Stray clashes in Nandigram a day after polling

External Affairs Ministry has said there is a consensus between India and China that two sides should quickly resolve remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh. Responding to a media query on border standoff with China, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the disengagement in the Pangong lake area was a significant step forward and it provided a good basis for resolution of other remaining issues. He said the two sides continued to remain in touch through military and diplomatic channels. He added External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has already pointed out to his Chinese counterpart that prolongation of the situation is not in the interest of any side. Mr Bagchi expressed hope that China will work with India to ensure that disengagement in the remaining areas is completed at the earliest.

-Chile closed its borders and tightened an already strict lock down further to slow the spread of the corona virus. The move came to stop the influx of contagious new variants as cases climbed past 1 million despite one of the world’s fastest vaccination rates. The hospitals warned they were close to saturation with middle-aged and younger victims of the disease as cases have spiked in recent weeks following the Southern Hemisphere summer holidays.Chile struck early deals with vaccine makers Pfizer and Sinovac, and has already vaccinated more than 35% of its population, ranking it third in the world for inoculations per capita. The caseload has prompted Chile to delay elections due on 11th April.

-Indian Railways will start the services of 71 unreserved mail and express trains from Monday. In a tweet, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said these trains will ensure safe and comfortable journey for the passengers. A weekly, Rajdhani Superfast Special train will also be run between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Secunderabad from Sunday.

-Over six crore eighty seven lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to the beneficiaries in the country so far. The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has informed that more than thirty six lakh seventy one thousand doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the last 24 hours.Meanwhile, the country is witnessing continuous rise in daily new cases and deaths due to Covid-19. According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh together account for over 80 per cent of the total active cases in the country.The Health Ministry informed that more than eighty one thousand new cases have been reported in the country in last 24 hours taking the cumulative positive cases to over one crore twenty three lakh. A total of four hundred sixty nine deaths have also been reported in the country within the last 24 hours, taking the toll to over one lakh sixty three thousand across the country.

-A day after the polling,stray clashes took place between workers of the Trinamool Congress and the BJP on Friday in some parts of the Nandigram seat, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been locked in a fight with protege-turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari of the saffron party, police said. A woman, stated to be a BJP activist, was injured in one such incident at Bhekutia area in the constituency and she was admitted to Nandigram block primary health centre. Clashes between workers of the two parties were also reported from villages such as Osmanchak, Dhanakhala, Rajaramchak, Khadambari in the constituency. However, the personnel of the police and central forces brought the situation under control.