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Govt to cut down RT-PCR tests

The government on Thursday said RT-PCR tests to detect Covid-19 will be reduced to 40 percent of all tests by the end of the next month. The Covid testing capacity will be ramped up by increasing the number of antigen tests in the country, the officials said.

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RT-PCR testing

The government on Thursday said RT-PCR tests to detect Covid-19 will be reduced to 40 percent of all tests by the end of the next month. The Covid testing capacity will be ramped up by increasing the number of antigen tests in the country, the officials said.

Indian Council of Medical Research General Balram Bhargava said India’s daily Covid testing capacity will be brought up to 45 lakh, of which 18 lakh will be RT-PCR tests while 27 lakh will be Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT).

We are doing 16-20 lakh tests this week and we have a capacity of about 20 lakh tests by end of the month and up to the end of next month we can have the capacity of upto 45 lakh because ICMR has validated more than 105 RAT companies and approved 41 of them and 31 of them are indigenous, Bhargava said.

However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said that of the total number of Covid tests, 70 percent should be the gold standard RT-PCR test. Instead, as per a new announcement by ICMR chief, less reliable antigen tests will comprise 60 percent of the total Covid testing capacity.

In response to rising cases in rural areas, Bhargava said RAT is the backbone of testing. They are planning to deploy mobile testing vans which can cover 10 villages a day. In larger cities, however, the focus was mainly on RT-PCR but at the district level, the backbone of testing has been TrueNAT and CBNAAT, he said.

In the second wave, we have to ramp up the RAT testing, we have written to all chief secretaries and they have acted upon it. Multiple 24X7 RAT booths to be set up in cities, towns and villages said Bhargava.

The antigen tests will be allowed at all government and private healthcare facilities. Aso RAT booths will be set up with the community in schools, colleges, community centres, RWA offices etc. All RT-PCR and RAT test results should be uploaded on the ICMR portal,  he said.

Read Also: Pinarayi Vijayan takes oath as Kerala CM for second term

The government has encouraged testing at all primary health centres and sub-centres which are 1,87,601 so testing. People testing positive can be isolated immediately and those who are  testing negative and are still symptomatic, their samples need to be sent for RT-PCR testing so that will have to go to a facility. But if the positivity rate is high then RAT will be able to isolate them very fast, he added.

India News

Tamannaah Bhatia summoned in illegal IPL streaming app case, to appear before cyber cell on April 29

Actor Tamannaah Bhatia has been summoned for allegedly promoting the viewing of the IPL matches on the Fairplay betting app.

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Actor Tamannaah Bhatia has been summoned by the Maharashtra Cyber Wing to appear for questioning for the illegal streaming of the 2023 Indian Premier League on Fairplay App, a sister app of the Mahadev betting app.

On April 29, the actor is scheduled to appear before the Cyber Cell for interrogation.

In the same case, rapper and singer Badshah was questioned earlier. In addition, actor Sanjay Dutt was also summoned in the same case this week on Tuesday, but he has requested an extension of time to appear before the department.

Even though the Fairplay app lacked official broadcasting rights, all of these actors and singers encouraged users to watch the Indian Premier League, which cost official broadcasters a lot of money.

An FIR was filed in September of last year in response to a complaint made by Viacom18, the company that owns the intellectual property rights (IPR) for streaming Indian Premier League games. According to the complaint, Viacom18 lost over Rs 100 crore as a result of the betting app Fair Play platform illegally streaming IPL matches on their platform.

Many celebrities, including Badshah, Sanjay Dutt, and Jacqueline Fernandez, were summoned for questioning after the filing of the FIR. An employee of the betting app was taken into custody in December of 2023.

A platform for betting exchange, FairPlay provides a large selection of sports and entertainment betting for leisure players.

The most popular sport on FairPlay, according to the app’s website, is tennis, football, and cricket.

According to the website, FairPlay streams every sporting event live so that users can watch and win at the same time.

Actors Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor, who had starred in advertisements for the Mahadev betting app, made news last year when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) called them in for interrogation.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Mallikarjun Kharge vows to continue politics till his last breath to defeat BJP

The 81-year-old Congress leader was speaking at a election rally in Afzalpur and said that if the people did not vote for the Congress candidate, he would think that he did not have any place in Kalaburagi anymore.

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Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday appealed to the people of Kalaburagi to at least attend his funeral if they thought he worked for them even though they do not wish to vote for Congress in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

The 81-year-old Congress leader was speaking at a election rally in Afzalpur and said that if the people did not vote for the Congress candidate, he would think that he did not have any place in Kalaburagi anymore. The Congress President sought an emotional chord with the people of his home district of Kalaburagi, Karnataka

The grand old party has fielded Kharge’s son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani from Kalaburagi, against BJP’s sitting MP Umesh Jadhav. Kharge had won the Lok Sabha elections from Kalaburagi in 2009 and 2014, but lost in 2019. He appealed to the voters to vote for Congress but at least come to his funeral if they thought that he had done some work in Kalaburagi. Kharge added that he would continue in politics till his last breath to defeat the BJP and RSS ideology.

The Congress leader said he is born for politics and whether or not he contests the election, he will continue to strive till his last breath to save the Constitution and democracy of the country. He asserted that he will not retire from politics. Kharge said that retirement happens from a position but one should not retire from his/her principles. He said he is born to defeat the ideology of the BJP and RSS and not to surrender before them.

He advised Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who shared the stage with him, to follow his principles. He said he had told Siddaramaiah many times that he may retire as CM or MLA, but he cannot retire from politics till he defeats the ideology of the BJP and RSS.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Nitin Gadkari says he’s better now after collapsing at election rally in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal

A disturbing video of the incident – which was unfortunately streamed live on X (formerly Twitter), including by his own account – showed Nitin Gadkari being carried away by those on stage, many of whom rushed to form a shield around the BJP leader to give him, and those treating him, some privacy.

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Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari collapsed while speaking at an election rally in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal on Wednesday afternoon. Fortunately, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader received prompt treatment and was able, after a brief pause, to get back up on stage and continue his speech.

A disturbing video of the incident – which was unfortunately streamed live on X (formerly Twitter), including by his own account – showed Nitin Gadkari being carried away by those on stage, many of whom rushed to form a shield around the BJP leader to give him, and those treating him, some privacy.

Nitin Gadkari took to X and informed that he felt uncomfortable due to the heat during the rally in Pusad, Maharashtra. But now he is completely healthy and is leaving for Varud to attend the next meeting. He thanked his supporters and well wishers for their love and good wishes.

Gadkari, who fought the elections in the first phase of voting as BJP’s candidate from Nagpur Lok Sabha seat, was campaigning for Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader Rajashree Patil in Yavatmal’s Pusad. Addressing the rally, the union minister said, he was confident that the people of Yavatmal district, which has a constant tendency towards development, will give victory to the BJP-Maha alliance, which believes in all-round development.

Gadkari posted on X that as the nation moves towards a developed India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, significant work has been done in the last 10 years in the areas of roads and highways as well as health, education and other sectors across the country. He said many schemes of the central government were successfully extended to the rural areas. Due to this, along with the city, the people of the rural areas are also able to benefit from many important facilities.

The Yavatmal constituency along with Akola, Buldhana, Amravati, Hingoli, Wardha, Parbhani and Nanded in Maharashtra are scheduled to vote in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election on April 26.

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