As states opt for stringent Covid curbs, PM says lockdown should be ‘last option’

NEW DELHI: On a day India registered a record 1,761 deaths due to Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation and emphasised that lockdown should be the last resort. He urged the state governments to focus more on micro-containment zones. “In today’s situation, we have to save the country from lockdown. I would also request the states to use lockdown as the last option. We have to try hard to avoid lockdown and the focus should be on the micro containment zones only,” Modi said during his speech, which lasted nearly 20 minutes....more

Vaccine For All Above 18 Starting May 1 in India

NEW DELHI: Vaccinations will be widened to everyone above 18 in the next stage beginning May 1, the government announced after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a series of meetings today. All adults will be vaccinated in "a liberalised and accelerated Phase 3 strategy of COVID-19 vaccination", the government said in a statement on a day India reported a new record high of 2.73 lakh cases in a day....more

Manmohan Singh suggest 5 ways to tackle Covid-19 crisis

NEW DELHI: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to make public the orders for doses of coronavirus vaccine placed by the government and indicate how the vaccines will be distributed across states based on a transparent formula. He also asked the Prime Minister to give some flexibility to states to define categories of frontline workers who can be vaccinated even if they are below 45 years of age....more

US, Japan to work together to handle 'challenges' posed by China: Biden

WASHINGTON: Affirming his "ironclad" support for the US-Japanese alliance, President Joe Biden on Friday said that both the countries are committed to work together to take on the challenges posed by China to ensure the future of free and open Indo-Pacific. "Today, Prime Minister Suga and I affirmed our iron-clad support for the US-Japanese alliance and for our shared security. We committed to working together to take on the challenges from China and on issues like the East China Sea, the South China Sea as well as North Korea to ensure the future of our free and open Indo-Pacific," Biden said after a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga....more

Lockdown in 5 cities of Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad HC scolds Yogi Adityanath Govt

NEW DELHI: The Allahabad High Court on Monday ordered lockdown across five cities of Uttar Pradesh in view of the worsening COVID-19 situation. The five cities are Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Kanpur and Gorakhpur. The restrictions will remain in place till April 26. The court chided the Yogi Aditynath-led state government for not handling the COVID-19 pandemic well enough....more

COVID-19 Deaths Cross A Staggering 3 Million Globally: Report

PARIS: The global Covid-19 death toll passed three million on Saturday as the pandemic continues to speed up despite vaccination campaigns, leading countries like India to impose new lockdowns to fight spiralling infection numbers. It is the latest grim milestone after the novel coronavirus surfaced in central China in December 2019 and went on to infect more than 139 million people, leaving billions more under crippling lockdowns and ravaging the global economy....more

Boris Johnson cancels trip to India again

LONDON: Boris Johnson has said it was "only sensible" to cancel his trip to India, due to take place on 26 April, given the Covid situation in the country. India has been reporting more than 200,000 cases daily since 15 April. The prime minister said he would instead speak to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi online....more

India Clears Way For Foreign-Made Vaccines, Wants Applications Soon

NEW DELHI: The government has decided to fast-track emergency approval for Covid vaccines used in western nations and Japan, after the world's biggest surge in cases in the country. The plan is to increase the pace of vaccination with a bigger pool of vaccines. "We hope and we invite the vaccine makers such as Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and others...to be ready to come to India as early as possible," said VK Paul, chairman of the National Expert Committee on Vaccine Administration....more

Citigroup to shutter retail banking operations in 13 countries including India

NEW DELHI: Citigroup has announced that it will shutter retail banking operations in 13 countries including India and China. The American multinational investment bank and financial services company has said that it will exit consumer/retail operations in 13 countries across Asia and Europe....more

Overseas Indians welcome revised OCI card rules

WASHINGTON, April 16: Indian-Americans have welcomed the Indian government's decision to simplify the process of maintaining Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards, saying more overseas citizens will now opt for this form of residency. OCI cardholders will now be required to get their document re-issued only once at the age of 20 instead of multiple times needed to be done currently, according to the Indian Union Home Ministry....more

4 Sikhs Among 8 Killed In FedEx Shooting In US

NEW DELHI: India will render "all possible assistance" to local authorities and community leaders in Indianapolis, US, where at least eight people, including four Sikhs, have died after a gunman opened fire at a FedEx facility on Thursday night, a "deeply shocked" Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said today. About 90 per cent of the workers at this delivery service facility are said to be Indian-Americans, mostly from the Sikh community. This was at least the third mass shooting this year in Indianapolis alone....more

US Regulators Recommend 'Pause' On J&J Vaccine Over Rare Blood Clots

WASHINGTON: US regulators have recommended a pause on the use of Johnson & Johnson's Covid vaccine over reports of a "rare and severe type of blood clot" in six out of millions vaccinated. "Today FDA and @CDCgov issued a statement regarding the Johnson & Johnson #COVID19 vaccine. We are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution," US drug regulator Food and Drug Administration tweeted....more

Religious & political activities; People's causalness causes of rapid Covid-19 spread in India: AIIMS director

NEW DELHI: 'We have to remember that no vaccine is 100% efficient. You may get the infection but the antibodies in our body will not allow the virus to multiply and you'll not have the severe disease,' highlights Dr Randeep Guleria. As novel coronavirus cases in India surge leading to a massive second wave of the virus in the past few days, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director Dr Randeep Guleria highlighted two key reasons for the rapid surge in Covid-19 cases all across the country....more

72-Hour Silence Period, 'Night Curfew' On Campaigns In Bengal Over Covid

KOLKATA: A 72-hour campaign silence period will be in place in the remaining rounds of voting in Bengal, the Election Commission said today, citing Covid. Rallies or meetings will not be allowed between 7 pm and 10 am, said the election body a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called for clubbing the four phases into one day. The decisions came on a day images of crowded political roadshows and meetings emerged from Bengal, reflecting a complete disregard to precautions needed amid a record coronavirus surge in the country. But the Election Commission ruled out packing the rest of the vote into one day of voting....more

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