Newsletter 20 March

Top 5 News

1- Latest updates on the COVID-19 crisis in India and other parts of the world
2- Global Condition

Coronavirus Cases: 245,916
Deaths: 10,048
Recovered: 88,465

ACTIVE CASES 147,403
Currently Infected Patients 140,018 (95%)
in Mild Condition: 7,385 (5%)
Serious or Critical

CLOSED CASES: 98,513
Cases which had an outcome: 88,465 (90%)
Recovered / Discharged: 10,048 (10%)

National

Finally, 4 convicts of Nirbhaya Gang Raped hanged

Nirbhaya Zindabad! Citizens celebrated hanging of 2012 Delhi gang-rape convicts outside Tihar Jail.

Justice was served at last to 23-year-old Nirbhaya who was gang-raped in Delhi on Dec 16, 2012, as the four convicts were hanged to death at the Tihar Jail.

At 5.30 am on Fri, the four convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case were hanged to death at the Tihar Jail, after a legal battle of around 7 yrs 3 months.

While the hanging of the four men was celebrated by Nirbhaya’s parents and family, it also brought joy to the citizens of India who were shocked at the brutality of the incident and staged several protests, demanding strict laws against persons who attack the modesty of a woman.

Looking the people’s anger, Govt constituted Justice Verma Committee was to recommend amendments to the Criminal Law so as to provide for quicker trial and enhanced punishment for criminals accused of committing sexual assault against women. The Committee submitted its report on Jan 23, 2013

Kamal Nath has submitted his resignation to Madhya Pradesh Governor Lalji Tandon

His letter states “All that has happened in Madhya Pradesh in the last two weeks is a new chapter in the weakening of democratic principles.”

MP Assembly Speaker: I had accepted 16 resignations last night. Now I have also accepted resignation of Sharad Kol (BJP MLA).

He had earlier said that he was forcefully made to resign but after looking at his documents and that he didn’t meet me personally, it didn’t seem like that.

Corona Virus Update

Meghalaya Government decides to impose restriction on movement of public transport, to close all shops, market and establishments with

effect from midnight of March 20, 2020, to midnight of March 21, 2020
To prevent the spread of COVID19, #Ladakh Administration orders that no commercial flights landing at Leh shall carry in-bound passengers other than residents of Ladakh, civilian officers and officers of uniformed forces serving in Ladakh.
In view of the prevailing situation, we are closing down all malls (except grocery, pharmacy and vegetable shops in them): CM, Arvind Kejriwal
Complete Lockdown in Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur announced in Maharashtra.
Indian Council of Medical Research: A total of 206 individuals have been confirmed positive among suspected cases and contacts of known positive cases. A total of 14,376 samples from 13,486 individuals have tested for COVID19 as on 20th March, 10am.
18 companies, including International and Indian companies, have got the test license from Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) to do COVID19 diagnostic tests in the country.
All International Flights cancelled at any airport in India.

Central government has approached Supreme Court challenging Kerala High Court’s yesterday’s order directing banks, financial institutions, income tax dept, and GST authorities to defer recovery proceedings or coercive measures till Apr 6 in the state, in the light of #coronavirus

Foreign Secretary HV Shringla today participated in a telephonic conference call initiated by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun for discussions among some countries in the Indo-Pacific region on issues related to countering COVID-19.

Shringla briefed the participants on the proactive steps taken by India both nationally and in the region. He conveyed India’s desire to regularly share its perspectives with partners in the region and to work together with others to counter this challenge.

The teleconference included senior representatives from Australia, the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand, and Japan. The participants shared their assessments of the current situation with respect to COVID-19, and discussed ways to synergize their efforts to counter its spread.

Meanwhile, Sun Weidong, Chinese Ambassador to India: China will hold a video conference with more than 10 countries in the Eurasian and South Asia on prevention and control of #Covid-19 today. China will support and assist its friendly neighbors in the spirit of solidarity amid adversity.

“Many unnecessary things were said during the speech. There was no specific direction. Why curfew for one day? It could have been for more days. (The PM) Could have thought about a lockdown as well. I didn’t find any prominent strategy of the government in the speech,” Choudhury said.

International

Fact check: Trump wrongly claims FDA 'approved' drug chloroquine to treat the coronavirus-CNN

President Donald Trump claimed during a White House briefing on Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration had approved the “very powerful” drug chloroquine to treat coronavirus.

Chloroquine has not been approved by the FDA to treat the coronavirus — and nor has any other drug, the FDA made clear in a post-briefing statement that said “there are no FDA-approved therapeutics or drugs to treat, cure or prevent COVID-19.” Because chloroquine has been approved for other purposes, doctors are legally allowed to prescribe it for the unapproved or “off-label” use of treating the coronavirus if they want. But its safety and effectiveness has not been proven with regard to the coronavirus. FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, speaking after Trump at the briefing, said that chloroquine would be tested through a “large, pragmatic clinical trial” with coronavirus patients.