2. The facts necessitating the filing of the present Writ Petition are that the petitioner claims that she was working in the Highways Department and was maintaining her family consisting of her husband, one son and two daughters. The son and first daughter have been married and they are residing separately. The second daughter, who is shown as the third respondent is not married. The petitioner has stated that her husband had died and after that, the third respondent had been continuously harassing her and has been preventing her from enjoying her dwelling house peacefully and 2/6 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.6099 of 2020 has been trying to dispossess her. Seeking protection under the Tamil Nadu Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007 and Tamil Nadu Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules 2009, the petitioner had given a representation on 07.03.2020 to the first and second respondents.

2. The Petitioner, who has completed her graduation in M.B.B.S. in Medicine and Surgery in the year 2018 had participated in the Post Graduate NEET Examination, 2020 conducted by the Third Respondent and has a score of 690. During the first round of counselling in All India Quota, she secured Master of Surgery in Obstetrics and Gynecology in the College of the Fourth Respondent and had paid admission fees. However, she intends to further participate in counselling in the State Government Quota seats including those in Non-Governmental Institutions. One of the conditions stipulated for already selected candidates in the All India Quota to participate in the State Government Quota is that they should would have to resign from the seat secured within the specified date. In furtherance thereto, the First Respondent by notice dated 30.04.2020 had informed that it had been decided by the Competent Authority to allow the candidates who have joined their allotted college of Round -1 (both in Online/Offline mode) to resign from their joined seat by 5.00 p.m. of 08.05.2020 (Wednesday). It is the grievance of the Petitioner that the Second Respondent had not included the Management Seats in the Private/Non-Governmental Medical Institutions in the notification issued for Counselling under the State Quota. In that backdrop, this Writ Petition 3/7 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P. (MD) No. 6132 of 2020 and W.M.P. (MD) No. 5322 of 2020 has been filed for directing the Second Respondent to conduct and conclude the Counselling of Post Graduation Medical Seats in Private/Non-Governmental Medical Institutions along with the State Government Quota Seats for the academic Session 2020-2021 on or before 08.05.2020 by considering her representation dated 30.05.2020 in that regard.

2. The Petitioner, who has completed her graduation in M.B.B.S. in Medicine and Surgery in the year 2018 had participated in the Post Graduate NEET Examination, 2020 conducted by the Third Respondent and has a score of 690. During the first round of counselling in All India Quota, she secured Master of Surgery in Obstetrics and Gynecology in the College of the Fourth Respondent and had paid admission fees. However, she intends to further participate in counselling in the State Government Quota seats including those in Non-Governmental Institutions. One of the conditions stipulated for already selected candidates in the All India Quota to participate in the State Government Quota is that they should would have to resign from the seat secured within the specified date. In furtherance thereto, the First Respondent by notice dated 30.04.2020 had informed that it had been decided by the Competent Authority to allow the candidates who have joined their allotted college of Round -1 (both in Online/Offline mode) to resign from their joined seat by 5.00 p.m. of 08.05.2020 (Wednesday). It is the grievance of the Petitioner that the Second Respondent had not included the Management Seats in the Private/Non-Governmental Medical Institutions in the notification issued for Counselling under the State Quota. In that backdrop, this Writ Petition 3/7 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P. (MD) No. 6132 of 2020 and W.M.P. (MD) No. 5322 of 2020 has been filed for directing the Second Respondent to conduct and conclude the Counselling of Post Graduation Medical Seats in Private/Non-Governmental Medical Institutions along with the State Government Quota Seats for the academic Session 2020-2021 on or before 08.05.2020 by considering her representation dated 30.05.2020 in that regard.

At least six security personnel, including an Army major, were killed when a roadside bomb struck a patrol vehicle in southwestern Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, close to the border with Iran. The Army on Friday said in a statement that a vehicle of paramilitary Frontier Corps was targeted through a remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) in Kech district's Buleda area, about 14 km from the Iran border. A major and five soldiers were killed while one soldier was injured, according to the Army. Baloch militants on Saturday claimed responsibility for the attack. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in a statement said the roadside bomb was planted by its operatives and it will continue its struggle until the establishment of an independent homeland and a free society". BLA is a banned entity in Pakistan. It was also declared a terrorist group by the US in 2019. Security sources said the route where the explosion took place was monitored round the clock because of ...

Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has sought Pakistan's support for reducing violence in Afghanistan and accelerate the intra-Afghan dialogue, the US Embassy here said on Saturday. Khalilzad discussed the Afghanistan peace process with Pakistan Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday. During the discussion, he also asked for help to secure the release of American navy veteran-turned contractor Mark Frerichs, who went missing in Afghanistan. The embassy said Khalilzad discussed the ongoing efforts by the US to advance the Afghan peace process. He "sought Pakistan's support in pressing for a reduction in violence, the immediate start of intra-Afghan negotiations, and assistance in helping obtain the freedom of American Mark Frerichs", it said. The embassy noted that Pakistan's military leaders reaffirmed their support for the US efforts. Earlier, the Pakistan Army in a statement on Friday said during the meeting between ...

US regulators have approved a new type of coronavirus test that administration officials have promoted as a key to opening up the country. The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday announced emergency authorization for antigen tests developed by Quidel Corporation of San Diego. The test can rapidly detect fragments of virus proteins in samples collected from swabs swiped inside the nasal cavity, the FDA said in a statement. The antigen test is the third type of test to be authorized by the FDA. Currently, the only way to diagnose active COVID-19 is to test a patient's nasal swab for the genetic material of the virus. While considered highly accurate, the tests can take hours and require expensive, specialized equipment mainly found at commercial labs, hospitals or universities. A second type looks in the blood for antibodies, the proteins produced by the body days or weeks after fighting an infection. Such tests are helpful for researchers to understand how far a disease has spread

Turkey reported 50 new COVID-19 deaths and 1,546 fresh cases on Saturday as it prepared steps to return to normal life. Total fatalities stand at 3,739, while infections number 137,115. According to figures posted on Twitter by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, 89,480 patients have recovered. Shopping malls, barber shops, hairdressers and beauty salons will open for business on Monday as Turkey starts easing restrictions. Meanwhile, one of Turkey's biggest soccer clubs, Besiktas, announced a player and a club employee had tested positive for the new coronavirus. Earlier this week, the Turkish Football Federation said matches behind closed doors would resume next month, prompting the resumption of limited training sessions.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk threatened Saturday to pull the company's factory and headquarters out of California in an escalating spat with local officials who have stopped the company from reopening its electric vehicle factory. On Twitter, Musk also threatened to sue over Alameda County Health Department coronavirus restrictions that have stopped Tesla from restarting production its factory in Fremont south of San Francisco. Frankly, this is the final straw, he tweeted. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. He wrote that whether the company keeps any manufacturing in Fremont depends on how Tesla is treated in the future. Musk has been ranting about the stay-home order since the company's April 29 first-quarter earnings were released, calling the restrictions fascist and urging governments to stop taking people's freedom. An order in the six-county San Francisco Bay Area forced Tesla to close the Fremont plant starting March 23 to help prevent the virus'

Fighting between forces loyal to rival governments over Libya's capital intensified Saturday with heavy artillery shelling hitting the sole functioning airport in Tripoli, setting jet fuel tanks ablaze and damaging passenger planes, authorities in west Libya and the UN said. The Tripoli-based Transportation Ministry said one of the damaged aircraft had been scheduled to leave Tripoli to bring back Libyans stranded in Spain by the coronavirus lockdown. It blamed east-based forces fighting to take the capital for over a year for the attack. Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. The country has since split between rival administrations in the east and the west, each backed by armed groups and foreign countries. Brega Petroleum Marketing Company said the shelling at Mitiga airport set its jet fuel tanks on fire. The company, which is part of Libya's National Oil Corporation, shared footage of apparent ...

Former President Barack Obama harshly criticized President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as an absolute chaotic disaster during a conversation with ex-members of his administration. Obama also reacted to the Justice Department dropping its criminal case against Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, saying he worried that the basic understanding of rule of law is at risk. More than 78,400 people with COVID-19 have died in the United States and more than 1.3 million people have tested positive, according to the latest estimates from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Obama's comments came during a Friday call with 3,000 members of the Obama Alumni Association, people who served in his administration. Obama urged his supporters to back his former vice president, Joe Biden, who is trying to unseat Trump in the Nov. 3 election. What we're fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being

South Korea's capital closed down more than 2,100 bars and other nightspots Saturday because of a new cluster of coronavirus infections, Germany scrambled to contain fresh outbreaks at slaughterhouses, and Italian authorities worried that people were getting too friendly at cocktail hour during the country's first weekend of eased restrictions. The new flareups and fears of a second wave of contagion underscored the dilemma authorities face as they try to reopen their economies. Around the world, the US and other hard-hit countries are wrestling with how to ease curbs on business and public activity without causing the virus to come surging back. In New York, the deadliest hot spot in the US, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said three children died from a possible complication of the coronavirus involving swollen blood vessels and heart problems. At least 73 children statewide have been diagnosed with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease a rare inflammatory condition and toxic shock syndrome. ..

Two members of the White House coronavirus task force placed themselves in quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, another stark reminder that not even one of the nation's most secure buildings is immune from the virus. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be teleworking for the next two weeks" after it was determined he had a low risk exposure" to a person at the White House, the CDC said in a statement Saturday evening. The statement said he felt fine and has no symptoms. Just a few hours earlier, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed that FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn had come in contact with someone who tested positive and was in self-quarantine for the next two weeks. He tested negative for the virus. Both men were scheduled to testify before a Senate committee on Tuesday, along with infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, also a task force member. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the ...

South Korea reported 34 additional cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours as a spate of transmissions linked to clubgoers threatens the country's hard-won gains in its fight against the virus. Figures released Sunday by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increased national totals to 10,874 with 256 deaths. The agency said 9,610 have recovered and 10,128 others were undergoing tests to determine whether they've contracted the virus. The agency said a tentative assessment showed 26 of the 34 new patients were locally transmitted cases, while the rest were imported. South Korean media reported it was the first time that South Korea's daily jump has marked above 30 in about a month. The agency didn't immediately provide further details. But most of the new cases in the past few days were linked to nightclubs in Seoul's Itaewon entertainment neighborhood. Officials on Friday said they detected at least 15 infections linked to a 29-year-old man who had visited three ...

China has reported 14 new coronavirus cases including one from the first COVID-19 epicentre of Hubei province, taking the number of infections in the country to 82,901, while over 4,630 people have succumbed to the disease, health officials said on Sunday. According to China's National Health Commission (NHC), 12 cases were domestically transmitted, with 11 reported from Jilin Province and one in Hubei Province, the first COVID-19 epicentre which has remained free from coronavirus infections for the last 35 days. A total of 14 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in the country on Saturday. Also on Saturday, 20 new asymptomatic cases were reported. As of Saturday, 794 asymptomatic cases, including 48 from overseas, were still under medical observation, the NHC said. Hubei province has 628 asymptomatic cases, the highest in the country. Asymptomatic cases refer to people who are tested COVID-19 positive but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. However, they ...

Three members of the White House coronavirus task force, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, placed themselves in quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, another stark reminder that not even one of the nation's most secure buildings is immune from the virus. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a leading member of the task force, has become nationally known for his simple and direct explanations to the public about the coronavirus and COVID-19, the disease it causes. Also quarantining are Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Stephen Hahn. Fauci's institute said that he has tested negative for COVID-19 and will continue to be tested regularly. It added that he is considered at relatively low risk based on the degree of his exposure, and that he would be taking appropriate precautions" to mitigate the risk to ...

The US PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament will use radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in spectator badges to ensure fans maintain social distance at the July 16-19 event, Golf Digest reported. Dan Sullivan, director of the tournament hosted by 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus in Ohio, said on Saturday a Zoom presentation conducted by the Greater Columbus Sports Commission that the high-tech badges were just one measure that will be used to maintain safety amid the coronavirus pandemic. "At any time we can know around the golf course how many people are collecting in a certain area," Sullivan said of the benefits of the tracking technology. "We're going to use that technology to make sure that we're protecting everyone around us, protecting the folks that are inside those various venues and make sure that we're monitoring effectively and producing a tournament that everyone can be comfortable with." In a phone interview with Golf Digest Sullivan explained that a small group of

French tennis chief Bernard Guidicelli admitted Sunday that Roland Garros, already controversially pushed back four months due to the coronavirus, could be staged behind closed doors. Guidicelli, who said that the French federation (FFT) had "no regrets" over its unilateral decision to move the clay court Grand Slam from May 24-June 7 to September 20-October 4, insisted all options remain on the table. "We haven't ruled out any option. Roland Garros is first and foremost a story of matches and players," he told the Journal du Dimanche. "There is the tournament taking place in the stadium, and the tournament on TV screens. "Millions of viewers around the world are waiting. Organising it behind closed doors would allow part of the business model -- television rights (which account for more than a third of the tournament's revenues) -- to go ahead. This cannot be overlooked." The spread of the coronavirus has halted all tennis since mid-March and will not resume until July 13 at the ...

Former New Zealand head coach and current England defence chief John Mitchell believes some good may come for rugby union from the coronavirus if it creates "greater professionalism" thanks to a concentration of talent at fewer clubs worldwide, including Super Rugby. Even before COVID-19 saw this year's edition of Super Rugby suspended after seven rounds in March, there was a widespread view the southern hemisphere's now 15-string premier club tournament had become increasingly unattractive for fans and broadcasters alike, with talent spread too thinly. The pandemic has already had a huge financial impact on rugby and there are concerns current club structures won't survive the outbreak fully intact. England's Rugby Football Union has lost ?15 million ($19 million) so far due to the crisis, with Twickenham chiefs forecasting a total loss of ?107 million if the autumn internationals are cancelled. Meanwhile Rugby Australia, already reeling after reaching a multi-million dollar ...

U2 frontman Bono believes the future of live gigs looks "very different" as the world struggles to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. According to Contactmusic, the singer said drive-in shows can be a successful alternative as there is a possibility to maintain social distancing. "I think it will be very different for a while. I heard discussion of sort of drive-in type shows. "Outside the stadiums, you have these big (parking lots) -- so setting up drive-ins, where you have bands playing live from their rehearsal rooms," Bono said. The 59-year-old singer, whose real name is Paul David Hewson, is happy that his band was able to finish of its tour before the lockdown. "We haven't learned to phone in our shows. They're full-tilt for us," he said.

Taliban leaders searched their ranks, including the much-feared Haqqani network, and on Sunday said they are not holding Mark R Frerichs, a Navy veteran turned contractor who was disappeared in Afghanistan in late January. "We don't have any information about the missing American," Sohail Shaheen, Taliban's political spokesman, told the AP in a message on Sunday. A second Taliban official familiar with the talks with the United States said "formally and informally" the Taliban have notified US officials they are not holding Frerichs. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated a peace deal with the Taliban signed in February to allow America and NATO countries to withdraw their troops and end decades of war, asked for Frierchs' release during his meetings this week in the Middle Eastern State of Qatar where the Taliban maintain a political office. In a statement late Saturday by the ..

South Korea's president is urging citizens not to lower their guard down, but said there's no reason to be panicked amid worries about a new surge in the coronavirus outbreak in the country. President Moon Jae-in made the comments in a speech Sunday as his health authorities detected a slew of new cases linked to nightclubs in Seoul's Itaewon district in recent days. Earlier, South Korea's caseload had been waning for weeks, prompting authorities to relax their social distancing rules. The infection cluster which recently occurred in entertainment facilities," Moon said, "has raised awareness that, even during the stabilisation phase, similar situations can arise again anytime, anywhere in an enclosed, crowded space. Moon added that, We must never lower our guard regarding epidemic prevention. But he also said there's no reason to stand still out of fear. Moon says South Korea has the right quarantine and medical systems combined with experience to respond quickly to any unexpected ..

After fleeing Venezuela along with millions of others amid the country's grueling humanitarian crisis, Misael Cocho made his way by bus to Peru where he got odd jobs and sent money home monthly to support his mother and his 5-year-old son. But just after Cocho landed his steadiest work so far in Lima, coronavirus cases skyrocketed. He lost his job, sold his TV to buy food and hasn't been able to wire money for months to Caracas to pay for food for the boy and Cocho's mother. The pandemic's economic fallout left many Venezuelans abroad and the relatives back home who rely on them in dire straits. And as work disappears in countries like Peru and Colombia, humanitarian groups say many Venezuelans who fled hunger are now going hungry. Cocho, 24, faces a dilemma: Should he stay in Peru in case the economy improves, or go back to Caracas where life is precarious but might not get worse? The truth is that this pandemic has really hit me hard, he said. Venezuela's population peaked at 30 ...

South Korea's president says his proposal to North Korea on jointly tackling infectious diseases such as the COVID-19 illness remains valid, though the North hasn't responded. President Moon Jae-in told reporters Sunday that he believes the North is suffering various difficulties over the coronavirus pandemic. Moon didn't elaborate. His spy agency recently told lawmakers the virus pandemic resulted in sharply shrinking the North's external trade and causing panic buying in Pyongyang, the North's capital. Moon says he'll try to persuade North Korea to accept his offers for reconciliation projects after the pandemic is stabilized. Moon has proposed reconnecting severed railways, resuming reunions of families split by war and sending South Korean tourists to North Korea. North Korea has been taking intense anti-virus quarantine steps but it has steadfastly claimed there hasn't been a single case of the coronavirus on its territory. Many foreign experts are skeptical of the North's claim.

Pakistan reported a record number of 1,991 coronavirus cases in a single day, taking the total number of infections to over 29,000, the health ministry said on Sunday as the country began easing the month-long lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the deadly disease. Despite a surge in the number of COVID-19 infections, the first phase of the easing of the lockdown began on Saturday. The government announced removing restrictions by allowing more businesses to open and operate from dawn to 5pm. However, doctors have warned against easing the restrictions. The Representative of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) have demanded that the government observe the World Health Organization protocols and implement a strict lockdown. The Ministry of National Health Services said that 21 new deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities to 639. A total of 8,023 people have recovered so far. Punjab registered 11,093 cases, Sindh 10,771, ...

The governor of a province that surrounds Seoul ordered the two-week shutdowns of all nightclubs, hostess bars and other similar entertainment facilities in his province to guard against a possible new surge in coronavirus cases. Lee Jae-myung, the Gyeonggi province governor, announced the steps Sunday, a day after Seoul shut down more 2,100 nightclubs, hostess bars and discos in the capital city as dozens of fresh infections linked to clubgoers have been reported in recent days. The province and Seoul form the Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of South Korea's 51 million people reside. Earlier Sunday, South Korea reported 34 additional virus cases over the past 24 hours, the first time the country's daily jump has marked above 30 in about a month. Health authorities said that 24 of the 34 cases were those who had visited clubs in Seoul's Itaewon entertainment neighborhood in the past several days or people who came in contact with them later. New cases linked to the Itaewon ..

An Air India flight with 163 Indians landed at the Hyderabad international airport from Kuwait on Saturday night as part of the government's Vande Bharat Mission to bring home Indian nationals stranded abroad, airport sources said. The AI flight 988 landed at the airport shortly after 10 pm, the sources said. To facilitate the arriving passengers and aircraft crew, the Hyderabad International Airport has kept the international arrivals and the stretch right from the aerobridge to the arrivals ramp fully sanitized and fumigated, the sources said. It will be ensured that passengers follow social distancing norms, they said. The passengers would be screened by thermal cameras prior to immigration formalities, they said. Glass shields were provided at each manned immigration counter to avoid any personal contact between the passengers and immigration officers, they said. The passengers would be taken for mandatory quarantine at the designated locations in the city, the sources added.

Union MinisterNitin Gadkari on Saturday suggested retailers to learn the "art of living" with the coronavirus pandemic while assuring them to look into their demands for MSME status. The minister also assured the retailers to look into their demands of financial aid from the government, which he would put forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He also said that some proposals are under"serious consideration" by the government and asked the retail industry to have a positive outlook. We would have to develop a way forward to live with coronavirus, said Gadkari in a virtual meeting with the Retailers Association of India (RAI). He also assured RAI and Practicing Engineers, Architects and Town Planners Association (India) that their request for registering as MSMEs will be examined expeditiously. These people (retailers) also provide employment to some people and if they get recognition as MSME, then people working under them would get benefits ..

The concessions given by the UP government to traders will prove to be a pace setter for the revival of economic activity in the state at a time when the nation is going through a rough phase due to the COVID-19 outbreak, UP Vyapaari Kalyan Board chairman Ravi Kant Garg said. He said the exemption from labour laws for three years is bound to open gates for economic growth that was hit by the coronavirus lockdown. Such measures will spur economic activities and boost the investment climate in the state, Garg said while talking to a group of reporters on Saturday evening. He further said that exemption of 46 variety of fruits and vegetables from the clutches of Mandi Adhiniyam Suchana through Krashi Utapadan Mandi Adhiniyam (Sansodhan) ordinance 2020 would boost the trade. It is bound to help farmers as well as traders, he added. Now, the farmer would be free to sell his produce outside Mandi Parishad. Exemption of Mandi shulk (Mandi tax) from 46 variety of grains would provide maximum .

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Saturday said the BJP is in favour of reservation in promotion and against introducing the creamy layer provision for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe categories. The central government headed by Narendra Modi is committed to protect the rights of SCs and STs, he said and expressed support to the demand of the states SC and ST MLAs to include "reservation" meant for them in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution so that they cannot be challenged in courts. The demand of the legislators belonging to SC and ST categories from all parties came in the wake of the recent Supreme Court order asking the Centre to revise the list of reserved categories for providing quotas so that benefits trickle down to the needy. The MLAs said the apex court judgment virtually advocated for implementing the provision of creamy layer in the reservation meant for SCs and STs. Sushil Modi said, When two Constitution benches ruled in ...

Haji Mohammed Sajid could not control his emotion as he came out of the Lucknow airport on Saturday evening after an Air India flight arrived here from Sharjah with 182 Indians on board as part of the government's 'Vande Bharat Mission'. Kissing the floor of the airport, much to the surprise of the officials and mediapersons present there, a teary eyed Sajid said, "I was missing my parents and India very much." "I thank the government for helping me reunite with my family after being stranded abroad for the past couple of months," said the Ayodhya resident, who worked as garment designer in the United Arab Emirates. With just one coffee vending machine and a fruit cart, the airport wore a forlorn look, while the arrival board displayed the lone flight IX184 that arrived around 9.00 pm. CISF jawans maintained a strict watch on the activities of the visitors as passengers started coming out of the airport at 10.30 pm. They were screened and sent to quarantine. "This is the first flight

Sixteen more people including two minors from nine districts tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, taking the total number of cases to 595 in Bihar, a top health department official said. Seven of the 16 fresh cases are migrant people from other states, Health Departments Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar said in a tweet. "We are ascertaining their further infection trail," Kumar said. Of the 16 new cases, three each are from Muzaffarpur and Arwal, two each from Begusarai, Munger, Nalanda and one each from Vaishali, Bhojpur, Siwan, Sheikhpura districts, the Principal Secretary said. Five people have died of the disease so far in Bihar which is now left with 272 active cases while 318 have recovered. The number of samples tested so far at seven facilities in Patna, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga is 32,767.

Twenty-three Surat returnees were among 24 people who tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha on Saturday, taking the total cases in the state to 294, the Health and Family Welfare department said. Of the 24 fresh Covid cases, Ganjam reported 18, while three came from Mayurbhanj and one each from Nayagarh, Bhadrak and Sundergarh. Nayagarh district reported its first novel coronavirus case when a 40-year-old Surat returnee tested positive to the disease. With this, the COVID-19 has now spread to19 of the 30 districts of Odisha. At present, there are 224 active cases in the state and 68 people have recovered. Two people from Bhubaneswar have succumbed to the disease, an official said adding that 343 persons are in hospital isolation. The state health department had on Friday conducted 3,348 tests for COVID-19, he said, adding that Odisha has so far tested 56,322 samples. As per an analysis by the department, 246 of the state's total 294 cases have been reported from five ...

The West Bengal government has asked the heads of all hospitals to ensure that immunisation programmes against vaccine-preventable diseases continue in full steam amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Immunisation should go on during COVID-19 outbreak to protect children and pregnant women from 'vaccine-preventable diseases' (VPD), the health and family welfare department said in a notification. It was addressed to the superintendents of all medical colleges and hospitals and the chief medical officer of health of all districts. Copy of the notification issued on May 6 was made available on Saturday.

The West Bengal Health Department on Saturday formed teams to support surveillance and monitoring of treatment at five hospitals treating COVID-19 patients in the city. The team members will pay regular visits to these hospitals and send reports to the department, the state government said in an order. The department has also set up a dedicated help line for issues regarding the non-availability of PPEs and other supplies. The feedback and suggestions will be duly recorded and acted upon by the state government for appropriate remedial measures, the order said. The West Bengal government has also constituted a team for guidance on containment activities in different districts of the state.

A fire broke out in a cardboard factory in outer Delhi's Bawana on Sunday morning, Delhi Fire Service officials said. However, no one is trapped or injured in the incident, they said. A call about the blaze was received around 7.25 am, following which 15 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The fire fighting operations are underway, the officials said.

In the wake of the gas leak at a factory in Visakhapatnam, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued detailed guidelines for restarting industries after the lockdown and the precautions to be taken for the safety of the plants as well as the workers. In a communication to all states and union territories, the NDMA said due to several weeks of lockdown and the closure of industrial units, it is possible that some of the operators might not have followed the established standard operating procedures. As a result, some of the manufacturing facilities, pipelines, valves may have residual chemicals, which may pose risk. The same is true for the storage facilities with hazardous chemicals and flammable materials, it said. The NDMA guidelines said while restarting a unit, the first week should be considered as the trial or test run period after ensuring all safety protocols. Companies should not try to achieve high production targets. There should be 24-hour sanitisation ..

In the wake of migrant workers sleeping on railway lines being crushed to death by a goods train in Maharashtra, East Coast Railway (ECoR) has asked people to refrain from walking on the tracks as several special trains are running during the lockdown. Although passenger trains have been suspended due to COVID-19 outbreak, goods trains and parcel express trains are continuously running on all the railway tracks to maintain supply of essential commodities across the country, a railway official said. Recently Shramik Special trains have also been started and many such trains are running in ECoR jurisdiction also, he said. "Therefore, walking on the tracks or on railway lines is extremely dangerous and strictly prohibited," he said, adding that ECoR is doing awareness campaign through every medium to educate people not to walk or pass train tracks, instead they should use limited height subways and manned level crossings only. Trackmen, bridge repair staff, station ...

At least 34 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Bihar, raising the total count in the state to 629, a top health department official said on Sunday. Of the 34, 11 hail from Begusarai, seven each from Saharsa and Madhepura, five, including a woman, from Rohtas, two from Darbhanga and one each from Khagaria and Araria districts, Sanjay Kumar, the principal secretary of the state health department, said. "We are ascertaining the infection trail. These are yesterday's results received late in the night," Kumar said, adding that seven out of 34 patients were minors. Barring Jamui, all 37 districts in the state have reported coronavirus cases. The number of active cases in the state currently stands at 306. Altogether, 318 people have recovered so far. Bihar has witnessed five COVID-19 fatalities -- one each from Rohtas, Munger, Vaishali, East Champaran and Sitamarhi districts. All five of them had pre-existing ailments. Munger has accounted for the maximum number of cases in the ...

The Indian automotive sector will continue to face challenges related to non-availability of labour and concerns over health and safety management on the shop-floor following the coronavirus pandemic, which may force firms to accelerate adoption of digital technologies in manufacturing, a report by consultancy firm EY said. This health crisis will settle gradually and would leave a profound impact on people and the ways of working especially on the shop-floor. There will be several changes to existing working norms and guidelines that organisations will need to abide by in order to ensure safety at the workplace, said the report titled 'Now, next and beyond: Auto factory of the future'. Elaborating on how automotive shop-floors will evolve and adopt digital technologies post COVID-19, the report said automobile companies will now have to rebuild and reinvent a new ecosystem to accommodate the new normal that is likely to emerge. "The auto sector will continue to face challenges ...

Troops of India and China were involved in a fierce face-off and many of them sustained minor injuries in the clash near Naku La in the Sikkim sector along the Sino-Indo border on Saturday, official sources said. The troops disengaged after dialogue at the local level, they said. "Troops resolve such issues mutually as per established protocols. Such an incident occurred after a long time," said a source.

He hops off a helicopter, whips off his shades and makes a dash through the grounds towards his home to give his mother a surprise, but there she is, waiting at the door with a pooja thali' in her hand. That admittedly cheesy scene between Shah Rukh Khan and Jaya Bachchan from the blockbuster Hindi film Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham was playing in Sonali Puri's mind when she was on a Mumbai-Jammu flight to give her mother a surprise last month. Her mother was at the door just as she had imagined but instead of a thali' was a hand sanitiser! Good hygiene is a blessing in times of coronavirus, my mother told me, laughed the 37-year-old. That was in mid-March, a few days before the coronavirus forced lockdown began on March 25. And home in Jammu is where Puri still is, the short vacation turning into extended mother-daughter downtime, both recalibrating their equations as they spend focused time with each other after years. This Mother's Day, the first time in years perhaps that Puri has been .

Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir carried out nearly 1,000 surprise inspections and lifted 62 samples of different food items for screening since the beginning of this month, an official spokesperson said on Sunday. The special drive by the Food Safety Wing of Food and Drugs Administration Department was necessitated amidst growing concern that some unscrupulous traders can take advantage of the lockdown imposed by the government due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. "During the special drive, commenced on May 1, the enforcement staff carried out 996 inspections, lifted 62 samples of different food items like mustard oil, til oil, spices, milk and dates, and destroyed food items, which included vegetables, fruits, milk amounting to Rs 25,000," the spokesperson said. He said four Food Business Operators (FBOs) were also fined for violating the Food Safety and Standards(FSS) Act. The drive also led to seizure of560 kg ghee and 91 kg of spices after lifting statutory samples that have ...

Sitting on a liquor stockpile of around Rs 3,000 crore, restaurants and hotels across the country are asking state governments to allow them to sell the stock lying with them due to the coronavirus lockdown. "We are truly living in unprecedented times where on one hand we are sitting with expensive liquor inventory and on the other hand, we are cash starved," National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI)PresidentAnurag Katriar said. The industry sees a ray of hope as many states have permitted sales of retail alcohol. "We request every state government to allow us an opportunity to sell our liquor stocks, preferably through home delivery model. "This will help us deplete our stocks, raise some money to take care of urgent people needs and will still be compliant to social distancing norms. We understand that this may require some amendments to the law but I am sure it can be carried out under the current extraordinary circumstances," Katriar said. In similar vein, The Beer Cafe ...

Mizoram has registered a 10 per cent drop in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in 2019-20 fiscal, making it to the second spot in the country after Nagaland. State health minister R Lalthangliana said the IMR has dropped from 15 per cent to 5 per cent (per 1000 live births), citing the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin. With 10-point drop in IMR in 2019-20, Mizoram is the best-performing state in the country, he said. Over the past three years, the state has achieved 27- point drop in IMR. The minister attributed the achievement to efforts of healthcare workers and support of people. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had on Saturday congratulated Mizoram and Lalthangliana on the achievement. The state had recorded 21 per cent IMR in 2016-2017, with 405 infants dying before attaining the age of one. During 2017-18, it fell to 20 per cent, and the following year to 15 per cent. According to Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin released recently, Nagaland tops ..

The Yenepoya medical college hospital at Deralakatte here has become the first private hospital in Dakshina Kannada district to get coronavirus (COVID-19) testing approval. The laboratory at the hospital has received the nod from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct tests for COVID-19, a release here said. Dakshina Kannada will now have two centres for coronavirus tests, the first one being the district Wenlock hospital, the designated hospital for Covid-19. ICMR has approved 33 testing centres in the state of which 21 are government hospitals and 12 are private hospitals.

Delhi recorded five more deaths due to coronavirus, while 381 fresh cases of the virus were reported, the city government said on Sunday. With the fresh cases, the virus tally in the national capital has climbed to 6,923. Between midnight of May 8 and midnight of May 9, five fresh fatalities due to the virus were reported, taking the death toll to 73, the government said in its health bulletin. While there are 4,781 active cases of the virus in the city, 2069 patients have so far recovered from COVID-19.

A special train carrying 1,140 migrant workers stranded here in the lockdown has left Mangaluru railway station for Jharkhand. Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and Vedavyas Kamath, MLA, were present at the railway station on Saturday night when the train left. Kamath said the workers who had registered on the state governments Seva Sindhu portal were brought to the railway station in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation buses. A health check-up was carried out before they boarded the train. The district administration also provided food packets and water to the migrants at the station. Three more trains will leave from Mangaluru for Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand soon, he said. Meanwhile, in a statement, Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sindhu P Rupesh said train services are being arranged for migrant workers who have registered their names on the Seva Sindhu portal. The workers will be informed when trains are arranged to their destinations and they .

Senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and Chairman of the Western Odisha Development Council (WODC), Subash Chauhan died at a private hospital here on Sunday following a prolonged illness. He was 54. Chauhan, who was undergoing treatment for liver ailment was a bachelor and breathed his last in the morning, family sources said. Closely associated with the RSS and VHP for many years, the former national Convenor of the Bajrang Dal had quit the BJP and joined the Biju Janata Dal in the run-up to the 2019 general elections. Chauhan was subsequently appointed the chairman of WODC in September last year. A host of dignitaries including Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Sarangi condoled the demise of Chauhan describing it as a big loss for the state. Expressing deep grief, Patnaik said the contributions made by Chauhan for the welfare of the people will always be remembered by all in the state. Praying for peace for the ...

Superstar Rajinikanth on Sunday warned the ruling AIADMK against reopening state-run liquor outlets in Tamil Nadu, saying if it was done, it should not harbour "dreams" of coming to power again, apparently in next year's Assembly elections. In a tweet, he also asked the government to work out alternate modes of revenue generation. His remarks came a day after Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court, seeking a stay against a Madras High Court order directing closure of liquor shops in the state. The AIADMK cannot have "dreams of coming to power again if the government re-opens TASMAC shops at this juncture," the veteran said in the tweet. "Please #Look out for better ways of filling the coffers," he added. The Tamil Nadu government had on Saturday moved the apex court challenging the High Court order for closure of TASMAC (Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation) liquor outlets on grounds of violations of COVID-19 guidelines, arguing that it would lead to "grave losses" in ...