NEWS

National aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on Tuesday issued an order allowing foreign-registered Boeing 737 Max aircraft, banned in India since 2019, to fly over India after taking its permission.

“Moreover, foreign lessors are allowed to fly their grounded 737 Max aircraft out of India after taking the regulator’s permission,” the DGCA said in its order, adding that it would issue “special flight permits” to fly 737 Max plane “to a base for storage, repairs, alterations or maintenance”.

In 2019, the central government grounded all Boeing 737 Max planes in the country following the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max plane on March 10 near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, wherein 157 people were killed, including four Indians.

Jharkhand government on Tuesday announced a week-long lockdown, from April 22 to April-29, named Swasthya Suraksha Saptah, in a bid to break the chain of Covid-19 spread in the state. The restrictions will come into effect from 6 am on Thursday till 6 am on April 29, the officials said.

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren said, “It has become very necessary to break the chain of soaring infection of coronavirus in the state. So, we have taken some important decisions in this regard. I hope we will be successful to break the chain of the virus through ‘Swasthya Suraksha Saptah’.”

Giving details of the fresh restrictions, CM Soren said barring shops of essential commodities, all other shops would be shut during the period. All offices will remain close excluding the central and state government offices and some identified offices of the private sector.

Religious places will be opened but devotees would not be allowed there. Residents have been asked not to venture out of their homes, excluding those who hold permits. Not more than four people can assemble in a place.

Asking the Modi government for immediate intervention, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia warned on Tuesday that major private hospitals will run out of oxygen within the next 12 hours. “It will be a disaster if that happens,” he said while taking the information on Twitter.

Sisodia claimed that the Delhi government has been asking the Centre to increase its quota of medical oxygen supply. “We have been writing to the Centre for a week. If the city doesn’t get ample supply by the morning, the situation will go haywire,” he said.

The senior AAP leader who is appointed as nodal minister to manage the Covid-19 situation in Delhi shared a list of at least 18 major government and private hospitals whose Oxygen supply will be out of stock within the next 12 hours. The list includes names such as Lok Nayak, Sir Ganga Ram, DDU, Batra, Holy Family, Max Patparganj etc.

India’s daily news cases are showing a rising trend. 2,59,170 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours.

Ten states including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan report 77.67% of the new cases.

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 58,924. It is followed by Uttar Pradesh with 28,211 while Delhi reported 23,686 new cases.

Twenty states are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases.