Post-pandemic agri reforms in focus, India tests cross a million: Covid-19 news today

Here is a preview of important Covid-19 news today from India and the world.

Outlining an ambitious post-pandemic agenda for agricultural reform, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his top ministers and bureaucrats to start working on a new set of reforms to cut down on archaic regulations, raise farm-gate prices, unify domestic markets as well as integrate the farm economy into global value chains. Meanwhile, the number of samples tested for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the country has crossed a million.

PM Narendra Modi flanked by Union home minister Amit Shah and minister of state for finance and corporate affairs Anurag Thakur during a high-level meeting held in New Delhi on Saturday.(ANI)

Here is a preview of important Covid-19 news today from India and the world.

Govt plans major agricultural reforms post-coronavirus

The PM suggested these reforms at a high level review meeting on the agricultural sector, which was also attended by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, home minster Amit Shah, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and senior officials. Read more.

Covid-19: What you need to know today

May 1: 69; April 30: 76; April 29: 69; April 28: 74; April 27: 58; April 26: 51; April 25: 46; April 24: 57; April 23: 38; April 22: 39.These numbers are the death tolls of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in India on the 10 days between April 22 and May 1.On May 2, the number was 98.The total death toll in India was 1,319 on Saturday. Read more.

1 million tested for Covid in India; 10k recover

“We have made a quantum jump in testing. We plan to ramp it up further to move towards a situation where we can test everyone who needs it. The number of labs doing Covid-19 tests has gone up, with 406 labs -- of which 105 are private ones -- now testing for Covid-19,” said C K Mishra, secretary, environment, and co-chair of the PM’s high-level committee on preparedness for a medical emergency. Read more.

Second economic stimulus package likely soon: CEA

The second economic stimulus package can be expected “very soon”, Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy V Subramanian said in an interview on Saturday, although he declined to put a time-frame or a magnitude to it. Read more.

Experts raise concerns over Aarogya Setu

The government’s decision to make it mandatory for people to install its Aarogya Setu mobile application has inadequate legal basis and exposes users to possible surveillance, according to experts who are now appealing for the directive to be rolled back or stronger safeguards to be introduced, even as the tool triggered a political spat between the government and the opposition Congress on Saturday. Read more.

As migrants return, states guard against Covid surge

States receiving migrant labourers from across India are gearing up for a massive challenge: a spurt in Covid-19 cases. And, some states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, have already unveiled unprecedented steps.Read more.

States issue guidelines for extended lockdown

A day after the Centre extended lockdown till May 17, most states decided to follow the home ministry’s guidelines allowing several activities in the green and orange zones to kickstart economy and official work, with a few exceptions. Read more.

When self-isolation led to great works of science and literature

Quarantine and self isolation need not be monotonous and stifling. They can be the gateway to work, be it in the arts or the sciences, that define the history of the world.Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, John Milton and Lord Byron used such time to add to their formidable body of work in science and literature. Read more.

Over 16k visited Tablighi Jamaat markaz in Delhi from March 13-24

At least 16,500 people visited Tablighi Jamaat’s headquarters in Nizamuddin around the time it emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot between March 13 and 24, according to a Delhi police report that an officer said has been compiled after the biggest exercise the force has ever undertaken.Read more.

Punjab to test over 4,000 Nanded pilgrims for virus

The Punjab government is scrambling to test and isolate 4,012 people who returned from the Hazur Sahib gurudwara in Nanded town after 504 pilgrims tested positive for Covid-19, prompting authorities in Maharashtra to seal one of Sikhism’s holiest shrines. Read more.

135 CRPF troopers in Delhi test positive for Covid-19, set off alarm bells in MHA

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials claimed on Saturday that 135 of its troopers from the 31st battalion have tested positive for coronavirus which is worrying for the paramilitary force. Four hundred and eighty troopers of the battalion have been quarantined. Read more.

Bengal CM, guv spar over Covid figures

Amid a raging controversy over mismatch in the state’s data of Covid-19 infections, the West Bengal government on Saturday changed the format of its daily bulletin.The day also saw chief minister Mamata Banerjee sending a 13-page letter to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in response to his letters, accusing him of “dreaming of a dyarchy in the state”. Read more.

Lokpal member justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi dies of Covid-19

Judicial member of Lokpal and former judge of Chhattisgarh high court Ajay Kumar Tripathi, 62, who had tested positive for Covid-19, died late Saturday evening. He had been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences’ (AIIMS) trauma centre on April 3.Read more.

US okays remdesivir for emergency Covid-19 use

The US drug regulator has allowed emergency use of experimental antiviral drug remdesivir for Covid-19 treatment based on early clinical data that showed it helps coronavirus patients recover faster. The drug is made by Gilead Sciences and is the first to be approved globally as a treatment for the viral pandemic. Read more.

41 test Covid positive in Kapashera building

Fifty-six people, including a three-year-old, from two clusters in Kapashera and Tughlakabad Extension tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in two days, according to the Delhi government. Forty-one cases were reported from a double-storey building in southwest Delhi’s Kapashera. Read more.