According to a bulletin released by the Health and Family Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu, 2,06,03,108 samples from the state have been tested till date.Chennai, Hyderabad Coronavirus News April 12, 13 Highlights: A total of 38 passengers who had returned to Tamil Nadu from UK and 20 of their primary contacts have tested positive for COVID-19 till date. A total of 4208 passengers had travelled to Tamil Nadu from UK between January 8 and April 12, of which 3578 have been tested. Among these, 14 have tested positive, 3551 have tested negative and the results of 13 passengers are awaited. While 37 primary cases and 20 contact cases have been discharged following, one passenger is currently under hospital isolation.
Tamil Nadu recorded 6711 positive cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the state tally to 9,40,145. Among these, Chennai reported 2105 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,67,181. The state recorded 19 deaths on Monday, putting the state toll at 12,927. Eighteen of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 2339 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 8,80,910.
The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) smartcards will soon be available in retail stores and restaurants across the city to make more passengers utilise the smart card system. CMRL is also planning to deploy their staff in stations to convince passengers to buy the smartcards.
“We have this idea, but we are not sure when we are going to implement it since the pandemic restrictions are in place. We will be giving out the smart cards to some of the outlets on a trial basis and based on the initial response, we will put this into effect across other restaurants and retail outlets in the city,” an official said.
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The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad, and Deakin University (Deakin), Australia, will offer a joint doctoral programme (JDP) in a wide range of subjects/disciplines. The subjects include materials and smart manufacturing; affordable healthcare; food, environment, and agriculture; artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science; cyber-physical systems; infrastructure, and energy.
As part of the academic agreement, candidates with BTech/ MTech degrees are eligible to apply for the JDP provided they meet the necessary entry requirements. The selection will be made through a joint interview process. Upon selection into the JDP programme, the candidates will be jointly supervised from day one by supervisors from both IIT Hyderabad and Deakin.
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People in Tamil Nadu are gearing up to celebrate Puthandu (Tamil for new year) on April 14, this year. Set with the lunisolar Hindu calendar’s solar cycle, it is the first day of the traditional Tamil new year and is a public holiday in Tamil Nadu as well as Sri Lanka. The new year begins with the first month of the Tamil solar calendar, Chittirai.
People in Tamil Nadu spend time with their families after they clean up the house, take part in prayers and start the day by making a visit to temples. They sit down to relish a lavish spread of delicious preparations in their best traditional clothes after having paid their respects to the elders in the family.
It is common to find people saying, ‘Puthandu Vazthukal’ to each on this day, which means Happy New Year. People sing devotional songs and also make pongal on this day and offer it in worship. Mangai-Pachadi is also prepared on this day.
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Supporting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, DMK president M K Stalin on Tuesday said the Election Commission must ensure a level playing field for all parties and maintain impartiality.
As Banerjee began a dharna in Kolkata to protest against the poll panel's decision barring her from campaigning for 24 hours, Stalin said 'faith in our democracy rests on free and fair elections.'
In a tweet, the DMK chief said the EC "must ensure a level playing field for all parties and candidates and ensure that impartiality and neutrality is maintained. # Mamata Banerjee." (PTI)
As per a list released by the Greater Chennai Corporation, there are 1,119 streets in Chennai with COVID-19 positive cases across the 15 zones. Among these zones, Teynampet (Zone 9) has 212 streets with positive cases, the most among all zones in the city. It is followed by Royapuram (Zone 5) which has 167 streets with positive cases. There are 1,870 active cases in Teynampet which is around 8 per cent of the total active cases across the zones in the city.
As per the directives of the state government, the civic body officials are setting up more fever camps. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in the later order asked the authorities to scale up the fever camps to 400 from the current 150-200. As many as 13 COVID care centers to be set up across the city with a capability to hold 11,775 beds by this month-end.
Apart from Identifying the containment areas, the civic body declared to announce the building as a mini containment area if more than five persons are found positive in that society. Any street with more than three cases is put under containment.
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A total of 9,82,247 people have been vaccinated in Chennai till April 12, with 30,868 people inoculated on Monday alone.
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) conducted 306 fever clinics in Chennai on Tuesday. A total of 21,456 people attended the clinics, with swabs collected from 394 people who were identified with ILI symptoms, while others were provided with medication for minor ailments.
The most number of camps were held in Tondiarpet (Zone 4) where 57 camps had been set up, while Manali (Zone 2) had the least with five camps.
Telangana saw 3,052 fresh coronavirus cases on Monday, pushing the aggregate to over 3.32 lakh, while the toll rose to 1,772 with seven related fatalities.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 406, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (301) and Nizamabad (279), a government bulletin said on Tuesday.
The total number of cases stood at 3,32,581 while with 778 patients being cured, the total recoveries were at 3,06,678. The state has 24,131 active cases and over 1.13 lakh samples were tested on Monday. Cumulatively, over 1.11 crore samples have been tested.
The samples tested per million population was over three lakh, the bulletin said.
The case fatality rate in the state was 0.53 per cent while the recovery rate in Telangana was 92.21 per cent. According to a separate release, over 19.79 lakh people in the state have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while over 3.09 lakh got their second shot also as of April 12. (PTI)
Despite the rise in Covid-19 cases, the shoot for superstar Rajinikanth-starrer Annaatthe is in full flow. The Sun Pictures recently shared a photo from the sets of the highly-anticipated film in which Rajinikanth could be seen sharing a laugh with filmmaker Siva.
The shared image’s caption read, “#Annaatthe from the shooting spot. @rajinikanth @directorsiva #Nayanthara @KeerthyOfficial @immancomposer.”
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As Covid-19 cases rise in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami Monday announced “aggressive” scaling-up of testing, setting a target of not less than 90,000 RT-PCR tests per day, where results should be declared within 24 hours. The CM also said that frontline workers and government employees should be administered the Covid-19 vaccine within the next two weeks.
An average close contact tracing of at least 25 to 30 persons per positive case should be conducted, the government has said. The aim is to bring the positivity rate under five.
To monitor the pandemic, a committee has been formed under the leadership of the Revenue and Disaster Management additional secretary. Each district is to have monitoring officers, and a special committee has been set up in all zones of the Greater Chennai Corporation.
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A group of villagers, mostly women, on Monday allegedly thrashed a forest beat officer after tying him to a tree following a dispute over 'Podu' cultivation, police said. The attack on the beat officer and two other officials took place in Bhadradri Kothagudem district of Telangana, the police said. The incident happened in a forest area where trenching was being taken up to protect the forest, they said.
A video showing some people, mostly women, arguing with some forest staff and tying one of them to a tree and allegedly beating him was broadcast by local TV channels. Police, after getting information about the attack, rushed to the spot and rescued the forest officials.
The group comprising around 25-30 villagers, mostly women, who claimed ownership of the land allegedly beat up the three officials when they visited the place to make arrangements as part of the district forest officer's (DFO's) proposed inspection of the site, the beat officer told TV channels. One group of villagers had reportedly agreed for the trenching work on their 'Podu' lands while another was opposed to it.
Based on a complaint by the forest staff, a case on charge of unlawful assembly, obstructing government officials from discharging their duty, confinement, criminal intimidation under relevant IPC sections has been registered against the group, a police official said.
Podu cultivation is a form of shifting cultivation using slash and burn methods. This has been a bone of contention with forest officials trying to enforce law in forest areas and those involved in such cultivation resisting it. (PTI)
A Nigerian was arrested for allegedly duping two people in Hyderabad to the tune of Rs 4.9 lakh under the guise of sending gifts after making friends with them on social media, police said on Monday.
The accused, who had come to India on a business visa in 2010 and was running a cloth business in Delhi, was arrested there on April 9. He was brought to Hyderabad on transit warrant, Rachakonda Commissioner of Police Mahesh M Bhagwat said.
He was held in connection with two cases registered during August 2020 wherein, he, after making friends with two people on social media, told them that he was sending them gifts such as a high-end phone, laptop among others through courier, the police said.
After impersonating as official from the Customs Department, he contacted the two and told them to pay for various charges to claim the gifts, they said. Believing this, the two deposited Rs 1,62,000 and Rs 3,29,700 respectively into the bank accounts furnished to them by the Nigerian and got cheated, they added. (PTI)
A total of 226 flights will be operated between Chennai and major cities today, with 112 arrivals and 114 departures scheduled at the Chennai International Airport today.
A total of 38 passengers who had returned to Tamil Nadu from UK and 20 of their primary contacts have tested positive for COVID-19 till date.
Among the 38 primary cases, nine cases were reported in Chennai, three each in Thanjavur and Nilgiris, five each in Maduria and Chengalpattu, seven in Trichy, two in Karur and one each in Theni, Nagapattinam, Coimbatore and Virudhunagar. Among the 20 contact cases, six were reported in Chennai, three in Thanjavur, two each in Nilgiris and Theni, four in Chengalpattu and three in Nagapattinam.
A total of 2300 passengers had travelled to Tamil Nadu from UK between November 25 and December 23, of which 2146 were tested. Among these, 24 had tested positive, 2122 tested negative and 3977 close contacts of the 2122 passengers who had tested negative were also tested for COVID-19 and were found to be negative.
A total of 4208 passengers had travelled to Tamil Nadu from UK between January 8 and April 12, of which 3578 have been tested. Among these, 14 have tested positive, 3551 have tested negative and the results of 13 passengers are awaited. Tracing of further passengers is underway.
Of the 38 primary cases, 37 of them who tested negative in their follow up RT-PCR test have been discharged and have completed home quarantine. Similarly, all 20 contact cases who tested negative in their follow up RT-PCR test have been discharged and have completed home quarantine. One of the primary cases is under hospital isolation.
Tamil Nadu recorded 6711 positive cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the state tally to 9,40,145. Among these, Chennai reported 2105 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,67,181. The state recorded 19 deaths on Monday, putting the state toll at 12,927. Eighteen of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 2339 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 8,80,910.
As of Monday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 46,308. Till date, 5,67,514 males, 3,72,595 females and 36 transgenders have tested positive for the virus in the state.
According to a bulletin released by the Health and Family Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu, 2,06,03,108 samples from the state have been tested till date, with 82,982 samples having been sent yesterday. There are 262 COVID-19 testing facilities in the state, out of which 69 are government and 193 are private facilities.
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Welcome to the live blog from Chennai and Hyderabad where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19 vaccination, COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, politics, civic issues and more across Chennai and Hyderabad throughout the day. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the states in real time.
A sub-inspector at the Kattoor police station in Coimbatore was caught on camera attacking the staff of a hotel and reportedly asking them to down shutters to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The incident took place at around 10.21 pm on Sunday night. Hotels and restaurants have been given permission to operate till 11 pm in Tamil Nadu.
The CCTV footage of the incident shows the police officer, identified as Muthu, entering the Sri Raja Hotel at 10:21 pm. The hotel at that time had kept its shutters half open and a few customers were seen eating. The footage then shows the police officer beating up the hotel staffers with his lathi, with a woman also sustaining injuries.
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BJP Tamil Nadu unit president L Murugan on Monday expressed confidence that the AIADMK-led alliance would win the Assembly elections and form a government in the State.
The BJP-AIADMK combine would win an impressive number of seats of the total 234 to form the government in Tamil Nadu, Murugan, who is in Tirupati to campaign for the party candidate in the forthcoming by-elections to the Tirupati Lok Sabha seat, told reporters.
Brushing aside opinion polls which favoured the DMK-led alliance, he said on the day of the results of the Assembly elections on May 2, the true picture would be in favour of NDA with BJP winning all the 20 Assembly seats it contested in Tamil Nadu.
The BJP leader praised the efforts of the Tamil Nadu government in its fight against the coronavirus in its second wave too. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will hold meetings with district collectors, medical and public health experts on Monday to discuss the course of action to control the second wave of Covid-19 in the state.
The meeting comes three days after the government re-introduced several restrictions on April 10. The Tamil Nadu government also warned of imposing prohibitory orders at night and imposing further restrictions if the public doesn’t adhere to the guidelines. On Saturday, the state government prohibited public gatherings on beaches in Chennai, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur districts.
Health Secretary Radhakrishnan Saturday said containing the virus spread in districts like Chennai, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Coimbatore, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam has been challenging and urgent measures are being taken in that regard.
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Petrol and diesel prices remained steady across the country for the 13th consecutive day on Monday, April 12, 2021. The auto fuel prices were last revised on March 30, when petrol fell by 22 paise per litre and diesel slipped by 23 paise in the national capital.
In Chennai, the cost of petrol is Rs. 92.58 per litre and that of diesel is Rs. 85.75 per litre.
In Hyderabad, petrol is priced at Rs. 94.16 per litre while diesel costs Rs. 88.20 per litre.
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) conducted 235 fever clinics in Chennai on Sunday. A total of 8406 people attended the clinics, with swabs collected from 73 people while 36 people were identified with ILI symptoms and others were provided with medication for minor ailments.
The most number of camps were held in Thiru.Vi.Ka Nagar (Zone 6) where 44 camps had been set up, while Manali (Zone 2), Teynampet (Zone 9) and Perungudi (Zone 14) had the least with five camps each.
Telangana reported 2,251 fresh COVID-19 cases Sunday, pushing the tally to over 3.29 lakh, while the toll rose to 1,765 with six more fatalities, the state government said on Monday.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 355, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (258) and Nizamabad (244), it said in a bulletin.
The total number of cases stood at 3,29,529 while with 565 patients being cured, the total recoveries were at 3,05,900. The state has 21,864 active cases and over 79 thousand samples were tested on Sunday. Cumulatively, over 1.10 crore samples have been tested. The samples tested per million population was over 2.97 lakh, the bulletin said.
The case fatality rate in the state was 0.54 per cent while the recovery rate in Telangana was 92.82 per cent. According to a separate release, over 18.56 lakh people in the state have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while over 3.02 lakh got their second shot also as of April 11. (PTI)
Actor Pawan Kalyan is under self-quarantine after majority of Janasena party members tested positive for COVID-19. Janasena party informed Pawan Kalyan’s fans that he is under quarantine on the advice of doctors.
“The majority of Janasena President Sri Pawan Kalyan’s chief executives, security and personal staff are affected by Corona. As part of a precautionary measure, Sri Pawan Kalyan went into quarantine on the advice of doctors. Members of his entourage are being inflicted with Corona one by one over the past week. All these people used to work closely with him. With this, he went into self-quarantine as a precautionary measure and as part of preventing the spreading of Corona. He was in a peaceful atmosphere on the advice of doctors. However, he is executing his daily works and party affairs. He is talking to the party leaders through teleconference,” the note from Janasena party’s P Hari Prasad read.
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With the second wave of COVID-19 sweeping across various parts of Tamil Nadu, some of the industrialists in the State are apprehensive of migrant workers leaving for their hometowns considering the health conditions. The industries recovered from the jolt of the first wave of coronavirus when over one lakh migrant workers from both Coimbatore and Tirupur industries rushed back to their home towns in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha by special trains.
Even as the business started picking up, the 30 per cent increase in the raw materials has affected the industries, sources from different industrial associations said.
A few workers reportedly left for their natives early last week as they feared the availability of transport like trains to reach their towns. However, there was no major exodus from the industries as the workers working on weekly payment basis had taken their wages Saturday last, the sources said.
Coimbatore and Tirupur reported increased infection cases and a correct picture of workers returning would emerge only after another week, they said. No worker left Coimbatore till Saturday from nearby Tirupur, a major hub of knitwear garments where 80 per cent of over three lakh workers hailed from the North, said sources in the Tirupur Exporters Association. (PTI)
BJP nominee from Aravakkurichi constituency in the April 6 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, K Annamalai, has tested positive for COVID-19.
Annamalai tweeted saying he has tested positive for coronavirus and has been hospitalised. He requested those who came in contact with him recently "to watch out for any symptoms & get tested."
A former Karnataka cadre IPS officer, Annamalai had taken voluntary retirement from service in 2019 and joined the BJP last year. He was fielded from Aravakkurichi Assembly constituency in the Assembly polls. (PTI)
Tangedco has announced a powercut in parts of Chennai from 9 am to 2 pm today to carry out maintenance work:
Congress party’s Srivilliputhur constituency candidate in the April 6 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, P S W Madhava Rao died on Sunday due to COVID-19 complications, his family said.
Rao was 63 years old and is survived by his only daughter. He died at a private hospital in Madurai Sunday morning where he was admitted on March 20 for treatment, Rao’s son-in-law, K Rajiv told PTI.
Congress party secretary and Tamil Nadu in charge Sanjay Dutt tweeted saying he was deeply pained to learn about the demise of Rao due to COVID-19 complications.
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Tamil Nadu recorded 6618 positive cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the state tally to 9,33,434. Among these, Chennai reported 2125 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,65,126. The state recorded 22 deaths on Sunday, putting the state toll at 12,908. Twenty of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 2314 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 8,78,571.
As of Sunday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 41,955. Till date, 5,63,478 males, 3,69,920 females and 36 transgenders have tested positive for the virus in the state.
According to a bulletin released by the Health and Family Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu, 2,05,20,126 samples from the state have been tested till date, with 87,767 samples having been sent yesterday. There are 261 COVID-19 testing facilities in the state, out of which 69 are government and 192 are private facilities.
Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai and Hyderabad where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19 vaccination, COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, politics, civic issues and more across Chennai and Hyderabad throughout the day. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the states in real time.