Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed the preparedness to deal with the situation arising out of the likely formation of Cyclone Jawad that is expected to hit the North Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast and directed officials to take every possible measure to ensure that people are safely evacuated.
Conversion of debt of the stressed telecom player Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) into equity could be an option to emerge out of the crisis, lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) have suggested to Department of Telecommunications (DoT). DoT had called senior bank officials on Friday to discuss the stress in the telecom sector arising out of the Supreme Court order last month on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR)-related dues payable by telecom majors, including Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, sources said. The top court has given a time period of 10 years to telecom service providers struggling to pay Rs 93,520 crore of AGR-related dues to clear their outstanding amount to the government.
There have been reports of healthcare services being affected in some places including in the national capital after neighbouring states closed down inter-state borders and barred movement of medical workers. In a letter to chief secretaries of all states and Union Territories, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said inter-state movement of doctors and paramedics should be facilitated wherever required.
Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a high-level review meeting with chief secretaries of states and UTs of Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir.
Shortly after arriving from Delhi, the home minister attended a solemn function in Srinagar where the remains of 40 CRPF personnel were kept in coffins, draped with tricolour.
Amid an existential crisis facing the firm over Rs 50,000 crore unpaid dues towards the government, billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla on Wednesday stepped down as the chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd. Birla -- who had in June offered to give away his holding in the joint venture with Britain's Vodafone to the government -- will cease to be a director and non-executive chairman of the company at the end of business hours on Wednesday, VIL said in a filing to the stock exchanges. It did not give any reason for Birla's decision. He will be replaced by Himanshu Kapania (who was earlier managing director and CEO of Birla's Idea Cellular) as the new chairman of Vodafone Idea Ltd.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Saturday briefed about the new 'Omicron' variant of the coronavirus, and he asked officials to review the plans to ease international travel restrictions in light of the 'emerging new evidence.'
Rajiv Gauba says there is a gap in the number of passengers who should have been monitored and the actual number which may seriously jeopardise efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has initiated discussions with banks to address financial stress in the telecom sector, particularly Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) that urgently requires fund infusion to stay afloat. There was a meeting of DOT officials and senior bankers on Friday on the issue of Vodafone, sources said, adding that banks have been asked to look for a solution within the prudential guidelines. According to sources, senior officials from the country's biggest lenders State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda were also present among others in the meeting. More such meetings are expected to take place in the coming days, they said.
The Centre advised nine states including Assam, Bihar, Telangana and Odisha to ramp up testing with special focus on containment zones, strictly implement containment plan, augment health infrastructure and ensure effective clinical management of COVID-19 cases.
Action against the foreign Tablighi Jamaat members was first taken after over 2,300 people, including 250 foreigners, belonging to the Islamic organisation were found to be living at its headquarters located at Delhi's Nizamuddin soon after the nation-wide lockdown was announced in March. Several of these members had tested positive for coronavirus.
The chairman of Indian Premier League (IPL), on Tuesday, urged the Centre to ensure enhanced security during matches in Chennai in view of protest threats over Cauvery issue, prompting the Union Home Secretary to ask the chief of the Tamil Nadu Police to do the needful, officials said.
In a review meeting by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, these states and the union territory were asked to continue with rigorous vigil so as to contain the spread of infection as well as take steps to reduce fatalities.
The Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has fixed the price of its COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, at Rs 600 per dose for state governments and at Rs 1,200 per dose for private hospitals. The Pune-based Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine maker in terms of volume, has announced a price of Rs 400 per dose for its COVID-19 vaccine, 'Covishield', for state governments and Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals.
Embargo on imports from a neighbouring country would send a chilling signal to foreign investors who look for transparency and companies with manufacturing units in India had requested the government to publish any change in port policy "to provide the business community with the visibility they need to function", says United States-India Strategic Partnership Forum.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of rising number of coronavirus cases in the country.
The cyclone, according to an IMD report early Sunday, is developing into a severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal and can potentially become a very severe cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours, S N Pradhan, the chief of NDRF said in New Delhi.
The home minister took stock of the situation and was briefed about the steps taken to maintain peace along border areas as well as in the Valley, a security official said.
States were directed to ensure there is no movement of people across cities or on highways. Only movement of goods should be allowed.
Authorities have put almost the entire country under lockdown, banning gathering of people and suspending road, rail and air traffic till March 31.
The storm is likely to impact Mumbai, Thane and other coastal districts of Maharashtra like Raigad and Palghar along with Valsad, Navsari, Surat, Bhavnagar and Bharuch districts of Gujarat and Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Preparations for the impending cyclone were discussed at a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, a home ministry statement said.
The power infrastructure and the farm sector have also suffered a considerable damage, Chief Secretary A K Tripathy said. However officials said the telecom infrastructure is largely intact.
A 13.2 MW small hydro project on the Rishiganga river was swept away in the glacier burst in Uttarakhand on Sunday, but there is no danger of floods in the downstream areas as the water level has been contained.
No one, not even ministers and officers, should be allowed to come too close to the prime minister unless cleared by his special security, the home ministry communication said, citing an "unknown threat" to Modi.
Experts of the NSG and investigators of the NIA are being sent to Jammu and Kashmir to join the probe into the terror attack.
The appointments committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared Bhalla's appointment as OSD in the ministry with immediate effect.
Analysts have pointed out that with the dues arising out of the SC judgment there could soon be only two private telcos in the country, and not three - Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea - as now.
Several factors have held India back. One is DoT policy somersaults and lack of clarity on whether to or not to ban Chinese gear makers.
The Indian nationals, mostly students, research scholars and professionals are working in Indian and international companies in the Chinese province.
A portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, triggering an avalanche and a deluge in the Alaknanda river system that washed away hydroelectric stations, leaving at least seven people dead and 125 missing who are feared dead.
Nivedita Mookerji goes in search of the elusive war room to track and respond to the coronavirus threat.
Gauba said the JKLF spearheaded the separatist ideology in Kashmir Valley and the action was taken following the 'zero tolerance' policy of the central government against terrorism.
The panel will submit its recommendations to a ministerial committee, headed by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
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 central government may, however, advise state authorities to continue with strict curbs in COVID-19 containment zones in the worst-affected 30 municipal areas that account for 80 per cent of the positive cases in the country. These 30 municipal areas are from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Odisha.
Prime Minister Modi has entrusted Amit Shah with the task of coordinating all the agencies with their power to monitor movement and phone calls, says R Rajagopalan.
Talking about the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, Agarwal said, "If the Tablighi Jamaat incident had not taken place and we compare the rate of doubling -- that is in how many days the cases have doubled, we will see that currently it is 4.1 days (including Jamaat cases) and if the incident had not taken place and additional cases had not come then the doubling rate would have been 7.4 days."
Meanwhile, China has denied plans to construct a tunnel to divert Brahmaputra river waters.
During the meeting, it was impressed upon Twitter representatives that they should improve their system of response to investigation-related legal requests.
Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belt of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat on Sunday, leaving four people dead in Karnataka and two in Goa, damaging hundreds of houses, uprooting electricity poles and trees and forcing evacuation.
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