India

Amphan made landfall on Wednesday, lashing coastal areas with ferocious wind and rain. The storm is weakening as it moves north into Bhutan.

Thousands of trees were uprooted in the gales, electricity and telephone lines brought down and houses flattened.

Many of Kolkata's roads are flooded and its 14 million people without power.

The storm is the first super cyclone to form in the Bay of Bengal since 1999. Though its winds had weakened by the time it struck, it was still classified as a very severe cyclone.

Cyclone Amphan is expected to make landfall in an area near the border of the two countries later on Wednesday.

More than 20 relief teams have already been deployed, and several more are on standby, Indian officials say.

The coronavirus outbreak is making it harder for officials in both countries to evacuate people in these regions.

Amphan is expected to hit the coast with winds gusting up to 185km/h (115mph), forecasters say.

India's unemployment rate is now at a record high of 27.1%, according to the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE).

The new data shows India's unemployment figures are four times that of the US.

India doesn’t release official jobs data, but CMIE data is widely accepted.

The country has been in lockdown since 25 March to curb Covid-19 infections, causing mass layoffs and heavy job losses.

India currently has close to 50,000 reported infections.

The man and his 88-year-old wife both recovered after testing positive about a month ago, and will be discharged in a few days, hospital officials said.

The couple lives in the the southern state of Kerala, and were infected by their daughter and son-in-law, who returned from Italy.

India has reported 1,238 active cases of Covid-19 as of Wednesday.

Thirty-five people have died of the infection, while 123 have recovered, according to the health ministry.

Criticism has mounted over the lack of planning ahead of the coronavirus shutdown, which was introduced with less than four hours' notice. 

Many of India's 1.3 billion citizens have been left jobless and hungry. 

Tens of thousands of migrant labourers have been forced to walk hundreds of kilometres to their native villages. 

In his weekly radio address PM Narendra Modi apologised for the impact of the strict stay-at-home measures. 

But he said there was "no other way" to stop the rapid spread of the virus. 

The restrictions came into force at midnight local time (18:30 GMT) and will be enforced for 21 days.

"There will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes," Mr Modi said in a televised address.

He appealed for people not to panic - but crowds quickly mobbed stores in the capital, Delhi, and other cities.

Correspondents say it is not clear how - or even if - people will now be allowed out to buy food and other essentials.

Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh were sentenced to death by a trial court in 2013.

The four were hanged in the capital's high-security Tihar prison in the first executions in India since 2015.

The victim died from her injuries days after being raped by six men on a moving bus. The incident caused outrage and led to new anti-rape laws in India.

The 23-year-old physiotherapy student was dubbed Nirbhaya - the fearless one - by the press as she could not be named under Indian law.

Jio, BSNL and Vodafone are among those to have adopted the move after a request from the government.

The message, in English, begins with a person coughing and is heard instead of a ringing tone by the caller.

However, several websites have published a way to silence it, after complaints it was becoming annoying.

It contains information about the virus and its symptoms, and is heard only by the caller - it is not a default handset ringtone.

Both countries enjoy warm and longstanding relationship founded on commonwealth heritage, shared values and development aspirations. It is my particular privilege to be presenting my credentials in the 50th year of the establishment of diplomatic relationship between India and Samoa. The fact that India was the second country to establish diplomatic relations with Samoa in June 1970 is a testament to the importance India has attached to this relationship from the beginning,” Mr Pardeshi said.

India’s High Commissioner to New Zealand Muktesh Pardeshi, who is also the accredited Non-Resident High Commissioner to the Independent State of Samoa handed over a Certificate of Bank Transfer to the High Commissioner of Samoa to New Zealand Leasi Papali’I Tommy Scanlan in Wellington on Tuesday, January 28, 2020.

Mr Pardeshi said that India and Samoa enjoy friendly and cordial relations.

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