Rahul Gandhi takes a dig at Narendra Modi for pre-poll lies

New Delhi, May 24: India witnessed the biggest ever spike of 6,767 positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 1,31,868, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As many as 147 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 3,867.
Out of the total number of cases, 73,560 are active and 54,440 have been cured/discharged and one migrated.

Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state with 47,190 COVID-19 cases. It is followed by Tamil Nadu (15,512), Gujarat (13,664), and Delhi (12,910).

The nationwide lockdown imposed as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 has been extended till May 31.

Mumbai, Jun 3: With an expected increase in wind conditions up to 120 kilometres, cyclone Nisarga is likely to make landfall on the north coast of Maharashtra later today, as per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday.

"Wind conditions will further increase up to 100-110 gusting to 120 kmph as conditions are favourable for intensification. The higher sea surface temperature and low vertical wind shear favoured the intensification of severe cyclonic circulation," said IMD in a series of tweets.

Explaining the nature of wind speed, IMD further tweeted, "Eye diameter is about 65 km as observed through Radar. thus the diameter has decreased during past 01 hours indicating intensification of the system. hence wind speed has increased from 85-95 kmph to 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph."

Several National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed across Maharashtra to ensure preparedness for the impending cyclone. A total of eight teams have been deployed in Mumbai, five teams in Raigad, two teams in Palghar, Thane, and Ratnagiri and one team in Sindhudurg, said NDRF.

Besides, five NDRF teams were airlifted by IL-76 from Vijaywada for Mumbai on June 2, as per the Indian Air Force (IAF)

"Around 60 per cent of people, from the coastal areas around this area, have gone to their relatives' places. The remaining ones have been sent to the evacuation centre. We have also taken into account the COVID-19 guidelines and ensured social distancing," NDRF officer Shiv Parada Rao, deployed with his team in the Dahanu area, spoke to ANI.

"From the information we have received cyclone Nisarga is likely to hit here by tonight. The exact time is not confirmed yet. We are taking all preparedness measures to tackle the situation," he added.

NDRF teams also conducted evacuation in Alibaug during the early hours on Wednesday morning, as per NDRF Director General SN Pradhan.

As per the 5 am bulletin released by IMD, cyclone Nisarga was heading towards north Maharashtra coast at a speed of 11 kmph. It was about 200 km South -SouthWest of Alibag and about 250 km south-southwest of Mumbai at 2.30 AM today, stated the bulletin.

Kochi, Apr 24: The central government on Thursday submitted a statement in the Kerala High Court on the three petitions challenging the contract between Kerala government and US-based data analytics company Sprinklr.

Assistant Solicitor General P Vijayakumar filed the statement on behalf of the central government, which is the second respondent in the case.

The statement said that the contract between the Kerala government and Sprinklr dilutes the rights of the people. It stated the contract does not specify the amount of compensation that individuals should receive in case of breach of privacy or misuse of information.

It also said that it was not clear whether the information was collected and handed over to the data analytics firm with full consent of the patients (suspected and otherwise).

''It is always preferable to utilise the services available in the government sector for sharing sensitive data required for analytical purposes.

The Government of India has introduced the 'Aarogya Setu' application for collection of health data and about seven crore Indian citizens have already downloaded the same. All the state governments are advised to promote the said application for fighting the pandemic," the statement said.

It was further submitted that the "Government of India with the support of NIC is capable of providing all the requirements relating to data storage, processing and application which are being offered the third respondent, if a request to that effect comes from the state government."

Kerala Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and BJP state president K Surendran had earlier approached the Kerala High Court seeking cancellation of the state government's agreement with Sprinklr for processing of data related to COVID-19 patients.