Countering the claim in Lok Sabha, Shipping Minister T R Baalu, joined by DMK members, strongly objected to the issue being raised in the House on the ground that it was sub-judice.
The PM said there was a need to 'fight' rumours that the lockdown could be reimposed.
'Deepening and widening the Sethu canal, will provide a more direct route for some of the tsunami energy to travel and impact southern Kerala,' says Prof Tad S Murthy
'The aim of issuing these guidelines is to instil COVID appropriate behaviour to contain the spread of the disease while allowing social and economic activity'
The video conference, which began at 11 am, comes amid indications that the central government may extend the nationwide lockdown with some possible relaxations even as Punjab and Odisha have already announced extending the lockdown beyond April 14 when the current spell of 21-day shutdown across the country ends on Tuesday.
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 chief minister, however, said the bridge connecting Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to this side, Aman Setu, will take some time to be repaired.
'In states where all shops are allowed to function and pedestrians are allowed to move around, there is no reason to presume that vendors are not allowed to operate. But ambiguity surrounding the operation of street vendors de jure has led the police to harass them de facto,' say Bhuvana Anand, Jayana Bedi and Prashant Narang.
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.
Asked during a press briefing if special trains and private vehicles will also be allowed to transport these people as demanded by some states and others, Joint Secretary in the Union home ministry Punya Salila Srivastava said the orders issued at present were for 'using buses and for group of persons'.
In an order, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said buses shall be used for transport of such groups of stranded people and these vehicles will be sanitised and will have to follow safe social distancing norms in seating.
The Union health minister said of the total active COVID-19 cases in the country, 1.5 per cent are on oxygen support and 2.34 per cent are in ICUs.
Modi said the coronavirus pandemic made people learn new things.
In a conversation with Rediff.com's Indrani Roy veteran civil engineer Subhash Bhattacharya tries to ascertain the causes behind the collapse of the Vivekananda Setu, an under-construction flyover in Kolkata last Thursday.
India, with the right blend of the physical and the virtual, can emerge as the global nerve centre of complex modern multinational supply chains in the post COVID-19 world.
Beauty technicians and hairstylists in PPEs. Constant disinfection of instruments such as scissors and combs, Disposable neck-wraps and fresh towels. That's what beauty may look like now, reports Amrita Singh.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) authorities on Sunday reiterated that stations located in containment zones, as per the status on the day of journey, will remain closed.
The Centre for North East Studies and Policy announces the CNES-Setu National Media Fellowship 2005, for journalists who wish to study issues related to Northeast India.
The fatality rate is down to 3.1 per cent and the recovery rate has improved to 37.5 per cent, he said.
Only asymptomatic passengers with confirmed e-tickets will be allowed in these trains and they will have to report at the station at least 90 minutes ahead of the scheduled departure.
Harvard Global Health Institute Director Dr Ashish Jha noted that the number of cases in India may be higher than what the data suggests because while testing has been improving, it has not been rolled out in a way that will capture all low-symptomatic patients.
The death toll due to the coronavirus infection rose to 7,466 and the cases mounted to 2,66,598 in the country.
'The safety regulations drastically reduce the chances of contracting the virus on a two-hour flight.'
States and Union Territories have been given the powers for delineation of Red, Green and Orange Zones as per COVID-19 situation, the MHA said. All shops, except those in containment zones and malls, will be allowed to open from Monday with staggered timings during lockdown 4.0, it said.
From the Gulf countries to Malaysia and the UK to the US, the multi-agency operation christened 'Vande Bharat Mission' will see the state-owned AI operate 64 flights till May 13 in the first phase to ferry around 15,000 Indian nationals from 12 countries.
'When the virus, in a way, tires itself out, because it is not finding any more people to attack or keep itself viable, that is when the peak actually has been reached and you are on the downward limb (of the curve).'
In a video conference with the chief ministers, fourth such interaction since March 22 when he first spoke to them about the pandemic, Modi stressed on the need for the states to strictly enforce lockdown guidelines in the coronavirus hotspots zones, and strongly pitched for the mantra of 'do gaz doori' (a distance of two yards) to protect people from the infection, according to a government statement.
In comments that could kick up a row, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said the government at the Centre is of 'Ram bhakts' (devotees) and those who shout 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans.
The SOPs, issued against the backdrop of the government's plans to open up the economy, say an entire office building need not be closed if one or two cases of COVID-19 are reported there and work can resume after disinfection as per the laid down protocols. However, if there is a larger outbreak, the entire building will have to be closed for 48 hours and all the staff will work from home till the building is adequately disinfected and is declared fit for re-occupation, the ministry said in its 'SOPs on preventive measures to contain spread of COVID-19 in offices'.
Rs 1,000 crore for promotion of start ups.
'Head out!' 'It has been a long time that we have not met family and friends.'
And, run to the court.'
As daily testing of samples of blood and throat and nose swabs crossed two lakh for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, over 14,000 new coronavirus cases were registered in the country for the fifth day in a row to take the total count to 4,56,183, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
During the visit, she reviewed the security situation in the border region and inaugurated a bridge that will link Leh to Karakoram, providing connectivity on the strategically important Darbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Olde axis for military transport.
The COVID-19 tests will be started at every polling station in the containment zones of Delhi in a few days
People were seen wading through knee-deep water in several areas. Commuters, too, had a hard time as vehicular traffic crawled on the roads clogged with long tailbacks.
As India prepares for a calibrated exit from the lockdown by easing more restrictions, 'Unlock-1 -- the first of the three-phase plan for reopening of prohibited activities in non-containment zones with a stringent set of Standard Operating Procedures(SOPs) -- kicks in at a time when the country recorded a daily jump of COVID-19 cases by over 9,000 for the fifth straight day on Sunday.
A 20-member delegation of leading industrialists, including Harsh Neotia, Sanjay Budhia, Sanjay Agarwal and Utsav Parekh, are also accompanying her on the trip.
