US envoy in Tel Aviv for de-escalation talks

India’s export performance continues to be impressive in April this year with merchandise exports accelerating by an impressive 195.72 per cent over April 2020 levels and 17.62 per cent over the April 2019 levels. Merchandise exports, excluding POL and Gems and Jewellery, have increased by 160.24 percent in April this year over the same period of 2020-21 and by 20.47 percent over the same period of 2019-20.The Economic recovery is also visible in the rising import growth of 167.05 per cent during the month of April this year over the same period of 2020-21 and 7.87 per cent in April this month over the same period of 2019-20. Service exports estimated for the month of April this year are 21.17 billion dollars registering a positive growth of 28.68 percent as compared to April 2020. The estimated value of services import for April 2021 is 13 billion dollar, registering a positive growth of 39.75 percent vis-à-vis April 2020.

-The first Oxygen Express to the State of Andhra Pradesh was received at Krishnapatnam Port with two Containers bringing 40 metric tons of Liquid Medical Oxygen on Saturday. This train was operated from Durgapur in West Bengal and traversed a distance of nearly 1,650 kms in around 27 hours. The Railways have operated the train along the Green Corridor which has helped in moving the Oxygen Express at an average speed of 65 Kmph. Liquid Medical Oxygen is a Cryogenic Cargo which has certain limitations in transportation in terms of the maximum speed, maximum acceleration & deceleration and loading restrictions.Taking into consideration all these factors, Railways have been operating Oxygen Express trains by identifying Green Corridors for their transportation.The Oxygen Express trains are being operated by the Indian Railways across the length and breadth of the country as per the request of the State Governments.

-Cabinet Secretary is in continuous touch with Chief Secretaries of all the Coastal States and Central Ministries & Agencies to assess preparedness with regard to Cyclone Tauktae. Union Home Ministry is constantly monitoring the situation and is in touch with the State Governments and UTs and the Central Agencies concerned. It has already released first instalment of SDRF in advance to all the coastal States. NDRF has pre-positioned 42 teams equipped with boats, tree-cutters, telecom equipments in six States and has kept 26 teams on standby. Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief, search and rescue operations. Air Force and Engineer task force units of Army, with boats and rescue equipment, are on standby for deployment. Seven ships with Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Units are on standby along western coast. Surveillance aircraft and helicopters are carrying out serial surveillance along the western coast.

-A US envoy has arrived in Tel Aviv for de-escalation talks as unrest between Israel and the Palestinians continues.Hady Amr will take part in talks with Israeli, Palestinian and UN officials and reinforce what US diplomats said was the need for a sustainable calm. Israeli air strikes on targets in the Gaza Strip killed 10 people today, while Palestinians fired rockets into Israel.This week's violence in Gaza and Israel is the worst since 2014. At least 150 people have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank, and eight in Israel, since the fighting began. The US embassy in Israel said the aim of his trip was to reinforce the need to work toward a sustainable calm. An estimated 10,000 Palestinians have left their homes in Gaza since Monday because of the conflict, according to the UN.Israeli officials reported about 200 rocket launches from Gaza overnight, with homes hit in the cities of Ashdod, Beersheba and Sderot.

-A total of 12 people were killed Friday night in two tornados in Wuhan in central China and Suzhou in East China. A tornado hit Shengze town of Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, on Friday night at around 7 pm, leaving four dead and 149 slightly wounded, according to the local media reports on Saturday.Also on Friday night, another tornado passed through two districts of Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, killing eight people and injuring 280, the city's emergency management bureau said on Saturday.State media reported that by Saturday, the extreme weather had caused the collapse of 85 houses, with 400 houses, two tower cranes and 8,000 square meters of temporary shelters damaged. Many flights have been delayed and cancelled and some sections of the railway lines under the Wuhan railway bureau, have also been affected.