A one-day complete lockdown to tackle the rapidly rising COVID-19 cases was enforced across Tamil Nadu on Sunday while police, local and health authorities stepped up measures to check violations.
Cutting across party lines, chief ministers and others leaders urged the people to follow the self-imposed curfew from 7 am to 9 pm, noting that "social distancing" was key to breaking the chain of infection, as the number of coronavirus cases rose to 283 after 60 new cases were detected on Saturday, the highest so far in a day, and states like Maharashtra, Odisha and Bihar imposed partial lockdown till month end.
The day-long statewide strike called by the Mumbai Autorickshaw-Taximen's Union, the largest auto union in the city, began from midnight demanding ouster of call centre-operated Uber and Ola cabs besides revocation of Maharashtra government's decision to scrap the Hakim panel on auto and taxi fares.
While the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 7,409, as many as 764 people have been cured and discharged, and one had migrated, it said. Of the total 273 deaths, Maharashtra tops the tally with 127 fatalities, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 36, Gujarat at 22 and Delhi at 19.
The bench headed by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur said all existing licences of liquor shops on highways will not be renewed after March 31, 2017.
In a placatory move, the labour ministry also said it was contemplating permitting withdrawal of all accumulations by Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's subscribers on grounds like purchase of house, serious illness, marriage and professional education of children.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that primary schools will be closed from Saturday in view of spike in pollution levels in the national capital.
The bus was carrying 40-45 people and most of those killed were students of elementary classes, aged below ten.
Classes were not held in most schools across Kashmir as students did not turn up due to the prevailing situation, they said.
While the rich are buying expensive luxury vehicles in Patna, the poor continue to suffer. The pandemic, discovers M I Khan, has cast new light on the stark economic divide in the capital city of Bihar, India's poorest state.
Rashtriya Janata Dal's Manoj Jha saw the move as an attempt to have a 'committed bureaucracy'.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena leaders who were sworn in today during the expansion of Devendra Fadnavis ministry include some who have been ministers in the past and some new faces.
No ONGC employee was on the drillship when the accident occurred.
In the first meeting of NITI Aayog on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with eminent economists and experts across sectors along with the existing members of the newly constituted body.
Hours after 21 ministers took the oath of office and became a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ministry, speculation began on which minister would be handed which portfolio. However, all speculation ended after the list was announced.
Here is Rediff.com's selection of some stories from Thursday that you may not have read in the morning newspaper.
'The package is for the distressed farmers who are committing suicide due to the severe drought,' Nitin Gadkari tells Arup Roy Choudhury and Sanjeeb Mukherjee.
A senior BEST official expressed hope of the stalemate getting resolved soon.
Majuli -- the seat of neo-Vaishnavite Bhakti renaissance -- on Thursday became India's first island district with Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurating it as the 35th district of Assam.
A bandh called by the YSR Congress, Telugu Desam Party and other anti-Telangana political parties is being observed in Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday to protest against the passage of the AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 in the Lok Sabha.
Delhi BJP chief Tiwari said each poor family will be provided good quality, subsidised 'atta' (wheat flour) at a rate of Rs 2 per kilogram. The BJP will bring an ambitious 'Samridh Delhi Infrastructure Scheme', with a provision of Rs 10,000 crore, to ensure "focussed and priority" development of roads, flyovers, foot over-bridges and other key infrastructure projects, the manifesto stated. The manifesto promises to set up a 'Colonies Development Board' for undertaking development of various civic amenities.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday appeared before a Delhi court in connection with a criminal defamation complaint
Main markets and other business establishments across the Valley remained shut and public transport was off the roads.
A city like Davos in India would give a big boost to tourism, development, jobs and overall economy
The House witnessed three adjournments in the pre-lunch session as proceedings continued to be disrupted by a slogan- shouting opposition members, particularly, the Congress
Though markets and commercial establishments remained shut and students stayed away from schools.
It has also been decided to suspend the interstate bus services till March 31, the officials said. The decisions have been taken at a high-level meeting attended by chief secretaries of all states and the cabinet secretary and the principal secretary to the prime minister.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget.
In her letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi three days ago, Kidwai said she was relinquishing charge as party general secretary and Mahila Congress chief as he felt that Rahul Gandhi should be given the necessary space to bring in younger leaders of his choice
The Centre on Thursday evening took the first significant step towards creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh and decided that Hyderabad will be the joint capital of the two states for 10 years.
A day after being booted out by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh from the post of Goa unit chief, Subhash Velingkar asserts that the Bharatiya Janata Party will pay dearly for his ouster.
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from the UK in 1948.
Jaitley said an effective multi-modal logistics and transport system will "make our economy more competitive.
Besides the chief minister of Telangana, Modi was accompanied by Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana E S L Narasimhan, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, Telangana's IT Minister K T Rama Rao and state Bharatiya Janata Party chief K Laxman in the much-awaited train's inaugural run.
The state government claimed that 66.49 per cent of buses belonging to state transport undertakings were plying since Saturday night across the state.
Modi also announced Rs 2 lakh aid to the kin of those who died in the deluge.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that 'Bhatija (nephew) and company' had swindled central funds sent for Amphan relief and said that probe will be ordered into it and culprits will be booked after the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power in West Bengal.
The thrust will be on improving connectivity in economic corridors and remote and border areas with a view to hike trade and enable faster movement of cargo.
The government will chart out a plan for the evacuation of seafarers stuck on international waters amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Union Minister Mansukh L Mandaviya has said. Thousands of Indian seafarers are currently stuck aboard cruise ships and cargo vessels in far off waters, and maritime bodies have been demanding from the government strategies for bringing them home fearing that delays might result in disruption in supply chain.
Karunanidhi was convinced that using the 2G cases against the DMK and reopening the fodder case against Lalu Prasad Yadav were products of the Congress leadership's short-sightedness. A revealing excerpt from A S Panneerselvan's Karunanidhi: A Life.