Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the move Sunday evening after an urgent meeting with other top lawmakers in the Cabinet.

She said they decided to take a cautious approach until they found out more about the outbreak, including whether the infections were of the more contagious variants.

The rest of New Zealand will also be placed under heightened restrictions although will not go into lockdown, Ardern said.

In a significant setback to New Zealand’s efforts to keep the coronavirus from spreading in the community, three people from one Auckland family have tested positive with the source of the infections unknown, health officials announced Sunday.

The news prompted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to cancel her plans and return to the capital Wellington for further briefings and decision-making.

New Zealand had successfully stamped out community spread of the virus, although new cases are regularly caught at the border among returning travellers, all of whom are required to spend two weeks in quarantine.

Officials said they’re keeping an open mind on how the Auckland mother, father and daughter caught the disease.

They said the mother works at an airline catering company, and officials are investigating whether there is a link to infected passengers.

“We are gathering all of the facts as quickly as we can, and the system that served us so well in the past is really gearing up to do so again,” said COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins.
He described the cases as new and active.

He said scientists are carrying out genome sequencing to see whether the cases are of the more transmissible variants, and also to see whether they match with any infected passengers.

New Zealand, with a population of 5 million, has reported a total of just over 2,300 cases and 25 deaths since the pandemic started.

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It became one of the few positive impacts of strict restrictions imposed on billions across the world.

This compelled scientists at NASA to further study the extend of this reduced pollution levels in atmosphere. The scientists developed a computer-generated model to study how the atmosphere would have been if there was no COVID-19 pandemic and how it turned out in these months.

NASA experts created a model projection of a COVID-free Earth atmosphere in 2020 keeping in account natural variations as well.

The model simulation and machine learning analysis showed an alternate reality version of 2020- one that did not experience any unexpected changes in human behaviour brought on by the pandemic.

The researchers received data from 46 countries with a total of 5,756 observation sites on the ground. The experts observed that in a city-level, 50 of the 61 cities show nitrogen dioxide reductions between 20-50%.

Wuhan in China, which was the first in the world to impose a strict lockdown after the COVID-19 outbreak originated there, showed the first reduction in nitrogen dioxide emissions. The emission in Wuhan was 60% less than expected. Milan in Italy’s Lombardy, the worst-hit regions in Europe, also saw a 60% reduction in nitrogen dioxide emissions.

New York, another worst hit city saw a 45% reduction in the pollution levels.

Meanwhile in India, a report released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the pollution levels in India were reduced by 24% in the pre-lockdown days of early March. During the nationwide lockdown, it further went down by almost 50%.

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In a single day, 579 coronavirus positive patients succumbed to the Covid-19 infection, according to the Health Ministry data.

India stood second behind the United States in terms of total cases of coronavirus. The country tops in terms of the number of recovered cases and third in terms of fatalities globally behind the US and Brazil.

India’s total Covid-19 tally has climbed to 75,50,273. India has also seen a dip of 11,256 in its active cases since Sunday. As of Monday morning, there are 7,72,055 active cases of coronavirus in India. So far, 66,63,608 have recovered from the infection and 1,14,610 people have died from the coronavirus.

Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have reported the highest number of cases. However, infections are rising rapidly in states like Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Yet, India’s recovery rate continues to rise and now stands at 88 percent.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that 9,50,83,976 samples were tested for COVID-19 in the country till yesterday (October 18). Of these, 8,59,786 were tested on Sunday (October 18).

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All higher education institutions have been advised to teach six days a week to make up for lost learning hours. Classes for first-year students will start from November, and no new admissions will be allowed beyond November 30, according to the revised academic calendar approved by the University Grants Commission (UGC) this month.

“In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Commission has accepted the report of the committee and approved the UGC guidelines on the academic calendar for the First Year of Under-Graduate and Post-Graduate Students of the Universities for the Session 2020-21,” said a twitter by the Education ministry.

The UGC had first released an alternative academic calendar for higher education institutions on April 29, in which it had prescribed that universities conduct their final-year or terminal semester examination from July 1 to July 15 and declare the results at the end of the month.

Education Ministry twitted today, “To avoid financial hardship being faced by the parents due to lockdown and related factors, a full refund of fees will be made on account of all cancellation of admissions/ migration of students, up to November 30, 2020, for this very session as a special case.”
Universities and schools across the country have been closed since March 16 when the Centre announced a countrywide classroom shutdown as part of measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus

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There has been a significant rise in the proportion of pregnancies ending in stillbirths, in which babies die in the womb ever since the coronavirus pandemic started, according to Nature.

Researchers say that in some countries, pregnant women have received less care than they need because of lockdown restrictions and disruptions to health care. As a result, complications that can lead to stillbirths were probably missed, they say.

“What we’ve done is cause an unintended spike in stillbirth while trying to protect [pregnant women] from COVID-19,” says Jane Warland, a specialist in midwifery at the University of South Australia in Adelaide.

The largest study to report a rise in the stillbirth rate, based on data from more than 20,000 women who gave birth in 9 hospitals across Nepal, was published in The Lancet Global Health on August 10. It reported that stillbirths increased from 14 per 1,000 births before the country went into lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus in late March, to 21 per 1,000 births by the end of May — a rise of 50%. The sharpest rise was observed during the first four weeks of the lockdown, under which people were allowed to leave their homes only to buy food and receive essential care.

The study, led by Ashish K.C., a perinatal epidemiologist at Uppsala University, Sweden, and his colleagues, found that although the rate of stillbirths jumped, the overall number was unchanged during the pandemic. This can be explained by the fact that hospital births halved, from an average of 1,261 births each week before lockdown to 651. And a higher proportion of hospital births during lockdown had complications. The researchers don’t know what happened to women who didn’t go to hospital, or to their babies, so they cannot say whether the rate of stillbirths increased across the population.

The increase in the proportion of stillbirths among hospital births was not caused by COVID-19 infections, says Ashish. Rather, it is probably a result of how the pandemic has affected access to routine antenatal care, which might have otherwise picked up complications that can lead to stillbirth, he says. Pregnant women might have been unable to travel to health facilities for lack of public transport; in some cases, antenatal appointments were reportedly cancelled. Others might have avoided hospitals for fear of contracting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, or had consultations by phone or Internet. Disruptions brought about by the pandemic have also been linked to a rise in deaths from heart disease and diabetes.

“Nepal has made significant progress in the last 20 years in health outcomes for women and their babies, but the last few months have deaccelerated that progress,” says Ashish.

Global trend
Birth data from a large hospital in London showed a similar trend. In July, Asma Khalil, an obstetrician at St George’s, University of London, and her colleagues reported a nearly fourfold increase in the incidence of stillbirths at St George’s Hospital, from 2.38 per 1,000 births between October 2019 and the end of January this year, to 9.31 per 1,000 births between February and mid-June.

Khalil calls this the collateral damage of the pandemic. She says that during lockdown, pregnant women might have developed complications that were not diagnosed, and might have hesitated about coming to hospital and therefore been seen by doctors only when a complication was advanced, when less could be done.

Four hospitals in India also reported a jump in the stillbirth rate during the country’s lockdown. And as in Nepal, fewer women had their babies in those hospitals. Referrals of women requiring emergency pregnancy care also dropped by two-thirds. This suggests that more births were happening unattended, at home or in small facilities, according to the authors. Scotland — one of a few countries that collates data on stillbirths and infant deaths monthly — has also detected an uptick in the rate of stillbirths in the months of the pandemic.

In normal times, the World Health Organisation recommends that women be seen by medical professionals at least eight times during pregnancy — even if the pregnancy is judged low-risk — to detect and manage problems that might harm the mother, the baby or both. Much of the risk of stillbirth can be averted if women sleep on their side from 28 weeks’ gestation, stop smoking and notify their midwife or doctor if their baby is moving less. The last trimester of pregnancy is particularly important for regular health checks, but women are typically monitored for risk factors such as restricted fetal growth and high blood pressure throughout pregnancy.

When the pandemic hit, professional bodies for maternity health providers recommended that some face-to-face consultations be substituted with remote appointments to protect women from the coronavirus.

But health-care workers can’t take someone’s blood pressure, listen to their baby’s heartbeat or do an ultrasound remotely, says Warland. Because of this, high-risk pregnancies might have been missed, she says, particularly among first-time mothers who are less likely to know what an abnormality feels like. For instance, St George’s Hospital reported a drop in the number of pregnant women presenting with high blood pressure during the UK lockdown. This suggests that “women with hypertension aren’t being managed as they normally would, and undetected hypertension is a risk factor for stillbirth”, says Warland.

The studies are a call to arms to support maternal and newborn health services, especially in low-to middle-income countries, says Caroline Homer, a midwifery researcher at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne, Australia. “This is not the moment to reduce” these services, she says. Homer says that across the Asia-Pacific region, the maternal-health workforce has pivoted to working on the COVID-19 front line, and antenatal care services have reduced face-to-face contact with pregnant women. In some places, services have shut completely, she says.

But Pat O’Brien, the vice-president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London, says the reasons behind this rise in the rate of stillbirths need further exploration.

“We are aware anecdotally of pregnant women presenting late with reduced fetal movements, which can be a sign their baby is unwell, and of women missing antenatal appointments. This may be due to confusion around whether these appointments count as essential travel, fear of attending a hospital or not wanting to burden the NHS,” says O’Brien.

To understand the full effects of the pandemic on pregnancies, future studies will need to use population-level data to assess outcomes in mothers who opted not to go to hospital and gave birth at home or in smaller facilities during the pandemic, says Emily Carter, a public-health researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. “Sometimes, we’re missing how dire the situation was, even before the pandemic, for certain segments of the population,” says Carter, according to the report in Nature .

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Trent is a retail company of the Tata Group. Trent began operations in 1998. Westside, one of the leading retail chains in India, and Landmark, a bookstore chain, operate under Trent. Westside has 143 retail stores in 81 cities. The company also operates a hypermarket called Showing results for Star Bazaar in eight cities.
One of the fastest growing retail sector in the world is in India. It is growing at an annual rate of 13 per cent. India is number one in the world in terms of per capita retail store availability. Companies such as Reliance Retail are realising this potential and are investing heavily in the sector.

The retail business in India is growing not only in major cities and metros. The retail industry is expanding rapidly in both Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities. Factors that lead to the growth of the organised retail market include healthy economic growth, increased youth representation, growth in disposable income, urbanisation and changes in consumer tastes and preferences.

The government has introduced reforms to attract foreign investment in the retail industry. At present, 51 per cent foreign investment is allowed in the multi-brand retail sector and 100 per cent in the Single brand retail sector. It is hoped that this will lead to significant investment growth in the sector.

Improvements in economic activity after the lockdown will improve Trent’s business. The company is ready to take advantage of the vast opportunities in this area. The company is also performing well. The company had posted a net loss of Rs.184 crore in the April-June quarter. At the same time, the company’s business is expected to improve in the coming quarters.

Trent is one of the stocks that stands out among the mid-sized companies. In the long run, these equity has the potential to offer great returns. In recent years, Trent has seen a performance that stands apart from the stock index. The stock gained more than 100 per cent from its March low.

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One in five people disliked the video which was viewed by over 20 lakh people as the Prime Minister failed to mention about the conduct of the JEE and NEET exams.  Naturally, most of the people who registered their dislikes were disgruntled candidates and parents who watched this video. The people are protesting against the government on many such issues. They also make use any opportunity to record it. The dislike received for the video of the Prime Minister, who was at the forefront of popularity, is a demonstration of this zeal of protest.

At a time when the country is in deep crisis, the central government has an indifferent attitude. The people want to question the methods of the Central Government which are taking irrational positions in implementing and easing the lockdown. Naturally, protest against the government should turn into support for the opposition. Is that happening on the ground? If the dislikes of the Prime Minister turn into the likes of a prominent leader of the Opposition, it can be assumed that this is happening. But how much popular support do opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi have on social media, which is considered a reflection of society?

In recent days, Rahul Gandhi has posted four consecutive videos protesting against the deteriorating economic situation in the country. In these videos, Rahul Gandhi points out that the government is to blame for the sharp decline in the country’s GDP in the April-June quarter.

Rahul Gandhi’s third video was critical of the GST, the ‘Gabbar Singh tax’, for stunting the country’s economy. The reality is that the ruling party has no objection to objecting to what Rahul has said. But how much of these facts pointed out by Rahul Gandhi reach the people?

The  Rahul’s video posted three days ago was viewed by 1.58 lakh people. 45,000 people liked the video. The video has not been seen by as many people as ‘dislike’ for Modi’s video. Even one-tenth of those who watch Modi’s video do not watch Rahul’s video. If social media is a crossroads of society, then there is a difference between the popular support for Modi and Rahul.

The Opposition in the country is a group of weak leaders who cannot convert the opposition against the government into support for themselves. Rahul Gandhi is not able to highlight any unpopular issue and gain the support of the people. During the lockdown, he posted several videos. But that also does bring to end his responsibility the Leader of the Opposition. The shortcomings of the government should turn into the gains of the Opposition. But Opposition leaders have not shown the ability to bring about that transformation. It has to be said that it is a blessing for the Modi government that the Opposition has not been able to seize the opportunity to trash the government over the sad plight of those who are enduring unending sufferings due to the lockdown.

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According to Kumar, only 5,000 and 2,500 visitors will be allowed in both the monuments respectively in a day.

As a precautionary measure, the ticket counters will not open and electronic tickets will be provided to the visitors.

“Taj Mahal and Agra Fort to be opened for visitors from September 21. 5,000 and 2500 visitors to be allowed in Taj Mahal and Agra Fort respectively, in a day. Electronic tickets will be provided as ticket counters will not open,” Basant Kumar .

The monuments have been closed to the public since a nationwide lockdown was imposed in March to combat the pandemic.

Here’s what you need to know if you plan to visit either of these places.

1. There will be a restricted number of visitors at the monuments

To prevent crowding and maintain social distancing, not more than 5,000 tourists will be allowed in a day at Taj Mahal. Tourists at Agra Fort will be restricted to 2,500 a day. Visitors at Taj Mahal in two slots- pre-lunch and post-lunch. In each of these slots there will be 2,500 visitors. All licensed commercial photographers permitted within Taj Mahal will not be allowed in at the same time.
For Agra Fort, it will 1300 visitors in the morning and 1200 in the afternoon.

2. Tickets will be sold online

Ticket sales will take place online. Tickets will first be sold for the first slot; once all 2,500 tickets are exhausted, then the 2,500 tickets for the second slot will be put on sale. Thus, in a day, a maximum of 5,000 visitors can visit Taj Mahal, Swarnkar said.
Tickets will be sold in a similar manner for Agra Fort.

3. The monuments will be closed to the public on certain days on the week
The Taj Mahal will remain closed on Friday (its usual weekly closure day), as well as Sunday—the weekly restriction day across the state, as imposed by the government.
Agra Fort, however, will be closed to the public only on Sunday.

4. There will be strict adherence to Covid-19 safety protocols

Safety protocols against the spread of COVID-19 will followed while allowing the tourists inside the monuments. The visitors will be thermally checked and will be asked to sanitise their hands and will be required to maintain physical distancing at all times while inside the monuments.
The monuments will be sanitised from time to time.

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True, the constitutional right to freedom of speech would not prevent the courts to punish contempt of themselves. However, as explained by constitutional expert V.N. Shukla,  “Judges have no general immunity from criticism of their judicial conduct, provided that it is made in good faith and does not impute any private motive to those taking part in the administration of justice. “Justice is not a cloistered virtue,” said the Privy Council in Ambard v. Attorney General for Trinidad and Tabago, “She must be allowed to suffer the scrutiny and respectful, though outspoken comments of ordinary men”. (Constitution of India, by V.N. Shukla  7^th edition  published by Eastern Book Company. page 82.)

Shukla further pointed out the summary jurisdiction exercised by superior courts in punishing contempt of their authority exists for the purpose of preventing interference with the course of justice. This is certainly an extraordinary power which must be sparingly exercised but where the public interest demands it, the court will not shrink from exercising it and imposing punishment even by way of imprisonment in cases where a fine may not be adequate. This jurisdiction will not ordinarily be exercised unless there is real prejudice which can be regarded as substantial interference with due course of justice as distinguished from a mere question of propriety.

In C.K.Daphtary v.O.P.Gupta (AIR 1971 SC 1132) the Supreme Court in examining the scope of the contempt of court, laid down that the test in each case is whether the impugned publication is a mere defamatory attack on the judge or whether it will interfere with the due course of justice or the proper administration of law by the court. A distinction should be made between defamatory attacks on a judge and the contempt of court.

Now, what did Prashant Bhushan do? He made two tweets one on 27 June 2020 in which he said, “When historians in future look back at the last six years to see how democracy has been destroyed in India even without a formal emergency ,they will particularly mark the role of the Supreme Court in this destruction , and more particularly the role of the last four Chief Justices of India.”

In the second tweet on 29 June Bhushan put out a photograph of the Chief Justice of India, S.A. Bobde sitting on a motorcycle and said “CJI rides Rs.50 lakh motorcycle belonging to a BJP leader at Raj Bhawan, Nagpur without a mask or helmet, at a time when he keeps the SC in Lockdown mode denying citizens their fundamental right to access Justice”.

The Supreme Court held that the two tweets have the effect of destabilising the very foundation of this important pillar of Indian democracy. It took umbrage at Bhushan linking the Supreme Court to an Emergency like situation and held his tweets false, malicious and scandalous.

As pointed out by the Citizens for Democracy the tweets made by Prashant Bhushan were expressions of anguish felt by thousands of victimized citizens who are at the receiving end of state power and who cry for judicial protection. Holding him guilty and punishing him will in no way promote administration of justice or enhance the majesty of law.

What is the way out? In both the suo-motu contempt cases, as suggested by Justice (Rtd) Kurian Joseph, in view of the substantial questions of law on the interpretation of the Constitution of India and having serious repercussions on the fundamental rights, the matter is required to be heard by a Constitution Bench.  It should also deliberate, whether a person convicted by the Supreme Court of India in a suo-motu case should get an opportunity for an intra-court appeal since in all other situations of conviction in criminal matters, the convicted person is entitled to have a second opportunity by way of an appeal.

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The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product (GDP), the broadest measure of economic prosperity, fell in the second quarter by 20.4 per cent compared with the previous three months – the biggest quarterly decline since comparable records began in 1955.

After a decline of 2.2 per cent in the first quarter, the figures confirm the UK economy plunged into recession after the COVID-19 outbreak spread in March and the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to contain it. Economists consider two consecutive quarters of shrinking GDP as the technical definition of a recession.

After resisting the launch of lockdown controls until later than other countries around the world and relaxing them at a slower pace, the ONS said the UK had plunged into the deepest decline of any G7 nation in the second quarter.

Britain’s decline was more than double the 10.6 per cent fall in the US over the same period and also surpassed declines in France, Germany and Italy among G7 nations that have reported second-quarter figures so far. Canada and Japan have yet to publish second-quarter data but are not expected to record greater falls than Britain.

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Developing countries such as Venezuela are already in a state of stagnation due to lack of economic balancing. Venezuela’s economy has been hit hard by falling oil prices, which have forced the currency to depreciate. Venezuela has been going through a period of economic distress since 2016 due to high inflation and stagnant growth.

The potential for stagflation remains worldwide due to the impact that COVID-19 has had on the world economy. The situation in India is no different. The country’s Gross Domestic Production (GDP) is likely to move towards ‘negative growth’ in the current financial year. Various global agencies have predicted a recession of three to six per cent this year. In the 2020-21 fiscal, India will face a financial crisis, which IMF has projected at 4.5 per cent, Fitch at 5 per cent and Citigroup at 6 per cent.

Inflation is on the rise, along with a severe downturn in economic growth. Inflation has already reached 6 per cent. Inflation in June stood at 6.09 per cent. Normally, when economic growth slows down, inflation falls. This is because when growth stops, people spend less. At the same time, we are moving towards rising commodity prices despite declining consumption. This is due to the significant shortage of supply. Inflation in essential commodities, including food, has already been seen.

Supply was affected by low production due to COVID-19. The pandemic has adversely affected the global supply chain. Supply is also declining globally as the world moves towards a trade war with China, which was responsible for the global epidemic of COVID. Restrictions on the import of products from China due to the conflict on the Indian border have adversely affected the availability of cheaper products. Apart from import of products, India is dependent on China for most industries and production materials. Although some industries in India are trying to reduce their dependence on China in terms of production materials, it will take time to see the full effect. China has so far maintained its dominance in the global market by producing more than it needs and supplying cheaply. When China is banned for political and emotional reasons, we must pay the price.

When GDP falls by 6% and inflation rises by 6%, the gap between growth and inflation will be huge. People who are frustrated by the loss of jobs and the leakage of income caused by COVID-19 are also facing inflation. On the one hand, the income of the people is declining and on the other, the need to cut costs as much as possible due to inflation will have a major impact on the economy of our country based on consumption.

At such a juncture, the central government is increasing fuel prices exponentially, which is like pouring oil on fire. Rising fuel prices have led to a sharp rise in inflation. With the international price of crude oil is at $ 40 a barrel, the prices of petrol and diesel are ruling at the highest ever point. The price gap between diesel and petrol has narrowed sharply. The government is pursuing a policy of squeezing people through fuel taxes as other sources of revenue have depleted. The government would not have been able to exploit this product if it had included petrol and diesel in GST-exempt products. As fuel prices rise after the lockdown, the “contribution” from the government to the slowdown of the economy is complete. There does not appear to be any move on the part of the government to recover from the crisis. The warnings and advice of economists fall on the deaf ears of the government.

Another effect of stagflation is that actual savings rate is ‘negative’. SBI, currently the largest commercial bank in the country, offers a one-year fixed deposit rate of only 5.1 per cent. When this interest rate is slashed to 6.09 per cent inflation, the investor loses about one per cent. Investing is done to prevent the value of money from being eaten away by inflation. At the same time, when inflation reaches higher than interest rates, this purpose of investment is thwarted. One of the strange consequences of stagflation is that even when invested, the value of the money leaks out.

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Calling the measure ‘unlockdown’, Thackeray revealed that the primary focus of the government in the coming days will be strengthening the health infrastructure of Mumbai.

“I am not using the word lockdown. I call it ‘unlockdown’. Existing restrictions will be relaxed further. We are in the process of strengthening the health infrastructure in the Mumbai metropolitan region within a week. Our revised guidelines will be based on those prescribed by the ” said Thackeray.

However, Thackeray revealed that the central government will not grant permission to open restaurants, gymnasiums, and swimming pools as social distancing measures will be violated. He added that the decision to reopen the suburban train network will be decided by the railway board.

Thackeray also made it clear that more stringent measures will be adopted in the rural areas of the state to combat the sudden surge in coronavirus cases.

As per the latest statistics, there are more than 1.2 million coronavirus positive cases in India, and the death toll has crossed 30,000. Current trends indicate that the number of positive cases in the country will witness a dramatic rise in the coming days, as several states are easing lockdown measures to reopen economies.

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A four-month-long battle

During his 108-day stay in Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, Yehman underwent intubation for three times, and he had the longest stay of anyone to date at the LIJ.

In order to combat the ravaging effect of the virus, Yehman will be soon sent to a rehabilitation center. It should be noted that no other hospital in New York has treated more coronavirus patients than the LIJ, and the hospital staffs believe that Yehman’s discharge from the facility is undoubtedly a milestone achievement.

COVID-19 latest statistics

According to the latest statistics, coronavirus has already claimed the lives of more than 5,99,000 people worldwide, and the number of positive cases has already crossed 14 million.

In the United States alone, there are 3,770,012 coronavirus patients. At one point in time, the number of positive cases in the United States has witnessed a steady decline. However, over the past few days, the number of infected persons has risen drastically, and medical experts believe that strict lockdown measures should be imposed in the country to stop the trigger of probable chaos in the coming days.

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On his official Twitter handle, Modi said the 15-day lockdown will remain in force at all municipal, district, sub divisional and block headquarters level and that guidelines were being prepared.

“The government has taken a decision to this effect… Corona has neither any vaccine nor any medicine,” Modi said in a virtual rally, details of which were shared on his Twitter handle.

The move comes close on the heels of recent spike in positive cases which had necessitated lockdowns, imposed by the local administrations, in several districts.

According to reports, during the lockdown, emergency services, trains and flights will continue. Also local fruit and vegetable shops are likely to open once each in morning and evening. However, public transport services, shopping malls, and religious places like temples, across the state, will remain closed.

The government, reportedly, took this decision during a high-level meeting, which was called today to discuss further measures to curb the spread of the infection in the state.

On July 14, the government had extended lockdown in Nawada, Buxar and Supaul and announced fresh lockdown in Sitamarhi and Lakhisarai. With this, lockdown is now imposed in 20 districts across the state.

Several states, including Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Nagaland, have already announced lockdown till July 31. Uttar Pradesh government has announced lockdowns on all Saturdays and Sundays.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases in India continue to rise unabatedly with the tally crossing 9-lakh mark on Tuesday. The country recorded last 1 lakh cases in just three days. Meanwhile, the death toll is nearing 24,000 mark.

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The order, issued by State Chief Secretary R K Tiwari to the district and police administration on Friday, said the restrictions are being imposed to control the spread of covid-19 and communicable diseases like malaria, encephalitis, dengue.

Government and private offices, shops for non-essential items, malls and restaurants will be shut. Buses and other transport will be off the roads. The lockdown will be lifted at 5am on Monday.

The other exceptions will be factories in rural areas and work on roads-highways and expressways.

The government will allow incoming trains and the passengers will be able to use special buses to get home.

This is the first time the state government is going for a blanket lockdown since the Centre started lifting the restrictions in May. Earlier, the state had enforced extra restrictions in pockets and containment areas and sealed borders with Delhi at Ghaziabad and Noida.

Uttar Pradesh so far had more than 30,000 cases of coronavirus, of which more than 20,000 patients have recovered, 845 patients have died. Uttar Pradesh has one of the lowest rates of testing.

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In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mumbai police on Wednesday imposed section 144 prohibiting movement of one or more persons in public places or gathering of any sort anywhere, including religious places, subject to certain conditions. The Prohibitory order issued by Mumbai’s Deputy Police Commissioner Pranaya Ashok will remain in force till 15 July.

Further, the movement has been prohibited movement between 9.00 pm and 5.00 am, except for medical emergencies, emergency services, government agencies and their officials on duty, and establishments providing essential services. Any person violating this order will be punished under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.

At present, there are 28924 active COVID-19 cases and 44,170 patients recovered from the virus. The city has reported 57 deaths for the day.

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A 39 year old man, who died on Thursday under home quarantine, was confirmed negative for COVID-19. His body samples had been collected for medical examination. The deceased is Manjunath of Kanakkary, about 15km from Kottayam town. He had returned from Dubai on June 21 and was staying alone adhering to quarantine norms. Manjunath was found unconscious by his brother early on Thursday.

He was admitted to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital by evening and moved to the intensive care unit by night, but could not be saved.  His relatives alleged that there had been a delay of several hours in taking him to the hospital. Manjunath brother had gone to the house around 10 pm on Thursday with food. However, he grew suspicious after he noted that the food from the previous day had not been taken. He then found Manjunath unconscious inside the home.

Manjunath is survived by wife Gayathri, and children Shivani and Suryakiran.

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In light of rise in COVID-19 cases, Assam government decided to impose a complete lockdown in the entire Kamrup Metropolitan district in Assam. The lockdown will begin from the midnight of June 28 for the next 14 days, state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on June 26. Weekend curfew will be enforced in Assam’s urban areas.

A 12-hour night-curfew – between 7 pm and 7 am – will be observed across the state from June 26 onwards. Medical stores will continue to remain open during the lockdown, Everything else will be shut. The Government also reimposed fresh lockdown in Guwahati from June 28. Invoking the Disaster Management Act 2005, the government issued a fresh order clamping “Total Lockdown” in Guwahati.

Assam is the worst-affected states in the northeast, with over 6,600 cases of COVID-19 recorded already. This comes at a time when India’s COVID-19 toll crosses 17,000 in 24 hours this morning. This is the largest single-day spike reported in India.

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This was announced at a media briefing by Amna Al Dahak Al Shamsi,official spokesperson of the UAE Government;Dr Saif Dhaheri, the Spokesperson of the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA);and Dr. Farida Al Hosani, official spokesperson for the UAE health sector, while providing an update on the measures taken to reduce the pandemic impact.

702 recoveries, two deaths

Al Shamsi said that more than 44,291 additional Covid-19 tests were conducted among UAE citizens and residents, resulting in the detection of 450 new cases and taking the total number of infections in the country to 46,133.702 have fully recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to over 34,405. She said that of the 11,421 patients being treated, most are in stable condition.Two deaths as a result of Covid-19 complications were reported,taking the total number of fatalities in the country to 307.

Vaccine trials

Al Hosani said that the UAE health sector has started phase III of the clinical trials of a Covid-19 vaccine,as part of global collaborative efforts to curb the virus.”Medical research in the UAE focuses on three pillars:studies of pandemics, diagnostic studies and clinical trials, which include developing vaccines,” she said.She also said that the participation in the First Phase III Clinical Trial of Inactivated COVID-19 vaccine comes in through cooperation between the Chinese Sinopharm China National Biotec Group (CNBG) and Group 42 (G42). G42 will lead the clinical trial operations in the UAE.

“Clinical trials are led by the Department of Health to accelerate the process of developing an effective and safe Covid-19 vaccine. We hope to make it available by end of 2020 or earlier 2021.The vaccine succeeded in passing the first and second stages of the clinical trials without causing any harmful effects,”she said,adding that the percentage of volunteers who managed to generate antibodies two days after taking the vaccine reached 100%.Al Hosani pointed out that people with chronic diseases, include heart diseases, hypertension and respiratory illnesses face an increased risk of developing complications.”The higher risk groups also include people who smoke, are obese or have a weak immune system.”

Sterilisation complete

Al Dhaheri announced the completion of the National Disinfection Programme nationwide and the sterilisation of all utilities,including public transport. He added that sterilisation of public and private establishments will continue.”Children below 12 are now allowed to enter commercial centers and restaurants across emirates,”he said.

However,public gatherings will remain prohibited,and he advised the public to avoid family visits. He noted that it is compulsory to follow the three-passenger limit per vehicle unless the occupants are from the same family.Al Dhaheri warned that legal action will be taken against any violators of preventive measures.

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The world’s biggest lockdown forced 122 million people out of jobs in India in April 2020, according to estimates by Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

Employment plunged in April after the government imposed a 40-day lockdown in a nation of 1.3 billion people, forcing businesses to shut and pushing up the jobless rate to 27.1% in the week ended May 3, surveys by CMIE showed.

Daily wage workers and those employed by small businesses have taken a massive blow, according to CMIE. These include hawkers, roadside vendors, workers employed in the construction industry and many who eke out a living by pushing handcarts to rickshaws.

The estimates of India’s job losses are more than four times the 30 million Americans who’ve filed for unemployment benefits over six weeks. The data could get worse in India with the lockdown extended in many areas, the CMIE warned.

The government began easing restrictions in some areas in the mid week of May, resulting in violence and chaos as liquor stores reopened and transport resumed for migrant workers stranded during the lockdown.

The economic crisis will be one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biggest tests.

The CMIE figures show more people are also looking for jobs amid the downturn. The labor participation rate rose to 36.2% in the week ended May 3 from 35.4% previously.

The last official unemployment figures from the government, released in May 2019, estimated the unemployment rate at 6.1% in the year to June 2018.

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