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Archives for April 2021

In his virtual rally, Modi seeks high voter turnout in West Bengal polls

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KOLKATA:  After cancelling his political rallies in West Bengal amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a virtual rally.  The prime minister said this will be his last address to the people of Bengal before they vote in the final two phases of the state’s Assembly election.  

Modi addressed at least 15 public rallies in past one month in West Bengal. Reiterating BJP’s aim to build Sonar Bangla, Modi said, “After wresting power in Bengal, the BJP-led government will end the regime of extortion, cut corruption, which are the only barriers for the development of the state. There will be investments that create a huge number of job opportunities.’’

Exuding confidence about the BJP coming to power in the state, the PM said the new government will use technology to transform Kolkata. Referring to crimes against women, Modi said the BJP government will set up fast track courts across Bengal for providing speedy justice to women.

Airfares soar, private jets in demand as rich Indians flee Covid

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MUMBAI: Airfares soared and demand for private jets boomed Friday as Indians who could afford it scrambled to escape a Covid surge before flights to the United Arab Emirates shut down.

Price comparison websites showed one-way commercial flights from Mumbai to Dubai on Friday and Saturday costing as much as 80,000 rupees ($1,000), around 10 times the usual rate.

Tickets for the New Delhi to Dubai route were going for more than 50,000 rupees, five times the normal level.

No tickets were on offer from Sunday when the 10-day flight suspension comes into force.

For private jets, the amount of interest was “absolutely crazy”, a spokesman for charter company Air Charter Service India told AFP.

“We have 12 flights going to Dubai tomorrow and each flight is completely full,” the spokesman said.

“I’ve fielded almost 80 enquiries for flying to Dubai today alone,” said a spokesman for Enthral Aviation, another provider.

“We have requested more aircraft from abroad to meet the demand… It costs $38,000 to hire a 13-seater jet from Mumbai to Dubai, and $31,000 to hire a six-seater aircraft,” he told AFP.

“People are making groups and arranging to share our jets just to get a seat… We’ve had some queries for Thailand but mostly the demand is for Dubai.”

About 300 commercial flights a week usually operate between the UAE and India, according to local media.

The UAE is home to roughly 3.3 million Indians who make up a third of the population — most of them in Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the federation. 

The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority said those coming from India through other countries must stay in that third destination for at least 14 days.

UAE nationals and passengers in private jets are exempt from that requirement. Cargo flights are not affected.

On Friday a ban on arrivals to Britain from India also came into force, except for British and Irish citizens or third-country nationals with residency rights.

One-way flights from Mumbai or Delhi to London on Friday were priced at between 100,000 and 150,000 rupees, at least double the usual rate when booking at short notice.

Seats on routes to the United States were still available but with prices substantially higher, in some cases almost double the normal fare.

Covid-19 update India: record spike with over 3,46,786 new COVID-19 cases, 2,624 deaths

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NEW DELHI: India recorded 3,46,786 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike since the pandemic broke out last year.

The country’s total infection count has mounted to 1,66,10,481 cases, while 1,89,544 people have succumbed to the viral infection so far.

Currently, there are 25,52,940 active cases of COVID-19 in the country, said the official data of the ministry.

As many as 1,38,67,997 recoveries have been reported so far, out of which 2,19,838 were reported in the last 24 hours.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 27,61,99,222 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to April 23. Of these, 17,53,569 were tested yesterday.

Meanwhile, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered in the country stands at 13,83,79,832. 

Unpaid For Months,Crematoria Workers Threaten To Stop Work In Bengaluru

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Pramesh Jain

Bengaluru is witnessing a massive surge in COVID-19 infections in the second wave of the pandemic.

With the spike in deaths,crematoriums and graveyards are overflowing with bodies.

The workers at several of these facilities, however,say that they have not been paid for months and have threatened to stop operations in the coming days.

Working dawn to dusk without rest and protection,workers of the electric crematorium have threatened to stop working unless the working conditions improve.

On Thursday,they wrote to Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court seeking his intervention in the issue.  

As many as 49 bodies have been received at the Sumanahalli electric crematorium since Wednesday morning in which nine bodies are still waiting for cremation.

It takes at least one hour to cremate the body followed by cleaning and premises for the next body.The workers are exhausted because of the heat and at least two of them have injected with the covid positive since last two days.

The sad part is that one of them needed immediate hospitalization and he did not get bed in the city and has to be taken to Kolar.

The workers working round the clock and exhausted and needed rest,Amidst this people shout accused the workers of corruption,which,making the situation worse,A Suresh,state General Secretary of Dr BR Ambedkar Dalitha Sangharsha Samithi,said.

The situation is not different in other 11 crematoriums as the workers complaining that they are not getting rest and have to work under inhuman condition round the clock.

There is no system in place and its like a war zone,Suresh said adding that same situation prevails since last one week .

There is a urgent need that the BBMP officials should intervene and supervise the situation at the crematorium.

The workers at the crematoriums should get to work in at least two shift to work and to be  provided necessary protection from the agitated crowd,Mr.Suresh added .

He further said,Samithi is aware that  crematorium is part of essential service and hence the workers will not stage snap protest from the humanity perspective,but the authorities concerned should also consider the working conditions of the people at the crematoriums he added.

BBMP commissioner,Gaurav Gupta said reporters, that he was not aware that crematorium workers are unpaid.He said I will order the immediate release of salaries to them.

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