COVID-19: Goa makes 5-day quarantine mandatory for travellers from Kerala
Panaji, (PTI): The Goa government has made five-day quarantine compulsory for people, specially students and those coming for work purposes from Kerala, in the wake of a surge in COVID-19 cases in the southern state, officials said.
In a notification issued on Sunday, the Goa administration also extended the ongoing statewide curfew till September 20, continuing ban on several activities, including casinos, in the coastal state.
The 24-hour curfew was first imposed on May 9 this year and since then it has been extended regularly.
The Goa government has opened majority of activities in the tourist state, but activities like casinos are yet to be reopened.
The notification also mentioned that "all students and employees coming from Kerala" shall undergo institutional quarantine for five days.
The arrangements for quarantining students will be made by the administrators or principals of the educational institutions, the notification said.
For the employees, it shall be done by respective offices, companies or firms, it adds.
The notification further said that after the end of five days, those who were quarantined shall undergo RT-PCR test.
People, other than students and employees, arriving from Kerala should produce the RT-PCR negative test report and remain in home quarantine for five days, the notification said.
"The constitutional functionaries, health care professionals and their spouses, children below two years of age, those arriving to attend death of a family member or medical emergency and passengers in transit from and to Kerala via any mode of transport are exempted from being quarantined," the notification added.
Kerala on Sunday reported 20,240 fresh coronavirus cases and 67 deaths, which pushed the total infections in the state to 43,75,431 and the fatalities to 22,551, the state government said.
Goa's COVID-19 tally on Sunday increased by 38 to reach 1,74,837, while one death took the toll to 3,217, an official said.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
