India Reports 187 New Covid Cases, One Death In Past 24 Hrs

by Hemanta Pande

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

India has logged 187 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, while one death was reported from Maharashtra in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll at 5,33,443, as per the Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

New Delhi, Jan 26: India has logged 187 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, while one death was reported from Maharashtra in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll at 5,33,443, as per the Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

Meanwhile, the total number of active cases further fell to 1,674, while until last week more than 2,000 active cases were recorded.

As of now, the total number of coronavirus cases in India, since the initial outbreak in January 2020, has reached 4,50,24,735.

According to INSACOG, 1,640 cases are of the Covid-19 sub-variant JN.1 in India, with Madhya Pradesh as the latest state reporting its presence.

JN.1 sub-variant is a descendent of the Omicron subvariant known as BA.2.86 or Pirola, with Kerala being the first state to report a case.

Maharashtra led with 477 cases, followed by Karnataka with 249, reflecting regional variations in sub-variant prevalence.

Currently, Andhra Pradesh leads with 219 cases of the variant. Kerala follows closely behind, registering 156 cases, while Gujarat reports 127 cases.

Other states reporting the variant include West Bengal with 96 cases, Goa with 90, and Tamil Nadu with 89 cases. Rajasthan has recorded 38 cases, Telangana 32, Chhattisgarh 25, and Delhi 21.

Uttar Pradesh reported nine cases, Haryana five, Odisha three, and Uttarakhand, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, and Nagaland one each.

Monitoring and further assessment of the situation are ongoing to address the spread of this sub-variant, the ministry said.

Recent genetic studies on coronavirus samples from January reveal that the JN.1 subvariant accounts for nearly all cases in the Maharashtra. INSACOG's data revealed that 239 Covid cases in December 2023, and 24 in November 2023, were identified with the presence of the JN.1 variant.

The overall recovery from Covid has reached over 4.4 crore individuals, reflecting a national recovery rate of 98.81 per cent. The country has administered a total of 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines, as per the available data. (IANS)

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Longtime coach, Jwala Singh Reveals Which Position Yashasvi Jaiswal Should Bat In T20 WC

by Hemanta Pande

New Delhi, May 8: The 2024 ICC T20 World Cup is just around the corner as the shortest format of the game travels to the West Indies and USA for this year’s edition. The two host countries are unknown territories for a majority of players travelling for the tournament, which raises questions regarding the changes required to play at such wickets.

In an exclusive conversation with IANS, Yashasvi Jaiswal's coach, father figure and mentor, Jwala Singh explained why he believes the young Indian prodigy "will be opening the innings," for the Indian side.

The West Indies may not be the most frequent destination for tours and tournaments but is the country where young Jaiswal broke onto the scene for India. The 22-year-old made his debut at the Windsor Park in Rosea, Dominica where he played a stellar 171 runs inning to power India to a dominant victory in a Test match that they won by an innings and 141 runs.

He also boasts a superb record in T20Is, a format in which he has only ever opened as a batsman. In the 16 innings he has played for India, Jaiswal has scored four fifties and one century along with a strike rate of 161.93.

"This debate rang out earlier too in Test cricket when he was going to the West Indies. Many people used to say he would play at number 3 because (Cheteshwar) Pujara was out of the team and that was the only spot. But, I believe when he played, the team management put in much trust in him... Shubman Gill played at the number 3 spot. As far as I know him, I think he would like to open the innings and rest team management, captain, and coaches will decide," Jwala told IANS.

He also went on to talk extensively about how he believes that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the major reasons behind the excellent mental development of Yashasvi’s game as it has enabled the explosive left-handed batsman to have "Grown to be quite mature and he (Jaiswal) now knows how to adapt in the different formats of the game and also how to help his team in different situations."

"He certainly took his time in the beginning starting from the Mumbai Indians U-16, India U-19. He scored only 20 runs on his Ranji Debut, and 44 on his Vijay Hazare debut so he surely takes his time. I think ever since he started playing in the IPL, in the last two seasons he has grown to be quite mature and he now knows how to adapt to the different formats of the game and also how to help his team in different situations.

"The World Cup is a huge stage for him and if Ravi Shastri has praised him then he surely must have observed his game before making the comments. I hope, as a coach, father figure and mentor, that he go and play good cricket and end the ICC trophy drought that the Indian cricket team has had. I will be very very happy," he said. (IANS)

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Google launches its Wallet app in India

by Utkalika Mohanty

New Delhi, May 8: Google on Wednesday launched its Wallet app in India, which will offer fast and secure access to everyday essentials, enabling people to conveniently store and retrieve important digital documents like boarding passes, loyalty cards, movie tickets, etc.

The app is now available for download from the Play Store for all Android users in the country.

"We are delighted to partner with many of India's top brands to offer a comprehensive solution that helps you securely access and manage your everyday essentials. From boarding passes to loyalty cards, and event tickets to public transport passes -- they're there when you need them," Ram Papatla, General Manager and India Engineering Lead, Android at Google, said in a statement.

According to the company, the Wallet app complements Google Pay, which will continue to serve the payment needs of users across the country.

The tech giant also partnered with 20 of the country's top brands to enable the Google Wallet experience, including PVR & INOX, Air India, Indigo, Flipkart, Pine Labs, Kochi Metro, Abhibus, and many others.

Additionally, the company mentioned that it will be adding more partners in the coming months.

"We are glad to be the first airline from India to make our boarding passes available directly on the Google Wallet," said Satya Ramaswamy, Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Air India.

Google Wallet will allow users to save movie or event tickets, access boarding passes, redeem loyalty or gift cards, ride public transit, digitise physical documents, among others.

(IANS)

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Couple Killed After Being Hit By Speeding Truck In Bhubaneswar

by Utkalika Mohanty

Bhubaneswar, May 8: In a tragic mishap, a man and his wife died on spot after a speeding truck hit them in the Bhubaneswar's Palasuni area on Wednesday morning.

The identity of the deceased has not been known yet.

According to the information, the incident took place while the couple was crossing the road near Palasuni, when a speeding truck hit them and dragged and the couple died on the spot in the incident.