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Hindustan Times Dated : April 01, 2020 In a telephonic conversation, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar regarding the coordination of efforts to respond to the  coronavirus crisis . “Good call today with Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar on the #USIndia partnership. Our close cooperation is imperative to combat the #coronavirus, including strengthening global pharmaceutical and healthcare manufacturing and supply chains,” Pompeo tweeted out. Pompeo reiterated the  United States ’ unwavering commitment to working with India to advance peace, prosperity and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the globe, US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said.  Pompeo highlighted the importance of continued close cooperation between US, India and other close partners and allies to combat this international crisis, including strengthening global pharmaceutical, healthcare ma...

  Hindustan Times Dated: April 01, 2020   Organisations under the Union home ministry like the Bureau of Immigration and Foreigners Regional Registration Offices (FRROs) have a greater responsibility to monitor activities of foreign members of groups such as Tablighi Jamaat, people familiar with developments said on Tuesday. However, there is little that can be done by authorities if foreign nationals, including those who are part of a group, misrepresent the purpose of their visit to India, as was apparently done by Tablighi Jamaat members who came to India on tourist visas, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity. “If members of even a large group apply individually for tourist visas and do not mention that the purpose of their visit is to join a congregation organised by a private entity, there is no possibility that anything can be done,” said a person who declined to be named. “Only if the persons are invited to events organised by Indian govern...

Bloomberg Dated: April 01, 2020 By  Nick Wadhams and Jennifer Jacobs China has concealed the extent of the coronavirus outbreak in its country, under-reporting both total cases and deaths it’s suffered from the disease, the U.S. intelligence community concluded in a classified report to the White House, according to three U.S. officials. The officials asked not to be identified because the report is secret, and they declined to detail its contents. But the thrust, they said, is that China’s public reporting on cases and deaths is intentionally incomplete. Two of the officials said the report concludes that China’s numbers are fake. The report was received by the White House last week, one of the officials said. The outbreak began in China’s Hubei province in late 2019, but the country has publicly reported only about 82,000 cases and 3,300 deaths, according to  data compiled by Johns Hopkins University . That compares to more than 189,000 cases and more tha...

News 18 World Dated: April 01, 2020 With countries, including the US, reeling under the onslaught of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has outlined three steps that the US government must take to contain the spread of coronavirus. In a column for The Washington Post, Gates said that the country needs a “consistent nationwide approach to shutting down.” He said that despite repeated calls for shutdown by global public health experts, some countries and states have ignored the warnings. “In some states, beaches are still open; in others, restaurants still serve sit-down meals,” he adds. Terming this a “recipe for disaster”, the American magnate said that if people move unhindered across state lines, so could the virus. Gates urged US leaders to ensure that the lockdown process is strictly followed and said that shutdown anywhere means “shutdown everywhere.” “Until the case numbers start to go down across America — which could take 10...

The Quint Dated: April 01, 2020 By Aditya Raj Kaul As India reports over 1,600 COVID-19 cases and over 35 deaths, the Indian Army has started ‘quarantine wellness facilities’ at several locations, and also begun immediate measures to research and present a strategy to counter the coronavirus pandemic. The Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS), under the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), has released a ‘A Counter Pandemic Strategy’ by Brigadier Sanjay Vishwasrao, who was India’s defence and military attaché in Pakistan from 2017 to 2019. The research comes at a time when COVID-19 cases worldwide have shot up to more than 8,00,000 with over 40,000 deaths. In an attempt to curb the spread of the virus in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown on 24 March. Pointing towards the lockdown and other recent measures, the research argues India’s counter-pandemic strategy should cater to its economic, technological, social, cultural, demographic an...

The Print Dated : April 01, 2020 By Nayanima Basu The 15-member United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is in ‘no hurry’ to discuss the role played by China in the origin and spread of the deadly novel coronavirus that has caused almost the entire world to lock down, resulting in a serious economic impact, ThePrint has learnt. According to diplomatic sources, most countries that constitute the UNSC are battling the monumental crisis triggered by Covid-19, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China. As a result, the sources said, there is “no time, energy or resources” left for these countries to take “China head-on”. The UNSC has five permanent members — China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The other 10 non-permanent members are Germany, Dominican Republic, Belgium, Estonia, Indonesia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Africa, Tunisia and Vietnam. An attempt was made to take up the matter  at the UNS...

The Indian Express Dated : April 02, 2020 US citizens stranded in India due to a lockdown in the country to combat the  coronavirus  outbreak will be repatriated in flights that are likely to begin from April 4, the American Embassy said on Wednesday. In an “alert” for US citizens, the mission said it is coordinating closely with the US Department of State and airlines to facilitate flights to the United States. “We anticipate we will have several flights beginning the weekend of April 4. We will contact you as we develop more details,” the US Embassy said in its message to American nationals. “As the Mission moves closer to arranging flights from New Delhi to the United States, those US citizens in areas in northern India, including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan, should work with the Consular Section to make travel arrangements to New Delhi,” it said. The US Embassy said it can assist with curfew passes for drivers of pri...

Hindustan Times Dated : April 02, 2020 More than 95% of those who have died of coronavirus in Europe have been over 60 but young people should not be complacent, the head of the World Health Organization’s office in Europe said Thursday. Dr. Hans Kluge said age is not the only risk factor for getting a severe case of the virus that has put billions under lockdown and upended the world economy. “The very notion that Covid-19 only affects older people is factually wrong,” he said at an online news conference in Copenhagen. “Young people are not invincible.” Those comments echoed similar statements from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The U.N. health agency says 10% to 15% of people under 50 with the disease have moderate or severe cases. “Severe cases of the disease have been seen in people in their teens or 20s, with many requiring intensive care and some unfortunately passing away,” Kluge said. He said recent statistics showed 30,098 people have bee...

The Hindustan Times Dated: April 02, 2020 By Agence France-Presse Oil futures rocketed over 30 percent Thursday after US President Donald Trump tweeted that he expected Russia and Saudi Arabia to end a price war by slashing crude output. Brent North Sea crude soared as high as $36.29 per barrel before pairing gains to stand up almost 25 percent at $30.82. WTI surged to $27.39 per barrel and shortly after was 25.4 percent higher at $25.47. Reference https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/oil-rockets-over-30-as-trump-signals-end-to-price-war/story-iVILd2iBxSpVXi2JlwokOP.html

Foreign Policy Dated : April 02, 2020 By  HINNERK FELDWISCH-DRENTRUP Whilethe novel coronavirus is changing the world, China is trying to do the same. Already a serious strategic rival of the United States with considerable international clout, it’s now moving into a new field—health. After initial denials and cover-ups, China successfully contained the COVID-19 outbreak—but not before it had exported many cases to the rest of the world. Today, despite the falsehoods it initially passed on, which played a critical role in delaying global response, it’s trying to leverage its reputed success story into a stronger position on international health bodies. Most critically, Beijing succeeded from the start in steering the World Health Organization (WHO), which both receives funding from China and is dependent on the regime of the Communist Party on many levels. Its international experts didn’t get access to the country until Director-General Tedros Adhanom visited Presid...