Flights, trains unlikely to begin on May 3, GoM looks at May 15
Restrictions on air and train travel may continue beyond May 3, when the 40-day lockdown in India to stop the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic comes to an end, at least three people who attended a Group of Ministers (GoM) meeting on Saturday said on condition of anonymity. One union minister said that there was […]
Curbs will disrupt the supply chain, change nature of jobs: Niti Aayog CEO
In the wake of the nationwide lockdown enforced to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Saturday said that India’s supply chain will get “massively disrupted” and that the nature of work too will change. “Supply chains will get massively disrupted; we are also in the midst of industrial revolutions 4.0.” […]
Early measures reason for fewer cases in India: WHO regional director
India has had fewer cases than it might have because of early and aggressive action to contain the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director, World Health Organization (WHO) South East Asia Region, told Hindustan Times in an interview. How should lockdowns be lifted? Lockdowns must be lifted slowly, when six […]
China could face consequences if ‘knowingly responsible’ for coronavirus pandemic: Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump warned China on Saturday that it should face consequences if it was “knowingly responsible” for the coronavirus pandemic, as he ratcheted up criticism of Beijing over its handling of the outbreak. “It could have been stopped in China before it started and it wasn’t, and the whole world is suffering because of it,” […]
Sahar Tabar: Jailed Iranian Instagram star ‘has coronavirus’
An Iranian Instagram star has contracted coronavirus in prison, her lawyer says. Fatemeh Khishvand, better known by her Instagram name Sahar Tabar, came to fame after posting photos in which she resembled what has been described as a zombie version of Angelina Jolie. Ms Khishvand was arrested in late 2019 for crimes including blasphemy and […]
Over 1,000 J&K Workers On Hunger Strike In Punjab, Demand They Be Sent Home
Pathankot: Nearly 1,200 workers from Jammu and Kashmir, who have completed their quarantine period of fourteen days in different camps in Punjab’s Pathankot district, are on a hunger strike for the last three days seeking they be sent to their towns in the Union Territory. They were stranded in Pathankot after the government imposed a […]
Universities In Kashmir Bolstering Fight Against COVID-19 With Machine And Manpower
As Coronavirus pandemic started slowly spreading in Kashmir, the government and health department approached universities for highly specialised equipment such as “PCR”- or polymerase chain reaction-machines to use them for COVID-19 tests. The administration also sought assistance from research scholars in the testing. The universities stepped in providing the machinery and the manpower. Doctors say […]
Covid-19: Decoding the low death rate in India, writes Karan Thapar
I am not an expert but I am curious. I tend to focus inordinately on the peculiar, the inexplicable or just the odd. They always catch my attention. And at the moment I can’t stop thinking about the small number of deaths in India due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). As of Saturday evening, the […]
Govt tweaks FDI rules to shield domestic firms. Thank you, tweets Rahul Gandhi
Government approval will be necessary a company or an individual from a country that shares land border with India can invest in any sector, the Commerce Ministry’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said Saturday. It said the government has reviewed the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy to curb “opportunistic takeovers/acquisitions” of […]
Centre tells states to use mobile tracking method for quarantine enforcement
The Union government’s telecommunications department is offering states the ability to mass track people using mobile network tower data, offering a platform that can let ground-level authorities create virtual geo-fences for those meant to be in quarantine, as well as a second service that can let officials send out SMS messages to people in a […]