Assam Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also the president of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) on Saturday was elected to the BWF council for the period 2021-25. Dr. Sarma, is also the Vice President of Badminton Asia, and fetched 236 votes in his favour as the 20 council members were elected from 31 contestants at the virtual AGM and Council election of Badminton World Federation (BWF). "I am thankful to all the member nations for voting in my favour and I take this opportunity to congratulate the BWF President as well as my fellow Council Members on their appointment," Dr. Sarma said after his election.
At least eight suspected DNLA militants were killed during a spate of violence between security forces and banned outfit along the Assam-Nagaland border in Karbi Anglong in the wee hours of Sunday morning. As per initial reports, six Dimasa National Liberation Army cadres were neutralised during the ambush in Misibailam village in Diphu. Later, the deaths of eight cadres were confirmed. Based on intelligence input, the Assam Police and Assam Rifles launched a massive operation to nab the militants. Further, large cache of arms and ammunition were recovered as well. ADGP GP Singh tweeted about the operation earlier today.
Amid a decline in the cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Assam, the total number of Covid-19 tests conducted in the state has crossed the 10 million (one crore) mark, said Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma. Informing the state on Sunday, Dr. Sarma tweeted that, "Assam achieved milestone of 10 million test for #COVID19" A total of 100,89,818 Covid tests have conducted since the outbreak of the pandemic. Sharing an infographic image on his personal Twitter handle, Dr. Sarma stated a detailed statistics of the tests conducted since last year. He also wrote, "Hard Work and Dedication of Corona Warriors, Policy of 'Test, Trace, Treat, and Vaccine', and strong resolve to give the best services to the people in need, we are putting our best efforts to reach out as many as possible".
The first oxygen supplying train for Assam has arrived at the Inland Container Depot at Amingaon in Kamrup on Sunday noon and Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said that its arrival bolsters the state government's confidence and oxygen stock in such a critical time indicating the ongoing second wave of the Covid pandemic. Dr. Sarma was present at the Amingaon Depot to receive the four containers carrying 80 tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen for patients battling the deadly contagion of COVID-19 in Assam and the other northeastern states. Dr. Sarma extended his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government, and the Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal for sending the LMO during such critical times. "We're indeed Grateful Hon PM Sri @narendramodi. On behalf of people of Assam, I express our sincere gratitude to the GOI for sending 80 MT medical #Oxygen through #OxygenExpress. This bolsters our confidence & our oxygen stock in a critical time. @PMOIndia @PiyushGoyal," Dr. Sarma tweeted.
Assam Police has launched helpline numbers for senior citizens in the state who are in need and living alone amidst the devastating second waved of COVID-19. This was informed by Director General of Police (DGP) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta on Twitter on Sunday. The helpline will be providing facilitation of movementof COVID vaccination during lockdown restrictions, if slot is booked. Personal visits can also be arranged through the helpline to check for well being if the citizen is alone and in need. The service however is not relatedto COVID-19 treatment, but aims facilitate essential supplies and medicines to them if not available locally. The requests can be sent through WhatsApp on – 6026900973, 6026900976 and 6026900968.
Former Arunachal Pradesh minister Dibang Tatak has passed away due to COVID-19 complications on Sunday morning. Tatak was admitted at the Dedicated Covid Hospital in Itanagar's Chimpu few days ago after testing positive for the virus. As per a report, Tatak was diabetic and also had heart ailments which deteriorated his health further. At the work front, Tatak represented Rumgong constituency for two terms. Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu took to twitter and condoled the demise of the former minister.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday called yoga guru Ramdev's statement on allopathic medicines "extremely unfortunate" and asked him to withdraw the remark, saying it disrespects "corona warriors" and can break the morale of healthcare workers. In a strongly worded letter to Ramdev, the minister also said that "through your statement you not only disrespected corona warriors but also deeply hurt the sentiments of countrymen". "Your statement on allopathy can break the morale of healthcare workers and weaken our fight against COVID-19," Vardhan said and added that doctors are fighting day and night to save people"s lives. Citing a video circulating on social media, the Indian Medical association on Saturday had said Ramdev has claimed that allopathy is a "stupid science" and medicines such as remdesivir, faviflu, and other drugs approved by the Drugs Controller General of India have failed to treat COVID-19 patients.
Amid the oxygen crisis, a consignment of 11 ISO tanks filled with Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) brought in by an Indian Navy vessel from Singapore was unloaded at Vishakhapatnam port on Sunday. The consignment was sourced by Indian Oil to tackle the oxygen shortage amid the second wave of COVID-19. Two more ISO tanks of LMO were also brought in by the same vessel, sourced by GAIL, and handled by Indian Oil, an official release said. It said that the entire consignment was sourced by Indian Oil from M/s BNF Singapore and filled at M/s Linde at Singapore. The ISO tanks have been taken on lease by Indian Oil to handle the supply and logistics of LMO in the fight against the COVID pandemic. The release further stated that the consignment was specifically brought in to meet the pressing demand for Medical Oxygen in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Two-time Olympic wrestler Sushil Kumar has been arrested by the Delhi Police on Sunday morning for his alleged involvement in the murder of a 23-year-old wrestler. Police were on the lookout for Sushil Kumar and they nabbed him in Mundka along with a co-accused Ajay. "A team of Special Cell SR led by Inspector Shivkumar, Inspector Karambir and supervised by ACP Attar Singh has arrested Sushil Kumar and Ajay from Mundka area of Delhi in connection with the killing of 23-year-old Sagar Rana at Chhatrasal Stadium. Wrestler Sushil Kumar has been arrested by a team of Special Cell," Neeraj Thakur, Special CP-Special Cell, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. According to several reports, police had state that Sushil Kumar and his associates assaulted Sagar Rana, 23, and his two friends on May 4 at Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi. All three were hospitalised. Rana later succumbed to his injuries.
Delhi in an attempt to contain the further spread of the deadly contagion – coronavirus- has extended its total lockdown by another week. The national capital's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday that the lockdown will be in place till May 31, and added that the lockdown process will be slow in order to keep a low positivity rate of the caseload. "We didn't know how long this wave would have lasted. But within a month, the people of Delhi cooperated. Delhi has fought the virus like a family… even when there was an oxygen emergency… now there is an acute vaccine shortage. But I believe we will find a solution to this too," he said. "Now the wave is weakening visibly. We haven't won yet but we may be taking control of the wave. In 24 hours, the positivity rate is below 2.5 per cent. At one point we were reported 28,000 cases daily (the positivity rate was around 35 per cent). Now in 24 hours we have reported 1,600 cases," Kejriwal said. The lockdown was declared last month as the Covid cases started an upward trend and reached numbers that healthcare system crippled and cost thousands of lives.
As frequent earthquakes continue to hit the Northeast region, yet another minor tremor of 4.3 magnitude has struck Ukhrul district in Manipur on Sunday morning. According to the data of National Center of Seismology (NCS), an earthquake of magnitude 4.3 with a depth of 109km took place on May 23, at 6.56 am. The location is 49km ESE of Ukhrul in Manipur. "Earthquake of Magnitude:4.3, Occurred on 23-05-2021, 06:56:42 IST, Lat: 24.79 & Long: 94.94, Depth: 109 Km ,Location: 49km ESE of Ukhrul, Manipur, India," NCS tweeted. Notably, on last Saturday evening, May 14, a similar 4.3 magnitude earthquake measuring 101 km depth and 55km east of Ukhrul. Earlier, this week several earthquakes are recorded in the neighbouring north eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Assam. Moderate tremors of 7.0 and 5.8 magnitudes were reported near Changlang and Pangin in Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh on Friday night, moreover, frequent aftershocks continued until Saturday morning.
Yoga guru Ramdev has landed himself in legal trouble for describing allopathy as a "stupid science" and stating that "lakhs of COVID patients died after taking allopathic medicines." Soon after the video went viral on social media, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Saturday demanded that the central government take strict action against the yoga guru for his remarks. His controversial statement has created a flutter in social media. The video circulating online shows Ramdev saying that medicines including remdesivir and fabiflu, approved by the Drugs Controller General of India, failed to treat Covid patients in India and have caused the deaths of lakhs of people. The IMA said his "unlearned comments" could mislead people in these trying times and stressed that the yoga guru should be prosecuted under the Epidemic Diseases Act because his "untutored" statements are "a threat to the literate society of the country as well as to the poor people falling prey to him."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday instructed disaster management agencies to evacuate those involved in off-shore activities while chairing a high-level meeting to review the preparedness of states and central government agencies to deal with the situation arising out of cyclone Yaas. The Prime Minister called for close coordination of central agents with states to ensure the safe evacuation of people from high-risk areas, and stressed the need to ensure that time duration of outages of power supply and communication network are minimum and restored swiftly, a PMO statement said. He also asked officials to ensure proper coordination and planning with state governments to ensure that no disruption is caused to COVID-19 treatment and vaccination in hospitals. Modi called for involving various stakeholders like coastal communities and industries and directly reaching out to them and sensitising them, the PMO said. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the cyclone is expected to cross West Bengal and north Odisha coasts by May 26 evening with the wind speed ranging 155-165 kmph and gusting to 185 kmph. It is likely to cause heavy rainfall and storm in the coastal districts of West Bengal and north Odisha.
A total of 59 monks in Sikkim's Gonjang Monastery have tested positive for COVID-19. The monastery has now been declared a containment zone after the detection of the COVID cases. To avoid further spread of the virus, the infected monks have been shifted to Saramsa Garden isolation center. The announcement was made by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate Robin Sewa, Gangtok. Located in Sikkim's Gangtok, Gongjang Monastery houses a large number of monks. It is also a tourist hotspot with many calling it serene and has a majestic view of the mountain ranges. Notably, Sikkim government had extended the ongoing lockdown by one week due to surging COVID-19 cases in the state. On Saturday, Sikkim logged 287 new cases of COVID-19 and one death. The active caseload in the state stood at 3,194, while the recoveries at 9,183.
