Governance
Coronavirus: Indian Railways cancels all passenger trains till March 31

In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak in India, the Indian Railways has decided to cancel all passenger trains till March 31. The decision was announcement through a statement released by Indian Railways.
The statement read, In continuation of the measures taken in the wake of COVID-19, it has been decided that all passenger train services on Indian Railways including premium trains, mail/express trains, passenger trains, suburban trains, Kolkata metro rail, Konkan railway, etc shall be cancelled till the 2400 hrs of 31.03.2020. However, bare minimum level of services of suburban trains and Kolkata metro rail shall continue upto 2400 hrs of 22.03.2020.
Also read: Coronavirus: 79 positive cases recorded in single day on March 21 in India
Informing about the trains already running the statement read, Trains which had already commenced their journey, prior to 0400 hrs of 22.03.2020, will run up to their destinations. Adequate arrangements shall be made for the passengers, who have commenced their journey during the travel and at their destinations.
The statement also informed that to ensure the essential supplies in various parts of the country, movement of goods train will continue. Further informing about the refund to passengers, the statement read, To make it more convenient for passengers, full refund for all cancelled trains may be taken till 21.06.2020. Adequate arrangements shall be made to facilitate hassle-free refund to passengers affected train cancellations.

COVID-19
Thane Municipal Corporation adds 25 beds as COVID cases rise
Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) added 25 additional beds in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital Kalwa apart from arranging a special ward dedicated to COVID-19 patients. The total number of active patients in the city stood at 252 while five succumbed to the virus. Meanwhile, TMC Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said a ‘death audit’ of patients who died of COVID would be conducted. The TMC has ensured it has additional stock of oxygen concentrators, testing kits, medicines, to name a few. Bangar told HT, “Due to the increasing number of Covid patients, it is necessary for everyone to be alert.”
He added, The number of Covid tests should be increased to stay one step ahead of the disease. As a result, the number of patients is likely to increase due to increased testing. However, as per the ‘test, isolate, treat’ protocol for Covid, it becomes necessary to isolate and treat more and more patients. The testing centres will not remain closed even for a single day. At the same time, more arrangements for testing will be made immediately in public places, markets, railway stations, malls.”
India recorded 3,095 new COVID cases and five deaths in last 24 hours.
Also read: Nagpur records 22 COVID cases in 24 hours
Politics
After Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, his namesake who contested from Wayanad disqualified

Rahul Gandhi
An independent candidate for Lok Sabha elections named Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from contesting polls for failing to lodge account of election expenses. Gandhi, who’s name figures as ‘Rahul Gandhi K E S/o Valsamma’ in an Election Commission list of persons, had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an Independent and had received 2196 votes from the Wayanad seat in Kerala – a constituency from where ex-Congress MP Rahul Rajiv Gandhi had won with over seven lakh votes.
However, since it is mandatory for all contestants to submit their account of election expenses among other mandatory requirements under EC rules and the Representation of the People Act.
Rahul Gandhi K E S/o Valsamma stood disqualified to contest polls from September 13, 2021 till September 13, 2024. According to Section 10A, the Election Commission can disqualify a contestant for a period of three years from the date of the order if he/she has failed to lodge an account of election expenses within the time and in the manner required by law and has no good reason or justification for the failure.
Also read: ‘CBI under UPA govt. pressurised me to frame Modi,’ recalls Amit Shah
Nagpur News
Nagpur records 22 COVID cases in 24 hours
A total of 22 patients tested positive for COVID-19 in Nagpur in past 24 hours on Thursday. Almost 242 people were tested in the city, out of which 15 belonged to urban area while and 6 were from the rural areas, and one from outside Nagpur district.
At present, there are 72 active patients in the city. Three new cases of the new XBB.1.16 variant of COVID-19 were detected that took the total tally to five in the district.
India recorded 3,095 new COVID cases and five deaths in last 24 hours.
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