The Shillong Times - Established 1945

SHILLONG, April 21: In a desperate bid to contain the rapid outbreak of corona infection in the state, the Meghalaya government has decided to step up vaccination drive on a war footing. The target is to vaccinate all the 6.5 lakh eligible beneficiaries within a week or ten days. Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma said that the situation in the state is serious with cases rising every day but taking appropriate measures now can prevent the situation from spiraling out of control in the days to come. “We have to take…

SHILLONG, April 21: As the cases of novel coronavirus are increasing exponentially, the state government has put in place more restrictions. The government warned that it might clamp a complete lockdown if the situation does not improve. “We are observing the situation. If it goes out of control, we will be compelled to impose a complete lockdown. So, people should help the government by helping themselves,” Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong said. After reviewing the situation at a meeting on Wednesday, Tynsong said…

SHILLONG, April 21: In its bid to intensify the COVID-19 vaccination drive, the state government is working on increasing the number of vaccination centres. “We have around 200 vaccination centres and 700-800 immunization sites. We want the vaccination centres to match the level of immunization sites,” DHS (MI) Dr Aman War said on Wednesday. He said the severity of the pandemic this time could be a bit more than what it was last year. Asked if it is a new strain, he said, “It is still COVID-19 for us and we cannot say…

SHILLONG, April 21: The Health department is contemplating to carry out a case study after 120 people were tested positive for the COVID-19 in a cluster of villages under Darrang in West Jaintia Hills bordering Bangladesh. Stating that they are treating a woman from Ri Bhoi who attended a funeral at Darrang village as the index case, a senior Health official said that they will need to find out how such a large number of people were tested positive. According to him, there are strong possibilities that people might have…

TURA, April 21: In its first battle since being overtaken by the Congress in the just concluded elections to the GHADC, the NPP has managed to upset the latter, defeating it in the election to the prestigious position of Chairman of the GHADC on Wednesday. NPP MDC Rakesh A Sangma defeated his Congress opponent Cherak W Momin by 16 votes to 12 to become one of the youngest members to hold this all-important position. The results of the election also appeared to have sealed the fate of the Congress when it comes to numbers…

SHILLONG, April 21: NPP’s Phulbari MLA, SG Esmatur Mominin on Wednesday asserted that non-tribals have a constitutional right to participate in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) elections and nobody can snatch that away unless there is an amendment to the Sixth Schedule. “This is petty politics played by certain people ahead of the GHADC polls but it is a right awarded to non-tribals by the constitution,” Mominin said, while reacting to the spate of protests against the participation of non-tribals in the…

SHILLONG, April 21: NEIGRIHMS authorities’ forewarning about its inability to cope with COVID cases like last year has not impressed the state government. As cases of infection are soaring by the day, officials have pinned their hope on this premier central health-care institute to help the state cope with the alarming situation. Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Wednesday said NEIGRIHMS should not give up providing service like in the past simply because of limitations to fight the pandemic. “NEIGRIHMS should not…