The Election Commission on Thursday ordered repolling at one booth in Jangipara assembly constituency in West Bengal's Hooghly district following complaints by political parties alleging that Trinamool Congress had engaged agents who had accompanied and assisted voters to cast their votes in favour of the TMC, an EC official said.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has ordered the imposition of night curfew in the urban areas of eight districts, including Jammu and Srinagar, to check the spread of the soaring coronavirus cases. The night curfew will come into effect from Friday, the office of the Lt governor said.
Classes for Banaras Hindu University (BHU) students will continue online and even-semester exams will be held online, as open book exams (OBE), the university decided in a recent meeting chaired by the Vice-Chancellor. BHU on March 22 suspended offline classes until further notice, keeping in view the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the hostels and in the BHU hospital. The university in March said the coronavirus situation will be accessed again in the first week of April and further decisions will be taken.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday exuded confidence that the BJP would win the just-concluded assembly elections and form a government for the second consecutive term "as people are happy with the positive work undertaken in the last five years."
Bengaluru and six other cities in Karnataka will enforce a night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am starting Saturday, the government announced on Thursday, minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged states to announce fresh curbs to tackle soaring COVID-19 cases. The curfew, which will be in place till April 20, will also be imposed in Mysuru, Mangaluru, Kalaburagi, Bidar, Tumakuru, and Manipal, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announced. "Essential services will continue," he said.
Due to restrictions of the pandemic-induce lockdown, the country's domestic passenger traffic slipped to a record 10-year low at an estimated 53.4 million in the just-concluded fiscal year 2020-21. According to rating agency ICRA, during the financial year 2010-11, all domestic air operators had together flown a total of 53.8 million passengers across local routes in the country. In the previous financial year, there were no passenger flight services for almost two months as an impact of the COVID-19 crisis and lockdown-induced travel restrictions.
The Dibrugarh University Post Graduate Students Union (DUPGSU) election results have been announced on Thursday. A total of 35 candidates contested for 18 posts. Post-graduate student of Geography, Pabon Gogoi, who contested the president's post won by defeating Dhritisha Gogoi. Post-graduate student of History, Lakhinandan Taye, has been elected the vice-president, while the new general secretary of the varsity is Himaloy Barik of Management Studies who won by total votes of 1678 against competitor Labdha Pratim Das.
Assam on Thursday reported 245 new COVID-19 cases in the highest ever single-day spike this year, taking the active caseload to 1,023, while the overall cases have touched 2,19,272. In addition, death due to the virus infection occurred. With the recovery of 68 patients today, the total number of recoveries is 2,15,790 cases.
In view of the increasing spike in coronavirus cases across the country, All India Institutes of Medical Sciences or AIIMS hospital will limit surgeries and perform only crucial ones from Saturday. An order issued by hospital medical superintendent Dr. DK Sharma on Thursday stated, "It has been decided that OT services need to be curtailed in response to the heightened need for diversion of infrastructure, manpower and material response for prevention and control of Covid-19 outbreak."
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. Vijayan, had taken the first dose of the COVID vaccine last month. Confirming his infection in a tweet, Vijayan said, "I have been confirmed Covid+ve. Will get treated at the Government Medical College, Kozhikode".
United Liberation Front of Assam (Independent) on Thursday has asked Amalgamated Plantation to relocate its administrative offices to Assam and recruit only indigenous people of Assam workers in various positions. Failing to do so, the banned militant outfit will take action to prevent doing business in Assam and no personnel of the plantation will be allowed to travel in the state for purpose of any business interest.
Nearly 88 students of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee in Haridwar district of Uttarakhand have tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday. As per reports, the infected students have been kept in the Ganga hostel within the IIT premises which have been converted into a special Covid care centre. Moreover, another five hostels have been sealed.
Over 1 lakh students of Classes 10 and 12 have signed petitions urging the government to either cancel board exams scheduled to be held in May or conduct them in online mode amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. Students across India fear the contagion and are urging authorities to cancel the examinations. Memes and jokes with #CancelBoardExams have flooded Twitter and other social media platforms.
Amid the rising cases of COVID-19, the Health & Family Welfare department of Assam instructed the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (MMCH) to prepare for tackling COVID-19 cases. At present, the hospital has 55 beds which will be increased to 100 in two three days. "We have prepared 24 ICU beds for COVID cases as per the instruction of the health department. We are conducting 800 Rapid Antigen tests and 800 RTPCR tests daily," said Superintendent of MMCH, Anupal Sarma.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal Thursday took his first shot of COVID-19 vaccine at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). The Chief Minister took to Twitter urging people to get eligible persons to get vaccinated and take all precautions to curb COVID-19 pandemic. "Took my first shot of #COVID19 vaccine at GMCH.
