Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying home and staying safe. Here are the big stories that you need to follow today. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments India has recorded its sharpest spike in daily cases of COVID-19, with 3,900 fresh infections reported in the last 24 hours. The total number of cases is now 47,990 while the death toll stands at 1,632. The surge in cases comes just a day after lockdown restrictions were eased in several parts of the country. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has claimed that India has so far staved off community transmission and hoped that behavioural changes brought about by the infection, including hand, respiratory, and environmental hygiene, could become the new normal for a healthy society. Meanwhile, after two consecutive days of zero new cases, three people tested positive for COVID-19 in Kerala today. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that 37 people are under treatment in various hospitals across the State. Shramik Train update Indian Railways has said that since May 1, it has so far run 67 Shramik Special trains, carrying around 67,000 stranded migrants. “There are 21 trains scheduled for Tuesday, mainly from Bengaluru, Surat, Sabarmati, Jalandhar, Kota, Ernakulam. On an average, these trains are carrying 1,000 passengers each,” the Railways said. Flights for Indians stranded abroad Plans to bring back Indians stranded abroad are continuing apace with more significant details released today. Air India will operate 64 flights between May 7 and 13 for the repatriation of citizens. Indians in West Asia and South East Asian countries are likely to benefit the most from the first phase of the exercise, as 80% of the flights planned will be sent to these regions. A large number of these flights will be destined for Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Apart from Air India, the government is also considering roping in private carriers in subsequent phases. As regards the air fare that passengers need to pay, a flight from London to Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and New Delhi will cost ₹50,000 (per passenger). Flights from Chicago, San Francisco, Newark and Washington will cost nearly ₹1,00,00; a flight from Dubai will cost ₹13,000, and one from Abu Dhabi ₹15,000. Flights from Singapore and Malaysia will cost ₹20,000. Passengers will also have to pay for their quarantine facilities, but a final decision on this will be taken by the State governments. And Ships India has also dispatched four Naval ships to the Maldives and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of the first phase of evacuation to bring back Indians stranded in those regions. Amphibious vessels INS Jalashwa and INS Magar are headed to the Maldives, while INS Shardul and INS Airavat have set out for the UAE. INS Jalashwa will reach the Maldives on May 8 and INS Magar is scheduled to reach on May 10, a defence source said. An official source said that 700-1,000 people would be brought back on May 8, which is about a quarter of those needing to return from the Maldives. NEET and JEE will go on Dates for the major entrance exams for medical and engineering courses have been announced. The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical and dental courses will be held on July 26, while the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Main for admission to engineering courses will begin on July 18 and continue from July 20 to 23, Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said today. Before these admission examinations can be held, however, the Class XII Board examinations need to be completed and Pokhriyal said the dates for the pending CBSE Class X and XII Board exams would be announced most likely in the next couple of days. Rahul talks: Episode 2 An edited video of Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee in conversation with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi was released by the party today. An earlier conversation was with former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan. Banerjee urged the Indian government to spend more, saying a stimulus package to increase spending and revive demand was the need of the hour to face the challenge posed by the pandemic. “That’s what the U.S. is doing, Japan is doing, Europe is doing. We really haven’t decided on a large enough stimulus package. We are still talking about 1% of GDP. The United States has gone for 10% of GDP,” Banerjee said. Pulitzer Prize Three photojournalists from Kashmir, Dar Yasin, Mukhtar Khan and Channi Anand, have won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. The Associated Press (AP) photographers were awarded the prize “for their striking images of life” in Jammu and Kashmir. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi congratulated the trio on twitter. “Congratulations to Indian photojournalists Dar Yasin, Mukhtar Khan and Channi Anand for winning a Pulitzer Prize for their powerful images of life in Jammu & Kashmir. You make us all proud,” he tweeted. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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