At least 50 per cent of the 2,000-odd employees at Ford's Chennai factory have agreed to restart work at the unit, a Ford India official said on Monday. The plant had to shut down due to a staff strike that started on May 30. The company also warned protesting workers of loss of pay, effective June 14, and urged them to get back to the shopfloor. Ford said it would continue to hold talks with the unions.
The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi stood at 398 at 11 am, worsening from 357 at 4 pm on Friday. It was 354 on Thursday, 271 on Wednesday, 302 on Tuesday and 312 on Monday (Diwali).
Major automobile manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and Toyota Kirloskar on Tuesday reported decline in domestic passenger vehicle sales in May compared to the previous month as a spike in COVID-19 cases and lockdowns across various states hit production and dispatches. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), which shut production from May 1 to May 16 so as to divert oxygen from industrial use for medical purposes, reported domestic dispatches to dealers at 35,293 units last month, down 75 per cent from 142,454 units in April. The company said sales of its mini cars, comprising Alto and S-Presso, declined by 81 per cent to 4,760 units in May as against 25,041 units in April this year.
Goyal added the central government did mapping in a meeting with governments of 12 states and union territories most affected by COVID-19 and 6,177 metric tonnes of oxygen will be given to these states.
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon when the oxygen supply to patients stopped suddenly because of a malfunction in the main storage at Dr Zakir Hussain Hospital, run by the Nashik Municipal Corporation.
The health system is trying to ensure that it isn't caught by surprise -- the way it was last time. So, hectic preparations are on.
I suggest we build a Vigyan Mandir (Temple of Science) with the ambience of a place of worship, so that it becomes a destination for pilgrims. We should embed on its walls bronze plaques describing each scientist mentioned here along with about a dozen of our ancient mathematicians, recommends Professor Kalyan Singhal, historian of science and technology.
Mukhtar Hussain Shah, a resident of Nar village in the district's Mendhar tehsil, was disturbed as he was facing some domestic issues, he said, adding that he was not summoned as a suspect.
However, a prolonged and intense second wave that curtails oxygen supply to industries for a longer-than-expected period will exacerbate downside risk in affected sectors
Russia has informed the United Nations Security Council that Russian buses are ready at crossing points to go to the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Sumy to evacuate Indian students and other foreign nationals who are stranded there, amidst the raging conflict in the East European country.
Modi stressed on the need for constant genome sequencing to monitor emergence of mutants and also to ensure increased oxygen availability, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.
'The government wants farmers to diversify from rice and wheat, and create another green revolution. Cannabis can play a big part in that'
There were many people who wanted to seek favours from her by offering lakhs and crores of rupees even through her family members when she was Odisha's transport minister. She never allowed any kind of corrupt practices to touch her department officials, family members or the supporters who have stood by her.
As the world celebrated International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PwD) on December 3, corporate India has kept up with efforts to make workplaces more inclusive and accessible. Organisations across sectors are taking initiatives such as equipping offices with practical work tools like Braille-friendly and voice-enabled lifts and screen readers. While inclusion has gained pace, only 11.3 per cent (or 3.4 million out of 30 million) Indians with disabilities have jobs.
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.
A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana took note of a report filed by the commission which informed it that a decision to lift the ban on certain industries has been taken.
During a virtual meeting with health ministers and senior officials of states in view of the recent surge in coronavirus cases in some parts of the world, he said, "The Centre and states need to work in tandem and in a collaborative spirit as was done during the previous surges for Covid prevention and management."
Giving a fresh twist to the Ford India employees' strike at the firm's Maraimalai Nagar factory, the company has set the deadline for Monday evening for workers to accept a 'non-negotiable' severance package it is offering. It also indicated the possibility of legal action against workers from June 14 (Tuesday) and warned of early closure of the unit, before completing remaining export volume production. For the past 14 days, some 2,000 employees at the unit had struck work, seeking a better package from the company.
The intensity of power crisis this season has hit a new high with average coal stock dipping to less than eight days. The first of a pan-Indian series, based on a ground report, shows how the Manesar industrial hub is coping with the challenge. As the scorching heat wave and the lengthy power cuts intensify in Haryana, the usually bustling labour chowk of the Industrial Model Township (IMT) of Manesar wears a deserted look.
"The problem is we don't have doctors, nurses, attendants, oxygen and medicines. It is a complete failure of the state," the bench said, adding that, "its getting tougher for us".
Terming the situation as scary, Nath also said there was a shortage of Remdesivir injections used in the treatment of coronavirus, and alleged that the key anti-viral drug and oxygen were available only on paper and not in reality.
"The president pledged America's steadfast ongoing support for the people of India, who have been impacted by the recent surge in the COVID-19 cases," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference.
The second wave of the pandemic has not only crippled medical infrastructure in terms of hospital beds, but has also led to bottlenecks in invasive ventilators and medical oxygen capacities and supplies.
Hospitals in the national capital continued to grapple with a shortage of oxygen, saying they are still operating on the "beg and borrow" mode, while three of them also raised the issue before the Delhi high court on Monday, stating they were not receiving enough supplies.
Heavy downpour in the city has halted the normal life since Friday, as water-logging and traffic snarls were seen in several parts of the state capital.
If you want to see what India should be like and how Indians should live, you have to see Bhilai, says Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
Fourteen years in the making and a incessant reminder of the horrors of the past, Flight 93 National Memorial, which opened on Thursday, is an interactive centre that employs photographs, video recordings, artefacts and graphic displays to tell the story of the doomed United Airlines Flight 93, the only jetliner among the four commandeered by terrorists that failed to reach its intended target on September 11, 2001.
Maharashtra is expecting its active caseload to reach 11.9 lakh by April 30, compared to the current active caseload of 5.64 lakh, Thackeray said.
Some hospitals in the national capital appealed to authorities on Tuesday to replenish their oxygen stocks, saying their patients' lives were at stake owing to erratic supplies.
India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti said India remains on the side of peace.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from the UK in 1948.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday said it appeared that the Centre wanted people to die as according to the new protocol on use of Remdesivir for Covid-19 treatment, the drug was to be given only to those on oxygen support.
The department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) has suggested to the home ministry to allow limited activity in certain sectors such as heavy electricals and telecom equipment with reasonable safeguards. In a letter to Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the department said that these activities are essential to improve the economic situation and provide liquidity in the hands of the people.
'And because she was very close to Indira Gandhi, she was close to me.' 'Sonia is a wonderful person'
The directions came after the Delhi government told the court that oxygen that was to come from Panipat in Haryana was not being allowed to be picked up by the local police there.
"They are extending support as they feel that this is the time we must help India. 'India has helped us and we must help India'. So I do not think we are looking at it in policy terms," the foreign secretary said.
With the threat of a third Covid-19 wave looming large, companies are scrambling to protect employees and keep operations safe--from a no-jab-no-entry-at-workplace policy to ramping up vaccination, it's an all-out effort to prevent the scale of devastation seen in the first two waves. At least two top steel companies--Tata Steel and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India)--are pushing for vaccination certificates for entry into work premises. AM/NS India, a joint venture between world's leading steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, and Japan's Nippon Steel, is set to make vaccination the certificate a requirement from July 1.
As India continued to record a huge number of new COVID-19 infections, hospitals in the national capital and other major cities complained of 'dangerously low' levels of oxygen that is needed for critically ill patients. The situation has been made worse by states that house oxygen manufacturing units restricting inter-state supplies.
As Covid-19 cases surge in India, companies have realised it's a tightrope walk between maintaining production and ensuring employee safety.
According to highly placed sources, the finance ministry is likely to extend ECLGS and other loan guarantee schemes for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), hospitality and tourism sector, and the health infrastructure beyond March 31, Business Standard has learnt. This is likely to be announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of her Budget speech on February 1.
