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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey donates $1 bn to COVID-19 relief fund

New Delhi (NVI): Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s Chief Executive Officer, will donate USD 1 billion of his stake in Square Inc to relief fund, related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a tweet, Dorsey said that the donation equates to nearly 28 per cent of his wealth, which will be donated to his charity fund, Start Small LLC, which would later focus its attention to universal basic income and girls health and education.

 

Dorsey, has for years kept details of his charitable efforts private, added that all donations to and from the fund would now be visible to the public at all times through a public document, according to the media reports.

He said that he was pledging his stake in Square instead of Twitter because he owns a bigger portion of the payments processor and would pace the sale of the pledged shares over time.

It is so far the biggest single donation to the global fight to tackle the pandemic.

The total number of coronavirus cases in United States has crossed 4,00,300, and the death toll stands at 12,837, according to John Hopkins University data.

China lifts 76-day lockdown on Wuhan

New Delhi (NVI): China has ended its lockdown of Wuhan after 76 days, the original epicenter of the coronavirus crisis, as the city reemerges from a deadly outbreak that is now raging across the globe.

But even as Wuhan reopens its borders, some restrictions within the city will remain in place, and officials warn that the threat of further infections remains far from over, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, France has become the 4th country to register more than 10,000 deaths due to coronavirus.

New York also reported 731 new fatalities, the highest overnight jump since the beginning of the outbreak. The total number of positive cases have risen to 399,081 in US.

Meanwhile, Spain recorded a slight increase in the daily death toll for the first time in five days, with 743 casualties being reported overnight.

At least 78,269 people have now died worldwide, while at least 14,30,453 have been infected, according to John Hopkins University data.

PM to hold all-party meeting via video conferencing today

New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold an all-party meeting via video conference today, where he will seek suggestions from various parties on the road map to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

This will be the Prime Minister’s first meeting with the opposition leaders after the outbreak.

PM Modi will discuss whether to end the shutdown or extend it. The current shutdown is slated to end on April 14.

The meeting is expected to begin at 11.00 am. He will also appraise party leaders of the steps being taken by the government.

However, only floor leaders of political parties that have more than five Members of Parliament, have been invited to participate in the meeting.

COVID-19 cases reach 5,194 in India; death toll at 149

New Delhi (NVI): On the 15th day of the nationwide lockdown in India, the death toll due to coronavirus rose to 149, while total confirmed cases reached 5,194, according to Union Health Ministry.

As per the latest data available with the Ministry, there are 4,643 active cases in the country and 401 cured or discharged.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra became the first state in India to record more than 1,000 coronavirus positive cases.

Apart from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi are two of the most affected states in the country.

While India is currently under a 21-day lockdown due to the novel coronavirus, there were talks that the central government was considering to extend the lockdown period following suggestions provided by the state governments and experts.

However, the government has categorically stated that no decision has been taken so far and advised everyone not to “speculate”.

No positive Covid-19 case in Uttarakhand today

New Delhi (NVI): The Uttarakhand government today said that no positive COVID-19 case was detected in the state today, out of the total 126 samples taken for testing.

In a bulletin released by Directorate of Health Services, Uttarakhand at 6 PM, all 126 samples taken for testing were found negative.

According to the bulletin, a total of 31 cases have been tested COVID-19 positive in the state so far. Out of them, five cases have been treated and discharged.

Meanwhile, the death toll due to coronavirus in the country rose to 124 today, with the total number of confirmed cases inching near the 5,000 mark at 4,789.

Nepal extends ban on international flights till Apr 30

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New Delhi (NVI): The Nepal government has extended ban on all international flights till April 30 in view of the ongoing pandemic.

However, the ban on domestic flights will remain in remain in effect till April 15.

The Himalayan Times reported that the Nepal government has taken the decision as a precautionary measure.

A meeting of the High-Level Coordination Committee for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 took a decision to this effect today, the newspaper reported.

According to reports, around 780 foreign tourists, mostly from European countries, stranded in the Himalayan country due to the coronavirus pandemic, have been evacuated in special flights.

The rescue flights have also brought in medical supplies, according to local media reports.

CBSE to introduce 3 new subjects

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New Delhi (NVI): In a bid to make the new generation more creative, innovative and physically fit, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is introducing three new subjects for class 11 from 2020-21 academic session.

The education board has introduced Design-thinking, Physical Activity Trainer and Artificial Intelligence as new subjects for eleventh class, CBSE said in a statement today.

“CBSE is introducing three new subjects, ‘Design-thinking’ ‘Physical Activity Trainer’ and ‘Artificial Intelligence’ at Class XI from the Session 2020-21. Board is already offering 17 Skill subjects at Secondary level and 37 Skill Subjects at Senior Secondary level,” the CBSE said in a tweet.

India’s Covid-19 death toll rises to 124, tally 4,789

New Delhi (NVI): As the 14th day of the nationwide lockdown in India came to a close, the death toll due to coronavirus rose to 124, while total confirmed cases reached 4,789, according to Union Health Ministry.

As per the latest data available with the Ministry, there are 4,312 active cases in the country and 352 cured or discharged.

Yesterday, the Ministry come up with the gender distribution of COVID-19 cases as on April 6, 9pm. According to the analysis, 76 per cent positive cases have been reported in males, while 24 per cent positive cases have been reported in females.

In addition to this, those above 60 years of age make up just 19 per cent of COVID-19 patients in the country but people with pre-existing health conditions account for 63% of the fatalities so far, Health Ministry data reveals.

Meanwhile, the central government has come up with another list of “hotspots” in the country, which is in addition to the list released earlier. Few of the newly mentioned hotspots are Leh, Ladakh, Jaisalmer, Bhopal, Lucknow, Nagpur, Surat, Dehradun, Madurai etc.

These places are those where about 11 to 20 cases of Covid-19 have been identified.

COVID: Modi holds talks with Swedish PM

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New Delhi (NVI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi today had a telephonic conversation with his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven, as the two leaders discussed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the steps being taken in their respective countries for controlling its health and economic impacts.

During the conversation, both the leaders agreed on the potential for collaboration and data sharing between Indian and Swedish researchers and scientists, which would also contribute to the global efforts against COVID-19, the PMO said in a statement.

The two leaders also promised to provide necessary facilitation and assistance for each other’s citizens, who may be stranded due to ongoing travel restrictions.

They also agreed that their officials would remain in touch to optimise availability of medical supplies for fighting COVID-19.

J&K: 16 more test positive for Covid-19, tally reaches 125

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Srinagar (NVI): Jammu and Kashmir government today said that 16 more people have tested positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of positive cases in the Union Territory to 125.

Of the 125 cases, there are 24 positive cases from the Jammu region while Kashmir has shown a spurt with total positive cases reaching 94. There have been three deaths, all of them in the Valley so far while as four persons, who were earlier tested positive, have recovered and have been discharged from the respective hospitals.

J&K government spokesman Rohit Kansal tweeted that 15 more cases have been tested positive today. “Nine among them have been detected in Valley and the rest of six are from Jammu region,” he said. Kansal confirmed that the total number of positive cases in J&K has gone up to 125.

Official sources said that three kids between the age group of 9 and 11 years, were among the fresh cases who were tested positive today in Kashmir.

According to the official bulletin, 7,084 persons have completed the surveillance period and 20,735 persons are under home surveillance. The bulletin further said that so far 1,900 samples have been collected for testing. Out of these 1900, the number of samples tested negative stands at 1,763 while 125 have been tested positive. Among them, four cases including three from the Jammu division and one from Kashmir division have recovered while three positive patients from the Kashmir division have died. Apart from that, the reports of 12 samples are yet to come.

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