QBullet: Army Chief Responds to Handwara; Chaos Amid Lockdown
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1. Army Chief Pledges Precise Response to Handwara Killings
Indian Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Monday said Pakistan was pushing terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir under its “myopic and limited” agenda even during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, and warned that India will respond appropriately and with “precision” to state-sponsored terrorism.
The chief’s comments came two days after five security personnel, including a colonel and a major, were killed in an encounter in north Kashmir’s Handwara.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2.Bustle, Chaos as Lockdown 3.0 Begins
A degree of chaos and confusion prevailed on the first day of India’s lockdown 3.0 — this is the third extension of the national lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, but with substantial relaxations in restrictions — with several citizens violating social distancing norms and authorities struggling to enforce a complex set of regulations across the country on Monday.
The most visible symbol of India’s partial opening up — and the challenges that come with it — were licensed liquor shops, which were allowed to resume operations after 40 days.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Vaccine by End of Year, Says Trump, Experts Not Sure
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said he believes a vaccine for Covid-19 will be found by the end of the year. “We think we are going to have a vaccine by the end of this year,” he said at a virtual town hall hosted at the Lincoln Memorial.
“Doctors would say, ‘Well, you shouldn’t say that.’ I’ll say what I think. I think we’re going to have a vaccine much sooner than later,” Trump said.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Vadodara: 1,209 Migrants Leave for UP by Special Train
Shortly after midnight, 38-year-old Mohammad Alam from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh reached the Vadodara railway station in one of the city buses sent by the district administration to fetch 1,209 migrant workers from UP stranded in Vadodara since the lockdown was imposed in March. They were part of the first batch of migrants from UP to return home by the special Shramik Express from Vadodara to Lucknow that departed at 2.30am Monday.
Clutching on to two pieces of paper, Alam picked up his red and brown bag and followed the instructions of the police officers making sure that the groups maintained distance and boarded their designated compartments.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Curve Flattened, but No Dip is a Concern: AIIMS Chief
While the lockdown has “helped in flattening the (COVID-19) curve” and provided a buffer for the country to upgrade its medical infrastructure,
Dr Randeep Guleria, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), expressed concern over the fact that “the curve has not shown a downward trend”. Dr Guleria, a renowned pulmonologist, is part of the core team of top officials reviewing and monitoring the pandemic in the country. He is involved in building strategies for prevention, containment and management of COVID-19.
Speaking at the online Express Adda, hosted by The Indian Express on Monday, he said: “While the lockdown has helped in flattening the curve, the curve has not shown a downward trend. That is a cause for concern. That’s why the next four to six weeks will be very, very important because the lockdown cannot be there forever. The ideal, the dream would be to have zero cases. But I don’t see that happening. The number of cases is still increasing everyday. But the rise in the curve is not so sharp that we can’t handle it.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Migrant Trains: Paying 85%, Says Centre as Sonia Tells Congress to Pick up Tab
As a political storm raged on Monday over stranded migrant workers being made to pay for their journey home, the Central government stood firm on the fare policy for its Shramik Special trains, and said it was bearing the bulk of the cost.
Sources in the Railways said that there was no move to revise the guidelines or Standard Operating Procedure issued on Saturday vis-à-vis fares, and that the Railways would continue to charge states, at whose request these trains were being run, for tickets.
Fifty-eight Shramik Special trains have been run so far, including 13 on Monday from cities like Bengaluru, Surat, Sabarmati, Akola, and Kota. In the face of criticism, the government said that through the fares, it was asking states to pay only 15 per cent of the overall cost incurred by the Railways to run these trains.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. From Thursday, India to Evacuate Lakhs Stuck Abroad by Air and Sea
n the biggest exercise of its kind in recent memory, India will begin bringing back lakhs of its citizens stranded abroad from Thursday (May 7) in a phased manner on non-schedule flights and naval ships.
Among the first targets is UAE, where about 2 lakh people have registered with the local missions to return from Dubai and Abu Dhabi alone, and who could be brought back in the first phase. Official sources said in the “shortterm’’ the government hopes to facilitate return of 1,92,000 Indians and another 2-2.5 lakh in the medium term.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. Migrants Grow Restless, Clashes in Surat & B’luru, Chaos in Mumbai
The suffering, frustration and despair of 40 days in lockdown began to brim its banks on Monday as tides of migrants desperate to return home to UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal from Surat clashed with police and torched vehicles.
Angered over the delay in sending them home, hundreds of migrant workers turned violent in Bengaluru following rumours that the temporary camp near Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, where they had gathered, was nothing but a quarantine facility. Four police personnel were attacked and a few police vehicles were damaged. Police had to resort to a lathicharge to rein in the restless workers who threw stones at the cops.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. 2,900 COVID Cases on Monday, 4th Record Set in 4 Days
For the fourth day running, new Covid-19 cases in India hit a new high, with 2,900 being added on Monday as the country’s total coronavirus count crossed 45,000. Maharashtra reported a massive 1,567 new cases although only 771 went into Monday’s account as the state said the rest were from the past week. but confirmed now by ICMR.
Tamil Nadu also saw a huge surge, becoming the second state to report more than 500 cases in a day. There were 99 corona-related deaths across the country, the jointhighest for a single day.
(Source: The Times of India)
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