Amid spiralling cases of coronavirus across Assam, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal appealed to citizens to religiously follow COVID protocols to avoid another statewide lockdown. Addressing the media in Guwahati, CM Sonowal said, directives have already been issued till April 30. Citizens are requested to strictly follow the COVID protocols. The government is not in favour of a lockdown, however, if the situation deteriorates, then a lockdown may have to be considered. As of April 23, the state has a recorded 2,384 fresh Covid cases, pushing the active tally to 12,595.
In a major development in the ONGC employees abduction case, two abductees have been rescued in Nagaland's Mon area on Friday night.On Tuesday, three ONGC employees were abducted by ULFA-(I) from an ONGC rig site at Lakwa field in Sivasagar district.As per initial reports, in a joint operation conducted by the Indian Army and Assam Rifles troops rescued the two employees last night.The rescued employees have been identified as Alakesh Saikia and Mohini Mohan Gogoi. Reportedly, the rescued employees have been kept in the Assam Rifles headquarters in Mon. Besides the employees, an AK 47 rifles has also been recovered. The operation is underway to rescue Retul Saikia.
Mizoram capital Aizawl will soon be on the railway map in the next two years. The foundation stone of the Sairang-Bairabi broad gauge line was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2014. As per a PTI report, construction of the 51.38 km long stretch of the broad gauge railway line between Sairang and Bairabi on the Mizoram-Assam border is expected to be completed by December 2023. Sairang is about 20 km from Aizawl. A Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) official said on Friday to PTI that the rail work is in underway and almost all tenders have been finalised. He said that 89.55 per cent of earthwork, 37 per cent of major bridges and about 73.26 per cent of minor bridges have been completed. While, twenty one per cent of the construction of cut and cover tunnels has also been completed, he said.
Six patients died at a private hospital in Punjab's Amritsar on Saturday due to the shortage of oxygen, hospital authorities said. Five of the six patients were infected with COVID-19, PTI reported. "Despite the district administration being repeatedly asked to extend help, no one turned up to do the needful," Sunil Devgan, the chairman and managing director of Neelkant hospital, was quoted as saying to PTI. "Six patients, including two women, died due to the shortage of oxygen," he said. After the death of patients, merely five oxygen cylinders were supplied to the hospital and no district official could be reached, the report said. The hospital chairman also claimed that three main oxygen suppliers have said that government hospitals are being prioritised in terms of oxygen supply, the report added.
In a tragic incident, two persons were killed, while 13 have been injured in a road accident in Dhubri on Saturday morning. The accident took place after a head-on collision between a truck and bus at Agomoni. As per reports, a speeding bus carrying marriage attenders crashed into a standing stone loaded truck. The deceased have been identified as Pankaj Roy from Kokrajhar and Dhanjit Roy from Golakganj. The injured have been admitted to Dhubri Civil Hospital. Reportedly, at least eight travellers are in a critical condition.
The Assam state government has issued a revised discharged protocol for COVID-19 patients of the state. The revised discharged protocol is aligned with the guidelines on the 3 tire COVID facilities and the categorization of the patient based on clinical severity as per the Revised Protocol for Management of COVID-19 vide Government Notification No. HLA.274/2020/ 127, Dated: 7th April,2021.
Eminent Litterateur Homen Borgohain has tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. He was diagnosed with mild symptoms. The litterateur has reportedly been admitted to Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH). As per a media report, Borgohain took both first and second doses of Covid19 vaccine.
Assam singer Zublee Baruah has tested positive for COVID-19, she informed on her social media handle. She said she is having mild symptoms and advised those who came in contact with her in the last 6-7 days to get themselves tested. "I have been tested COVID 19 positive. Didn't realy have definite symptoms, just a lil cold, also as I had perfomed among a huge crowd, so tested just to be sure, moreover didn't at all wanted to infect anybody. I am fine as off now. Feeling a lil weak though, with a mild headache since morning. All those who have met me in last 6/7 days please get yourself tested. So friends please take all precautionary measures & stay protected. Anyone anytime can be infected, just didn't panic, get yourself tested & do the needful. Need your blessings to recover,"Baruah posted on twitter.
After two out of three ONGC employees were rescued late Friday, the United Liberation Front of Assam-Independent (ULFA-I) on Saturday issued a statement saying that all three employees were handed over to villagers of Totokchingnyu in Nagaland amidst concerns for their safety. It reiterated that the third employee, Ritul Saikia, may have been killed in crossfire or the army is hiding him. "Since the security forces have not said anything about the fate of the third person, we suspect that he was either killed or kept hidden by the security forces deliberately," the statement said. The outfit said that on Friday night, over 500 Indian army personnel, Assam Rifles, and police encircled them and had exchanged fire intermittently through the night.
The Indian Army on Saturday announced that 384 persons have been rescued who were trapped or stranded after a glacier burst occurred on Friday evening in Sumna, Neeti Valley near the India-China border in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. 8 bodies have been recovered as well. Meanwhile, search operations are still underway. "384 BRO persons moved to safety. Eight snow trapped bodies recovered from the two BRO Camps. Six critically injured being evacuated. Air sorties are being attempted to assist medical evacuation. Rescue operations by Army continue unabated," a faction of Indian Army, Surya Command said.In another tweet, it informed, "A BRO (Border Roads Organisation) Camp came under an avalanche in the afternoon of 23 Apr during heavy snowfall in Sumna area of Joshimath Sector in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. While 55 BRO persons could be mustered at first count, blizzard conditions kept rescue operations at bay till late evening."
Assam on Saturday reported 2,236 fresh cases of COVID-19, pushing the active cases tally to 14,198. Also, 14 coronavirus related deaths were recorded today. The new cases were detected out of 69,094 conducted in the last 24 hours, of which Kamrup Metro recorded 815 cases, Kamrup Rural at 196, Nagaon at 123 and Dibrugarh at 115. Today's cases positivity rate was 3.24 per cent. Meanwhile, 619 patients were discharged today. With a recovery rate of 92.90 per cent, the state has 2,18,958 recoveries.The deaths have been reported from Kamrup Metro (3), Dibrugarh (2), Hojai (2), Jorhat (2), Kamrup Rural (2), Barpeta (1), Sonitpur (1) and Tinsukia (1). The total fatalities in the state touched 1,186.
Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana was sworn in as the 48th Chief Justice of India on Saturday by President Ram Nath Kovind. Justice Ramana took the oath at a brief ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhawan in the presence of Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. He has succeeded Justice SA Bobde. He was elevated as the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court in September 2013. and Supreme Court of India in February 2014 as a judge and will retire on 26 August 2022. Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana was born on August 27, 1957, in an in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna District. He has done B.Sc. and Bachelor of Law and enrolled as a lawyer on February 10, 1983. His specialisation lies in Constitutional, Criminal, Service and Inter-State River laws. He was appointed as a Permanent Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on June 27, 2000. He functioned as Acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court from March 10, 2013, to May 20, 2013.
As many as 25 people succumbed to COVID-19 last night in Delhi's Jaipur Golden Hospital due to shortage of medical oxygen, a national media outlet reported. Highlighting the disastrous second wave of the virus, Dr DK Baluja, Director of the hospital said, ""We had been allotted 3.5 metric tonnes of oxygen from the government. The supply was to reach us by 5 in the evening, but it reached around midnight. By then, 25 patients had died." He added that over 200 COVID patients currently admitted at the hospital are critical and in dire need of oxygen. In view of the same, the hospital has now moved Delhi High court for assistance. "There is big human tragedy coming in next few minutes in our hospital. We have already lost 25 lives. We are gasping for oxygen. We have our Doctors before you. Please save lives. Please," Jaipur Golden Hospital said in its plea.
Two BJP MLAs from Uttar Pradesh have died of COVID-19 on Friday. Ramesh Diwaker, BJP MLA from Auraiya constituency, has passed away while undergoing treatment in Meerut. He tested positive few days before finally succumbing to the virus on Friday. On the other hand, senior BJP leader and MLA from Lucknow West, Suresh Srivastava, died on Friday evening after undergoing treatment for about a week. Meanwhile, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Defence minister Rajnath Singh expressed grief and extended condolences to their families.
In an untoward incident, around seven persons died after consuming hand sanitizers as they could not avail alcohol due to stricter restrictions imposed in view of the COVID-19 situation in Maharasthra. The incident took place in Vani village in Yavatmal district. "The matter is being investigated. All of them were labourers. They consumed hand sanitiser when they couldn't get alcohol," Sub Divisional Officer Anjay Pujalwar told a news agency. Maharashtra is one the worst COVID-hit states in the country with over 50,000 cases daily for many weeks. India reported 3,46,786 fresh COVID cases in the last 24 hours.
