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. Indians stranded abroad to return As lockdown phase 3 kicks off today, with different parts of the country seeing relaxations in restrictions, the big news is the government making concrete plans to bring back Indians stranded abroad. This will happen in a phased manner starting May 7. Indian citizens stranded abroad will travel via aircraft and naval ships, the Ministry of Home Affairs said. “Indian Embassies and High Commissions are preparing a list of distressed Indian citizens,” a statement said. While seats on non-scheduled commercial flights will be made available on payment-basis, those who cannot afford to pay are likely to be brought back by naval ships. While the first phase of the repatriation will cover nations in West Asia, the second phase is expected to cover the U.S., U.K., Malaysia and Iran. The government has already received more than 1.5 lakh applications from Indians stranded in the Arab region. Medical screening of passengers will be done before boarding, and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to travel. In fact, India is one of the few countries that have refused to take back citizens who have tested positive. Health protocols will have to be followed by all the passengers. These include registering themselves on the Arogya Setu app immediately upon their return, and staying in quarantine for 14 days, after which they will be tested for Covid-19. The Ministry has asked states to make arrangements for testing, quarantining, and onward movement of the returning Indians. As for the daily numbers update, India’s coronavirus tally had touched 44,060 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,437. Train wars Meanwhile, the BJP and the Opposition parties spent the better part of the day squabbling over who is paying for the special trains being organised to take stranded migrant workers back to their home states. Congress President Sonia Gandhi first criticised the government for charging the migrant workers for this train service. Reportedly, the charge was ₹50 per passenger, along with the regular sleeper class fare. The Congress president said the party’s state units will bear the rail fares of the migrant workers in full. “The Indian National Congress has, therefore, taken a decision that every Pradesh Congress Committee shall bear the cost for the rail travel of every needy worker and migrant labourer and shall take necessary steps in this regard,” Gandhi said in a statement. “This will be the Indian National Congress’ humble contribution in service of our compatriots and to stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity with them.” The BJP, in turn, claimed that the government had already subsidised 85% of the fares and that the states will pay the rest. The Railways, on the other hand, said that the “sending States” should pay for the transportation of migrant workers on Shramik Specials, and it was up to them to decide how to fund this cost. “As per the guidelines issued, the sending State will pay the consolidated fare to Railways. Sending State may decide to bear this cost or take it from passengers or take it from the receiving State after mutual consultation or may charge it to any fund. It is purely their prerogative,” noted a statement from a Railway spokesperson. Liquor lines Social distancing norms were flouted as standalone liquor shops opened across India after some 40 days of being shut. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi were among the states to open liquor stores today. Serpentine queues were seen outside the stores, with people packed into small spaces. The Delhi Police on Monday ordered the shutdown of liquor shops in East Delhi, Northeast Delhi, Shahdara and Southwest districts after a vendor failed to maintain physical distancing. West Bengal numbers questioned The Inter Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) stationed in Kolkata has sent its final observations to the State government, highlighting the “extremely high mortality rate” from COVID-19. It said the West Bengal government should be “transparent and consistent” in reporting figures pertaining to the pandemic. Referring to the information shared by the State government on April 30, which “put the mortality at 105”, the committee noted the following: “For a total reported number of 744 + 72 = 816 COVID patients, the mortality rate of 12.8 % is highest in the country. This extremely high mortality rate is a clear indication of low testing and weak surveillance and tracking.” Surat clash again In the fourth such incident in the migrant hub of Surat in Gujarat, hundreds of workers came out on the roads demanding that they be allowed to return to their States. The mob clashed with the police, who used tear gas shells to disperse them. “Now the situation is under control. The police had to lob tear gas shells as the mob was growing, with workers pouring into the streets,” an official from Surat said. Raining Money on Jio Silicon Valley private equity firm Silver Lake has agreed to invest $750 million in Reliance Jio. The deal values Jio at $65 billion, a 12.5% premium on the valuation made by Facebook a couple weeks ago. Silver Lake is a technology-focused investor with over $40 billion in assets under management. In April, the company invested in travel and hospitality-related companies. It bought minority stakes in Expedia and Airbnb – with the two deals together adding up to $2 billion of investment. In Brief: The Jharkhand government will not implement any of the relaxations granted by the Centre from Monday, and has decided to extend the “total” lockdown in the State for two more weeks, till May 17. President Donald Trump has predicted that his country will have a vaccine for the coronavirus by the end of the year, His prediction, however, contradicts the projections laid out by his administration’s public health experts. Trump also said that 100,000 people could lose their lives in the U.S., and refuted claims that his administration had not acted fast enough. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
⊗⋗⋮〖~DownLoad!〗 2021 Initiation Full Movie Online released 2021. story: Whiton University unravels the night a star-athlete is murdered, k...
Post a Comment