India

NEW DELHI, May 6 (Xinhua) -- India's COVID-19 tally surpassed 21 million on Thursday as 412,262 new cases were registered across the country in the past 24 hours, said federal health ministry.

This is the second time this month that over 400,000 cases have been registered in a single day.

Besides, as many as 3,980 deaths, maximum so far, took place in the country since Wednesday morning, taking the total death toll to 230,168, added the health ministry.

Bengaluru, May 5 (PTI) The Congress in Karnataka on Wednesday flayed the BJP for 'communalising' the hospital bed scam, pertaining to 'blocking' the beds in fake names for COVID-19 patients on payment of exorbitant amounts.

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya had on Tuesday alleged that hospitals in the city 'blocked' at least 4,065 beds in fake names to make a killing at a time when COVID-19 cases were rising in the country and Karnataka.

New Delhi, May 5(PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Wednesday said the city is not getting enough vaccines, and reiterated if doses are made available in time his government could vaccinate everyone here within three months.

He also said the Delhi government will decide about extending the ongoing lockdown in the city depending on the number of Covid-19 cases.

Right now the citizens of Delhi themselves want this lockdown to continue to stop the spread of this virus, he said after visiting a vaccination centre at Radha Soami Satsang Beas in Rajendra Nagar.

New Delhi, May 5 (PTI) Coronavirus patients with mild symptoms requiring oxygen support can now contact auto-ambulances for reaching a hospital as 10 such modified three-wheelers were launched in Delhi.

Launched by AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in association with TYCIA Foundation on Tuesday, these autorickshaw-turned-ambulances are equipped with an oxygen cylidner and a sanitiser, a statement said.

Their drivers wear PPE kits.

Lucknow, May 5 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh BJP Joint general secretary (organisation) Bhavani Singh died of Covid-19 on Wednesday, party leaders said.

He was 54.

BJP leaders in the state said Singh had tested positive for the virus a few days ago and was admitted to the SGPGI in Lucknow.

But after his condition deteriorated there, he was rushed to a Hyderabad hospital by an air ambulance on Monday, where he died on Wednesday, they said.

Kolkata, May 5 (PTI) A day after triggering a row by tweeting that some "politically stupid" actor-turned-BJP candidates were fielded by the party only to concede electoral defeat in the West Bengal assembly polls, veteran BJP leader Tathagata Roy on Wednesday said "unwanted elements" (benojal) from TMC were inducted into the saffron party ahead of the assembly polls.

Also leaders having no idea or understanding of Bengali culture and heritage helmed the election campaign, Roy told reporters here.

06 May 2021; MEMO: Around 300 top officials have attended a 90-minute-long virtual workshop titled Effective Communications and was aimed at helping them “create a positive image of the government”.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s government, facing calls for a strict lockdown to slow a devastating surge in coronavirus infections, was ordered by the Supreme Court on Wednesday to submit a plan to meet New Delhi hospitals’ oxygen needs within a day.

The court decided against immediately punishing officials for failing to end a 2-week-old erratic supply of oxygen to overstretched hospitals.

“Ultimately putting officers in jail or hauling officers for contempt will not bring oxygen. Please tell us steps to solve this,” Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud said.

Lucknow; 06 May 2021 (UMMN): Based on the results that have been declared, and the leads where counting is in progress, BJP is facing a humiliating defeat UP Panchayat Polls.

BJP seem to have managed to get only 918 out of 3050 panchayat seats – less than one third.

Bhopal, May 5 (PTI) Senior BJP leader and a key man behind the party's mega events in Madhya Pradesh, Vijesh Lunawat died following cardiac arrest at a hospital here on Wednesday, family sources said.

Lunawat (55) had not been well for quite some time and had recently tested positive for COVID-19, they said.

The BJP leader is survived by his wife and two daughters.