作者： bharat.cn

Has the Tamil Nadu chief secretary let the cat out of the bag? While briefing the media in Chennai on Saturday, after the conclusion of the state cabinet meeting, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary K Shanmugam said there is a delay in receiving the rapid antibody test kits Tamil Nadu had ordered because the consignment, meant for India, had been diverted to the United States by China.

The bureaucrat informed that the state had placed an order of a total of 4 lakh test kits with the Centre, of which 1 lakh was expected from China. Shanmugam said though the production of rapid antibody test kits was limited to China, it had sent one consignment to the USA.

This could possibly explain the constant delay in India receiving its order of 5 lakh rapid antibody test kits that it had placed with a Chinese firm on March 28.

At least four deadlines for delivery have been missed so far, adding to India’s wait for conducting more tests to detect the spread of Covid-19 among its citizens.

Rapid antibody tests are quicker and inexpensive alternative to the standard RT-PCR tests being conducted currently in the country.

The advisory to start rapid antibody-based blood tests for Covid-19 was issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on April 4. It authorised for the tests to be conducted in areas reporting clusters (containment zone) and in large migration gatherings/evacuee centres.

But the first order for the rapid antibody test kits was placed on March 28, and since then deadlines have only come and gone.

印度为防疫实施全国封锁，安德拉省（Andhra Pradesh）一名19岁年轻女子仍突破封锁，为爱走了60公里到邻近村庄嫁给她的男友，女方家长已提出投诉，警方正在处理。

印度2019年冠状病毒疾病（COVID-19，新冠肺炎）疫情不断扩大，确诊病例迄今已破6000例，而印度总理莫迪已宣布3月25日起全国封锁21天，民众非必要不得外出，连婚礼也不能举办，最近媒体报导有两对新人只好透过视讯举办婚礼。

印度媒体News 18今天报导，家住安德拉省克利希纳县（Krishna）农村的19岁年轻女子巴凡妮（Chitikala Bhavani）等不及要与男友结婚，突破封锁走了60公里，成功抵达男友住的村子，要嫁给男友。

巴凡妮与男友已交往4年，最近才向父母透露两人交往并打算结婚，但女方家长反对；因此，巴凡妮和男友计划私奔。

就在巴凡妮与男友准备启动私奔计画时，莫迪突然宣布全国封锁，让计画受阻。但巴凡妮却等不及想嫁给男友，于是偷偷瞒着家人出走，经过60公里艰苦跋涉后抵达男友的家。

巴凡妮说，她和男友原本决定在全国封锁结束后就私奔结婚，但目前封锁可能延长，所以她等不及了，决定步行到男友家结婚。

但巴凡妮的父母非常生气，威胁这对小情侣，于是小情侣向警方报案寻求保护。

虽然官方宣称印度已废除种姓制度，但印度一般家庭仍习惯由父母根据种姓帮子女找寻对象，经相亲结婚；情侣若私奔，往往会遭愤怒的父母以保护家族名誉为名，对情侣进行「荣誉处决」（honour killing）。

当地警方表示，今天上午接获一对新婚夫妇报案，称生命受到威胁，听了他们的描述，才知道这名女子突破封锁走了60公里与男友结婚；由于两人已经成年，可以自行决定婚嫁，警方也接到女方父母的投诉电话，正与女方父母沟通。

The massive spike in coronavirus cases comes a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with chief ministers of all states, where he is expected to take a call on the extension of nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25

India on Friday registered the highest-ever single-day spike in the number of Covid-19 cases. As per the official government tally, India now has 6,872 cases of novel coronavirus – 24 hours ago the figure stood at 5,865. The central government data puts deaths due to Covid-19 in India at 206.

The massive spike in coronavirus cases comes a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with chief ministers of all states, where he is expected to take a call on the extension of nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25, even as two states – Odisha and Punjab – have already extended restrictions till April 30.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has also cautioned the global leaders against a hastened withdrawal of restrictions imposed to control the virus, as the organisation said, it could lead to a re-emergence of the deadly infection. The novel coronavirus pandemic has infected over 16 lakh people globally since its emergence in China last December while the worldwide death toll is fast approaching 1,00,000.

Over 1,000 new cases in India in one day

Despite the 17th day of the nationwide lockdown, India registered over 1,000 new cases of the novel coronavirus. By 9 PM April 10, ICMR data said that total 6872 individuals had tested positive in India. However, a PTI tally of numbers reported by various states as on 9.30 PM showed a total of 7,510 having been affected by the virus nationwide so far with at least 251 deaths. More than 700 have been cured and discharged.

While several states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh reported a rising number of cases, the Union Health Ministry said the rate of people testing positive was only 0.2 per cent on Thursday when more than 16,000 samples were tested. Cumulatively close to 1.5 lakh samples have been tested so far across India.