In the poll-bound West Bengal, polling for the Fifth Phase of Assembly Elections is progressing smoothly. The polling, which begat at 7.00 A.M., will be conducted till 6.30 P.M. in the 45 Assembly Constituencies spread over six districts going to polls today.

The state is witnessing eight-phase elections. Polling is also being held simultaneously for the By-Elections of two Lok Sabha seats including Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and Belgaum in Karnataka along with 12 Assembly Constituencies spread over nine states. The average voter turnout registered till 11.30 am in different states.

Peaceful polling is on in Darjeeling district. Senior officials confirmed that no untoward incident has been reported so far. A  total of 104 candidates including 12 women are in the fray in the  3 districts of North Bengal in this phase.The districts are – Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri.

Over 18 lakh voters can exercise their voting rights at Jalpaiguri district while Kalimpong has 1.75 lakh voters. Over 12 lakh voters could vote at Darjeeling district. There are a total of 1 thousand 719 polling booths at Darjeeling district. 481 micro observers have  been deployed at Darjeeling district.Nearly 900 booths have been covered by web casting facilities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the people to vote in large numbers in today’s fifth phase of West Bengal elections. He said the first time voters in particular should exercise their franchise. Mr Modi added that there are by-polls taking place in different parts of the country and asked voters in the seats to vote in record numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy.

All the necessary facilities and security arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair polling during this phase. The Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is being used along with Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) at every Polling Station, with a view to enhance the transparency and credibility of the election process and the availability of adequate number of EVMs and VVPATs has already been ensured for the smooth conduct of elections.

In view of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic, the option of Postal Ballot facility has been extended to the electors who are COVID- 19 positive or suspect as certified by competent authority and are in home or institutional quarantine along with those marked as Persons with Disabilities (PwD) and above the age of 80 years. It has also been ensured that every Polling Station is equipped with Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) like drinking water, waiting shed, toilet with water facility, adequate arrangements for lighting, ramp of appropriate gradient for the   Persons with Disabilities.

The special facilities include mandatory sanitization of Polling Station, thermal checking of voters at entry point either by polling staff or paramedical staff or an Asha worker. If temperature is above the set norms of Health Ministry, then the elector will be provided with token and asked to come for voting at the last hour of poll. At the last hour of poll, such electors will be facilitated for voting, strictly following COVID-19 related preventive measures.        

The Commission has deployed 853 companies of Central Armed Police Forces in West Bengal for the Fifth Phase as compared to that in the previous phase. In the previous phase, 789 companies were deployed for 44 Assembly constituencies. The Election Commission sources said that out of these, 283 companies are deployed only in 24 Parganas district. It is intended to prevent recurrence of any untoward incident like Cooch Behar.

In West Bengal, the polling process is already over in respect of 135 out of total 294 Assembly seats in the earlier four phases. The state is witnessing eight-phase elections. During the Fifth Phase of State Assembly Elections, total 319 candidates including 39 women are vying for the 45 Assembly seats spread over six districts.

In West Bengal, total 319 candidates including 39 women are vying for the 45 Assembly seats during the Fifth Phase of State Assembly Elections. Over 1.13 crore voters including 56.11 lakh women and 224 Third Gender persons will decide the fate of these candidates.

In all, 15,789 Polling Stations have been set up for this purpose. Bharatiya Janata Party is contesting for all the 45 seats while ruling AITC is contesting 42 seats. Congress, Left parties and their alliance partner Indian Secular Front are fighting under the banner of Sanyukta Morcha. BSP has fielded 32 candidates, CPI (M) has 25, Congress – 11, AIFB – two, RSP, NPP and CPI one each while there are 83 independents along with 76 others are also in the fray.

The prominent candidates participating in this phase include State Ministers Goutam Deb from Dabgram-Fulbari, Tapas Roy from Baranagar, Bratya Basu from Dumdum and Siddiqullah Chowdhury from Monteswar along with Sujit Bose and former Mayor and BJP candidate Sabyasachi Dutta from Bidhanagar seat.

AITC Chief Whip Nirmal Ghosh from Panihati, Former Ministers Madan Mitra from Kamarhati, Bankim Chandra Ghosh from Chakdaha and Asoke Bhattachrya from Siliguri, Congress leader Sukhbilash Berma from Jalpaiguri, BJP leader Shamik Bhattachrya and singer and AITC candidate Aditi Munshi from Rajarhat-Gopalpur are also in the fray.

Besides, sitting BJP MP Jagannath Sarkar from Shantipur, former MP Dr. Tapas Mondal from Krishnaganj and former CPI (M) MP Alakesh Das from Haringhata along with actor Chiranjeet Chakrobarty from Barasat are also trying their luck.

Polling is also being held simultaneously for the By-Elections of two Lok Sabha seats including Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh and Belgaum in Karnataka along with 12 Assembly Constituencies spread over nine states. The ACs going in for the By-Polls include three in Rajasthan, two in Karnataka and one each in Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Telangana and Uttarakhand. There are 151 candidates in the fray for 12 Assembly seats indicating largely multi-cornered contests.

Polling is going on peacefully amid tight security for 32 seats of three districts in South Bengal in this phase. Polling has began at 7am this morning for 16 seats of North 24 Parganas and 8seats each of Nadia and Purba Bardhaman. Voters have been standing in long queues since early morning, hours before the polling started, to cast their votes.

In wake of the surge in Covid cases throughout West Bengal, particularly in North 24parganas, wearing masks and maintaining safe distancing along with other covid protocols are being scrupulously followed in all the booths.

Indian Ambassador to Russia, Bala Venkatesh Varma has said that the first batch of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V will be delivered to India in April. Venkatesh said that the volume of vaccine production in India will be gradually increasing and may exceed 50 million doses per month.
 
Russian Deputy Envoy to India Roman Babushkin had on Wednesday said that Sputnik vaccine emergency use approval by India will open up a new dimension in the special partnership. Russia’s Sputnik V got approval from the Subject expert committee (SEC) for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA), making it the third COVID-19 vaccine to get clearance in India. India has become the 60th country to authorise the use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus. The vaccine is now approved in countries with a total population of 3 billion, or 40 per cent of the world’s population.

In Odisha, all urban areas will be under night curfew from tomorrow.While the ten border districts will face night curfew from 6 in the evening to 5 in the morning, urban centres of the rest twenty districts will have curfew from 9 pm to 5 am. The increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the state has necessitated the government to extend the night curfew to all the Municipal and NAC areas of the state besides imposing weekend shut downs in the ten border districts. AIR correspondent reports that in a series of steps to upend the viral growth in the state that has reported about 3,000 positive cases in the last 24 hours only, the state government has put a ban on all sorts of congregations across the state. Besides, people entering Odisha will now have to produce RT PCR negative report obtained within 72 hours of entry or a final dose vaccination certificate to avoid 7 days’ home or institutional isolation.
 
Collectors have been asked to increase the number of rapid response teams to monitor home isolation cases in their respective districts and to involve the Panchayati Raj Institutions to contain the virus in rural areas. Meanwhile, the state administered a little over 154000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the eligible beneficiaries amid a significant surge in its active caseload that now stands at 14621.

Amidst the rapidly surging Covid crisis, Chhattisgarh Government has invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). AIR correspondent reports that Chhattisgarh government has issued an order invoking the ESMA after taking stock of the Covid situation,. According to an order issued by the state home department, now the refusal to work in essential services has been prohibited.  This order will be applicable on doctors, nurses and other health workers in all government and private health institutions as well as on workers involved in sanitation.
 
Refusal for work in sale, manufacturing and transportation of medical equipment, medicines and drugs, operation of ambulance services, water and power supply services will also be prohibited. Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Government has made it mandatory for all passengers entering the state by air or railways to carry negative RTPCR report that is not older than 72 hours.

Centre has asked states and Union Territories to undertake publicity and awareness activity and sensitize the public at large to address their concerns to mitigate panic buying of essential supplies. They have also been asked to set up a helpline for consumers to enable them to register for redressal by the public authorities on issues of maintaining essential supplies. In a letter to principal Secretaries of all the States and UTs,  Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution directed  to constitute joint teams of food and civil supplies, legal metrology, food safety, health and police for effective surveillance and enforcement activities to avoid a situation of demand supply mismatch, hoarding and exorbitant pricing of essential supplies.
 
The states have also been asked to keep operations of grocery stores, pharmacists and grocery warehouses outside the restrictions to ensure smooth supply in the wake of the prevailing COVID19 situation.  They have been told to ensure that prices of all essential supplies are not increased and are available at fair prices unless necessitated by cost enhancement due to raw material costs.

Union Health Ministry has said that 100 new Hospitals in the country will have their own Oxygen plant under Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund. The decision was taken at a meeting of Empowered Group 2 (EG2) which was held yesterday to review the availability of essential medical equipment and oxygen during COVID.
 
The Ministry said, Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plants manufacture oxygen and help hospitals become self-sufficient in their requirement for medical oxygen. It said, 162 PSA plants sanctioned under PM-CARES are being closely reviewed for early completion of 100 percent of the plants to enhance self-generation of oxygen in hospitals especially in remote areas. The Empowered Group 2 has directed the Health Ministry to identify 100 hospitals in far flung locations for consideration of sanction for installation of PSA plants.
 
The Health Ministry in a statement said that Medical oxygen is a critical component in the treatment of COVID affected patients and there has been increasing demand for medical oxygen, especially from the 12 states with high burden of active COVID cases. These States are Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The Ministry added that sources of medical oxygen and their production capacity was mapped to match the requirement of states and an indicative framework has been developed to guide the states.
 
It said, accordingly, 4 thousand 880 Metri Tonnes, 5 thousand 619 Metric Tonnes and 6 thousand 593 Metric Tonnes have been indicated to these 12 states for meeting their projected demand as on 20th April, 25th April and 30th April.  AIR correspondent reports that, in view of increasing demand for medical oxygen, the Empowered Group has also decided to float a tender for import of 50 thousand Metric Tonnes of medical oxygen. The Health Ministry has been directed to finalise the tender. It has also been asked  to explore possible sources for import identified by the missions of Ministry of External Affairs. The Empowered Group 2 is monitoring the situation of demand and supply of medical oxygen continuously to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to support the uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen.

The Delhi government has stepped up its efforts to deal with the unprecedented rise in Covid-19 cases in the national capital. The Delhi government has imposed weekend curfew in the Capital city which will begin at 10 PM this Friday and will last till 6 AM Monday morning.

Briefing media in the capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today informed that Malls, Gymnasiums, Spas will remain completely closed in the city whereas Cinema Halls have been directed to function at 30 per cent of their capacity. He also assured the citizens that the situation in the city is under control and urged people not to insist for admission into any particular hospital during this time of pandemic.  

The Delhi government has also directed hospitals to increase the number of beds designated for covid patients. The Chief Minister today reviewed the Covid situation in a meeting with the lieutenant governor of Delhi and Health Minister. AIR correspondent reports, The rapid rise in Covid -19 cases has prompted the Delhi government to further intensify its efforts to curb the spread of the infectious disease.  

Delhi government has decided to impose weekend curfew in the national capital. Curfew passes will be given to people working under essential services and to other people for special needs.

Following today’s meeting, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that more than 5000 hospital beds are still available in the capital. Moreover, hospitals have been instructed to futher increase the bed capacities for covid patients by attaching nearby banquet halls and hotels.

Corona cases are increasing rapidly in the country. The rapid rise in the Covid-19 cases has increased the active caseloads in the several States and Union Territories. As a result, the recovery rate is continuously declining in India. However, the vaccination drive is progressing smoothly in the various parts of the country.

The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has informed today that over eleven crore forty four lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to the beneficiaries so far. In the 24 hours, over 33 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been inoculated to the beneficiaries.

The Ministry further informed that a record number of over two lakh new cases have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours. With this, cumulative positive cases crossed one crore forty lakh mark. This is the first time when the country has registered over two lakh new cases in a single day since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has said, there are more than fourteen lakh seventy one thousand active cases in the country which comprises 10.45 per cent of the total positive cases. In the last 24 hours, a total of one thousand thirty-eight deaths have been reported in the country taking the toll to over one lakh seventy-three thousand across the country.

Amid the rising new cases, the recovery rate has further declined to 88.31 per cent. The Ministry informed that more than 93 thousand people have recovered from the coronavirus infection within 24 hours. So far, more than one crore twenty-four lakh patients have already been recovered from this infectious disease in the country.

Corona cases are increasing rapidly in the country. The rapid rise in the Covid-19 cases has increased the active caseloads in the several States and Union Territories. As a result, the recovery rate is continuously declining in India. However, the vaccination drive is progressing smoothly in the various parts of the country.

The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has informed today that over eleven crore forty four lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to the beneficiaries so far. In the 24 hours, over 33 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been inoculated to the beneficiaries.

The Ministry further informed that a record number of over two lakh new cases have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours. With this, cumulative positive cases crossed one crore forty lakh mark. This is the first time when the country has registered over two lakh new cases in a single day since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has said, there are more than fourteen lakh seventy one thousand active cases in the country which comprises 10.45 per cent of the total positive cases. In the last 24 hours, a total of one thousand thirty-eight deaths have been reported in the country taking the toll to over one lakh seventy-three thousand across the country.

Amid the rising new cases, the recovery rate has further declined to 88.31 per cent. The Ministry informed that more than 93 thousand people have recovered from the coronavirus infection within 24 hours. So far, more than one crore twenty-four lakh patients have already been recovered from this infectious disease in the country

India has been scaling multiple peaks in its effort to vaccinate vulnerable sections of its population against the COVID-19 virus. The clarion call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of observing a four-day special vaccination drive in the form of ‘Tika Utsav’ culminated yesterday with over 1 crore 28 lakh vaccine doses administered to eligible beneficiaries.

AIR respondent reports, Tika Utsav saw many Workplace Vaccination Centres (CVCs) operational across the private and public workplaces. In a span of four days, the nation also witnessed remarkable scaling up of number of functional COVID vaccination centres. With the mantra given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to achieve complete utilisation of resources, nearly 20 thousand additional vaccination centres on an average were made functional in addition to the existing 45 thousand centres.

The vaccination programme which earlier recorded lower turnouts on weekends witnessed heavy footfalls even on Sundays where on the first day of the special vaccination drive more than 27 lakh doses were administered.  

With over 33 lakh doses of vaccine being administered yesterday, three states in the country namely Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have till now given more than 1 crore doses to eligible beneficiaries.

Amid the growing demands of medical oxygen in the country, the government has assured that sufficient stocks of oxygen are available in the country. The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has informed that the present oxygen stocks are more than 50 thousand metric tonnes in the country.

It also informed that the country’s daily production capacity of oxygen is more than seven thousand metric tonnes and the production capacity has further scaled up. The Central Government has asked the States to make rational use of medical oxygen and avoid wastage to fulfil the growing demands.

Empowered Group has also initiated action to ensure the sufficient availability of medical oxygen. The government assured that the surplus oxygen available with the steel plants is also being utilized as per the need. States have also been asked to set up Control Rooms to ensure smooth supply of oxygen to the districts.

The government has initiated several measures to ensure supply of medical oxygen to various affected states. Steps have been taken to increase production of medical oxygen, utilization of the surplus stocks available with steel plants and mapping the requirements of states with oxygen sources.

Mapping of the surplus sources with States that have greater need for oxygen such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, is being finalised in consultation with the manufacturers, States and other stakeholders.

Ministry of Civil Aviation has finalized an air bubble agreement with Sri Lanka. In a tweet, the ministry said, all eligible passengers will be able to travel between the two countries in the near future. Sri Lanka has become sixth country in the SAARC region to enter such agreement with India.

With this, India now has such pacts with 28 countries, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, Iraq, Japan, the Maldives, Nigeria, Qatar, UAE, UK and US.
Scheduled international flights have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, FIVE terrorists were gunned down by security forces in south Kashmir since last evening in two separate encounters that had broken out between security forces and terrorists at Hadipora Shopian and Semthan in Bijbehara area of Anantnag district.

Police said that three terrorists of Al-Badr terror outfit were killed in Hadipora Shopian encounter whereas in Semthan Bijbehara, two terrorists who were responsible for killing an Army Jawan two days back were neutralised today.

Arms and ammunition have also been recovered from the possession of the slain terrorists.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said that in the Shopian encounter, a joint team of security forces and parents made efforts and appealed to the newly recruited terrorist to surrender but other terrorists didn’t allow him to surrender.

The encounter at Hadipora Shopian and in Semthan Bijbehara area in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district had started yesterday evening after terrorists fired upon the security forces who were launching Cordon and Search Operations based on specific intelligence input about the presence of terrorists in these areas.

Campaigning is in full swing for the fifth phase of assembly elections in West Bengal. Top leaders of various political parties are criss-crossing the poll-bound constituencies in the state.

Senior BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah is holding rallies and road shows in Nadia and North 24 Pargana districts today while Dilip Ghosh, Mithun Chakraborty and Shubhendu Adhikari are campaigning at Bardhaman, Kolkata, North 24 Parganas as well as in North Dinajpur and Jalpaiguri.

Trinamool Congress leader Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is holding public meetings at Jalpaiguri and a road show at East Bardhaman as Abhishek Banerjee is attending rallies at Nadia and North 24 Parganas.

Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachhan is scheduled to hold a road show at Kolkata this afternoon. On the other hand, leaders of Sanyukta Morcha are also scheduled to take part in rallies together in Kolkata today.

Delhi government has banned all social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious, festival related and other gatherings and congregations till 30th April.

As per order issued by Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) funeral and last rites related gatherings are allowed upto 20 persons. Marriage related gatherings are allowed upto 50 persons. The order said that the restaurants and bars are allowed upto 50 per cent of the seating capacity.

The cinemas, theatres, multiplexes will be permitted to open with up to 50 per cent of seating capacity. In addition, swimming pools in the national capital will remain closed except for training of sportspersons participating in national, global events. The order said, Delhi Metro, DTC and Intra-State movement of buses will be permitted to run at not more than 50 per cent of the capacity.

The authorities also added that colleges, coaching institutions will remain closed in Delhi in view of the rising cases. Students of classes 9 to 12 may be called to school only for academic guidance and support for mid-term exams, pre-board exams and annual exams or board exams with the consent of parents.

According to the order, it will be mandatory for people travelling by air from Maharashtra to Delhi to carry a negative RT-PCR test done 72 hours prior to arrival. The passengers who are found without a negative report will have to remain quarantine for 14 days.

All Government offices of NCT of Delhi, Autonomous bodies, PSUs, Corporations and Local Bodies will function with officers of the level of Grade-I, equivalent and above to the extent of 100 per cent strength. The remaining staff will attend upto 50 per cent as per requirement.

In view of rising Covid-19 cases in the National Capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has urged everyone to wear a mask including the people who have taken the vaccine against coronavirus and follow Covid protocols. Briefing media Mr Kejriwal said today that Delhi has registered a single-highest day spike of 10 thousand 732 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Terming the present situation of Covid-19 in the city worrisome, he urged people to stay at home as far as possible. The Chief Minister said, Delhi Government has imposed some fresh restrictions limiting the capacity of cinema halls, restaurants, buses. He said, Government is not in favour of lockdown, but imposed the restrictions as there was no other option. Mr Kejriwal said, lockdown is not a solution to fight coronavirus and it should only be imposed if the hospital system collapses. He requested the Centre to remove age restrictions on vaccination saying 65 percent of patients are below 45 years of age.