More cities to come under lockdown as India's COVID tally surges to nearly 8.5 lakh
New Delhi/Bengaluru/Mumbai: As the country's COVID-19 tally rose to nearly 8.5 lakh, authorities were getting ready to reimpose lockdown for varying periods in more cities, including in Bengaluru and Pune, in the coming days, while there appeared to be an improvement in the situation in the national capital.
The Uttar Pradesh government decided to implement strict restrictions across the state on weekends to check the spread of coronavirus, joining Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which have been imposing Sunday lockdown.
Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Bihar were among the states that have already announced an area-wise lockdown for different durations.
Karnataka government has now announced a complete lockdown in Bengaluru for seven days from July 14.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami extended the curbs in Madurai and nearby regions including the Paravai Town Panchayat and several village panchayats till July 14.
The Maharashtra government had earlier announced a comprehensive lockdown in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad from July 13-23. The state government had imposed similar curbs in areas around the state capital Mumbai.
Authorities in Kashmir too began strict implementation of another phase of the lockdown on Sunday, sealing off historic Lal Chowk and 67 other areas in Srinagar which have been declared containment zones after a sudden surge in COVID-19 positive cases over the past one week.
However, there have been some positive developments in Delhi where the COVID-19 case count on Sunday remained below the 2,000-mark for the second consecutive day.
And with the recovery rate improving to nearly 80 percent, authorities have for now put on hold plans to use stadiums as makeshift coronavirus care facilities.
In the last 24 hours, the national capital has recorded 1,573 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 1,12,494 in the city, while the death toll mounted to 3,371 after 37 fatalities were reported, according to the latest Delhi health department bulletin.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that Delhi has been able to minimize deaths of coronavirus patients in home isolation through pulse oximeters, which he termed as "Suraksha kavach'' (protective shield).
Maharashtra was still struggling to contain the surge in cases which rose by 7,827 to 2,54,427 on Sunday, the highest in the country.
With 1,263 new COVID-19 cases being recorded on Sunday, Mumbai's case count mounted to 92,720, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
Sixteen personnel at the Raj Bhavan in south Mumbai have tested coronavirus positive, a civic official said.
In a statement, Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari said he is perfectly alright and had tested negative.
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan, his son Abhishek, daughter-in-law Aishwarya and granddaughter Aaradhya are among those who have tested positive for COVID-19.
In a series of tweets, Abhishek said he and his father will "remain in hospital till the doctors decide otherwise".
"Aishwarya and Aaradhya have also tested COVID-19 positive. They will be self quarantining at home," he said.
Veteran actor Anupam Kher said his mother, Dulari, along with brother Raju and his family have also tested positive for COVID-19 and are currently under quarantine.
Tamil Nadu has the second-highest number of cases in the country. With 4,244 fresh infections being reported, its tally rose to 1,38,470, the state health department said.
The state came to a virtual standstill under an intense 'Sunday lockdown' as only police and health personnel could be seen on roads, and hospitals, labs, ambulance services, and pharmacies alone worked as per government directives.
Such curbs will be observed on two more Sundays this month.
Health workers, however, continued their routine of door-to-door checks to ascertain if people had flu-like symptoms in Chennai and several other parts of Tamil Nadu.
Mist cannons, which are huge blowers mounted on trucks, went around several neighborhoods in Chennai spraying disinfectants.
In Karnataka too, most vehicles stayed off the roads and shops remained shut due to the Sunday lockdown.
The number of coronavirus cases in Karnataka may double in the next 15 to 30 days and the coming two months would emerge as a big challenge for the government in tackling the pandemic, state Health Minister B Sriramulu said.
"Lockdown has been announced in Bengaluru from Tuesday 8 pm for the next seven days. Abide by the regulations. Every day more than 2,000 cases of coronavirus are coming to fore," Sriramulu said late Saturday.
As on Saturday, the cumulative tally of COVID-19 cases in the state touched 36,216.
Bihar registered the highest single-day spike of 1,266 novel coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 16,305 on Sunday even as nearly a third of its 38 districts were under lockdown to contain the pathogen. Patna, Bhagalpur, Nalanda, Nawada, Begusarai, and West Champaran districts have been under restrictions for more than 24 hours.
The Health Department attributed the spike to the enhanced testing capability.
In Uttar Pradesh, Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Information) Awanish Awasthi told PTI that the lockdown restrictions will be imposed from coming Saturday on weekends and will remain in place at least for July.
Meanwhile, shops and business establishments, other than those dealing in essential services, remained closed in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. The state government had on Thursday announced 55 hour-long restrictions from 10 pm on Friday till 5 am on Monday following a surge in coronavirus cases.
The state has reported over 35,000 cases so far.
The Arunachal Pradesh government had on Saturday extended the lockdown in the capital region for another week till 5 pm on July 20 in view of the spurt in COVID-19 cases in the region.
Several states reported the highest single-day spike on Sunday. Among them was Gujarat where the tally rose by 879 to reach 41,897.
West Bengal's COVID-19 cases crossed the 30,000-mark with record 1,560 new cases reported from different parts of the state, according to a bulletin issued by state the health department.
A new daily record of 1,933 cases pushed the coronavirus tally in Andhra Pradesh to 29,168 on Sunday.
India added a record of 28,637 cases of coronavirus infection pushing the country's COVID-19 tally to 8,49,553, while the death toll climbed to 22,674 with 551 people succumbing to the disease in a day, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The number of recoveries stands at 5,34,620, while there are 2,92,258 active cases of coronavirus infection present in the country, the updated data at 8 am on Sunday showed.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said early detection of COVID-19 cases through widespread testing, surveillance, and clinical management has resulted in India having one of the lowest fatality rates at 2.66 percent.
The minister, who visited the Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre (SPCCC) at Chhattarpur in Delhi to review its COVID-19 management status, also said that "our success" can be seen in the recovery rate which is almost 63 percent at present.
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Pune accident: Porsche car's registration was pending since March due to non-payment of Rs 1,758 fee
Mumbai, May 21: The permanent registration of the luxury Porsche car involved in the accident in which two IT professionals were fatally knocked down by in Pune city was pending since March due to non-payment of Rs 1,758 fees by the owner, top officials of the Maharashtra transport department said on Tuesday.
The electric luxury sports sedan - Porsche Taycan - was being driven allegedly by a prominent builder's 17-year-old son, who the police claim was drunk at the time of the accident that took place in Kalyani Nagar area in the early hours of Sunday.
Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar told PTI that the Porsche car was imported in March by a dealer in Bengaluru and from there it was sent to Maharashtra on a temporary registration.
"When it was produced at the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO), it was found that a certain registration fee was not paid and the owner was asked to pay the amount for completion of the procedure. However, the vehicle was not brought to the RTO for the completion of the registration process after that," he said.
According to officials, road tax is exempted for electric vehicles registered in Maharashtra, and hence for the registration of this Porsche Taycan model, the registration fees that were applicable were only Rs 1,758 with the break-up of Rs 1,500 hypothecation fees, Rs 200 smart card RC fees and Rs 58 postal charges.
Interestingly, as per Porsche India's website, the ex-showroom price of the vehicle manufacturer's various cars starts at Rs 96 lakh and goes over Rs 1.86 crore. Though the price of the Porsche Taycan model is not given on the website, transport department sources said that it could be in crores.
The officials said that as per their records, the vehicle had a valid temporary registration certificate issued by Karnataka with a validity of six months from March to September 2024.
They said that the Porsche dealer in Bengaluru was not at fault as he had handed over the car after doing the temporary registration. Hence, it was the responsibility of the owner to get it registered at the RTO before plying it on the roads. During the temporary registration period, the vehicles can only be used to drive to and from the RTO.
Bhimanwar said that the teenage boy, who was said to be driving the car, will be barred from getting a driving licence until he turns 25 years of age, and the luxury car will also not be allowed to register at any RTO office for 12 months as its existing temporary registration will be cancelled as per the provisions in the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act.
Under the sub-sections of Section 199A (offenses by juveniles) of the MV Act, the transport authorities can take this action.
Bhimanwar said that their department is going to take stringent action in this case and the Pune RTO has been asked to register the police complaint for violation of provisions in the MV Act
"Whatever violations related to the Motor Vehicles Act happened in the issue, those will be registered in the FIR," Bhimanwar said, adding that they will also invoke the procedure for cancellation of the temporary registration of the vehicle as per the provisions in the act.
"The vehicle will be impounded for 12 months," another top official of the transport department said, adding that there is gross negligence in this case as the vehicle was driven at a speed over 160 kmph, allegedly in an inebriated state as per media reports.
The official said that there are several violations in this case, including driving the vehicle without a driving licence and without its registration, among others.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a press conference in Pune this evening that the car was purchased in Bengaluru and was brought here.
"As per the primary information, the RTI had carried out its inspection but the tax which was required to be paid was not paid. If there is any violation regarding that, a separate FIR will be registered," he said.
