Several state governments have said they won't be able to start the Phase 3 vaccination drive from Saturday because they do not have sufficient doses. This phase of vaccination drive is for people between the age group of 18-45 years.

A fire in a COVID-19 hospital ward in Gujarat's Bharuch killed 18 patients early Saturday, as the country grappling with the worst outbreak yet steps up a vaccination drive for all its adults even though some states say don't have enough jabs.

Fifty other patients at the Welfare Hospital in Bharuch, a town in Gujarat state, were rescued by hospital workers and firefighters, said police officer Rajendrasinh Chudasama.

The fire broke out in a COVID-19 ward on the ground floor and was extinguished within an hour, PTI quoted the fire service as saying. The cause of the fire is being investigated.

On 23 April, a fire in an intensive care unit killed 13 COVID-19 patients in the Virar area on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Faced with an unprecedented surge in cases that has filled hospitals and crematoriums, creating a major crisis in a country of 1.4 billion, the government on Saturday shifted its faltering vaccination campaign into high gear by saying all adults 18 and over were getting their shots.

Since January, nearly 10 percent of Indians have received one dose, but only around 1.5% have received both, though India is one of the world's biggest producers of vaccines.

Some states already said they do not have enough doses for everyone. Even the ongoing effort to inoculate people above 45 is stuttering.

The state of Maharashtra has said it won't be able to start on Saturday. Satyender Jain, the Delhi health minister, said earlier this week that the city doesn’t have enough doses to vaccinate people between 18 and 44.

India on Friday reported another global daily record of 386,452 new cases, pushing the overall toll to more than 18.7 million since the pandemic began, second only to the United States. The Health Ministry also reported 3,498 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 208,330. Experts believe both figures are an undercount.

The US meanwhile joined a growing list of countries restricting travel from India, the White House said, citing a devastating rise in COVID-19 cases and the emergence of potentially dangerous variants of the coronavirus.

President Joe Biden spoke Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the growing health crisis and pledged to immediately send assistance. This week, the US began delivering therapeutics, rapid virus tests and oxygen to India, along with some materials needed for India to boost its domestic production of COVID-19 vaccines.

Additionally, a CDC team of public health experts was expected to be on the ground soon to help Indian health officials move to slow the spread of the virus.

Other nations have also sent assistance, and the Indian air force airlifted oxygen containers from Singapore, Dubai and Bangkok.



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COVID-19 crisis in Delhi: As the capital breathes the dead, for some, time to grieve is a luxury

These days my city, Delhi, has shrunk to what I can see from my window – about half a kilometre – as it had during last year’s botched lockdown. Back then, going to the shops for essentials became a heart-wrenching ordeal for people like me, who were privileged enough to have food security and the bourgeois burden of guilt (optional). Outside the shops, I would always find one or two people who had never begged before, mumbling hesitant and almost inaudible requests for flour or rice to cook in their homes. These were daily wageworkers who had lost their livelihood and run through their tiny savings in a few days. Something as ordinary as a five-kilo bag of flour would send tears of relief rolling down their cheeks.

Last year, I thought my heart had broken. Little did I know.

The first couple of months of 2021 were like the tide receding before the tsunami hits. Middle-class Delhi kept up its positive attitude, swapping cooking tips on Facebook, taking online courses, and rediscovering what it’s like to breathe deeply when the city’s air is clean. We worked from home, adjusted to pay cuts and job losses, took “workations” in the hills, and somehow life went on. Not long after it became possible to venture out, we started grumbling that too many people had discovered Sunder Nursery, so we met up with friends in cafés instead. Employers started expecting those who still had jobs to go in to work, as if pretending everything was normal would boost revenues. Our government told us we had defeated the coronavirus, and it mattered little whether we believed it or not: we gave little thought to whether we were actually safer.

Then came the election campaign rallies and religious gatherings with no masks or social distancing. They were not in Delhi, but it was not hard to predict the fallout, and here we are. Official data indicate around 368 deaths per day in the city due to Covid, based on a seven-day average. But we all know that testing is abysmal, and that Covid-related statistics are gross undercounts. When a friend’s friend died in a Delhi hospital the other day, their body was the fortieth one at that hospital on that day, bound for cremation. The waiting time was around 12 hours because firewood was not readily available. The family of the departed man had little choice but to trust that overworked and exhausted crematorium workers were able to give their loved one a decent farewell on their behalf. To help cope with the surge of bodies awaiting last rites, makeshift crematoriums operated by volunteers in PPE have sprung up. According to one media report, some of these volunteers are Covid survivors themselves, and some return to the job the very next day after losing a family member to the virus, because there is so much to do. For some, even the time to grieve is a luxury.

According to a media report, two siblings aged 20 and 18 who lost their parents to Covid tried to take their own lives, and were saved by timely intervention by neighbours and police. Anurag Kundu, head of the Delhi Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, was quoted as saying that there were many such cases, and that his organisation’s recently launched helpline was getting lots of calls from children seeking help. Who will comfort these children and secure their future?

FirstCutByManjul30042021 640

Covid has affected literally every person in Delhi and the National Capital Region. It has not spared even newborns. As I was writing this, a message landed in my inbox that stood out amid the unceasing torrent of requests for leads on hospital bed availability or oxygen cylinders for the critically ill: “Friends, any lead for a wet nurse in South Delhi? A young mom has left the world, leaving a two-day-old behind.” This child joins the 47 percent (more than 640 million people) of India’s population that is under 25 years old. How is the family supposed to rejoice in the birth of this little one, I wonder.

It is no consolation that things are even worse across the border, in Uttar Pradesh. To give just one example, a reporter there tweeted a horrific and enraging video of a man pleading as police allegedly hauled away an oxygen cylinder that his sick mother was using, for use by someone deemed more important. It’s no consolation that many people I know have got one or both vaccination doses, when hundreds of millions of people remain unvaccinated and vaccine supplies seem to be getting increasingly erratic. It’s no consolation that Supreme Court justice DY Chandrachud said that no state government should repress citizens who communicate their grievances on social media – shocking that it needed to be said, especially given the conspicuous absence of anything that can be called a health-care system. There is precious little amid this incalculably costly chaos that can be described using the word “system”. Or the word “care”.

The world is witnessing our great national funeral – the mass cremations in makeshift crematoria, the three-wheeled hearses. In contrast to the clean air of last year’s lockdown, Delhi is now shrouded in smoke from the pyres. Construction activity is at a halt, there is less traffic than usual on the roads, and it’s not smog season, so the fine dust that many of us have begun finding on our balconies and inside our homes must be from the cremations. Even many of us who do not have Covid are struggling to breathe – maybe it’s due to a combination of anxiety and the fear of inhaling the ashes.

A couple of afternoons ago, I entered the kitchen and found a hawk sitting at the window, peering in. It sat there for quite a while, and I wondered whether to offer it some water or a piece of chicken. But I didn’t, because it was so close to the pane that it would have flown off had I opened the window. An elderly man who used to live alone downstairs from me and feed the birds died a few days ago, and I wondered if the birds were missing him. It seems as though there is nothing in this city that is not tinged with loss.

Uma Asher is a Delhi-based writer and editor.



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Gujarat: 18 COVID-19 patients killed in fire at Bharuch hospital

Bharuch: At least 18 coronavirus patients died after a fire broke out at a hospital in Gujarat's Bharuch in the early hours on Saturday.

Gut-wrenching visuals of the tragedy showed remains of some patients burned alive on stretchers and beds.

There were around 50 other patients at the four-storeyed Welfare Hospital when the fire broke out in the COVID-19 ward at 1 am. They were rescued by locals and firefighters, an official said.

"As per information at 6.30 am, the toll in the tragedy stood at 18. Immediately after the fire, we had confirmation of 12 deaths," a police official told PTI.

The 12 patients in the COVID-19 ward died due to the fire and resultant smoke, Bharuch SP Rajendrasinh Chudasama said.

It is not clear if the remaining six also died in the Welfare hospital or while being shifted to other hospitals.

The COVID-19 designated hospital is situated on the Bharuch-Jambusar highway, around 190 km from the state capital Ahmedabad and is being run by a trust.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, the official said.

The fire was controlled within an hour and around 50 patients were rescued by locals as well as firefighters, a fire official said. They were shifted to nearby hospitals, he
added.



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COVID-19 Daily Tracker 30 April: India registers 3,86,452 new cases and 3,498 deaths

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on 7 August, 30 lakh on 23 August, 40 lakh on 5 September and 50 lakh on 16 September. It went past 60 lakh on 28 September, 70 lakh on 11 October, crossed 80 lakh on 29 October, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of 1.50 crore on April 19.

According to the ICMR, 28,63,92,086 samples have been tested up to 29 April.

A total of 2,08,330 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 67,985 from Maharashtra, 15,772 from Delhi, 15,306 from Karnataka, 13,933 from Tamil Nadu, 12,238 from Uttar Pradesh, 11,248 from West Bengal, 8,909 from Punjab and 8,312 from Chhattisgarh.

With inputs from PTI



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‘Shooter Dadi’ Chandro Tomar dies due to COVID-19; Bhumi Pednekar, Taapsee Pannu share tributes

Chandro Tomar, who was popularly known as "Shooter Dadi", passed away on Friday, 30 April due to COVID-19. She was 89 and had been admitted to a private hospital in Meerut where she breathed her last. After the news came out, her fans and various known celebrities took to social media to mourn her death.

Bollywood actor Bhumi Pednekar, who played Tomar in the biopic Saand Ki Aankh remembered Shooter Dadi by sharing few pictures with her and wrote, “You will be missed so much forever”.

In another tweet, she said “her legacy will live on”, adding that she’s lucky as she “got to know and be her”.

Taapsee Pannu, who played Chandro’s sister-in-law Prakashi Tomar in the film, paid her tributes via Twitter. The actor shared that she will “live on forever in all the girls” she gave hope to.

Akshay Kumar too offered his “heartfelt condolences to the family”.

Ex-cricketer Virendra Sehwag, Hardeep Singh Puri (Indian Union Minister for Home and Urban Affairs), and Arjun Awardee shooter Joydeep Karmakar Oly were among the other known names who mourned Tomar's death on Twitter.

Chandro and Prakash Tomar are believed to be the oldest sharpshooters in the country. She hailed from Johri village of Baghpat district, Uttar Pradesh. Her sharpshooter career began at the age of 65. Despite initial objections from her family, she continued participating in various shooting championships and won more than 25 such tournaments.

One of her niece Seema Tomar is also a sharpshooter and is the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Rifle and Pistol World Cup in 2010.



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As COVID-19 cases rise, 350 Indian scientists appeal to Narendra Modi to publicly release virus data

New Delhi: Indian scientists appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to publicly release virus data that would allow them to save lives as coronavirus cases climbed again Friday, prompting the army to open its hospitals in a desperate bid to control a massive humanitarian crisis.

With 386,452 new cases, India now has reported more than 18.7 million since the pandemic began, second only to the United States.

The Health Ministry on Friday also reported 3,498 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 208,330. Experts believe both figures are an undercount, but it’s unclear by how much.

India's pandemic response has been marred by insufficient data and the online appeal — signed by over 350 scientists Friday afternoon — asks the government to release data about the sequencing of virus variants, testing, recovered patients and how people were responding to vaccines.

The appeal says that “granular" data on testing was inaccessible to non-government experts and some government experts too. Modelling work to predict future surges was being done by government-appointed experts with insufficient information.

Similarly, scientists had failed to get information that would allow them to predict how many beds, oxygen or intensive care facilities would be needed, it said.

The appeal urged the government to widen the number of organisations sequencing the virus to study its evolution, and also increase the number of samples being studied.

It added that restrictions on importing scientific raw materials — to make India ‘self reliant’ is a key goal for Modi and his government — was an obstacle.

“Such restrictions, at this time, only serve to impede our ability to deal with COVID-19,” it said.

Meanwhile, families continued to flood social media and messaging apps with pleas for help: oxygen, beds, medicines, intensive care units and wood for funeral pyres.

India’s army chief General MM Naravane met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday to discuss the crisis.

Naravane said the sick can approach their nearest army hospitals for help. Troops were also assisting with imported oxygen tankers and vehicles where specialised skills are required, a government statement said.

India has set a daily global record for more than a week with an average of nearly 3,50,000 infections. Daily deaths have nearly tripled in the past three weeks, reflecting the intensity of the latest surge.

In the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, a school teachers' organisation said that more than 550 members have died after they were infected with COVID-19 while helping conduct local council elections this month, the Times of India newspaper reported.

Experts have blamed the surge on new, more contagious virus variants and mass public gatherings such as political rallies and religious events that were allowed to continue. On Thursday, lakhs voted in state elections in West Bengal with little or no regard to social distancing.

In the southern state of Karnataka, Revenue Minister R Ashoka said nearly 2,000 coronavirus patients under home care have switched off their phones and cannot be traced. Police were trying to track them as they might be seeking hospitalisation on their own, he said.

In central Madhya Pradesh state, three villages in the Balaghat district have pooled money to convert buildings into COVID-19 care centres. They have purchased oxygen concentrators and started admitting patients. Government doctors are visiting the facilities twice a day.

India plans to step up a faltering vaccination drive by allowing all adults 18 and older to get their jabs from Saturday. It has so far administered 150 million vaccine doses, according to the Health Ministry.

Since January, nearly 10 percent of Indians have received one dose, but only around 1.5 percent have received both, though India is one of the world’s biggest producers of vaccines.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan expressed hope that assistance being sent by over 40 countries will plug the shortage in medical supplies. The United States is sending more than $100 million worth of items, including 1,000 oxygen cylinders, 15 million N95 masks and 1 million rapid diagnostic tests.

Japan said Friday it will send 300 ventilators and 300 oxygen concentrators in response to the Indian government request. “Japan stands with India, our friend and partner,” the Foreign Ministry said.

France, Germany, Ireland and Australia have also promised help, and Russia sent two aircraft carrying oxygen generating equipment. The Indian air force also airlifted oxygen containers from Singapore, Dubai and Bangkok.

Chinese state media said the first batch of 25,000 oxygen concentrators pledged by Beijing to India also arrived Friday. There was no immediate comment by India but it could be a step in thawing tensions between the two countries.

The reports said China has already sent 5,000 ventilators and 21,000 oxygen generators to India.



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As COVID-19 engulfs India, a frustrated diaspora watches kin struggle for oxygen, beds

Los Angeles: Bad news, knowing no time zones, arrives in a jarring burst of messages, calls and posts informing lakhs of members of India's worldwide diaspora that yet another loved one has been sickened or lost to the coronavirus.

Sometimes it comes in a barrage of WhatsApp messages first thing in the morning, and sometimes it lands in the middle of the night, as it did for Mohini Gadré's father. A 3 am call at his San Francisco Bay Area home let him know that his octogenarian mother — who had tested positive in Mumbai — was too weak to say her morning prayers, setting off a mad scramble to find her the hospital bed where she remained for days.

In the US, where half of the adult population has gotten at least one COVID-19 shot, the talk has been of reopening, moving forward and healing. But for Indian Americans, the daily crush of dark news from “desh”, the homeland, is a stark reminder that the pandemic is far from over.

“We’re seeing life slowly start to get back to normal in small ways, and you’re feeling like a bit of hope — like with spring. You know that things are improving, it’s been a year,” Gadré, 27, said. “And meanwhile there’s this tinderbox that’s been ignited in India.”

The more than 42 lakh people like Gadré who make up the Indian diaspora in the US, according to census estimates, have watched in horror as the latest coronavirus surge burns through India, killing thousands of people a day and catapulting the death toll to more than 2,00,000 — the fourth-highest in the world.

In a culture that generally makes no distinctions between cousin and sibling, biological aunt or close friend, family is family. Many Indian Americans are wracked with guilt over emerging from more than a year of isolation as relatives overseas struggle to find vaccines, hospital beds and, fatefully, their breath.

Like India itself, the diaspora is striated by religion, caste, class, mother tongue and other factors that continue to divide. But now many of its members are united in frustration and helplessness with little recourse.

The State Department has issued a “do not travel” advisory for India, citing COVID-19. That leaves families few options except to try to arrange resources from afar and persuade relatives to keep safe.

In the UK — home to about 14 lakh Indians — the government has added India to its “red list” of countries, banning arrivals for anyone from India except for UK citizens and residents. That adds to a sense of isolation and helplessness for many who feel cut off from loved ones.

“Apart from raising funds, being generous with donations and going to offer prayers, there’s not much else we can do at the moment,” said Yogesh Patel, a spokesperson at one of the UK’s largest Hindu temples. “We can’t go and console family and friends, everything is happening online.”

Compounding the frustration is the struggle by many in the diaspora to convince family and friends in India to abide by basic social distancing and masking protocols.

The problem is two-fold and cultural: A certain generational hierarchy means elders are not inclined to heed the advice of their children, grandchildren or outsiders. And misinformation spreads widely through the same social channels that are vital to coordinating help and bridging the gap across oceans.

“My dad, he was all over the place, and I told him: ‘You’ve got to stay at home, you’ve got to wear masks,’ but, you know, they don’t listen,” said Ankur Chandra, 38, a New York-based consultant whose father is now recovering from COVID-19, alone in an apartment in India’s National Capital Region of Gurugram.

Shivani Nath, a Manhattan-based interior designer for hotels who was born and raised in New Delhi, offended relatives when she expressed horror instead of congratulations at pictures of a “complete five-day, traditional Indian Hindu wedding” in the family — no masks in sight.

“My cousin was like, ‘You Americans are so arrogant and look at your own country and you have over 5,00,000 people who have died.’ And she actually told me — she’s like, ‘Indians have herd immunity. We are born with herd immunity,’” Nath recounted.

Her cousin later apologised, after several wedding attendees were diagnosed with COVID-19.

Vijaya Subrahmanyam, 58, typically travels to India every six months to see her family, including her older sister and 91-year-old mother in Hyderabad, in the southern state of Telangana. Because of the pandemic, she hasn’t been back in almost two years, and her summer plans to visit were scrapped at her own mother’s advisement.

The same week that the Atlanta-based college professor received her second dose of the vaccine, her mother and sister both tested positive for COVID-19. Her mother had not left her home, but her sister took a two-minute diversion to the mall to purchase a handbag after picking up some medicine, and that's where Subrahmanyam suspects she got infected.

“Initially, we were like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’” she said. But Subrahmanyam realised her sister probably felt worse about it than anyone else — and recognised that she was the one still in India, tasked with taking care of their mother.

Some of those who feel similarly helpless are channelling their energies into mutual aid projects.

Anand Chaturvedi, 23, is from Mumbai but now works in New York. Coming from a tech background, he volunteered to help the same websites he himself has used, including an open-source site that helps search for virus-related resources.

In Seattle, Sanjay Jejurikar, 58, is leveraging his connections and using his familiarity with India to connect people to assistance, everyone from a 75-year-old mentor to young employees of his India-based education technology startup.

“In India, things are a little bit chaotic, right?” said Jejurikar, whose mother died of COVID-19 in July in India. “I mean, on one hand, they’re very bureaucratic and rule-based, and all that stuff, which is good. But on the other hand, quite a few people are left on their own devices, like they don’t have any support.”

After losing her grandmother to COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic, 23-year-old Farheen Ali, a grad student from Texas, moved back to Hyderabad in August to help her parents.

Having experienced a pandemic peak and a Ramadan in each country, Ali thinks one of the biggest differences is the confidence she had that “it won’t get that bad or the system won’t break as bad” in the US. She also believes she would have been vaccinated by this point if she had stayed in Texas.

While she doesn't necessarily regret coming to India, the embers of hope are dying out: “I don’t think there’s any trust in the government or the public that they’re going to try to get this down because I still know people that don’t want to take the vaccine because of stupid WhatsApp messages or don’t believe that corona is still a thing, even though people are dying at this rate.”



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Maharashtra likely to see third wave of COVID-19 cases in July-August, says health minister Rajesh Tope

Mumbai: Still reeling under a deadly second wave of COVID-19, Maharashtra may witness a third wave of the infection in July-August, said health minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday.

The grim prediction by Tope came on a day when Maharashtra, the state worst hit by the pandemic in the country, recorded 66,159 fresh coronavirus cases and 771 fatalities.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, As per epidemiologists, Maharashtra could witness a third wave ofCOVID-19 in July or August.

"Maharashtra is trying to be self-sufficient in terms of availability of medical oxygen by then. It has been said the state could reach the plateau level of COVID-19 cases by the end of May. If it is hit by a third wave in July or August, it would increase the challenges before the state administration," he said.

Tope was speaking after taking part in a review meeting with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray where various aspects of COVID-19 management and vaccination were discussed.

"District collectors and divisional commissioners also took part in the virtual meeting. During the discussion, the chief minister stressed on setting up 125 PSA (pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plants (for generating medical oxygen) at the earliest for treating patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 infection," Tope said.

District collectors were told the government will not tolerate any complain about the non-availability of oxygen when the state is hit by a third wave, said the health minister.

Maintaining that the current requirement of oxygen is being met through local generation as well as supplies from the Centre, he said Maharashtra is facing a shortage of 10,000 to 15,000 vials of Remdesivir, used to treat critical COVID-19patients.

"Though there is a shortage, we have asked doctors to use it judiciously. Extra doses could lead to grave side effects," he said.

Tope said the chief minister informed the meeting that he has told business houses and corporates that if they spend setting up COVID-19-related facilities, that money will be considered as CSR expenditure.

"They can avail all benefits related to CSR spending and this will also ease the financial burden on the state," the health minister said.

"We will try to set up oxygen generator plants, arrange oxygen concentrators as well as provide medical equipment such as CT scan and MRI machines to districts where these facilities are not available," he said.

Districts such as Hingoli, Jalna, Parbhani, Osmanabad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Washim and Gadchiroli will get telemedicine services where COVID-19 patients with other health issues can seek consultancy from doctors based in major cities, Tope said.

Maharashtra, which has so far reported 45,39,553coronavirus cases and 67,985 fatalities, is under lockdown-like restrictions till 15 May.



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TJEE 2021 registration ends today; apply for entrance exam at tbjee.nic.in

The registration process for the Tripura Joint Entrance Examination (TJEE) 2021 ends today, Friday, 30 April.

Conducted by the Tripura Board of Joint Entrance Examination (TBJEE), the application process started on 8 April. Candidates who couldn’t register earlier can do so by visiting the official website - tbjee.nic.in.

All the female aspirants applying for the entrance exam have to pay Rs 350 as the application fee. While male aspirants from the general category have to pay Rs 550. The amount for male candidates from SC and ST category is Rs 450.

Students can follow these steps to apply for the exam:

Step 1: Visit the official website - tbjee.nic.in
Step 2: On the homepage, click on the link titled’ Apply Online for Tripura Joint Entrance Examination 2021’
Step 3: A new page will open. Fill in your personal details on the left side under the ‘New Registration’ section. Click on ‘Register’ when done
Step 4: Now, login to your account using the registration number and password. Fill the application form
Step 5: Submit it and pay the fee to confirm your submission
Step 6: Download TJEE 2021 application form
Step 7: Take a print out of the filled form and keep it safely for future reference.

Alternatively, candidates can also click on this direct link to apply

The exam for engineering entrance will be conducted on 23 June in Tripura. Students will have to visit the allotted centre to appear for the exam. Cities of the state including Agartala, Kailashahar, Ambassa, Dharmanagar, Udaipur, and Santirbazar will host candidates at the test centres.



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TV journalist Rohit Sardana passes away days after testing postive for coronavirus

Television journalist Rohit Sardana passed away due to a heart attack on Friday, days after testing positive for coronavirus, according to reports. He was 41.

Sardana was an anchor on the Aaj Tak news channel show ‘Dangal’ and had been associated with Zee News earlier. He used to host the show ‘Taal Thok De’ on Zee News. He was awarded the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Puraskar in 2018.

Sardana is survived by his wife, two daughters and parents. He was admitted to a private hospital in Noida after he tested positive for coronavirus. His last rites will take place in his hometown of Kurukshetra in Haryana, according to his colleagues.

"We are all shocked by the death of our colleague and friend, Rohit Sardana. This incomparable loss cannot be expressed in words. We express our condolences to his family in this hour of grief," Aaj Tak tweeted in Hindi. A similar message was posted by the India Today channel in English.

Zee News editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary informed about his demise through a tweet.

Sardana's death comes just days after senior journalist Raju Mishra (50), who has worked with several national newspapers, died of COVID-19 complications in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad on 28 April.

As Firstpost reported earlier, more than 50 journalists have lost their lives in the last 28 days while over 100 journalists have succumbed to the virus since 1 April 2020. Uttar Pradesh has seen the maximum number of verified deaths, followed by Telangana and Maharashtra.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and political leaders, including home minister Amit Shah and union ministers Kiren Rijiju and Jitendra Singh condoled his demise. Shah lauded his "unbiased and fair reporting", while Rijiju called him a "fearless and straightforward journalist".

Former Attorney General of India Soli Sorabjee had succumbed to COVID-19 when he was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Delhi earlier on Friday.

India registered 3.86 lakh new COVID-19 cases recorded within 24 hours, as per data updated by the health ministry at 8 am on 30 April.

With inputs from PTI



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Endless funerals, people pleading for oxygen; India must etch horrors of COVID-19 in its memory, writes TM Krishna

A lot is being written about the grotesqueness that is engulfing India. People begging for their lives, pleading breathlessly for oxygen, asking for help to merely survive, hoping for at least a dignified cremation. This is India on 29 April 2021. I am marking this date because I am worried that we will forget. We need to etch that which is happening around permanently in our memory. We should ignore all synthetic demands for positivity and create macabre dances, songs, plays, poems and films of what we are witnessing and participating in.

Each one of us is party to what is happening. We have become a land of the heartless. It matters more to us that we collectively partake in inane acts such as banging on plates while everyone beginning from the Prime Minister remains unaccountable, watching over deaths that are mounting by the minute. Modi was, of course, busy posing with peacocks, growing a beard, proclaiming victory over the virus to the entire world, allowing stadiums to be renamed after him and in awe of the crowds that came to his rallies.

I am deeply wounded and unable to fathom the depths of the abyss within which we have fallen. Not sure if we will get out and when that may even happen. We are in a dark place where we are unable to feel or be touched. Our stomachs do not churn in horror, we are not crying out in helplessness... we are just not shaken enough. We are in a vacuum; an emptiness has filled the room. In-humaneness and whataboutery permeate this territory.

Funeral pyres do not make us weep. Instead, our mind instinctively swirls in search of excuses for the deaths. The death itself immaterial; after all more people die of natural causes every day. What difference does a small percentage increase make?

But we try and ensure that the Supreme Leader’s name is not tarnished, his clothes not stained. I will not limit this piece to Modi, though the fact remains that the buck stops with him. A man who is willing to grab every opportunity to take credit, even when it belonged to others, needs to have broad enough shoulders to accept responsibility when it is abundantly clear that his government and he caused the present disaster because of their unscientific, uncaring nature.

But what has the Modi-psyche done to us as individuals, families, communities, especially in this precarious moment? We have lost all ability to observe and reflect upon what we see. Even the death of people is a media conspiracy to defame this great country. Don’t show us the truth; it is more important that the sanctity of the last rite is maintained. The purity of ‘truth’ can be discarded. Reality must be hidden, we imply. And we are supposedly decent human beings.

What has happened to us?

India was never a perfect country; we are as messy as any other part of this beautiful world. We are a country born from resistance and turmoil; one that has as its soul a Constitution that hoped to nurture good people. Are we even close to goodness? Something has changed in us. Hate is our staple diet; an aphrodisiac that we are addicted to. Every word we write, speak and exchange is degrading. Morality has been thrown to the winds, considered an archaic notion. We just want to win. But what are we winning? That we do not know. We have been tutored to detest our recent past. The glory was somewhere in a timeless era we are told. Everything that came in between was an aberration. Erase all these in-betweens and we can rediscover that forgotten image. An ungraspable, unreal image has been conceived by the parochial. We seek to become ‘that’ without knowing what ‘that’ means. We have bought into this delusion lock stock and barrel. People within that image are categorised as outsiders, insiders, nationalists, anti-nationals and treated accordingly. Ideas too are separated, reduced to slogans or trashed as alien. To win we have to demolish and destroy any story that comes in the way. I am not speaking of the people in government; you and I think this way. Whether or not they have instructed us, we are robots programmed for propaganda and smudging conversation. Who is this we and who are the enemies? We are a collective that has overdosed on the nationalism drug. A nationalism that does not care about democratic values. The enemies are the people who point at this gaping lacuna.

In order to be nationalistic victors or be seen as victors, we are ready to kill. I say kill not because everyone is wielding a gun or a knife, but because every time we shut down a voice, abuse the vulnerable and deny rights to people, we are aiding and abetting the process of death. Those who are utterly silent are as culpable. We are a party to every anonymous death in the corridors of hospitals and unceremonious cremation on the pavements.

I am a critic of this environment; I am unable to sleep in peace knowing that someone is gasping somewhere. But does that relieve me of any responsibility? Am I better than everyone else? I too have lost the ability to listen to myself and others.

Certain voices and words trigger rage in me. I am unable to pause and go beyond that momentary lapse and, in the process, I do not know how to converse and speak for dignity for all. I end up shouting, making abusive remarks, and even wish the worst for someone. This is not me! We are serving implanted agendas and responding to the fear of loss. I am not going to pass judgement on what each one holds dear, but are we willing to surrender our mind to anger? Anger can be of different sorts; the one that instils the power to stand up and ask questions is distinct from the kind that is a blinder. Today, we are all blinded by anger.

Can we come out of this vicious state? We have to believe that there is a way forward; that transformation is possible. “This too shall pass” is a convenient utterance for those whose life is not harrowing. We cannot just wait this out or let it pass unattended. We need to live in the present, take in all that is happening, feel the sorrow, internalise the wailing, pay attention to the tone-deafness that surrounds us and recognise our own savagery. We are facing our worst moment in modern history, struggling to stay afloat. If we do not show courage and honesty to speak for justice now, we may never be able to recover compassion. No individual or ideology can matter more than humanity.

The author is a Karnatik vocalist and recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award. Views are personal.



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Labour Day 2021: History and significance of day recognising attainments of workers

The International Workers’ Day, also known as Labour Day or May Day, is commemorated on the first day of May every year to honour and observe the attainments of the workers.

In many countries such as India, Bangladesh, Cuba, China, Germany and many more, it is is observed as a public holiday. This day is also marked as Antarrashtriya Shramik Diwas (International Labour Day).

The first May Day in India was organised in erstwhile Madras by the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan on 1 May, 1923. Meanwhile, in 1960, May Day was remembered as 'Maharashtra Day' and 'Gujarat Day' to mark the date when these two states achieved statehood. This move took place after early Bombay was divided on the basis of language.

May Day was first celebrated on 1 May, 1890 after it was declared by the first international congress of socialist parties in Europe on 14 July, 1889. It was declared for the workers in Paris to dedicate every year on 1 May as the "Workers Day of International Unity and Solidarity".

This day was initiated from the labour union movement, which supports eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation and eight hours for rest. This day has been an important way for demonstrations by various socialist, communist and anarchist groups for a long time.

May Day is also an official holiday in countries such as the People's Republic of China, North Korea, Cuba and the former Soviet Union, among many others.



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Don't take action against citizens seeking oxygen, COVID-19 beds on social media: SC to states

Terming the second COVID-19 wave a national crisis, the Supreme Court said there should be no clampdown on citizens seeking help regarding oxygen, medicines and hospitals beds on the internet.

"There should be free flow of information, we should hear voices of citizen," said a bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud, and asked the Centre, states and all DGPs not to take any action against anyone posting a shortage of oxygen, beds or doctors as spreading a rumour.

The Bench, also comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat, also said that if any action is taken against such posts on social media by citizens in distress, it will be treated as contempt of court.

Observing that even frontline doctors and healthcare workers were not getting beds for treatment, the bench said the healthcare infrastructure inherited over the past 70 years was not sufficient and the situation was grim. The apex court said hostels, temples, churches and other places be opened for converting them as COVID-19 care centres.

The Bench also told the Centre to adopt a national immunisation model as poor people will not be able to pay for vaccines.

"What happens to the marginalised and SC/ST population? Should they be left to the mercy of private hospitals,” it asked. It further said the healthcare sector has come to a breakpoint and retired doctors or officials could be re-employed in this crisis.

The apex court had taken suo moto cognisance on issues related to the supply of oxygen, medicines, vaccine and other COVID-19 essentials even as hearings are underway on the same issues in several high courts across the country.

Emphasising the “ground reality” in Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra, the Supreme Court also sought to know from the Centre what immediate and effective steps it will in view of the oxygen crisis.

Pointing out that the hearing must make a difference between today and the next hearing, the Bench asked the Centre how much oxygen will be made available to critical states.

On behalf of the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said states have been asked to put forward their expected requirement of oxygen. He also highlighted that logistical issues pose hurdles in the life-saving gas reaching Delhi, which according to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal needs 700 MT of oxygen but has been allocated 490 MT so far.

On Justice Chandrachud’s question on whether the Delhi oxygen crisis occurring due to the AAP government’s inability to lift it from other states, Mehta said he had a supplier’s letter confirming that a supplier is ready with 200 MT of oxygen for the National Capital. He informed the Bench that about 10,000 MT oxygen is currently available in India, adding that more tankers are being put to work to transport the gas to Delhi.

The Bench further questioned how Delhi was allotted lesser oxygen it needed when its cases rose 123 percent, adding that the National Capital would report many more deaths by Monday.

“Centre has an important responsibility as far as citizens of Delhi are concerned. You have said surplus is there in the steel sector, then use that and supply to Delhi,” Justice Chandrachud said.

Justice Bhat added that the Centre’s proactive role in procuring tankers is of utmost importance.

During the hearing, former union minister Ashwani Kumar asked why there is still no ban on political and religious gatherings, referring to the recently-concluded eight-phase Assembly elections, panchayat polls and the Kumbh Mela.

The Court, during the previous hearing, asked the Centre to present and apprise it as to whether a national plan can be prepared to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. It noted that at least six different high courts, including the Delhi High Court, have been hearing pleas on the same issues.



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CBSE extends school affiliation date till 30 June; check details at cbse.gov.in

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has stretched the deadline for school affiliation to 30 June. After due consideration and reviewing the current COVID-19 situation in the country, the board has also extended the up-gradation of the affiliation facility for schools for the academic session 2022-23 till the said date. Earlier, the deadline was 30 April. No late fees will be charged by the schools, if they haven’t applied till now.

Currently, more than 25,000 schools are affiliated with the board in India and 26 other countries. These include the Kendriya Vidyalayas, Private Independent schools which are self-financed, Government schools of Delhi, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, Chandigarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The affiliation is granted by the CBSE Affiliation unit since 2006. It is an online process called the Online School Affiliation Management System (OSAMS).

Here are the steps to apply for school affiliation:

  1.       Visit https://saras.cbse.gov.in/
  2.       On the homepage, click on ‘Apply Now’
  3.       A new page will open. Read all the instructions carefully
  4.       Now, tick all the options mentioned and proceed to the next stage
  5.       Select the category under which you want to apply for
  6.       Now, register your school and upload all the scanned documents
  7.       Pay the fees online and submit the application
  8.       Save a copy for later use. If required, take a printout

Here’s the direct link

The board has already postponed the Class 12 exams and cancelled the Class 10 papers owing to COVID-19.



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PSCB invites applications for senior managers, IT officers among others; check details at pscb.in

The Punjab State Cooperative Bank (PSCB) has invited applications for the recruitment of Senior Managers, Managers, Information Officers, Clerk-Cum-Data Entry Operators, and Steno Typists. These posts are also available for District Central Cooperative Banks in Punjab. Those who wish to apply can visit the official website to check eligibility criteria and other important details. The last date to apply is 20 May up to 11.59 pm.

Aspirants can follow these simple steps to apply:

  1.       Visit https://pscb.in/
  2.       Now, click on the ‘New Registration’ tab present on the top right-hand corner of the homepage
  3.       Register by entering email id and select a password. Enter mobile number. AN OTP will be received for verification. Now, log in using credentials
  4.       Start filling the application form. Fill in basic details like Name, Date of Birth, Gender, etc.
  5.       Upload scanned coloured photograph and signature. Only JPEG images are allowed
  6.       Enter your academic qualifications and apply for the post
  7.       Pay the fees online and submit the form
  8.   Save a copy. If required, take a printout for future reference

Here’s the direct link

Fees

For all the categories, except Scheduled Caste (SC), the Non-Refundable application fee is Rs 1,400. While for SC candidates, it is Rs 700.

In total there are 856 posts available. A candidate must have the domicile of Punjab to avail the benefit of reserved categories. To qualify in the written examination, candidates of all categories are required to score at least 40 percent minimum marks. While for SC category applicants, the minimum qualifying percentage is 35.

Age limit

For all the posts, the age limit is between 18 years to 37 years. For Scheduled Caste candidates and for those who are already working in State’s Cooperative institutes, it is 42 years.

Those who are working in the Punjab State Cooperative Bank Ltd, Chandigarh, and District Central Cooperative Banks of Punjab shall be eligible to apply till the age of 47 years.



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Media's failure in contending with second COVID-19 wave has left Indians paying the price

Joining the Dots is a fortnightly column by author and journalist Samrat in which he connects events to ideas, often through analysis, but occasionally through satire.

***

The second COVID-19 wave is a tragedy on an epic scale playing out in India. The Asian tsunami of 2004 killed 2,30,000 people around the Indian Ocean. The present COVID tsunami feels that way, except the wave is hitting only India, in slow motion, invisibly.

How did it get so bad?

Scientists will work out the medical reasons by and by. It is likely that a mutation of the virus played a part. At present, this is mostly guesswork, because there is insufficient data available, but eventually we will get to know. There is, however, also a governance reason. It relates to the flow of information: This disaster would not have happened if systems of information flow had been working robustly.

It is clear that a second wave was always anticipated. Scientists all along also kept saying that the virus would mutate. The government of India was officially informed about the likelihood of an impending second wave, and the lack of preparation to handle it. This was reflected in a report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare in November 2020, as reported recently in Newslaundry.

Among other things, the report had specifically warned against possible super-spreader events, pointed out the shortage of adequate hospital beds and oxygen cylinders, and said there was a “need to ensure that the oxygen inventory is in place and oxygen prices are controlled”. It is painfully obvious now that none of this was heeded.

The failure of the parliamentary, democratic system of advice and feedback was one level of system failure. The second level was when big media failed to acknowledge the growing problem until it was too late, and even then, only began to report it reluctantly under public pressure. It is not as though the problem happened overnight.

As far back as the second week of February there were already reports from Maharashtra about the rising tide of COVID cases and deaths. No one seems to have paid them any attention. Instead, there was great excitement in the media over tweets by Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, the farmers’ protests, and then the elections in five states. During this period, Holi was celebrated with great gusto, the Kumbh Mela was inaugurated with fanfare, and several huge poll rallies were organised daily. COVID in Maharashtra was treated as a political opportunity to attack the state government. The fact that it could herald the start of the second COVID wave was not taken seriously.

This would arguably not have happened in a country with a freer media that was doing the job it is meant to do. As engineers know, every control system needs a feedback loop. Think of the country as one vast and complex unit, with the administrative machinery working as the control system. The free media acts like thousands of sensors that report what is going wrong anywhere in the country, in close to real time. When instead of taking the inputs from the media as a basis for corrective action, you start suppressing the negative feedback and forcing the sensors to sing cheerful tunes, you’ve lost your feedback loop. The problems will continue to crop up, but now, they will not be noticed until they blow up. The diagnosis in the end will be “systems failed”. We should also ask, “Why did systems fail?”

Indians are collectively paying a very heavy price for the insistence on turning journalism into Public Relations. It is true that the media tends to report bad news more than good, but that is what it is meant to do, and that is what makes it useful. Extraordinary good news is also celebrated in the media with great enthusiasm, and this was the case even a decade or a century ago. For instance, there was no lack of laudatory articles when India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983 or when Amartya Sen won his Nobel Prize in 1998. They did not require phone calls from political sources to get positive coverage in newspapers.

The state emblem of the Indian state is “Satyameva Jayate”, an aphorism from the Mundaka Upanishad which means “truth alone triumphs”. A false image that “all is well” was cultivated for the past several years. In this the media played a decisive role. Like the governments at the centre and in several states, it thus failed in its duties. A public blinded by this false image, with many among them driven to frenzy by twisted notions of patriotism and religion, is now left literally gasping for breath.

The truth about COVID, brushed under the carpet in the relentless quest for positive coverage, has exploded in our faces as the flames from thousands of burning funeral pyres.

 



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IGNOU January 2021 session: Last date to register today; check details at ignou.ac.in

The registration process for the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) regular mode courses ends today on Friday, 30 April. The deadline was extended to 30 April for all courses except for certificate, merit-based, and semester-based programmes. Candidates who wish to apply can visit the official website and submit their application form as soon as possible.

Before filling in the form, candidates have to make sure that they have a scanned copy of their photograph and signature. Fees for the application can be paid through credit and debit cards or net banking.

Here are the steps that aspirants can follow to apply for their choice of program for January 2021 session:

Step 1: Visit the website http://ignou.ac.in/

Step 2: On the homepage, in the ‘Alerts’ section, click on the option ‘Online Programme Admission for January 2021 Session extended till 30-Apr-2021 except for Certificate and Semester based programmes'

Step 3: A new page will open. Now select ‘Click here on new registration’

Step 4: Fill in the application form and submit it

Step 5: Download the IGNOU application form

Step 6: Take a print out and keep it safely for future reference

Aspirants should also submit a category certificate and BPL certificate with their form, if applicable.

IGNOU offers as many as 16 courses in the online mode. All the courses are approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The university also extended the deadline till May 31 for submission of assignments of the June Term End Examination (TEE).



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AIBE XVI 2021: Registration for All India Bar Exam extended till 15 June; check allindiabarexamination.com

Due to the massive surge in COVID-19 cases all across the country, the Bar Council of India (BCI) has extended the last date to register for the All India Bar Exam (AIBE) XVI. Earlier, the deadline to apply was 30 April, however, the new date is 15 June. Interested and eligible candidates, who failed to register themselves, can now do it by visiting the official website aalindiabarexamination.com.

Students can follow these steps to register for AIBE XVI:

  1.     Visit https://allindiabarexamination.com/
  2.     Check the side menu of the website and click on the ‘Registration XVI’ link
  3.     A new page will open. Select the state you want to register for
  4.     Register by filling in the basic information like Name, Gender, Date of Birth, educational qualifications, etc.
  5. After registration, start filling the application form
  6. Upload all the required documents like Photograph, Signature, Photo Id and Enrolment Certificate. These documents should be self-attested. Any application without self-attested documents will be rejected
  7.     Pay the fee abd submit the form
  8. Save a copy. Take a printout of your application for future use

Here’s the direct link

The council will allot one centre out of the three mentioned by the candidate in the application.

In case wrong documents have been uploaded, a candidate can change by logging in again with registration id and Password and uploading the correct documents

The council has also notified that due to the prevailing conditions in the country and especially the National Capital, the helpline numbers 01149225022/23 will not be functional till further update. For any urgent queries, candidates can call on +91-9804580458.

The council will announce the new exam date for AIBE soon. Candidates can approach the BCI through the email id but a revert will be given only after 24-48 hours.



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Thursday, 29 April 2021

COVID-19 deaths in Bareilly: Cemeteries, crematoria report daily stream of bodies, but district officials say only 185 died in 2021

Uttar Pradesh: "There have been around 185 deaths [in 2021] here due to COVID-19," said Bareilly chief medical officer Dr Sudhir Garg on Thursday, "While in the last three days, there have been three or four deaths." This stands contrary to accounts from the the five burial grounds and crematoria, which have reported a steady stream of bodies, of those whom relatives say died of COVID-19. On Wednesday alone, a total of 50 bodies were cremated at Bareilly's Sanjay Nagar and City Crematoria. There have been over 12 lakh cases of COVID-19 recorded in Uttar Pradesh, with over 12,000 deaths, but information about specifics is still hard to come by.

Much like the rest of Uttar Pradesh, Bareilly has been ravaged by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. "On a normal day, 10 to 12 bodies used to brought to our crematoria," said a senior official of the managing committee of Bareilly's largest crematorium, the City Shamshan Bhoomi, requesting anonymity. He added, "But a week ago, the number of bodies suddenly rose to 20, which gradually increased to 22, 25, 28 and then, 30. There's so much fear of coronavirus among people that only one or two members of the deceased's family come for the last rites, whereas under normal circumstances, a large number of people come for the funeral procession."

A funeral procession makes its way to Takiya Mewari burial ground. Firstpost/Mohammad Sartaj Alam

On one hand, the authorities provide a very low estimate of the number of bodies being brought to one of Bareilly's five crematoria and on the other, cremation ground managers cite a very high number. According to district officials, its bodies belonging to other districts that account for these discrepancies. Due to the rising body count, the City Shamshan Bhoomi committee member has overseen the erection of nine new pyres. "Thirty-three bodies were cremated today," he said on Wednesday, adding, "I am mentally shattered. I have not seen so many bodies in my entire life. Today, 33 bodies arrived. Thirty-two were cremated yesterday, while 50 bodies came here for last rites the day before."

In total, this adds up to 115 bodies at one cremation ground in three days. This is far removed from the 'three or four' figure quoted by Garg.

Crematorium workers at the City Shamshan Bhoomi. Firstpost/Mohammad Sartaj Alam

Meanwhile, over at Bareilly's second-largest cremation facility, the Sanjay Nagar Crematorium, an official who oversees operations (who requested anonymity) said, "Seeing all the bodies, the heart just wants to weep. We've never witnessed such a situation in our entire lives. We have 40 to 42 dead bodies coming here every day. On normal days, we have around five to 10 bodies. Since the past six days, the situation has been miserable to the extent that funeral processions are taking place from 5 am to 11 pm. Of all the bodies being brought, most deaths are due to COVID-10. Initially, we had 20 pyres, but we had to build seven more due to the COVID situation."

His view is corroborated by a private ambulance driver (who requested anonymity), who transported the bodies to the Sanjay Nagar Crematorium. He said, "The number of bodies has risen sharply in the past six to seven days. Today, the situation is that the funeral pyres are constantly busy and so , people have to wait. There are five crematoria in our city but those who do not find a place for cremation go along the banks of the Ramganga river. It is not possible to estimate the actual number of daily deaths in the city, and this makes it more difficult to obtain the number of deaths due to COVID-19."

A body being prepared for burial. Firstpost/Mohammad Sartaj Alam

The Bareilly administration, on its part, is less forthcoming with information. When this correspondent reached out to Dr Anurag Gautam to confirm the total number of cases and deaths per day, he said, "We are not allowed to make the COVID data public. You should contact the Chief Medical Officer of Bareilly." Upon contacting CMO Garg, he initially refused to share the figures, saying instead, "We do not make any COVID bulletins. A one-pager is compiled, which I cannot give you. You should contact Additional Chief Medical Officer Dr Ranjan Gautam."

A graveyard in Bareilly. Firstpost/Mohammad Sartaj Alam

Despite repeated attempts, the ACMO was unreachable. Eventually Garg gave this correspondent the figure of 185 deaths in 2021 and a daily toll of three to four deaths. When the number of people being cremated daily was brought up, he replied, "These bodies do not belong to our district. They all belong to other districts like Kanpur, Kasganj, Uttarakhand, Pilibhit, Badaun, Lucknow etc, and from Nepal." The Sanjay Nagar Crematorium official seemed to disagree with this version, stating, "Some bodies come from outside, but 80 percent of the bodies are from Bareilly."

Garg maintained, "These people come to Bareilly for treatment. If they die, their bodies do not go to their home district. In this situation, the last rites are performed at Bareilly cremation ground by Hindus and at the graveyard by Muslims." When asked for clarity about the data for deaths in Bareilly and other districts, he said, "We only keep the data of our district. We do not keep the data of other districts."

Bodies being prepared for cremation at the City Crematorium Ground. Firstpost/Mohammad Sartaj Alam

According to a member of the committee of the Takiya Mewari, the Muslim graveyard, "Many bodies have come here for burial in the past six days, and to my knowledge there is not a single body f another district. These are all bodies of local people." Local social worker Aslam Chaudhary said, "The first thing is that if the people from other districts were undergoing treatment here and they died during the treatment, it is clear how pathetic the healthcare system is in those districts. Second, after the death of their loved ones, any family would want to take the bodies back to their homes so that the last rites could take place in the presence of the family and loved ones."

"If somehow the families are unable to take back the bodies due to an inevitable situation, then the funeral is done in a crematorium or cemetery in Bareilly. The number of such cases is very small. According to me, around five percent are outsiders. In comparison, the daily number of burials in the cemeteries of Bareilly city is around 70 to 80, which is higher than normal. Therefore, I request the administration to make the past six days' data public."



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Vikata Sankashti Chaturthi 2021: Significance of festival; check tithi timings

Vikata Sankashti Chaturthi is an auspicious festival which is observed in the month of Chaitra. This year, it is being celebrated on 30 April. On this special day, devotees of Lord Ganesha keep a fast on the Chaturthi Tithi and break it only after seeing the moon in the evening.

The word Sankashti means deliverance and devotees believe that if they pray to Lord Ganesha for a happy and hurdle free life, it will be granted. On this day, Lord Ganesha is worshipped as Dukhharta (remover of sorrow) and Vighnaharta (the one who eliminates troubles).

According to Amavasyant and Purnimant calendar, today marks the day of Chaturthi Tithi of Chaitra and Krishna Paksha.

Vikata Sankashti Ganesh Chaturthi Vrat 2021 tithi

- The Chaturthi Tithi begins at 10.09 pm on 29 April and ends at 7.09 pm on 30 April
- The Moon is expected to rise at 10.48 pm

According to Hindu scriptures, the moonrise timings play a great significance in this festival because the fast is concluded only after offering Arghya to the Moon God.

Significance of Vikata Sankashti Ganesh Chaturthi

As devotees worship Lord Ganesha to get relief from their sorrows, agonies and troubles, a day-long fast is observed. On this auspicious day, devotees perform Ganesha Puja.

Meanwhile, Vikata Sankashti Vrat is the first Sankashti day of the Hindu Lunar Year which begins with the Chaitra month, as per the Amavasyant calendar. Those who follow the Purnimant calendar celebrate the festival in Vaishakha month. But the date remains the same, and only the names of the months are different.

Devotees also believe that women facing fertility issues, get blessed by Lord Ganesha during this time. So, the women, who plan to conceive, keep the Vikata Sankashti Vrat. Also, couples who are dealing with marital discord can attain harmony by observing the day and following a few practices.



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Former attorney general, Padma Vibhushan awardee Soli Sorabjee dies during treatment for COVID-19

Former Attorney General and Constitutional law expert Soli Sorabjee passed away on Friday morning after getting infected with COVID-19. The 91-year-old had served as the Attorney General for India from 1989 till 90 and then from 1998 till 2004. He was admitted to a private hospital in South Delhi after getting infected with COVID-19.

Sorabjee was born in erstwhile Bombay in 1930 and began his legal practice at the Bombay High Court in 1953. He was designated as a senior advocate by the Supreme Court of India in 1971. In 1997, he was appointed by the United Nations as a Special Rapporteur for Nigeria to report on the human rights situation in that country.

He also became a member and later chairman of the UN-Sub Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, from 1998 to 2004. He is a member of the United Nations Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities since 1998 and also served as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague from 2000 to 2006.

Among the landmark cases of his career are Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978), SR Bommai v. Union of India (1994), and BP Singhal v. Union of India (2010). In 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases, Sorabjee worked with Citizen’s Justice Committee and took the case pro bono for the victims. In 2002, he became a member of the Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution of India.

In March 2002, he was conferred the Padma Vibhushan award for his defense of freedom of speech and the protection of human rights. In a career spanning nearly seven decades, he was involved in many freedom of speech cases and his publications on the subject include The Laws of Press Censorship in India (1976); and The Emergency, Censorship and the Press in India, 1975-77 (1977).

Sorabjee was one of the prime architects of the annual Jazz Yatra and maintained that jazz left a deep influence in the way he practised law, according to a Hindustan Times report. It made him improvise as the situation demanded inside a court, he had said.

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana consoling the death stated that Sorabjee's "humane and compassionate approach defined his legal work”. "Shri Soli J Sorabjee served the office of Attorney General of India twice with great distinction. His body of work, spread over nearly seven decades, in defending the fundamental rights and human rights is of international repute. He will be remembered as a legend who added strength to the pillars of democracy. I pay my deep respect to the departed soul. Condolences to the family, friends and fans," read the statement issued by CJI Ramana.

Union Minister Smriti Irani described him as a "giant giant" who was always "ready to lend a helping hand”. Former BJP MP and veteran journalist Swapan Dasgupta said Sorabjee was a "great lawyer, a man of erudition and above all a perfect gentleman".



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COVID-19 home isolation: All you need to know about new guidelines for patients, caregivers

With the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic where over three lakh people test positive every 24 hours, the Central government has issued several new guidelines for home isolation. People with mild symptoms generally do not require hospitalisation and recover at home without the support of any advanced medical care.

The guidelines were also issued during the first wave, however, as new and updated information about the pandemic comes to light, home isolation instructions have been updated. Here are a few guidelines laid by the Central government for home isolation:

Who is eligible for home isolation?

Patients who have been clinically assigned as mild or asymptomatic can be under home isolation given that they have the facility to isolate at home. They should have a caregiver at all times. Elderly patients and those who have conditions that compromise the immune system can isolate at home if the treating physician approves it.

How should a COVID-19 patient isolate?

COVID-19 patients should be isolated in a separate room away from their other family members. This room should be well-ventilated. The guidelines say that windows should be kept open to allow fresh air to come inside the room.

What is the guideline regarding face masks for COVID-19 patients and their caregivers?

Mask should not be used for over 8 hours and should be discarded if it gets wet or soiled. Patients are directed to wear a triple-layer mask. Caregivers who come in close contact with patients should also wear a mask. Both patients and caregivers can wear N-95 face masks. Before they are discarded, masks should be treated with one percent sodium hypochlorite.

What are the instructions for patients in home isolation?

Patients are directed to update their treating physician with their condition regularly. Those who have comorbidities should consult a physician before taking additional medicines.

According to the new guidelines, if fever is not under control even after the consumption of 650 mg paracetamol four times a day then the patient should seek help from the doctor.

Updated guidelines also state that in case of a fever, doctors can consider giving drugs like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID).

Those who experience breathing difficulty or chest pain should immediately inform their doctor and seek medical help.

What is the recommended treatment for patients in home isolation?

Along with the prescribed medicines, patients have also been advised to take steam twice a day or may use warm water to gargle.

What is the guideline for taking Remdesivir?

Only the treating physician or a medical professional can take the decision regarding Remdesivir. The latest guidelines say that patients should not be given Remdesivir at home as it must be administered in a hospital setting.

Should you get tested again for COVID-19 after the home isolation period gets over?

As per the latest guidelines, people who got infected with the coronavirus do not need to have a repeat test when the home isolation period gets over.



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Kerala Lottery 2022: Akshaya AK-548 lottery result to be declared at 3 pm, first prize Rs 70 lakh

The Kerala Lottery Department will release the results of the Akshaya AK-548 lottery draw at 3 pm today, 11 May. The AK-548 lottery results...