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Tag: India

  • Railway coaches converted to COVID-19 centres as hospitals run out of beds

    Railway coaches converted to COVID-19 centres as hospitals run out of beds

    India’s government says it will provide 500 railway coaches to be converted into COVID-19 care centers as the nation’s capital is fast running out of hospital beds.

    “There should be infrastructure, there is need to be beds, patients are not being looked after, this is a deplorable state of affairs,’’ said a government official on Monday.

    New Delhi is fast running out of hospital beds amid a surge in coronavirus cases and is struggling to contain the pandemic.

    This is coming after critics said the nation did too little to prepare and reopened shopping malls and temples too soon.

    Some families of people infected with COVID-19 have complained about having to hunt for beds for their relatives after hospitals turned them away in New Delhi.

    Others said patients had been left unattended to in corridors of government-run hospitals, while local media reports of dead bodies in a hospital lobby prompted the Supreme Court to order the state administration to get its act together.

    “I don’t think we expected that cases would rise this much,’’ said a lawmaker of the Aam Aadmi party that runs the capital, who asked not to be named. “We were so over-confident.’’

    The office of New Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the city’s health authorities did not respond to requests for comment.

    Less than a month ago, Kejriwal said the city’s hospitals were well equipped to fight the virus as the lockdown had given authorities enough time to prepare.

    “Delhi will win, corona will lose,’’ he said.

    While Delhi had around 10,000 novel coronavirus cases at that time, the number had jumped to 41,000 on Monday.
    India’s total numbers stood at 332,424, with Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai fueling the rise in infections.

    Cases in the capital are set to surge. The government estimates it will have 550,000 COVID-19 cases by the end of July, around 13 times current numbers, and will require 150,000 beds by then.

    On Monday a government mobile app showed that of Delhi’s 9,940 COVID-19 beds, almost 5,500 were occupied.

    According to the app of the 108 private and public hospitals listed in the app, 25 had no beds available.

    Anant Bhan, an independent researcher of global health and bioethics, said opening temples and mosques was likely to make more people leave their homes and put lives at risk if proper social distancing protocols were not followed.

    The re-openings were decided nationally, but the state of Maharashtra where Mumbai is located, for example, kept restrictions in place to contain the outbreak.

    “They (Delhi authorities) probably under estimated the possibility of a rise of infection and its spread, or the models they used then did not seem to indicate the spread they are seeing now,’’ said Bhan.

    Following harsh words from the Supreme Court, India’s Federal Government said it would provide 500 railway coaches to be converted into COVID-19 care centers for the capital.

    “There should be infrastructure, there need to be beds, patients are not being looked after, this is a deplorable state of affairs,’’ said Justice M.R. Shah.

    The Delhi government has also been criticised for its contact tracing.

    The CEO of India’s NITI Aayog federal think tank said on Twitter that Delhi was tracing just two people for every COVID-19 positive case, compared with Bengaluru city in the south that was tracking 47 contacts for each patient.

    Poor resources are part of the problem.

    In a small government office atop a dispensary in the East Delhi district, home to 1.7 million of the capital’s 20 million people, only around 10 staff were coordinating tracing contacts when a Reuters reporter visited on Monday afternoon.

    As information about 200 new coronavirus cases trickled in, an official complained that the contact tracing teams were already stretched.

    “How will we deal with it when there are 400 cases?’’ the official said. “We will need help.’’

  • 269 Nigerians stranded in India arrive Lagos, Abuja

    269 Nigerians stranded in India arrive Lagos, Abuja

    The Nigerian in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), on Saturday, confirmed the arrival of 269 Nigerians that were stranded in India in Lagos and Abuja.
    The commission, who announced their arrival on its Twitter handle, said that the the 269 Nigerians arrived Nigeria at 2:00 a.m.
    NiDCOM said that evacuees were received from India at the Lagos and Abuja airports.
    ” 103 in Lagos and 166 in Abuja passages arrived today, Saturday, June 13, at about 2:00 a.m, after a few hours of delay.
    “All evacuees are now on compulsory 14 days Self Isolation according to the new Protocol, ” it said.
    It was gathered that 103 evacuees arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while 166 others landed at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.
  • Roundup: COVID-19 cases surpass 40,000 mark in India

    Roundup: COVID-19 cases surpass 40,000 mark in India

    The number of COVID-19 cases, the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, in India crossed 40,000 marks on Sunday evening.

    The death toll due to the pandemic meanwhile has reached 1,306.

    With 2,487 positive cases and 83 fatalities due to COVID-19 since Sunday morning, the total tally of the novel coronavirus cases has reached 40,263, while 1,306 people have lost their lives, India’s Federal Health Ministry said.

    Across the country, 10,887 patients have recovered so far, pushing the recovery rate at 27 per cent.

    According to top health research body — Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) — 1,046,450 samples have been tested until Sunday morning.

    A nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25 is underway in India to contain the pandemic.

    In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, life in India has come to a standstill, which badly hit economic activities.

    Sunday marks the 40th straight day of the ongoing lockdown likely to end on May 17.

    The government has divided the districts across the country into three zones — red, orange and green.

    The zone classification determines the severity of infection in the respective district and the kind of restrictions it has been placed under.

    Red zone means a hotspot, where the cases are increasing, orange zone refers to the place where no new cases are reported over the past two weeks and the green zone is the area where no case is reported since the past 21 days.

    “Health Minister, Harsh Vardhan, urged the people of India to observe the extended period of lockdown 3.0 (till May 17) in letter and spirit and treat it as an effective intervention to cut down the chain of transmission of COVID-19,’’ a statement issued by the health ministry said.

    Health experts said extending the lockdown postponed the spread of COVID-19 and the real challenge would be how to tackle the pandemic after restrictions are lifted.

    “I have been saying if more tests are carried out, more cases would add up.

    With lockdown, India only postpones the speed of spread of novel coronavirus,’’ renowned virologist T Jacob John, said.

    “The day lockdown is lifted, the spread will begin.

    “There will be more transmission, which would mean more cases and more deaths.’’

    A study carried out by local TV network Times Network, in partnership with global consulting firm Protiviti, has predicted the COVID-19 epidemic could peak in India by the middle of May and gradually peter out after that.

    According to the study, India could see the number of confirmed cases crossing 75,000 around May 22.

    The COVID-19 pandemic has led to economic devastation and millions of people, mostly migrant workers, losing their jobs in India.

    Many of the labourers have returned to their homes but others are stuck in cities waiting to return home.

    The federal government, with the cooperation of states, has begun the process of ferrying stranded passengers, mostly migrant workers and students, back home.

    On Friday, a special train brought 1,200 migrant workers from Telangana to Jharkhand amid the nationwide lockdown, officials said.

    Officials said the stranded passengers are first screened for symptoms and social distancing guidelines are strictly followed while making them board the trains.

    Thousands of migrant workers, students, businessmen and others had been left stranded in other states following the abrupt lockdown.

    With a halt on economic activity because of the lockdown, thousands were left without jobs, money, food or shelter.

    As per estimates, about 10 million migrant labourers are stranded across the country.

    With the suspension of passenger trains, the Railway Ministry only allows goods trains to ferry the supply of essentials.

    Meanwhile, the ongoing ban on domestic and international flight operations has been extended until May 17, in accordance with the continuation of the nationwide lockdown.

    Indian army, navy and air force on Sunday showed solidarity with the country’s medical staff fighting COVID-19 by a series of activities across the nation.

    The latest gesture by the armed forces is the third massive display of gratitude to health workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The first show of gratitude to health workers was called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging people to clap for COVID-19 warriors from their balconies.

    It was followed by a show of solidarity with turning off lights and lighting candles.

  • Sad! India returnee dies of coronavirus in Lagos

    Sad! India returnee dies of coronavirus in Lagos

    A 45-year-old Nigerian who returned from India has died of coronavirus-related complications in Lagos State.

    Lagos Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, made this known on his Twitter handle on Tuesday.

    He said, “No new case of #COVID19 was confirmed in Lagos on 20th April, 2020. However, #COVID19 related deaths were recorded in Lagos.

    “One of the deceased was a 45 years old Nigerian male who returned from India in January, 2020.”

     

  • AMAZING: Couple names twins after deadly Coronavirus

    AMAZING: Couple names twins after deadly Coronavirus

    An Indian couple has named their twins Covid and Corona, born on the intervening night of March 26-27 in Raipur in Chhattisgarh, as the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ravages the world.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) learnt that the twin babies, male and female, named Covid and Corona respectively, were born in Dr BR Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, but the 27-year-old mother of the twins, Preeti Verma has said it is likely they will change the names of the twins.

    “I was blessed with the twins – a boy and a girl – in the early hours on March 27. We have named them Covid (boy) and Corona (girl) for now. The delivery happened after facing several difficulties and therefore, my husband and me wanted to make the day memorable.

    “Indeed, the virus is dangerous and life-threatening but its outbreak made people focus on sanitation, hygiene and inculcate other good habits. Thus, we thought about these names. When the hospital staff also started calling the babies as Corona and Covid, we finally decided to name them after the pandemic,” mother of the twins told Press Time of India.

    Narrating how she was able to escape Indian police to reach the hospital for delivery, mother of the twins said, “On late night of March 26, I suddenly experienced severe labour pain and somehow my husband arranged an ambulance operated under 102 Mahtari Express service. As no vehicular movement was allowed on roads due to the lockdown, we were stopped by police at various places but they let us go after noticing my condition. I was wondering what would happen in the hospital as it was midnight, but fortunately doctors and other staff were very cooperative.

    Meanwhile, according to the Press Time of India, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the hospital, Shubhra Singh said, the mother and the newborns were discharged recently and are in good health.

    As soon as Verma reached the hospital with her husband, arrangements were made to perform a caesarean section on her as it was a complicated case, Singh said.

    “Within 45 minutes of their arrival, the delivery was done successfully,” the PRO said.

    The twins had become a centre of attraction in the hospital after the couple named them as Covid and Corona, Singh said.

  • COVID-19: Take cue from India, use hotels as isolation centres, Rep Abonta tells FG

    COVID-19: Take cue from India, use hotels as isolation centres, Rep Abonta tells FG

    The member representing Ukwa East, West of Abia State in the House of Representatives, Hon Uzoma Nkem-Abonta has advised the Federal Government to take a cue from India that used hotels as isolation centres.

    Nkem-Abonta in a telephone chat with TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) said India was proactive using all available resources to combat the COVID-19 scourge.

    The Abia born lawmaker said “in India hotels were vacated and turned into isolation centres and many countries have adopted same style. They converted their prisoners to producers of hand gloves and face masks, we can replicate it here since we have started to receive donations.

    “Evacuate relaxation centres and turn them into isolation centres as this will discourage people from hanging out. Ensure that the task force put in place adequately police all nooks and crannies of the country to make sure people stay at home.

    “As for the donations and other financial support so far I fervently pray that it does not go into private pockets, we should all work towards saving humanity. My clarion call to all those in the corridor of power is that we should all work towards saving humanity”.

  • Four men executed for gang rape, murder

    Four men executed for gang rape, murder

    Four men were executed on Friday for the brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman in the Indian capital in 2012.

    The men were hanged to death in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, a jail official confirmed.

    A lone hangman carried out the executions after courts rejected last-minute pleas by the convicts’ lawyers, with the hearings going till late Thursday night.

    “Our daughter has finally got justice, I thank the judiciary, the government,” the rape victim’s mother, Asha Devi, said outside the jail, where a large crowd gathered.

    They broke into cheers as news of the hanging was confirmed.

    The 23-year-old medical student was gang-raped and heavily injured on a moving bus in the Indian capital on Dec. 16, 2012, sparking mass protests and an international outcry.

    She died nearly two weeks later at a Singapore hospital.

    “It has been a long fight for justice. I dedicate this day to all daughters of this country, we will continue the battle,” Asha Devi added.

    Nirbhaya’s father Badrinath Singh said his family would be meeting lawyers to identify grey areas in the trial procedure that came up with this case and push to address them.

    The death warrants were issued for the first time on Jan. 7 and were deferred four times as lawyers used various legal options to delay the hangings.

    Nirbhaya – “fearless” in Hindi – was the name given by the media to the physiotherapy student by the Indian media as a rape victim cannot be named under Indian law.

    Six men, including one who was a juvenile at the time of the crime, were accused.

    Ram Singh, who was the bus driver and one of the perpetrators, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar jail at the beginning of the trial.

    The juvenile was let off in 2015 after three years in a reform home. This is the maximum punishment permissible for a juvenile.

    The others – Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh were sentenced to death by a trial court in 2013. This was upheld by higher courts.

    Mukesh Singh was bus driver Ram Singh’s brother and Akshay Thakur was his assistant. Vinay Sharma was a gym assistant and Pawan Gupta a fruit vendor.

    All of them lived in the Ravi Dass slum in south Delhi. They were aged between 20 and 30 at the time of the crime.

    According to jail procedures, the bodies are to be taken for post mortem and then handed over to their families.

    The jail authorities will make arrangements for cremation if relatives do not want the bodies, Tihar Jail spokesman Raj Kumar said earlier.

    A death sentence is very rare in India and the sentence being carried out is even more infrequent.

    Five men have been executed since 1995, three of them terrorists.

    Despite stricter laws and measures to increase security for women since the Delhi gang rape, a high number of such crimes continues to be reported in India.

    According to the latest government data available, 33,356 women and girls were raped in India in 2018.

    Activists say many more rapes go unreported.

  • India busts Nigerian-Afghan heroin cartel, arrest two Nigerians

    India busts Nigerian-Afghan heroin cartel, arrest two Nigerians

    India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has seized Afghan Heroin worth more than Rs 30 crore (about $4.2million) and arrested six persons, including two Nigerians who were part of an international drug smuggling syndicate, Asian News International (ANI) reported.

    The NCB in a press release on Friday did not identify the arrested Nigerians.

    They were arrested after an Afghan who was expecting heroin cargo in Delhi was arrested. He sang and led the NCB to the Nigerians.

    The first Nigerian arrested was arrested in Vasant Kunj area and a search of his house led to the recovery of 6.02 kilograms of heroin.

    The second Nigerian was arrested with 488 grams of heroin in the Uttam Nagar area.

    “The street value in the International drug market of the total seized contraband is more than Rs 30 crores,” the release read.

    “Sustained operation by Narcotics Control Bureau against drug menace with special emphasis on international drug syndicates has further achieved breakthrough resulting in busting an Afghan-Nigerian Heroin cartel which was being operated in New Delhi area,” the release read.

    The NCB acted on a tip-off from a reliable source, that one Afghan national was coming to New Delhi from Kandahar, following which security was beefed up at the international airport.

    “The alert NCB team also marked two more Afghan nationals whose movements were found suspicious. Though a search of their belongings yielded no contraband, but when they were subjected to medical examination, presence of foreign substance was revealed in their stomach. The three suspects were admitted to hospital and under medical supervision, a total of 253 pellets containing Afghan Heroin were recovered. The total weight of Heroin was found to be 1.8 kgs,” according to the release.

    “This successful operation is a result of increased focus of NCB on international drug networks, especially Afghan heroin supply network, who are working in collaboration with Nigerian drug traffickers,” the release added.

    The release added that India is a “transit country” for passing the drugs to other countries apart from being a market and therefore the syndicates are ceaselessly trying to smuggle heroin to India.

    “Further investigation in coordination with foreign authorities is being conducted to identify other persons involved in the illicit drug syndicate,” the release added.

  • JUST IN: 10 Nigerians escape from Indian jail

    JUST IN: 10 Nigerians escape from Indian jail

    Ten yet-to-be identified Nigerians detained in a prison in Noida, Uttar Pradesh in India have escaped from jail.
    Reports, according to India’s Business Standard, said the Nigerians who were detained by Gautam Buddh Nagar police broke jail on Thursday. However, some of them have been recaptured.
    Additional Director General of Police of Meerut zone, said “Some inmates escaped due to negligence of guard and some of them were later caught.Action being taken against staff whoever is responsible for it.”
    The Uttar Pradesh police on Wednesday detained as many as 60 foreigners who were reportedly living in India without valid travel documents or suspected to be involved in criminal activities.
    They were arrested in the course of “Operation Clean 10”, meant to catch foreign nationals living in the national capital region.

  • 56-year-old woman, daughter killed for practising witchcraft

    56-year-old woman, daughter killed for practising witchcraft

    An Indian woman and her daughter were beaten and hacked to death in eastern India for allegedly practising witchcraft, police said on Saturday.

    The killings took place in Jharkhand state’s West Singhbhum district on Thursday, senior police officer Anand Mohan Singh said.

    The 56-year-old woman, Malti Devi, was attacked by her neighbour, also a distant relative, who accused her of witchcraft and blamed her for deaths in his family, Singh said.

    “The woman recently performed some rituals at her place after which the suspect’s wife fell ill.

    He, along with two others brutally beat the women with wooden sticks and later hacked them using a sharp edged weapon,” Singh said.

    The police launched investigations after the victim’s husband, who was not home at the time of the murders, reported the crime to the local police station. The three suspects are still on the run.

    Some Indian states like Jharkhand have introduced a “Prevention of Witch Hunting Act” since 2000.

    However, incidents of torture and murders of women branded as witches are still reported, particularly from poor and rural regions of the country where superstitious beliefs are common.