Millions of people in Beijing returned to work

HT Daily News Wrap

The authorities in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara suspended internet services for 24 hours, Millions of people in Beijing returned to work with scores of subway stations shut after a national holiday muted by the coronavirus curbs, India and France have called for an immediate end to hostilities in Ukraine to promote dialogue and diplomacy and other top news in today's bulletin.
Ending speculation about floating a new party, election strategist Prashant Kishor said on Thursday that he was not floating a new political party as of now. His clarification comes days after his cryptic tweet which hinted at a new political party. On Monday morning, he put out a cryptic tweet, saying that he would turn to the “real masters, the people,” to understand the real issues. “My quest to be a meaningful participant in democracy & help shape pro-people policy led to a 10yr rollercoaster ride! As I turn the page, time to go to the Real Masters, THE PEOPLE,to better understand the issues & the path to “ ”-Peoples Good Governance # ,” he tweeted.  Kishor said that any decision on floating a party or political organization would be taken only after meeting people who share the same thoughts of Jan Suraj (Good governance). Kishor said that in the next three-four months he would be meeting around 17,000 people drawn from all fields and take their view on taking Bihar forward. “If they decide to have a political party or organization, then we will take a call by August-September,” he said but made it clear that it will not be a Prashant Kishor party nor I will be all-in-all of the party. “It is going to be a collective effort,” he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday will chair an important review meeting on the preparedness to deal with the ongoing heatwave as well as the upcoming monsoon season, reported news agency PTI citing government sources. Modi, who returned from his three-day Europe visit on Thursday morning, is expected to hold seven to eight meetings during the day. Several places in the country had witnessed all-time high temperatures in April with the mercury leaping to 46-47 degrees Celsius leading to a severe heatwave. The weather department had issued an orange alert for five states including Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha. Delhi had recorded its second hottest April this year since 1951 with a monthly average maximum temperature of 40.2 degrees Celsius. The all-time high maximum temperature for the month of April in Delhi was 45.6 degrees Celsius in 1941. However, on Thursday, Delhi woke up to a pleasant morning as the minimum temperature was recorded at 22.4 degrees Celsius, two notches below the average, on the back of hailstorms and rains in parts of the city the previous evening. India and France have called for an immediate end to hostilities in Ukraine to promote dialogue and diplomacy, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to step up coordination to tackle the global implications of the conflict. The two leaders, during their meeting in Paris on Wednesday, condemned civilian deaths in Ukraine and underlined the need to respect the UN Charter, the international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. Modi earlier joined his counterparts from five Nordic states during a summit in Copenhagen to emphasise for an immediate end to hostilities and to back the rules-based international order. Modi travelled to France after the India-Nordic Summit and separate meetings with prime ministers of Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in the Danish capital. The Ukraine crisis has figured in all legs of Modi’s three-nation tour of Europe and the Indian side has stressed the need to find a negotiated settlement. New Delhi and Paris have expressed serious concerns over the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, “unequivocally condemned civilian deaths”, and sought an “immediate cessation of hostilities to bring parties together to promote dialogue and diplomacy to find an immediate end to the suffering of the people”, said a joint statement issued after the meeting between Macron and Modi. Millions of people in Beijing returned to work Thursday, many remotely, with scores of subway stations shut after a national holiday muted by the coronavirus curbs. Chinese authorities have pressed on with their zero-Covid policy involving lockdowns and mass testing as they battle the biggest outbreak since the early days of the pandemic, with entire neighbourhoods in the capital sealed over handfuls of infections. Beijing reported 50 local virus cases on Thursday, a day after it said people in its most populous district Chaoyang should work from home. Those in the area, home to around 3.5 million, who need to visit their offices were encouraged to drive themselves and avoid gatherings. Another Beijing district Tongzhou has also encouraged residents to work at home, while dozens of subway stations across the city remained closed. Some employees were seen returning to their buildings on Thursday in Chaoyang, scanning their health codes that permit entry to venues. Beijing is treading cautiously after an extended lockdown in Shanghai, China’s largest city, led to food shortages and public anger. Shanghai — the epicentre of the latest outbreak — reported more than 4,600 mostly asymptomatic infections on Thursday. The moves followed an unusually quiet Labour Day holiday, with the capital banning dining at restaurants and shutting down gyms. Domestic tourism revenues over the five-day break were down by more than 40 percent from a year ago, according to official data. More than 40 cities in China were implementing full or partial lockdowns, or measures restricting mobility as of May 3, according to Nomura estimates. The authorities in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara suspended internet services for 24 hours after over a dozen unidentified people assaulted two men on Wednesday night before setting a motorcycle afire and triggered protests amid a series of communal clashes in the state. The protesters demanded action against the assailants before top officials rushed to the scene to pacify them and rushed the two to the district hospital. Police superintendent Adarsh Sidhu said the two were having dinner when the assailants on motorcycles attacked them in Bhilwara’s Sanganer town. The masked assailants fled the scene. Sidhu said they were examining the CCTV footage to identify the accused. “The reason for the attack was being investigated.” District collector Ashish Modi said the two were stable and sustained minor injuries. “The investigation has been started to arrest the attackers. The internet services have been suspended for 24 hours.” Internet services were earlier suspended in Jodhpur following communal clashes on Monday night following an altercation over religious flags ahead of Eid. Curfew was also clamped in the city till May 4. This was the third instance of communal tension in about a month in Rajasthan.