The latest move comes as countries, including India, are initiating measures to tackle the spread of rumours, fake news and misinformation on social media platforms.
The unprecedented health crisis forced an indefinite shutdown of all sports activities -- both contact and non-contact. The FICCI said non-contact sports can resume first by maintaining social distancing norms.
During his address after flagging off the train via video-conferencing, Modi said his government's policies are clear and intentions transparent in reforming the agriculture sector.
'We will see a kind of disaster which the country has not seen in the last 100 years.'
Besides regular buyers, there is lot of interest among those in essential services, such as health, banking, and IT. The sales will be helped by social distancing becoming the new normal in both urban and rural regions as people will be averse to using public transport.
"I practice chess based on what I think is a priority, and what I feel like doing. I also read some chess books -- 'Saying No to Chess Principles' by Evgeny Bareev and 'Life and Games of Mikhail Tal"
She said that despite government scheme and initiatives ranging from roads to agriculture, housing, scholarships to electricity benefiting lives of people, a false narrative was being created by the opposition that the government was working for cronies.
In a review meeting through video conference with chief ministers and representatives of seven states with a high burden of COVID-19 cases, Modi said having micro containment zones will help states in dealing with the spread of the infection and also allow normal activities to continue.
With final preparations underway and the vaccine set to arrive in the national capital in the next couple of days, Rohit Datta, who was the first person to be diagnosed with coronavirus infection on March 1, said "it feels surreal".
All international passengers will henceforth be screened at airports, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said at a press conference. Earlier, travellers from only 12 countries were screened at airports for the disease that has claimed over 3,000 lives and infected more than 90,000 worldwide.
Use your time to read relevant newspapers, watch business channels, listen to podcasts or watch TEDx talks on your favourite topics, suggests Shital Kakkar Mehta.
'If you delay the diagnosis even by 24 hours, in that 24 hours individuals would have affected more people.' 'So, contact tracing, testing, isolation, quarantine needs to continue.'
Asserting that the way in which the entire country has fought the battle against coronavirus unitedly under Modi's leadership is laudable, BJP president J P Nadda asked party workers to spread the prime minister's message to light lamps or mobile phone torches at 9pm on Sunday among the masses.
With the tribes together accounting for less than 1,000 people, largely disconnected from the rest of the world and having very low immunity levels, anthropologists fear they could get extinct should the pandemic spreads its tentacles across the islands.
"Essential services will continue to be available and people should not have any misunderstanding or confusion regarding this. Medical shops and pharma companies will continue to function as usual," Thackeray said.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP and leader of the party in the Upper House Derek O'Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Lok Sabha MP and leader of the party in the Lower House, have written to presiding officers of both Houses, urging then to wind up proceedings on Monday (March 23).
What is particularly worrying is that the vast majority will not have access to testing or even to proper treatment. These cases could have been avoided if the government had shown the political will to do so, observes Rashme Sehgal.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to suspend IPL 2020 till April 15, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) situation.
In his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' broadcast, Modi said all classes of people have suffered during the pandemic but it is the poor who have suffered the worst.
As India logged a world record of over four lakh coronavirus infections on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the entire world is shaken by what is happening here and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "dropping the ball and throwing it to states" after prematurely taking credit for having "won against COVID-19" when the second wave was already underway. "Rely on yourself is the motto. No one will come to help you. Definitely, not the prime minister," Gandhi said, while alleging that the COVID-19 situation has gone completely out of control for the Modi government, and wondered whether it was their way of making the states and the citizens truly 'Aatmanirbhar'.
'He couldn't hold himself from chanting 'Siyavar Ramchandra ki Jai'.'
The exponential number of downloads can be attributed to a call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking people to have the app on their mobiles, combined with the government's push for downloading of the app through other channels, reports Neha Alawadhi.
The PM said there was a need to 'fight' rumours that the lockdown could be reimposed.
Several protests and mass movements across Delhi and the country were at their peak when the coronavirus threat slowly crept in, throwing normal life out of gear and pushing everyone indoors to ensure social distancing.
The Bill was supported by the members across party lines, however, some suggested to add in its purview hospital sanitary staff, ASHA (accredited social health activist) workers and 'Corona warriors' in emergency services such as police and personnel from other departments.
From Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan to Chiranjeevi and Prabhas, India's film stars are stepping forward to do their bit for migrants, daily wage workers and those from their own film industry facing joblessness and near starvation in an unprecedented pan-India lockdown.
'We hope that people are aware that even after the lockdown, we will have to follow a lot of things that we were following during the lockdown.' 'Don't get out for non-essential things.' 'Don't gather together for parties, religious events or at religious places.' 'Ensure social distancing at work and otherwise.' 'You know, in India, it is not uncommon for people with a cough and a cold to go to work.' 'We really want people to understand that if you have a cough, cold, fever, just stay at home.' 'Don't get back to work or don't get back to school.'
'Mamata has used minorities only as her vote bank.' 'In her entire election campaign Mamata did not utter a single sentence against the RSS.'
Out of the 12 deaths reported in the last 24 hours some are related to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said in a daily media briefing.
The Union Health ministry put the number of positive cases at 82, eight more since Thursday night, which includes the woman and a 76-year-old man from Karnataka who became the country's first coronavirus fatality besides 17 foreign nationals, Health Ministry officials said.
Rarely have we seen such intoxication over power, which ignores the cries of those dying, notes Jyoti Punwani.
With more than 21 lakh migrant workers returning to the state as per official data, the Nitish Kumar government faces an enormous challenge in providing jobs for them.
The manner in which a large proportion of common people have mortgaged their rationality and questioning spirit to let hatred, prejudice, and bigotry take over their minds is a cause of worry, observes Mohammad Sajjad.
The experts said there is a need to relook at the testing strategy in a way that it results in guiding the public health response and effectively limiting the spread of the disease.
The triple lock involves a combination of technology and human surveillance and restricting movement of people in three stages.
'I am not minimising either the seriousness or the complex nature of the current situation.' 'Naturally, we have to do what it takes to secure our borders.' 'We are talking to the Chinese, both through military channels and diplomatic ones.'
'In fact, they work in tandem.' 'When it comes to finding a solution, this must be predicated on honouring all agreements and understandings.' 'And not attempting to alter the status quo unilaterally.'
Expelled AIADMK leader V K Sasikala on Monday returned to Tamil Nadu to a grand reception, days after completing her four-year jail term in Bengaluru in a corruption case, amid indications of a confrontation with the ruling party which she once controlled.
'On January 17, we had our first meeting with the Cabinet secretary.' 'Different secretaries belonging to different departments attended it.' 'It was only two weeks when China had said there is a new disease.' 'So, we gave the quickest response.'
Radhika Ramaseshan reports on why the Karnataka chief minister risked crossing swords with his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and its ideological wellspring, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
In a stern two-page letter to West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said stricter enforcement of lockdown norms was necessary to contain the spread of coronavirus in the state.