India

New Delhi, Apr 30 (PTI) Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said oxygen crisis still persists in the national capital and they grapple with an SOS situation every day.

Hospitals across the national capital and its suburbs have been grappling with oxygen shortage. Last week, several hospitals had sent out SOS messages about depleting oxygen supplies at their medical facilities and some hospitals had even lost patients due to the crisis situation.

Jammu, Apr 30 (PTI) Nine more districts in Jammu and Kashmir came under complete lockdown from Friday evening, while corona curfew in 11 districts entered the second day in view of the alarming surge in coronavirus cases, officials said.

Jammu and Kashmir on Friday recorded its biggest single-day spike of 3,532 COVID-19 cases and 30 deaths.

The curfew in Bandipora, Kupwara, Shopian, Rajouri, Poonch, Samba, Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts came into effect at 7 pm and would remain in force till 7 am on May 3, they said.

NEW DELHI, May 1 (Xinhua) -- India's COVID-19 tally reached 19,164,969 on Saturday, with a single day spike of 401,993 cases, the health ministry said.

This is the first time when over 400,000 new cases were recorded in India in 24 hours.

Besides, as many as 3,523 deaths since Friday morning took the total death toll to 211,853.

Itanagar, May 1 (PTI) The white-bellied heron, a rare and elusive bird, was spotted at Walong in the Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh, officials said on Saturday.

Walong is around 557 kilometers from the state capital.

The bird was spotted and photographed by Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Anjaw Santosh Kumar Reddy, Range Forest Officer Nosing Pul and scientist Dekbin Yonggam earlier this month.

Hyderabad, May 1 (PTI) A day after an inquiry was ordered into the land grabbing allegations levelled against Health Minister Etala Rajender, his portfolio was transferred to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday.

"On the advice of the Chief Minister of Telangana, the Honble Governor has approved the transfer of the Medical and Health and Family Welfare portfolio from Etala Rajender to the CM with immediate effect," an official communiqu said.

Now Rajender would remain a minister without any portfolio in KCR's cabinet.

Bengaluru, May 1 (PTI): Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Saturday said there is no proposal before the State government to impose a stringent lockdown though he admitted that at least three to four weeks of strict measures were required to contain the spread of the COVID-19.

"There is no proposal before the government to impose a complete lockdown. We want people to strictly follow the regulations," he told reporters in Kalaburagi.

He was reacting to a query on open defiance of lockdown at various places.

New Delhi, Apr 30 (PTI) Mauritius has joined an international initiative in extending support to India in its fight against a severe second wave of coronavirus pandemic that has swept through the country.

Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth said both the countries are united in the fight against COVID-19.

Mauritius has already sent a shipment of 200 oxygen concentrators.

"The Republic of Mauritius has donated 200 oxygen concentrators to help medical staff in India treat people suffering from the virus," he said.

New Delhi, Apr 30 (PTI) Two American military aircraft on Friday brought to India large amounts of emergency medical supplies as part of the Joe Biden administration's support to the country's fight against a devastating wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The first consignment of the supplies was brought to Delhi in a C-5M Super Galaxy, one of the largest strategic airlift aircraft of the US Air Force, while the second shipment was delivered by a C-17 Globemaster.

NEW DELHI (AP) — A fire in a COVID-19 hospital ward in western India killed 18 patients early Saturday, as the country grappling with the worst outbreak yet steps up a vaccination drive for all its adults even though some states say don’t have enough jabs.

India on Saturday set yet another daily global record with 401,993 new cases, taking its tally to more than 19.1 million. Another 3,523 people died in the past 24 hours, raising the overall fatalities to 211,853, according to the Health Ministry. Experts believe both figures are an undercount.

NEW DELHI (AP) — In hopes of taming a monstrous spike in COVID-19 infections, India opened vaccinations to all adults Saturday, launching a huge inoculation effort that was sure to tax the limits of the federal government, the country’s vaccine factories and the patience of its 1.4 billion people.