Mothers are not only birth givers but also nurturers, the Government of India and UNICEF are actively indulged in promoting safe motherhood practices. In wake of this, The National Safe Motherhood Day (NSMD) is celebrated every year on April 11 in India in order to generate awareness about providing proper healthcare and maternity facilities to expecting mothers and lactating women. We bring you a few facts about NSMD.

It was in the year 2013, that the Government of India declared April 11, as the National Safe Motherhood Day on the birth anniversary of political activist Kasturba Gandhi. Since then, every year campaigns are carried out to continue delivering progress for women and children. This day is celebrated to ensure that all women receive the care they need to be safe and healthy throughout pregnancy and childbirth.

The Centre has sanctioned 15 thousand crore rupees for India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Package. Out of it, seven thousand 774 crore rupees will be utilized for immediate COVID-19 Emergency Response and rest for medium-term support of one to four years to be provided under mission mode approach.

The key objectives of the package include mounting emergency response to slow and limit COVID-19 in the country through the development of diagnostics and COVID-19 dedicated treatment facilities, centralized procurement of essential medical equipment and drugs required for treatment of infected patients. Besides, the aim of the package is also to strengthen and build resilient National and State health systems to support prevention and preparedness for future disease outbreak. It also include setting up of laboratories and bolster surveillance activities, bio-security preparedness, pandemic research and proactively engage communities and conduct risk communication activities. These interventions and initiatives would be implemented under the overall umbrella of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Eight Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) hospitals across the country with over one thousand isolation bed have been declared as dedicated COVID-19 hospitals. These hospitals are situated in Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Labour Ministry said, in addition to this, around one thousand 112 isolation beds have been made available in most of the remaining ESIC Hospitals across the country. Further, a total of 555 ICU Beds with 197 Ventilators have also been made available in these Hospitals.

The Ministry said, Covid-19 testing facility has been made available at ESIC Hospital, Faridabad, Haryana. It said, ESIC has allowed purchase of medicines by beneficiaries from private chemist during lockdown period and its subsequent reimbursement by ESIC. The Ministry said, efforts are being made to maintain adequate stock of mask and Personal Protective Equipment kits. Frequency of disinfection and sanitization of ESIC health Institution premises has been increased.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for rushing a five-tonne cargo of medicines, including anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine. In a tweet last night, Mr Netanyahu said, all Israeli thank Mr Modi for sending Chloroquine to Israel.

The five tonne shipment included ingredients for drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, being seen worldwide as the best possible cure as of now for treating COVID-19 patients. The Indian consignment reached Israel within days after Mr Netanyahu spoke to Mr Modi requesting supply of hydroxychloroquine, with India being the world's largest producer and exporter of the drug.

The novel coronavirus has infected nearly 10,000 people in Israel and claimed 86 lives. As many as 121 others are on ventilators in serious condition.

Wisden has named Ben Stokes as its leading cricketer in the world and urged the government to ensure that at the next global event in the UK all England matches are broadcast on free-to-air television – not only the final.

The 157th Almanack lands on Thursday in what should have been a precursor to the opening deliveries of the County Championship this Easter Sunday. However the sport it charts sits in stasis and so this is solely a blast of primrose sunshine from 2019.

Stokes is duly feted for the heroics witnessed during the World Cup final at Lord’s and the Headingley heist that joined the pantheon of Ashes centuries. He is the second England player to win this award in its 17-year history after Andrew Flintoff – even if Jos Buttler’s epochal breaking of the stumps at Lord’s adorns Wisden’s cover.

James Bond actress Honor Blackman has passed away aged 94 at her residence in England and has family have announced the sad news to fans. Their statement reads "It’s with great sadness that we have to announce the death of Honor Blackman aged 94. ‘She died peacefully of natural causes at home in Lewes, Sussex surrounded by her family. She was much loved and will be greatly missed by her two children Barnaby Kaufmann and Lottie Croft, adopted during her marriage to Maurice Kaufmann and her four grandchildren. As well as being a much-adored mother and grandmother, Honor was an actor of hugely prolific creative talent; with an extraordinary combination of beauty, brains and physical prowess, along with her unique voice and a dedicated work ethic she achieved an unparalleled iconic status in the world of film and entertainment and with an absolute commitment to her craft and total professionalism in all her endeavors she contributed to some of the great films and theatre productions of our times.

The Coronavirus pandemic continues to spread and threaten India. Technology can play a big role in putting control measures in place to contain the spread. Telangana public health and family welfare department has deployed a smart monitoring app developed by a startup.

The COVID-19 Monitoring System App is India's first automated monitoring app. The app is developed by US and Hyderabad headquartered startup Vera Smart Healthcare. The technology can help the Telangana state in tracking, monitoring, and providing real-time analysis through live surveillance of Covid-19 patients.

The smart app allows health callers to handle more than 1,500 calls along with smart chatbot integration. Health authorities can keep in touch with the patients. It also provides facts and figures to the various stakeholders. It notifies the progress of the symptomatic or confirmed positive, quarantined cases.

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Tuesday a five-point action plan to contain the spread of coronavirus in the national capital and said one lakh random rapid COVID-19 tests will be conducted in the city's hotspot areas.

Addressing a press conference via video link, he said the Delhi government-run Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, G B Pant Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital have been declared as COVID-19 dedicated hospitals.

Currently, 2,950 beds in city hospitals are reserved for COVID-19 patients. The Delhi government will take over 12,000 hotel rooms in the wake of spike in number of coronavirus cases, Kejriwal said.

"We will give the police phone numbers of Tablighi Jamaat event attendees to trace and ascertain whether they moved in nearby areas," he said.

Elaborating on the five-point action plan, the chief minister said, "It includes five Ts -- testing, tracing, treatment, team-work and tracking -- and monitoring."

Informing reporters that the government has made arrangements to deal with 30,000 cases, Kejriwal said provisions will be made for 8,000 more beds to treat COVID-19 patients.

"The government has earmarked around 400 beds in private hospitals for COVID-19 patients. We have prepared detailed plan to take over private hospitals if the number of coronavirus cases rises up to 30,000 in Delhi," he said. "One lakh random rapid COVID-19 tests will be conducted in hotspot areas."

Actor and theatre personality Sasi Kalinga passed away at a private hospital in Kozhikode on Tuesday morning. He was 59.

Sasi had been undergoing treatment for liver-related ailments for some time. His condition deteriorated last night, and he was rushed to a private hospital, where he breathed his last at 5 am today. His mortal remains will be taken to his native village Pallissery, where his last rites will be performed today.

The members of Malayalam film industry are mourning the demise of Sasi Kalinga, who managed to carve a niche for himself with his comical roles and his uncanny ability to make funny faces. He started his acting career with plays and remained in the theatre circuit for about 25 years before he moved to films. He made his debut on the big screen with the star-studded anthology drama Kerala Cafe, which came out in 2009. He went to star in movies like Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha, Pokkiri Raja, Pranchiyettan & the Saint, Gaddaama, Adaminte Makan Abu and Amen among more.