Asked if the efforts of the government should have been more in providing relief right now than managing their own image and perception, the National Award-winning actor said it is important for the government to rise to the occasion and do things for the people who elected them.
The Union health ministry on Tuesday said that aid received from other countries has been distributed in different states to help deal with the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
Messi's donation will be split between Hospital Clinic in Barcelona and another medical centre in his home country. Former Barcelona player and manager Guardiola made his contribution to a campaign launched by the Angel Soler Daniel Foundation and Medical College of Barcelona.
The panel is expected to suggest various relief measures to put economy back on track as soon as possible, the sources said.
Taking lessons from that, I would think seamless digital payments is something you have to clearly have a roadmap for, the FM said.
'It is unfortunate that aspersions are being cast on how our brave Armed Forces are treated. The armed forces give the best possible treatment to their personnel'
It was decided that the senior-most Army officer in a state would get in touch with the chief minister to understand the requirement and take forward the process, including offering to treat civilians wherever possible
In a communication to chief secretaries of all states and union territories, Union home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said the ministry of home affairs, under the Disaster Management Act, has allowed manufacture or production, transport and other related supply-chain activities in respect of essential goods like foodstuff, medicines and medical equipment during the 21-day lockdown.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a statewide curfew for 15 days from 8 am on April 14 to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus in its second wave. With Section 144 being imposed across the state, Thackeray essential services have been exempted from the restrictions. The curfew will be in place till 7 am on May 1.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the operation of a Delhi high court order holding as "unconstitutional" the imposition of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) by the Centre on import of oxygen concentrators by individuals for personal use. A special bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah issued notice on the plea and sought response from the petitioner, who filed a PIL before the high court.
The Union home ministry has issued strict guidelines for the enforcement of the 21-day complete nationwide lockdown in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, invoking the National Disaster Management Act which may result in imprisonment of up to two years for any violation. All government offices, the offices of state and Union territory governments, autonomous institutions, public corporations, commercial, private, industrial establishments shall remain closed, the guidelines issued by the ministry said.
The BMC also said that Ganesh mandals in the city have been asked to keep the Ganpati festival celebrations simple and low-key this year and focus on social service.
Rs 7,774 crore, has been provisioned for COVID-19 Emergency Response and the rest for medium-term support, ranging from one to four years to be provided under mission-mode approach.
"I am very concerned about the recent situation of COVID-19 pandemic in India. On behalf of the Chinese Government and people, as well as in my own name, I would like to express sincere sympathies to the Indian Government and people," according to the message from President Xi to Prime Minister Modi.
Even as a lack of clarity in regulations is preventing Indian medical device manufacturers from making their presence felt in the $2 billion domestic medical equipment market, foreign players, mostly from the United States, are increasingly finding the country a preferred destination.
Aviation consultancy CAPA on Thursday said allowing domestic airlines to take advance bookings from April 15 is "unfair" to consumers since a decision on lifting the nationwide lockdown is yet to be taken. During the lockdown period only special flights approved by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation, medical evacuation flights and those carrying cargo, including medical equipment, to and from different parts of the country are operational.
As its factories resumed operations after over two-month of grim battle against coronavirus, China is busy tapping into the vast business opportunities of export of key medical goods, specially ventilators and personal protection equipment (PPE), across the world, including India, where both private and government bodies are placing orders for the import of these products.
Online grocery platform BigBasket is looking at hiring 10,000 people for its warehouses and last-mile delivery to clear pending orders quickly and meet the spike in orders on account of the nationwide lockdown. "We are looking to hire 10,000 people for our warehouses and last-mile delivery. This hiring will happen across all 26 cities that we are present in," bigbasket Vice President-Human Resources Tanuja Tewari told PTI.
In the midst of rising global concern over China's military expansionism, India and three other member nations of the Quad on Thursday vowed to uphold a rules-based international order underpinned by respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, freedom of navigation and peaceful resolution of disputes.
The plea also sought a direction to the Centre for providing all necessary medical equipment and other supports for the effective treatment of the children suffering from the epidemic disease.
Formula One alegend Michael Schumacher's wife has reportedly modified a room in their Swiss mansion, spending 10 million-pounds on it, so that the seriously injured racing legend can come home.
Naravane is scheduled to meet Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Friday.
In the Union budget, Rs 65,011.8 crore has been allocated to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, up from Rs 62,659.12 crore in 2019-20.
The all-powerful GST Council on Friday decided to charge food delivery platforms such as Swiggy and Zomato a tax even as it extended concessional tax rates on certain COVID-19 drugs by three months till December 31. The Council, which comprises the Union finance minister and her state counterparts, decided to continue keeping petrol and diesel out of the GST purview as subsuming the current excise duty and VAT into one national rate would impact revenues. Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the Council at a meeting here, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said GST has been exempted on muscular atrophy drugs like Zolgensma and Viltepso, which cost crores of rupees.
Government sources said the ministers deliberated on various arrangements being made to deal with increasing cases of coronavirus cases as well as to ensure adequate supplies of medicine and essential commodities during the lockdown.
Work is underway in identifying global companies in sectors ranging from electronics, auto components and medical equipment to shift part of their existing or incremental manufacturing to India.
World leaders thanked India for its help and support in combating the coronavirus pandemic through "early and meaningful" shipments of COVID-19 vaccine doses, as they addressed the high-level UN General Assembly session this year.
The party, which shares power with Congress and Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra, said that Gandhi took a stand in public interest and displayed political maturity when he said that he might have differences with Modi, but this is not the time to quarrel as the country needs to give a united fight against the pandemic.
The bench issued notice to the Centre and said it would hear the matter on Friday.
'When the lockdown grounded a billion people, nothing had been planned well: Testing, masks, face shields, protective gear, medical equipment, contact tracing ... nothing.' 'Before COVID, if you didn't know that the state had neither the money, nor the intent, nor the capacity to govern wisely and humanely, you were simply blind.' 'After COVID, if we continue to look to the State, look forward to a financial package or ask "What is the government doing" when faced with a calamity, the joke is on us, says Debashis Basu.
To make the modified isolation ward, the middle berth was removed, the lower portion of the compartment plugged by plywood and a provision of partition provided from the aisle side for the isolation of the compartment, the railways said.
Ahead of the first meeting of the top decision-making body in nearly eight months, finance ministers of eight states ruled by non-Bharatiya Janata Party and like-minded parties -- Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Kerala and West Bengal -- have devised a joint strategy to press for a zero tax rate on Covid essentials, sources said.
A round-up of all the health news that affects you
The meeting came days after Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli telephoned his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi to greet him on India's 74th Independence Day, in the first high-level contact after bilateral ties came under severe strain following issuance of a new political map by Nepal in May.
The US side had pushed for removal of price caps on medical equipment such as coronary stents and a commitment by India to reduce trade imbalance
'Just as I pulled the bed away from the monitor, another attendant's PPE suit caught fire. Luckily, a doctor came upstairs with a bucket of water and poured it on the attendant and saved him'
A look at what the IPL teams and players are doing to support the people of India in this massive battle against the deadly coronavirus.
India's goal of self-reliance has been paramount in the policy and practice of the country. The COVID-19 crisis gave us lessons on how to speed up efforts in that direction, he said.
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday withdrew its lockdown relaxation norms for Mumbai and Pune regions, both coronavirus hotspots, and revised its last week's guidelines prohibiting door-to-door delivery of newspapers and magazines in the state.