New Delhi: As many as 57 civil services officer trainees have tested positive for coronavirus at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) at Mussoorie, prompting authorities to close "all non-essential departments" there.

The academy is taking every measure to break the chain of COVID-19 spread in consonance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the District Administration, Dehradun, a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry on Saturday said.

All officer trainees, who have tested positive, have been quarantined in a dedicated COVID care centre, it said.

It said, "57 officer trainees have tested COVID positive at LBSNAA since November 20, 2020. A total of 428 officer trainees are on campus for the 95th foundation course which is conducted for new entrants to the civil services."

The academy has conducted more than 162 RT-PCR tests in coordination with district authorities since Friday, the statement said.

"The academy has decided to conduct all activities, including training, online till the midnight of December 3, 2020. The protocols relating to social distancing, frequent hand wash, and the wearing of masks are being strictly followed by the officer trainees and staff members," it said.

Food and other necessities are being delivered to the officer trainees in their hostels by staff who are equipped adequately in protective gear, it added.

LBSNAA Director Sanjeev Chopra said the academy, the Dehradun District Administration, and the Health Department of Uttrakhand are working together to address the challenge.

"All non-essential departments have been closed, complete sanitization for the entire campus has been undertaken," he told PTI.

The LBSNAA is a premier training academy for civil servants.

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Kolkata, Apr 16: Rajasthan Royals pulled off the Indian Premier League's biggest run chase to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by two wickets here on Tuesday.

Asked to bat first, KKR rode on Sunil Narine's 56-ball 109 to post 223/6 in the allotted 20 overs.

In reply, RR were in all sorts of trouble at one stage but Jos Buttler blasted his way to an unbeaten 60-ball 107, as the visitors completed the chase in the last ball of the match.

After his team was asked to bat first on a fresh pitch, Narine blazed away to a 49-ball 100 to lead KKR's charge in this top-of-the-table clash at Eden Gardens.

It was a one-man show from KKR as Narine (109 off 56) batted till the 18th over, first stitching 85 runs with Angkrish Raghuvanshi (30) and then adding 51 runs with Andre Russell (13).

However, Buttler had other ideas as he did the job for RR from an extremely difficult position.

Brief scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders: 223/6 in 20 overs (Sunil Narine 109; Avesh Khan 2/35).

Rajasthan Royals: 224/8 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 107 not out; Sunil Narine 2/30).