New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday said the current guidelines allowing various activities like opening of cinemas, theatres and multiplexes with up to 50 percent of their seating capacity will continue to be applicable till November 30 in areas outside the containment zones.
Earlier, the guidelines for reopening activities issued on September 30 were to be in force till October 31. The Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order today to extend this period till November 30, a home ministry spokesperson said.
The guidelines said that international travel, except those permitted by the Centre, would remain shut while state and UT governments were given the flexibility to decide on reopening of schools and coaching institutions in a graded manner.
The decision is be taken in consultation with the respective school and institution management, based on their assessment of the situation, and subject to certain conditions, according to the guidelines.
The activities permitted in areas outside the containment zones were -- cinemas, theatres and multiplexes with up to 50 percent of their seating capacity, Business to Business (B2B) exhibitions, swimming pools used for training of sportspersons, entertainment parks and similar places.
Various ministries and departments have issued standard operating procedures for the reopening of activities.
Political gatherings in poll-bound Bihar and those constituencies where by-elections will be held were allowed with attendance of a maximum of 200 people in a close space or hall and in an open space depending on its size.
The political gatherings can be held only outside the containment zones. The lockdown shall continue to be implemented strictly in the containment zones during the period.
The coronavirus induced country-wide lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from March 25 and it was extended in phases till May 31.
The Unlock process in the country had begun on June 1 with the graded reopening of commercial, social, religious and other activities.
The number of coronavirus cases reported in India in a span of 24 hours dropped below 40,000 after over three months, while the new fatalities registered during the same period remained under 500 for the second consecutive day, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.
India's COVID-19 tally mounted to 79,46,429, with 36,470 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,19,502 with 488 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
A total of 72,01,070 people have recuperated from COVID-19 so far, pushing the national recovery rate to 90.62 per cent while the case fatality rate stands at 1.50 per cent.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Baltimore (AP/PTI): The expert pilots who navigate massive ships in and out of Baltimore's port must often manoeuvre with just two feet of clearance from the channel floor and memorise charts, currents and every other possible maritime variable.
The highly specialised role - in which a pilot temporarily takes control of a ship from its regular captain - is coming under the spotlight this week.
Two pilots were at the helm of the cargo ship Dali about 1.25 am Tuesday when it lost power and, minutes later, crashed into a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the bridge to collapse and kill six construction workers.
While the incident will undoubtedly raise larger questions about ship and port safety protocols, so far there is no indication the pilots on the Dali did anything wrong given the immediate situation they faced.
The ship sent out a mayday call, which gave just enough time for authorities to close the bridge to traffic and likely prevented further deaths. The lead pilot also dropped an anchor, issued steering commands and called for help from nearby tugboats, according to a preliminary timeline outlined by the National Transportation Safety Board.
But in the end, maritime experts say, there was likely nothing the pilots could have done to stop the 95,000-ton ship from ploughing into the bridge.
"It's completely their worst nightmare," said Capt Allan Post, the deputy superintendent of the Texas A&M Maritime Academy in Galveston. "It is terrifying to even imagine not being able to control the vessel, and knowing what's going to happen, and not being able to do anything about it."
Pilots are local knowledge experts, and they give commands to the bridge team for rudder and engine settings, and for what course to steer, Post said.
US pilots are typically graduates of maritime academies and have spent many years at sea before they join a lengthy apprentice programme to learn every aspect of a local area, including memorising charts, he said.
"A ship's captain is a general practitioner, if I was to use a medical term," Post said. "And a pilot would be a surgeon."
Ship pilots have been working in the Chesapeake Bay since 1640, and the Association of Maryland Pilots currently has 65 active pilots on its books.
The association describes on its website how the bay throws up unique challenges, including that pilots must manoeuvre container ships that can sit nearly 48 feet deep in the water through the main Baltimore shipping channels, which are only 50 feet deep.
"Pilots are on the front lines protecting the environmental and ecological balance of the Chesapeake Bay by ensuring the safe passage of these large ships that carry huge quantities of oil and other hazardous materials," the association says on its site.
The association, which didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, has issued a statement thanking first responders to the bridge accident and saying its members' thoughts and prayers are with the families of victims.
There is lucrative pay for pilots because the job comes with plenty of responsibility and risk, Post said.
On a typical day, he said, a pilot might make multiple trips. He or she would be assigned to one ship leaving a port, Post said, and then disembark to board a second, inbound ship.
He said that of the two pilots assigned to the Dali, one would have been in command, with the second able to assist if necessary. He said that, typically, the ship's regular captain would also have been on the bridge, along with one of the watch officers and a couple of other crew.
The NTSB timeline indicated the pilots had less than five minutes from when they first lost power to when the ship struck the pillar.
"They had very little time from the start of the incident until the time they were upon the bridge," Post said. "I believe the pilots did what they could with the abilities that they had onboard the ship at the time to avoid the collision."