NEWS

Covid-19 cases continued to surge in Kerala as the state recorded 17,518 new cases on Friday, the highest in 50 days.

In the last seven days, the southern state has seen a 14% spike in coronavirus cases. Rising numbers in Kerala as well as the northeast again took India’s daily tally close to 40,000 on Friday, a day after the country had posted less than 35,000 fresh cases in the aftermath of the Eid festival.

There were 37,871 cases reported in India on Friday, with Assam's numbers yet to come in till close to midnight. The day’s death toll from the virus stood at 525, with Assam’s toll not known. Meanwhile, there were positive indications of a faster fall in Covid numbers in Maharashtra, where cases have virtually plateaued over the past four weeks or so.

Declaring that no child will languish without parental care in Uttar Pradesh as his government will act as the guardian to every such child in the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, along with Governor Anandi Ben Patel, launched the ‘Uttar Pradesh Mukhyamantri Bal Sewa Yojna’ on Thursday.

The state government came up with the scheme for children orphaned by the Covid-19 pandemic. At the launch of the initiative on Thursday, an amount of Rs 12,000 for the first quarter was digitally transferred to the bank accounts of 4,050 such children. Also, under the scheme, tablets and laptops were provided to the eligible children.

Former Gujarat MLA Dhiru Gajera, who had jumped ship from the BJP to the Congress 14 years ago, will rejoin the saffron party in the presence of state unit chief CR Patil on July 24 at the party's Surat headquarters.

Gajera had rebelled against then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and left the party to join Congress in 2007. Some 30 Patidars (Patels), including Dhiru Gajera, had severed ties with the BJP and contested assembly elections as Congress candidates.

A three-term BJP MLA, Gajera had contested Gujarat assembly polls from Surat but had lost to a candidate from the saffron party. He now admits that he, as well as the other Gujarat BJP members who had rebelled, had been unsuccessful at the hustings after they switched allegiance to the Congress.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday chaired an emergency meeting to review the flood situation in Ratnagiri and Raigad districts in Konkan following torrential rains. Thackeray instructed the disaster management units and other concerned agencies to be vigilant and carry out rescue operations.

During the meeting, Thackeray said that the India Meteorological Department has issued red and orange alerts, which means extremely heavy rainfall, for the next three days for the Konkan coast.

“Water levels in the rivers are rising constantly. So, people residing in nearby areas are advised to take adequate precautions and cooperate with the administration. Alternative arrangements should be made for Covid-19 patients,” said Thackeray.