MUMBAI: Eyeing the traditional secular votes of the Congress in order to make their mark in Goa politics, TMC and AAP can play spoilsport for the grand old party. As victory margins are small in Goa – around 5,000 votes in 10 constituencies and less than 500 in five, in the 2017 polls – loss of a few hundred votes in multi-corner contests can make the Congress suffer.

According to Goa-based journalist Sumit Naik, the West Bengal CM is primarily attacking the Congress and poaching its Christian legislators. “Christians, who comprise 27 per cent of the electorate, are traditionally Congress voters. If this block goes to the TMC, it will be a big loss to the Congress. On the other hand, the TMC moves will not dent the BJP’s prospects,” said Naik. 

On its part, AAP is eyeing the same voter base that the TMC and the Congress are banking on. “TMC and AAP have no major chance at all, but they can reduce the Congress votes,” said a source in the Congress, adding that many MLAs and other leaders are joining the TMC as the party is providing large funds to its candidates. 

A senior Congress leader claimed people will vote for his party despite AAP’s promise of “clean and non-corrupt government” and TMC’s efforts because the Congress, unlike AAP and TMC, is “working on the ground”.

Admitting that AAP and TMC may snatch some of the traditional votes of the Congress, former CM Digambar Kamat said the impact will be marginal. “People will not vote for parties from Delhi and Kolkata,” he said.

NEW DELHI: India saw the highest single-day rise of 309 cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, taking the country’s tally of such cases to 1,270, the Union health ministry said on Friday.

Of the 1,270 patients infected with the Omicron variant of the virus, 374 have either recuperated or migrated, according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 am.

Of the 23 states and Union territories that have recorded Omicron cases so far, Maharashtra has registered the highest number of 450, followed by Delhi (320), Kerala (109) and Gujarat (97).

The daily rise in the number of coronavirus cases crossed the 16,000 mark after 64 days, taking the country’s COVID-19 tally to 3,48,38,804, while the number of active cases of the infection has gone up to 91,361, according to the data.

The death toll due to the viral disease has climbed to 4,81,080 with 220 more fatalities, the data stated.

The country had witnessed 16,156 fresh coronavirus cases on October 27.

The 91,361 active Covid cases account for 0.26 per cent of the total caseload, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.36 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 8,959 cases was recorded in the active COVID-19 tally in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.34 per cent.

It has remained below two per cent for 88 days now.

The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.89 per cent.

It has remained below one per cent for 47 days now, according to the ministry.

The number of patients who have recuperated has gone up to 3,42,66,363, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.38 per cent.

The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far has exceeded 144.54 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19 last year.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore coronavirus cases on May 4 this year and the three-crore mark on June 23.

The 220 new fatalities include 164 from Kerala and 22 from Maharashtra.

Of the 4,81,080 Covid deaths reported so far in the country, 1,41,518 are from Maharashtra, 47,441 from Kerala, 38,327 from Karnataka, 36,765 from Tamil Nadu, 25,107 from Delhi, 22,915 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,757 from West Bengal.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel today reiterated the state’s demand of GST compensation, transferring of the amounts collected as ‘additional levy’ from coal block companies and reimbursement of expenditure of Rs 15,000 crores made by the state government for eradication of Naxalism. 

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and finance ministers of other states were present at the meeting.

The chief minister said that there has been a loss of revenue to the states due to the GST tax system and that the Center has not made arrangements to compensate the loss of revenue of about Rs 5000 crores to the state in the coming year, so the GST compensation grant should be continued for the next 5 years even after June 2022.

He said Chhattisgarh has received less share of central taxes by Rs 13,089 crore in the Union Budget of the last three years. In the coming budget, the share of central taxes should be given to the state completely.

He also demanded that Rs 4,140 crore deposited with the Center at the rate of Rs 294 per tonne on coal mining from coal block companies should be transferred to Chhattisgarh soon.

The chief minister said a special provision should be made in the next budget for the reimbursement of the expenditure of 15 thousand crores made by the state government on the central security forces deployed in the state for the eradication of Naxalism.

The Chief Minister said that due to the reduction of Central Excise Tax on petrol and diesel by the Center, there will be a reduction in the amount of the state’s share and also there will be a reduction in the revenue from VAT, so in future, instead of excise tax, the cess should be reduced.

Baghel demanded an increase in the premium limit of Rs. 1,100 per family for the states which are performing better under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (Ayushman Bharat). He said this would increase the number of beneficiaries and most of the population would get the benefit. Along with this, he said that the families eligible under the National Health Insurance Scheme should also be eligible under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

In the meeting, Baghel said the share of the states should be reduced to 75% by reducing the participation of the states in the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission.

Apart from this, he also demanded the establishment of an international cargo terminal in Raipur, a campus of Central Tribal University and marketing center under Vocal for Local Scheme in the Union Budget.

NEW YORK: Hundreds of flights were cancelled Wednesday as the omicron variant creates havoc both for travellers and for airlines that are having to cobble together flight crews as pilots, flight attendants and ground crews become infected or are exposed to others who have been.

There were nearly 1,300 cancellations for flights entering, leaving or inside the U.S. Tuesday, and about 1,500 on Monday.

Cancellations began to spike the day before Christmas during what is already a buzzing pace for airlines this time of year.

Delta, United and JetBlue have all said that the omicron variant was causing enough staffing issues that flights were cancelled.

SkyWest led U.S. carriers with 195 cancellations, followed by United with 158 and Delta with 103.

SkyWest, a regional airline based in Utah, has suffered an elevated level of cancellations after severe weather hit several of its hubs, but it’s reporting the same staffing issues due to COVID-19.

The Pacific Northwest was slammed with cold and heavy snow over the weekend.

Among U.S. airports, Seattle-Tacoma had the highest percentage of incoming and outgoing flights cancelled Wednesday, according to FlightAware.

Omicron has intensified already significant staffing issues for airlines, which winnowed workforces in 2020 as air travel collapsed, only to be broadsided when vaccination rates jumped and millions of people felt comfortable flying again this year.

That could translate to travel headaches for hundreds of thousands of people if cancellations maintain the current pace into the weekend.

The Transportation Security Administration expects the Monday after New Year’s will be one of the busiest days of the holiday season.

According to TSA checkpoint data, the numbers of people flying this holiday season far exceeds last year before COVID-19 vaccinations were available, but still trails 2019 traveller numbers.

PANAJI: Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Goa, the government on Wednesday issued an order allowing casinos to operate with 50 per cent capacity with entry restricted to people who are fully vaccinated or those carrying a negative RT-PCR test report and put similar curbs and conditions at some other establishments, including cinema halls and entertainment parks.

State Revenue Secretary Sanjay Kumar in the order stated that casinos, cinema halls, auditoriums, community halls, river cruises, water parks and entertainment parks cannot operate beyond 50 per cent of the seating capacity.

Only people who are fully vaccinated and possess a certificate of both doses with 15 days gap since the administration of the second dose will be allowed to enter casinos, the order stated.

If not a vaccination certificate, people should furnish a negative RT-PCR test report not older than 24 hours from the time of entry, it said.

The order further directed spas, massage parlours, restaurants, pubs, bar halls, auditoriums, gyms, marriage venues, cinema halls, river cruises, water parks and entertainment parks, among others, to adhere to all COVID-19 safety protocols, including use of masks, hand sanitisers and thermal screening.

The state government has made owners, managers, licensees and organisers responsible for the enforcement of the guidelines, including making necessary arrangements for verification of vaccination certificates and test reports.

Meanwhile, the order also mentioned that schools may reopen “subject to the separate SOPs to be issued on behalf of the Education Department”.

Interstate movement will be permitted only for people who are fully vaccinated or for those entering Goa for medical emergencies or for people carrying COVID-19 negative certificate issued 72 hours before arrival, it said.

In case of inter-state goods vehicles, two drivers and a helper will be allowed to enter Goa in each vehicle after subjecting them to thermal screening, it was stated.

Goa on Wednesday reported 170 COVID-19 cases, up from 112 a day earlier, leading to state health minister Vishwajit Rane asking the Directorate of Health Services and GMCH to convene an emergency meeting to discuss the situation and find solutions.

“In view of the rising COVID-19 cases, there has been a significant jump from 112 (28th December) to 170 today, similar to the rise that occurred in April-May 2021. I have suggested to Dir. DHS and Dean GMC to convene an emergency meeting with expert doctors to suggest measures,” he tweeted.

It would allow the state government to take appropriate action in light of the increasing number of cases, he said.

As on Wednesday, the state has 657 active cases.

Earlier in the day, Chief minister Pramod Sawant said only those who have been fully vaccinated or have a recent COVID-19 negative report would be allowed to enter restaurants etc.

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh Police on Thursday arrested Hindu religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh in connection with his alleged derogatory remarks against Mahatma Gandhi, an official said.

He will be brought here via road route by Thursday evening, the official said.

On Sunday, an FIR was registered against Kalicharan Maharaj in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur for allegedly using derogatory words against Mahatma Gandhi.

A case was also registered against him at Akola in Maharashtra on Monday in this connection.

During the conclusion of the two-day ‘dharma sansad’ (religious parliament) in Raipur on Sunday evening, the seer had allegedly used abusive words against the Father of the Nation, and asked people to elect a staunch Hindu leader as the head of the government in order to protect the religion.

DIBRUGARH: Three African students of Assam’s Dibrugarh University have tested positive for COVID-19, and their samples have been sent for whole genome sequencing, officials said on Wednesday.

“After the samples tested Omicron positive in our kit on Tuesday, we then carried out ‘targeted sequencing’, which confirmed the test results,” an ICMR source told PTI.

The samples have been sent to the CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST) in Jorhat for whole genome sequencing.

Dibrugarh University International Affairs Executive Officer Arinjit Hazarika said an M Com student from Comoros recently returned from his country and tested positive for COVID-19.

“His two roommates, hailing from Nigeria and Lesotho, in the international hostel also tested positive for COVID-19, and the trio was isolated in the hostel itself, which houses 22 foreign students,” he said.

The ICMR source said that the students from Comoros and Lesotho tested positive for Omicron in their kit.

On Sunday, a 57-year-old man returning from Nigeria, his four family members and their domestic help tested Omicron positive in the RMRC kit, and their samples were sent for whole genome sequencing, the results of which are awaited.

The RMRC kit can detect the Omicron strain in just two hours.

The development is significant as a minimum of 36 hours is required for targeted sequencing and 4-5 days for whole genome sequencing to detect the variant.

The kit is now being produced in bulk by a Kolkata-based firm in a public-private partnership mode.

HARADANAHALLI: JDS supremo HD Devegowda said on Wednesday that the padayatra by Congress leaders over Mekedatu is a political gimmick.

Taking a dig at KPCC president Shivakumar, Gowda asked why he neglected the Mekedatu project when he was the irrigation minister.

Expressing unhappiness over the passing of the anti-conversion bill, Gowda said it had been drafted during the Congress government in the state. Gowda said that no conversion cases were reported during his tenure as CM and PM.

He added that he would start touring the districts to strengthen the party ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.

Gowda also lauded the acting of Nikhil, his grandson and hero of the film Rider, on the occasion.

Earlier, Gowda took part in a special pooja and homa with family members at Deveshwara temple at his native Haradanahalli. Channamma Devegowda, HD Revanna, Bhavani Revanna and Suraj Revanna were present.