19 murder convicts granted parole before Youth Cong leader Shuaib’s murder

New Delhi, Apr 27: Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has said the monthlong ongoing lockdown has yielded positive results and that the country has managed to save “thousands of lives”.

Modi, who had a videoconference with various heads of the states on Monday, said the impact of the coronavirus, however, will remain visible in the coming months, according to a press statement released by his office. On the issue of getting back Indians who are overseas, the Prime Minister said that this has to be done keeping in mind the fact that they don’t get inconvenienced and their families are not under any risk.

During the meeting with state heads, Modi advocated for social distancing of at least 6 feet and the use of face masks as a rapid response to tackle COVID-19.

He said that states should put their efforts of converting hotspots, or red zones, into “orange and thereafter green zones”.

India last week eased the lockdown by allowing shops to reopen and manufacturing and farming activities to resume in rural areas to help millions of poor, daily-wage earners. But the economic costs of the nationwide lockdown continue to mount in a country of 1.3 billion people.

Modi, who put India under a strict lockdown on March 25, did not say if the lockdown restrictions will extend after May 3.

India has confirmed over 27,000 cases of the coronavirus, including 872 deaths.

Mangaluru, Mar 9: A person who arrived at the airport in Mangaluru from Dubai and was admitted to the isolation ward of a hospital with symptoms of coronavirus has gone missing, sources said.

The patient, who arrived on Sunday, was shifted to the district Wenlock hospital with a high fever and a few symptoms of coronavirus.

He reportedly argued with the hospital staff late in the night that he had not contracted the virus and left the hospital saying he will take treatment in a private hospital.

The hospital health officer called up the police and a high alert has been sounded in coastal districts to locate the person who has 'escaped' from the hospital.

Dakshina Kannada district health officer Sikandar Pasha had earlier said the patient will be kept under observation for 24 hours and will be discharged after routine tests.

The district health department on Monday lodged a complaint with the Mangaluru police station and investigation is on.

New Delhi, Mar 21: The Indian Railways has cancelled all train services on Sunday in view of the Janata Curfew called by prime minister Narendra Modi. All mail and express trains will stop services from 4 am to 10 pm on Sunday while all suburban train services will be reduced to a bare minimum.

Around 1,300 long-distance, mail express services will also stand cancelled in light of the curfew to bat Covid-19. These long distance trains will remain cancelled between 4 am to 10 pm on Sunday.

All passenger trains originating between the midnight of Saturday-Sunday will not be run till 10 pm, Sunday, a railway ministry official said.

However, the passenger train services already on run at 7 am on the day will be allowed to run to the destinations, a railway ministry circular to zonal railways issued on Friday said.

The Indian Railways operates around 9,000 passenger trains and 3,500 mail express services each day.

“We have sent a directive to all zonal railways, and they will get back with the total number of train services affected, by Saturday afternoon,” an official ET spoke with, said.

In his address to the nation on Thursday, the Prime Minister called for a ‘janta curfew’ between 7 am to 9 pm on Sunday, in a social-distancing drive amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Passengers alighting at enroute stations from trains already on run, and desirous of staying at the station, may be accommodated in the waiting rooms at railway stations, without overcrowding them, the circular said.

The ministry has advised zonal railways to arrange for hassle-free refund to passengers affected because of cancelled trains, while regulating train services on Sunday.

Meanwhile, to contain the spread of Covid-19, all the food plazas, jan aahar stalls have been advised to be shut until further notice by IRCTC.

The on-board catering services in mail express trains are to be closed until further advice, while static units supplying meals to prepaid trains in operation, will continue to function.