Coronavirus India Updates, May 8: Mumbai’s BMC chief replaced; HC orders closure of liquor stores in TN

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Tamil Nadu, which has the fourth highest number of cases (5,409), has tested the most people as of Thursday, surpassing Maharashtra. It has conducted 202,436 tests so far, against Maharashtra’s 202,105.

Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said the recovery percentage in the country was 29.33 per cent, adding that 3.2 per cent of patients admitted were being given oxygen, 4.7 per cent were in intensive care and 1.1 per cent were on ventilator support.

Addressing the press, Agarwal said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has been granted approval to conduct clinical trials of convalescent plasma therapy in 21 hospitals.

Here are the important Covid-19 developments from across India:

Supreme Court: States should consider home delivery of liquor during lockdown

In an observation Friday, the Supreme Court said states should consider selling liquor through non-contact means, such as home delivery, during the lockdown.

“We will not pass any order but the states should consider indirect sale/home delivery of liquor to maintain social distancing norms and standards,” Justice Ashok Bhushan, heading a three-judge bench said.

Since the third phase of the lockdown commenced on Monday, some states have opened liquor stores, leading to long queues and lack of social distancing in many areas.  The sale of liquor was permitted by the Centre as it is a large avenue of revenue. In most states, the revenue share of liquor is between 25-40%.

At Azadpur vegetable market in New Delhi on Thursday, May 7, 2020. (Express Photo: Amit Mehra)

Rahul Gandhi pitches for decentralisation of power during Covid-19

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a press conference Friday, said there would be “calamity” if the fight against the coronavirus pandemic remained centralised. He reiterated that chief ministers should have the power to take decisions regarding methods to fight the virus.

“We need to decentralise power in dealing with the virus. If we keep this fight in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), we will lose. The Prime Minister must devolve power. If we centralise, there will be a calamity. The Prime Minister has to trust chief ministers and chief ministers have to trust district magistrates.”

On Day 2 of Vande Bharat Mission, Indian nationals arrive from Singapore, Dhaka and Riyadh

Air India flight AI381 from Singapore, carrying 234 passengers, landed in New Delhi just before noon Friday. The next flight, AI 1242, landed in Srinagar from Dhaka in Bangladesh at around 2 pm. The third flight from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia landed in Kozhikode at around 8.10 pm.

These three flights were part of the governments Vande Bharat Mission, an effort to repatriate Indians stranded abroad due to the pandemic.

The first two flights had landed in Kerala last night — a flight from Abu Dhabi landed at Cochin International Airport just after 10.00 pm, and the second from Dubai landed in Kozhikode airport at 10.30 pm. The two flights brought home 411 passengers. Follow live updates on the repatriation of Indians

The government will send 64 flights across the world to bring home nearly 15,000 Indian citizens over the next week.

At the site of the Aurangabad train accident on Friday.

Maharashtra may seek deployment of central forces if needed, says CM

With Covid-19 cases crossing 19,000-mark in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Friday said his government may seek additional manpower from the Union government, if needed, to allow police personnel to take rest in a phased manner. He, however, allayed the rumours of Army deployment in Mumbai.

“This doesn’t mean that Mumbai will be handed over to the Army. Police personnel are tired after working round-the-clock, some have fallen sick and a few of them have succumbed to the virus. They need rest,” he said in his online address to people.

Mumbai BMC chief shunted out as Covid-19 deaths cross 400

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Friday replaced Praveen Pardeshi with Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development) Iqbal Singh Chahal as Mumbai’s civic commissioner. The development comes on a day Mumbai reported 11,394 cases and 437 deaths.

Pardeshi will take Iqbal’s place as the Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development).

Thackeray has also moved out Mumbai’s Additional Municipal Commissioner Abbasaheb Jarhad. Former Thane Municipal Commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal, who was on compulsory waiting, will succeed Jarhad. Jarhad will take over as Secretary, Relief and Rehabilitation from Kishoreraje Nimbalkar, who has newly been appointed as the Public Works Department Secretary.

Aurangabad: 16 migrants workers killed in train accident

An empty freight train in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district mowed down 16 migrant labourers in the early hours of Friday. While 14 of them died on the spot, two later succumbed to their injuries. The workers were walking to Bhusawal from Jalna to board a Shramik Special train to return to Madhya Pradesh. They were asleep on the railway line when the incident occurred between Badnapur and Karmad stations in Nanded Division.

Expressing grief over the incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Extremely anguished by the loss of lives due to the rail accident in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Have spoken to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and he is closely monitoring the situation. All possible assistance required is being provided.”

Madras HC orders closure of Tasmac liquor shops

The Madras High Court Friday ordered the closure of government-run retail liquor outlets in the state till the coronavirus-induced lockdown is lifted. The court said the government could use online and home delivery models to sell liquor during this period.

A special division bench of Justice Vineet Kothari and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana passed the interim order on a batch of petitions seeking closure of liquor shops alleging violation of all the conditions imposed by the court to permit reopening of Tasmac shops from May 7.

The order was passed a day after the Tamil Nadu government registered a sale of about 20 lakh litres of liquor worth Rs 172 crore.

CBSE to hold remaining Class 12 exams in first half of July

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will hold the remaining Class 12 exams in the first two weeks of July. HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal announced that the exams will be held from July 1 to July 15.

The government had decided that the Class 12 Board exams should finish before JEE Main is conducted, as per sources. The entrance test for admission to NITs will be held over five days between July 18 and 23. CBSE has been asked to wrap up its remaining papers before that.

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