India

Mumbai, Apr 22 (PTI) As much as 1,600 metric tons of unexploded ordnance was disposed of by the Southern Command of the Indian Army to help civilian authorities in Mumbai and several other locations, a defence release said on Thursday.

In Mumbai alone, over 800 tons of Unidentified Explosive Objects (UXO) with explosive content of over two thousand kg of RDX/ TNT was disposed of.

New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) The Indian Navy on Thursday deployed a deep submergence rescue vessel to support the Indonesian Navy's hunt for an attack submarine that went missing with 53 people on board.

According to Indonesian authorities, the KRI Nanggala-402, a German-made submarine, went missing during a military exercise around the Bali Strait on Wednesday.

Dehradun, Apr 22 (PTI) Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Om Prakash has been infected with the novel coronavirus infection for the last 10 days, his doctors said on Thursday.

Keeping this in view, the official has advised all employees who came into contact with him during the period to undergo COVID-19 test, his personal assistant M L Uniyal said.

Agartala, Apr 22 (PTI) At least 31 COVID-19 patients, who were being treated in a temporary care centre here, have escaped from the facility, following which the Tripura Police launched a massive search operation, an official said on Thursday.

All the coronavirus-positive patients, who fled the COVID care centre at Panchayat Raj Training Institute (PRTI) in Arundhatinagar area on Wednesday night, are residents of other states, Sadar Subdivisional Police Officer Anirban Das said.

Chennai, April 22 (PTI) The Madras High Court was on Thursday informed by the Tamil Nadu government that the state had sufficient stocks of oxygen and Remdesivir vaccines and that the 'assigment' of life-saving gas to neighbouring states will not affect its position.

There was no shortage of Remdesivir vaccine, used in COVID-19 treatment, ventilators or oxygen cylinders in the state, Advocate General Vijay Narayan told the first bench of the Madras High Court, which took up the matter on its own.

New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) Noting that COVID safety norms were being flouted in West Bengal during campaigning, the Election Commission on Thursday banned road shows and vehicle rallies in the state with immediate effect and said no public meeting having more than 500 people would be allowed.

The order said the commission has noted "with anguish" that many political parties and candidates are still not adhering to the prescribed safety norms during the public gatherings.

The orders will come into force from 7 pm on Thursday.

Bengaluru, Apr 22 (PTI) Karnataka registered another biggest single day spike of 25,795 new cases of COVID-19, and 123 related fatalities on Thursday, taking the total number of infections to 12,47,997 and the death toll to 13,885, the Health department said.

The state had previously reported its biggest single day spike of 23,558 cases on Wednesday.

A total of over 2,41,79,169 samples have been tested so far, of which 1,62,534 were tested today.

Bengaluru Urban accounted for 15,244 new infections.

Pune, Apr 22 (PTI) Renowned Sanskrit scholar Pandit Ghulam Dastagir Birajdar died at Solapur in Maharashtra on Thursday afternoon following a brief illness, family sources said.

Dastagir, 87, had in-depth knowledge of Hindu scriptures including the Vedas and had translated several books from Hindi and Urdu into Sanskrit.

He had received several awards including the national teachers' award of the Union government.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari condoled his death.

Noida (UP), Apr 22 (PTI) Two private hospitals in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar with around 600 COVID-19 patients on Thursday said they were facing a shortage of oxygen supply and they did not have enough to last them till the next day.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued late in the night, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Deepak Ohri said admissions to such private hospitals where the number of beds has been increased but suppliers have not been able to provide oxygen as per contract have been "put on hold" for the time being.

Jammu, Apr 22 (PTI) The Jammu district administration on Thursday declared five areas micro-containment zones (MCZs) and made it mandatory for residents to get themselves tested for COVID-19, officials said.

Action, including the filing of an FIR, will be taken against anyone refusing to undergo the test, they said.