New Delhi: Over 3.6 lakh Indians have returned to India from abroad after the government launched the ”Vande Bharat” evacuation mission on May 7 in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said a total number of 5,13,047 Indians have registered their request with Indian missions abroad for repatriation to India on compelling grounds.

Of the people who have registered, 3,64,209 have returned under this Mission as of today, he said. Repatriations from neighbouring countries have also been happening through land borders, he added.

“More than 84,000 Indians have returned through land border immigration checkpoints from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh,” the MEA spokesperson said.

“In the first three phases of the Vande Bharat Mission, around 875 international flights were scheduled for operation from over 50 countries across five continents. So far, more than 700 of these flights have reached India, repatriating around 1,50,000 Indians,” Srivastava said.

The remaining 175 flights under the Phase 3 are expected to reach in the coming days, he said.

These Vabde Bharat Mission (VBM) flights have been instrumental in addressing the immediate requirements of stranded Indians from many parts of the world, Srivastava said.

“We are committed to bringing back our remaining compatriots particularly in the GCC countries, Malaysia, Singapore among other places. In order to continue with our efforts, Phase IV of VBM is being firmed up with effect from July 3, 2020,” he said.

“Phase IV will particularly focus on countries where we still have a large number of Indians who have registered to return,” Srivastava said.

Apart from these, chartered flight operations which commenced on May 26, have steadily increased over the past weeks, he said.

These flights have also brought back seafarers and crews of shipping companies stranded in various places, Srivastava said.

“Till date, 1,30,061 persons have returned on these flights. Demand for these flights remains very high especially in the Gulf region. Therefore, we are moving to further streamline the process,” Srivastava said.

Noting that repatriations through naval ships have also been part of this mission, he said one such repatriation is presently underway.

INS Jalashwa reached Port of Bandar Abbas in Iran on June 24 to bring back Indian citizens and their embarkation was to commence on Thursday, Srivastava said.

Asked about Kerala government’s suggestion that COVID-19 testing of those returning on Vande Bhrat flights be done, Srivastava said after consulting Indian missions in the Gulf countries, the MEA told the state government that there are practical difficulties in this regard.

“At present only UAE has arrangements for full testing, Qatar provides for limited testing and in other countries in the region prior testing is not possible as there are issues related to cost, time and availability of testing,” he said.

New Delhi: Petrol price in the national capital on Friday crossed Rs 80 per litre mark, for the first time in more than two years, as oil companies continue to raise petrol and diesel prices in line with costs.

Oil companies hiked petrol price by 21 paise per litre and diesel by 17 paise a litre, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 80.13 per litre from Rs 79.92 while diesel rates were increased to Rs 80.19 a litre from Rs 80.02.

Rates have been increased across the country but the final retail selling price differs from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.

In Mumbai, petrol is priced at Rs 86.91 per litre and diesel at Rs 78.51.

Petrol price has crossed Rs 80-mark for the first time in more than two years, while diesel rate is at an all-time high. Petrol had last crossed Rs 80 mark in September 2018.

While diesel price has been hiked for the 20th straight day, petrol price has been raised on 19 occasions in less than three weeks.

The cumulative increase since the oil companies started the cycle on June 7 now totals to Rs 8.87 for petrol and Rs 10.8 in diesel. Diesel had for the first time become costlier than petrol in Delhi on Wednesday.

However, diesel is costlier than petrol only in the national capital where the state government had raised local sales tax or VAT on the fuel sharply last month. It costs less than petrol in other cities.

On June 7, oil companies restarted revising prices in line with costs after ending an 82-day hiatus during which they adjusted steep excise duty hikes by the government against the fall in benchmark international oil rates.

New Delhi: All regular mail, express and passenger services as well as suburban trains which had been canceled till June 30 due to the coronavirus pandemic, will now remain canceled till August 12, the Railway Board said on Thursday.

Sources said the decision was taken keeping in mind the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the country.

However, all special trains — 15 pairs running on the Rajdhani routes since May 12 and 100 pairs of mail/express trains operating since June 1 — will continue, they said.

The limited special suburban services which began recently in Mumbai to ferry essential services personnel identified by the local authorities will also continue to run, officials said.

“All tickets booked for the regular timetabled trains for journey date from 01.07.20 to 12.08.20 also stand canceled. A full refund will be generated,” the Railway Board order stated.

Earlier, the Railways had canceled all trains till June 30.

A railway spokesperson said during the lockdown period booking of tickets was allowed till April 14, 2020, with an advance reservation period of 120 days.

“Some of the passengers had booked tickets for regular trains being run before lockdown for the journey up to 12 August 2020 (120 days from 14 April 2020). In order to facilitate full refunds to those passengers who had booked tickets on or prior to April 14, 2020, these bookings have been canceled, he said.

The spokesperson also said the Railways is monitoring the occupancy position of these special trains on a regular basis and whenever a decision is taken to introduce new special trains, its schedule will be notified.

Regular train services have been disrupted days ahead of the nationwide lockdown which began from March 25. The Railways has also run more than 4,000 Shramik Special trains since May 1 to ferry migrant workers back to their home states.

Other than these services, the entire passenger services had been inoperational. However, it continued to run its freight and parcel services.

A record spike in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh on Thursday triggered the biggest single-day jump of close to 17,000 infections in the country even as Maharashtra, the state worst-hit by the pandemic, decided to undertake antigen and rapid antibody tests for the disease.

According to the Union Health Ministry data, COVID-19 cases rose by the highest-ever number of 16,922 to reach 4,73,105, while the death toll climbed to 14,894 with 418 new fatalities. This was the sixth consecutive day when coronavirus cases increased by more than 14,000.

Consequently, India has added 92,573 cases since June 20, and over 2.82 lakh this month alone since June 1.

Delhi on Monday emerged as the second worst-hit state by COVID-19 caseload in addition to death count though Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the situation in the national capital was getting stabilised gradually while Goa reported its first fatality from the disease.

Coronavirus Cases Updates: Delhi recorded 2,909 fresh cases on Monday

India has added 14,933 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the infection tally to 4,40,215 while the death count rose to 14,011 with 312 new fatalities in the last 24 hours, data from the Union Health Ministry this morning showed. Delhi on Monday emerged as the second worst-hit state by COVID-19 caseload in addition to death count though Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the situation in the national capital was getting stabilised gradually while Goa reported its first fatality from the disease.
 

More than nine million people have now been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, according to an AFP tally drawing on official sources, as of Monday 1520 GMT. More than half of the 9,000,091 cases are in Europe and the United States: Europe having recorded 2,537,451 and the United States 2,281,903. The number of cases worldwide has doubled since May 16 and more than a million new cases have been recorded in the past seven days. The official figures nevertheless reflect only a fraction of the true number, as many countries only test serious cases.

The Tamil Nadu government is giving special attention to coronavirus testing, Health Minister C Vijayabaskar said.

K Palaniswami was tested for coronavirus in strict adherence to testing protocols in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami has tested negative for coronavirus, Health Minister C Vijayabaskar said in Chennai today.

The government is giving special attention to coronavirus testing, he said adding that following protocol “without any exception, the chief minister subjected himself to the coronavirus testing and today we have the good news that he is negative.”

He maintained that the government was transparent in tackling coronavirus and no information was concealed and daily bulletins, district wise data are also being released.

Favipiravir being manufactured by Glenmark will be marketed by the name of Fabiflu and will be available in strength of 200 milligrams.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals shares surged more than 35 per cent to a new 52-week high on Monday, after the company said it had received an approval from the government’s drug regulator to market and manufacture oral antiviral drug Favipiravir for treating mild to moderate COVID-19 patients in the country. On the BSE, Glenmark Pharma shares soared to as high as Rs 572.70 in the first half of the session, compared to their previous close of Rs 409.10.

The Mumbai-based drug maker said the clearance by the drug regulator was part of the government’s Accelerated Approval Process, which takes into account the disease severity, rarity, and the availability or lack of alternative treatment. Glenmark said the drug would be for “restricted emergency use” in the country.

A generic version of Favipiravir will be manufactured and marketed by Glenmark under the name Fabiflu, and will be available in the strength of 200 milligrams. Glenmark has priced the strip of 34 tablets at Rs 3,500, costing around Rs 103 per tablet, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Use of Favipiravir has been approved by medical authorities in China, Japan, Canada and Saudi Arabia among other countries.

India has over 4.25 lakh coronavirus cases, recording the biggest single-day jump of 445 deaths amid renewed concerns over the rapid rise in new infections in the country. The spike in cases has taken the country’s tally to 4,25,282 while the death count rose to 13,699, according to the Union Health Ministry data till Monday morning.

The coronavirus cases in Delhi have increased to 59,746. All coronavirus patients in Delhi will have to go to COVID-19 care centres and those who have facilities at home and have no co-morbidity can avail home isolation in the capital, the Centre said, hours after the Delhi government issued a revised order on home quarantine.

At 11:35 am, Glenmark shares traded 38.11 per cent higher at Rs 565.00 on the BSE, outperforming the benchmark Sensex index which was up 0.40 per cent.

The state government has already declared Morlem village, which falls under Valpoi, the Assembly constituency of Vishwajit Rane, as a COVID-19 containment zone.

Till Sunday, Goa reported 818 COVID-19 cases. Of these, 683 are active cases

An 85-year-old woman, who tested positive for coronavirus earlier, succumbed to the infection on Monday, making it the first case of death due to the viral disease in the state, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said.

The woman, belonging to Morlem village in North Goa district, was undergoing treatment at the ESI hospital, a designated facility for COVID-19 patients, he said.

The state government has already declared Morlem village, which falls under Valpoi, the Assembly constituency of Vishwajit Rane, as a COVID-19 containment zone.

“Today, an 85-year-old woman from Morlem village died. This is the first COVID-19 death in the state. My condolences to the family,” Vishwajit Vishwajit Rane told reporters.

He said the state government was following all the latest protocols to keep Goa safe.

“Team Goa is united and is doing its best. Stringent methods and protocols are in place. The death was unfortunate, he said.

Vishwajit Rane appealed to people to remain calm and said the Goa government was making all efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

Till Sunday, Goa reported 818 COVID-19 cases. Of these, 683 are active cases.

Cipla shares surged over 9% after it got an approval from DCGI to manufacture and market generic COVID-19 drug Remdesivir.

Cipla shares surged over 9 per cent to hit a record high on Monday, after the company informed stock exchanges that it had received an approval from the government’s Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture and market a generic version of Gilead Sciences’s experimental COVID-19 treatment Remdesivir. Cipla said its generic version of Remdesivir will be called Cipremi. Gilead Sciences signed non-exclusive licensing pacts last month with five generic drug makers based in India and Pakistan to expand the supply of its COVID-19 treatment.

“The US drug regulator issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to Gilead Sciences Inc. for emergency use of Remdesivir for the treatment of hospitalized 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients. It is the only U.S. FDA approved Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) treatment for adult and pediatric patients hospitalized with suspected or laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infection,” the Mumbai-based drug maker said in its regulatory filing.

India has over 4.25 lakh coronavirus cases, recording the biggest single-day jump of 445 deaths amid renewed concerns over the rapid rise in new infections in the country. The spike in cases has taken the country’s tally to 4,25,282 while the death count rose to 13,699, according to the Union Health Ministry data this morning.

The coronavirus cases in Delhi has neared the 60,000 mark, with 59,746 cases. 3,000 people tested positive on Sunday. All coronavirus patients in Delhi will have to go to COVID-19 care centres and those who have facilities at home and have no co-morbidity can avail home isolation in the capital, the centre said, hours after the Delhi government issued a revised order on home quarantine.

At 10:35 am, Cipla shares traded 3.33 per cent higher at Rs 658 on the BSE, outperforming the benchmark Sensex index which was up 0.70 per cent.

Coronavirus: In Mumbai, daily growth in number of COVID cases has fallen to 2.43 per cent consistently for a week, which is lower than the national rate of 3.3 per cent

Mumbai:In the last three days, coronavirus recoveries in Mumbai have also outnumbered new cases 

The spread of coronavirus disease, which brought India’s financial capital to a standstill, seems to be slowing down offering hope that the damage can be contained with discipline and cooperation.

The daily growth in number of COVID cases in Mumbai has fallen to 2.43 per cent consistently for a week, which is lower than the national rate of 3.3 per cent. Mumbai’s daily growth rate was 2.7 per cent a week ago.

According to the public health department data of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, or the BMC, the rate at which cases are doubling also improved to 29 days, as on June 17, up from 20 days on June 3.

The doubling rate, or the rate at which number of cases double, is calculated over periods of three, five or seven days to observe the effect of containment measures adopted.

Out of the 24 wards in Mumbai, the most improvement was seen in Matunga area – part of F North ward – where doubling rate is 60 days, while in Dahisar area – part of R North ward – cases are doubling every 13 days.

The most heartening development, however, comes from Asia’s biggest slum – Dharavi – where the doubling rate is 46 days and, so far in June all of eight deaths have been registered compared to 50 deaths registered over the same period last month.

Dharavi is one of the 17,837 containment zones in Mumbai.

In the last three days, the number of coronavirus recoveries has also consistently outnumbered new cases.

However, the deaths in the city went up after government reconciled the hospital data. The total number of coronavirus related deaths now stands at 3,311.

“We did data reconciliation and after that the deaths, which had not been added earlier, have been added. The deaths were not hidden, but we have instructed all district collectors to ensure such lag in reporting does not happen in future,” Health Minister Rajesh Tope said.

Officials and frontline health workers, however, have warned that now would not be a good time for Mumbai to heave a sigh of relief as the monsoon has arrived and with rain would come many more diseases.