Steve Parish has defended attempts to get the season back up and running amid the coronavirus pandemic, stressing not doing so would be a major financial blow to taxpayers and the football community.

Crystal Palace are confident that Roy Hodgson will not be barred from managing on safety grounds amid the coronavirus crisis when the Premier League resumes.

2. We have heard the learned Advocates appearing for parties and formulated following substantial questions of law on 26.02.2020, which reads:

"(i) Whether under Rule 5 of CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 prior to and from 01.04.2012 appellant would be entitled to seek refund without reference to the limitation? Or

(ii) Whether the time prescribed under Section 11B of the Central Excise Act, 1944 would be applicable for claiming refund of CENVAT Credit?"

6

CEA No.35/2018 came to be admitted on 23.07.2019 to consider the substantial questions of law indicated thereunder.

Mangaluru, May 10 () The Yenepoya medical collegehospital at Deralakatte here has become the first privatehospital in Dakshina Kannada district to get coronavirus(COVID-19) testing approval.The laboratory at the hospital has received the nod fromthe Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct testsfor COVID-19, a release here said.Dakshina Kannada will now have two centres forcoronavirus tests, the first one being the district Wenlockhospital, the designated hospital for Covid-19. ICMR has approved 33 testing centres in the state ofwhich 21 are government hospitals and 12 are privatehospitals. MVGAPRRAVINDRANATH MVGAPRRAVINDRANATH

New York, May 10 () Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg and Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House have joined hands to provide food to the city's healthcare workers and first responders.The Boston-based burger chain Wahlburgers - run by Wahlberg brothers, Mark, Donnie and Paul - has been shipping its patties to the steak house in Midtown to be cooked up, and the city's legendary firefighter themed sports bar Bravest have been helping deliver the meals."They wanted to honour the hospital workers and first responders," Gerard Fitzgerald, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, told Page Six.The meal deliveries started in Manhattan last week and end in Staten Island on Monday.The 'Jason Bourne' star said it was nice to help champion for someone else and give them the credit they deserve.

New Delhi, May 10 () Delhi recorded five more deaths due to coronavirus, while 381 fresh cases of the virus were reported, the city government said on Sunday.With the fresh cases, the virus tally in the nationalcapital has climbed to 6,923.Between midnight of May 8 and midnight of May 9, five fresh fatalities due to the virus were reported, taking the death toll to 73, the government said in its health bulletin.While there are 4,781 active cases of the virus in the city, 2069 patients have so far recovered from COVID-19. SLB DVDV

Dubai, May 10 () The first batch of 88 nurses from India arrived in the UAE to help the country's stretched healthcare professionals amid a surge in the number of COVID-19 infections in the Gulf nation that has crossed 17,000, according to media reports.The Ministry of Health and Prevention said the UAE reported 624 new cases on Saturday, taking the total number of infections to 17,417.The number of fatalities reached 185 after 11 deaths were reported on the day.The nurses, who are from Aster DM Healthcare hospitals in the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra, will be put under quarantine for 14 days after which they will be assigned to various field hospitals as per requirement, the Khaleej Times reported.They arrived on a special flight at the Dubai airport on Saturday.India's Ambassador

Shimla, May 10 () Himachal Pradesh reported two fresh cases of COVID-19, taking the total virus count in the state to 55, officials said on Sunday.Two people quarantined at Swarghat in Bilaspur district along the HP-Punjab border have tested positive, Bilaspur deputy commissioner Rajeswar Goel said. The two are taxi drivers and had recently ferried two families from Gujarat's Ahmedabad and Haryana's Gurgaon to their native places in Mandi and Kangra districts respectively.As the two showed symptoms during screening at the border, the two were quarantined and their samples were taken, he added.One of them is from Gujarat. They are being shifted to Nerchowk's Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College and Hospital (SLBSGMC) in Mandi, he added.Samples of their contacts will also be taken

New Delhi, May 10 () Former India opener Gautam Gambhir doesn't see major changes in the way cricket is played in the post COVID-19 scenario besides the ban on using saliva on the ball. The International Cricket Council is considering legalisation of the usage of artificial substances to shine the ball instead of saliva."I don't think a lot of rules and regulations will be changed, you can probably have an alternate for the usage of saliva – apart from that I don't think so many changes will happen," Gambhir told Star Sports. "Players and everyone else need to live with this virus; probably they have to get used to it that there is a virus and that it will be around. Players might end up catching it, and you got to live with it." Though social distancing is possible in cricket to a certain

Mumbai, May 10 () Nearly a month after recovering from the coronavirus, actor Zoa Morani says she has donated her blood plasma to do her bit in helping the patients currently suffering from the novel virus.The actor, who was quarantined and kept under medication in April, also urged those who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma."Donated my blood today for the Plasma therapy trials at Nair hospital. It was fascinating! Always a silver lining I suppose. The team there was so enthusiastic and careful. There was a general physician on standby just incase of emergency and the equipment brand new and safe (sic)," Zoa wrote on Instagram on Saturday.She thanked the doctors for taking care of her and hoped patients benefit from the donation."All #Covid19 recovered people can be a part

New Delhi, May 10 () Plans are in place to start outdoor training in premier centres in India later this month and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government had to tread a careful path to ensure that athletes remained free from COVID-19. Rijiju had already said that his ministry was devising a plan for a phased resumption of national camps for Olympic-bound athletes, starting with the athletes currently based at NIS Patiala and SAI Centre in Bengaluru by the end of this month. "A roadmap is being prepared. If something happens to top athletes it will be a set back and so we are careful and that's why there are no positive coronavirus cases for our athletes till now. Players are pride of our country and so we can't risk anything," Rijiju said. "Medical experts, technical committee are

Uttarkashi, May 10 () Uttarkashi on Sunday reported its first COVID-19 case, raising Uttarakhand's coronavirus tally to 68.Uttarkashi district falls in the green zone. The red, orange and green zone classification is based on the number of coronavirus cases, doubling rate of coronavirus cases, and the extent of testing and surveillance The man, who tested positive, hails from Dhanaripatti village in Dunda block and had returned recently from Surat in Gujarat, Chief Medical Officer DP Joshi said.Three persons who came along with him in separate two wheelers from Gujarat have been kept in isolation, he said, adding contact tracing is underway.The 32-year-old man's swab sample was tested at AIIMS, Rishikesh, Joshi said. Corr ALM DVDV

Los Angeles, May 10 () With many celebrities and even former president Barack Obama taking part in virtual graduation ceremonies in times of social distancing, actor Alec Baldwin's President Donald Trump turned keynote speaker for this year's class of seniors in the remotely filmed season finale of "Saturday Night Live".Kate McKinnon, who portrayed the principal of a fictitious school, mentioned that he was the class' eighth choice, behind such favourites as Obama, murder hornets and the "Elon Musk-Grimes baby"."Hello, everyone, I'm Principal O'Grady. Welcome to the St Mary Magdalene By The Expressway class of 2020 virtual graduation," she said in a video shared on "SNL" Twitter page."I know this isn't how you expected your high school career to come to an end, but we're all making sacrifices.

By Uzmi Athar New Delhi, May 10 () Several NGOs working in the disability sector are facing severe financial crunch as most of the funds and donations they would earlier get has been diverted towards tackling the COVID-19 crisis.Prashant Verma, general secretary, National Association for the Blind, says he could just pay 65 per cent salary to his employees in the last two months due to financial crunch and if no fresh donations are made he does not have any money to pay his 120 staff members this month."We feel as if we are at the end of the line," he told .Verma said his organisation used to get grants from many companies under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and even from individuals, especially during March as it was the end of the financial year."But this year we didn't get any money.

New Delhi, May 10 () Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said 75 per cent of COVID-19 cases in the city are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.The chief minister said the government has also issued an order for requisition of ambulances of private hospitals, adding that the decision has been taken in the wake of shortage of state-run ambulances."They (private ambulances) will have to be pressed into service when the government requires their service," Kejriwal said while addressing an online media briefing.The government has made arrangements for treatment of those at their homes with mild COVID-19 symptoms in accordance with the Centre's guidelines."Out of 6,923 COVID-19 patients, only 1,476 are admitted at hospitals, rest getting treatment at their homes and COVID-19 centres,"

Amaravati, May 10 (): The Chennai Koyambedu connectionhad a clear reflection on the number of fresh coronaviruscases in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday as the border districts ofChittoor and SPS Nellore reported 16 and five in the last 24hours as the states overall tally shot up by 50 to 1,980. The official bulletin showed one fresh Covid-19 death inKurnool district and put the overall count at 45, as the onefatality reported in Vizianagaram on Saturday was not added tothe table.Over 160 people with contacts to people who returned fromthe Koyambedu wholesale market in Chennai were traced inChittoor district and tests so far revealed 27 COVID-19positive cases in the last two days, official sources heresaid. With the fresh additions, the number of active cases inChittoor rose to 38.SPS Nellores

2. The petitioners herein are the agent of M/s.Cochin Air Cargo Customs Clearing Agent (Shipping clearing and Freight Forwarding Agent) is licensed Customs Brokerage Company Lic No.1/2012, having office near at International Airport, Shanmugam, Trivandram, Kerala.

3. During the course of the business, the petitioners' concern got an order for shipment of “Air inlet automobile spare parts” from a new customer named 'Swiss Global' having office at New Delhi and after receiving KYC form, GST No., certificate of import export code, proprietor PAN and Aadhar card, accepted the shipment through Tiruchirappalli Airport. After getting shipment bills number from the exporter, the petitioners received the goods at Trichy Airport and the same has been sent for customs clearance on 09.06.2019. but, the second respondent did not give customs clearance due to non availability of E-way bill. After getting E-way bill from the exporter, the petitioners sent the same to the second respondent. But the second respondent detained the goods on 10.06.2019.

2. I had the benefit of hearing Mr.J.Barathan, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Mr.T.S.Mohamed Mohideen, learned Standing Counsel, who took notice on behalf of the respondents, namely, the Commissioner, Madurai City Municipal Corporation and the Assistant Commissioner (Zone 2), Madurai City Municipal Corporation. 2/6 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.6070 of 2020

3. The petitioner in his affidavit had stated that the property bearing plot No.131, East Fifth Street, K.K.Nagar, Madurai Town, originally belonged to his mother, and later devolved to the petitioner. The assessment was also transferred in his name in the revenue records. He claims to have paid the property tax, water tax, drainage maintenance charges up to second half year of 2017-2018. The petitioner was employed in Alagappa University and owing to that, had let out the property on rent and the tenant had put the property to commercial use. This was during the period 2015–2017. It has been informed by the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner that originally the property was assessed to pay at around Rs.3,000/- per half year. Subsequently, the impugned order came to be passed and in the same time, the rental value per square feet at Rs.9/- had been fixed and a demand has been raised for a sum of Rs.47,580/- which has been claimed to be the property tax assessed per half year. The learned counsel claims that this is highly un-reasonable and also complains that necessary opportunity had not been granted to him prior to re-assessment of the property tax. 3/6 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.6070 of 2020

2. The facts necessitating the filing of the present Writ Petition are that the petitioner claims that she was working in the Highways Department and was maintaining her family consisting of her husband, one son and two daughters. The son and first daughter have been married and they are residing separately. The second daughter, who is shown as the third respondent is not married. The petitioner has stated that her husband had died and after that, the third respondent had been continuously harassing her and has been preventing her from enjoying her dwelling house peacefully and 2/6 http://www.judis.nic.in W.P.(MD)No.6099 of 2020 has been trying to dispossess her. Seeking protection under the Tamil Nadu Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007 and Tamil Nadu Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Rules 2009, the petitioner had given a representation on 07.03.2020 to the first and second respondents.

2. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is dismissed as withdrawn granting such liberty. Consequently, connected Miscellaneous Petition is closed. No costs.

07.05.2020 Index : Yes/No Internet: Yes/No sj Note: Issue order copy by 13.05.2020 To

1.The Chief Secretary, State of Tamil Nadu, Fort St. George, Chennai – 600 009.

2. The Director of Medical Education, Directorate of Medical Education, Kilpauk, Chennai – 600 010.

Sales rise 7.66% to Rs 172.38 crore

US regulators have approved a new type of coronavirus test that administration officials have promoted as a key to opening up the country. The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday announced emergency authorization for antigen tests developed by Quidel Corporation of San Diego. The test can rapidly detect fragments of virus proteins in samples collected from swabs swiped inside the nasal cavity, the FDA said in a statement. The antigen test is the third type of test to be authorized by the FDA. Currently, the only way to diagnose active COVID-19 is to test a patient's nasal swab for the genetic material of the virus. While considered highly accurate, the tests can take hours and require expensive, specialized equipment mainly found at commercial labs, hospitals or universities. A second type looks in the blood for antibodies, the proteins produced by the body days or weeks after fighting an infection. Such tests are helpful for researchers to understand how far a disease has spread

Turkey reported 50 new COVID-19 deaths and 1,546 fresh cases on Saturday as it prepared steps to return to normal life. Total fatalities stand at 3,739, while infections number 137,115. According to figures posted on Twitter by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, 89,480 patients have recovered. Shopping malls, barber shops, hairdressers and beauty salons will open for business on Monday as Turkey starts easing restrictions. Meanwhile, one of Turkey's biggest soccer clubs, Besiktas, announced a player and a club employee had tested positive for the new coronavirus. Earlier this week, the Turkish Football Federation said matches behind closed doors would resume next month, prompting the resumption of limited training sessions.

A fire at a Moscow hospital treating people infected by the new coronavirus killed one patient and forced the evacuation of about 200 others. News reports said the fire at the facility in the northern part of the city has been extinguished. No cause was immediately determined for the fire, which affected a ward of the hospital that had been repurposed for treating victims of the new coronavirus. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed reports that a patient had died and said those evacuated would be transferred to other hospitals. It was not clear how many of the evacuees were suffering from COVID-19.

Former President Barack Obama harshly criticized President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as an absolute chaotic disaster during a conversation with ex-members of his administration. Obama also reacted to the Justice Department dropping its criminal case against Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, saying he worried that the basic understanding of rule of law is at risk. More than 78,400 people with COVID-19 have died in the United States and more than 1.3 million people have tested positive, according to the latest estimates from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Obama's comments came during a Friday call with 3,000 members of the Obama Alumni Association, people who served in his administration. Obama urged his supporters to back his former vice president, Joe Biden, who is trying to unseat Trump in the Nov. 3 election. What we're fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being

China has reported 14 new coronavirus cases including one from the first COVID-19 epicentre of Hubei province, taking the number of infections in the country to 82,901, while over 4,630 people have succumbed to the disease, health officials said on Sunday. According to China's National Health Commission (NHC), 12 cases were domestically transmitted, with 11 reported from Jilin Province and one in Hubei Province, the first COVID-19 epicentre which has remained free from coronavirus infections for the last 35 days. A total of 14 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in the country on Saturday. Also on Saturday, 20 new asymptomatic cases were reported. As of Saturday, 794 asymptomatic cases, including 48 from overseas, were still under medical observation, the NHC said. Hubei province has 628 asymptomatic cases, the highest in the country. Asymptomatic cases refer to people who are tested COVID-19 positive but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. However, they ...

Raul Luis Lopez never had the chance to say goodbye. Lopez was hospitalised for COVID-19 on April 3 before succumbing nearly three weeks later. The 39-year-old native of Oaxaca, Mexico, suffered from diabetes which worsened his illness. The day he left for treatment was the last time his wife, Sara Cruz, saw him. Now Lopez's family, clad in surgical masks and gloves, was gathered in the widow's living room in the Corona neighbourhood of Queens, New York, around a black box of his cremated remains. A rendering of the Virgin of Guadalupe, patroness of Mexico and the Americas, watched over his ashes on a table beside flowers and prayer candles. The Rev. Fabian Arias, a Catholic priest from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is the pastor of Iglesia de Sion, a congregation with a mission relationship alongside Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan, and has performed funeral services 14 times in the last two months. Saturday's service for Lpez was the first he's been able to perform in a private ...

The US PGA Tour's Memorial Tournament will use radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in spectator badges to ensure fans maintain social distance at the July 16-19 event, Golf Digest reported. Dan Sullivan, director of the tournament hosted by 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus in Ohio, said on Saturday a Zoom presentation conducted by the Greater Columbus Sports Commission that the high-tech badges were just one measure that will be used to maintain safety amid the coronavirus pandemic. "At any time we can know around the golf course how many people are collecting in a certain area," Sullivan said of the benefits of the tracking technology. "We're going to use that technology to make sure that we're protecting everyone around us, protecting the folks that are inside those various venues and make sure that we're monitoring effectively and producing a tournament that everyone can be comfortable with." In a phone interview with Golf Digest Sullivan explained that a small group of

French tennis chief Bernard Guidicelli admitted Sunday that Roland Garros, already controversially pushed back four months due to the coronavirus, could be staged behind closed doors. Guidicelli, who said that the French federation (FFT) had "no regrets" over its unilateral decision to move the clay court Grand Slam from May 24-June 7 to September 20-October 4, insisted all options remain on the table. "We haven't ruled out any option. Roland Garros is first and foremost a story of matches and players," he told the Journal du Dimanche. "There is the tournament taking place in the stadium, and the tournament on TV screens. "Millions of viewers around the world are waiting. Organising it behind closed doors would allow part of the business model -- television rights (which account for more than a third of the tournament's revenues) -- to go ahead. This cannot be overlooked." The spread of the coronavirus has halted all tennis since mid-March and will not resume until July 13 at the ...

Taliban leaders searched their ranks, including the much-feared Haqqani network, and on Sunday said they are not holding Mark R Frerichs, a Navy veteran turned contractor who was disappeared in Afghanistan in late January. "We don't have any information about the missing American," Sohail Shaheen, Taliban's political spokesman, told the AP in a message on Sunday. A second Taliban official familiar with the talks with the United States said "formally and informally" the Taliban have notified US officials they are not holding Frerichs. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who negotiated a peace deal with the Taliban signed in February to allow America and NATO countries to withdraw their troops and end decades of war, asked for Frierchs' release during his meetings this week in the Middle Eastern State of Qatar where the Taliban maintain a political office. In a statement late Saturday by the ..

South Korea's president says his proposal to North Korea on jointly tackling infectious diseases such as the COVID-19 illness remains valid, though the North hasn't responded. President Moon Jae-in told reporters Sunday that he believes the North is suffering various difficulties over the coronavirus pandemic. Moon didn't elaborate. His spy agency recently told lawmakers the virus pandemic resulted in sharply shrinking the North's external trade and causing panic buying in Pyongyang, the North's capital. Moon says he'll try to persuade North Korea to accept his offers for reconciliation projects after the pandemic is stabilized. Moon has proposed reconnecting severed railways, resuming reunions of families split by war and sending South Korean tourists to North Korea. North Korea has been taking intense anti-virus quarantine steps but it has steadfastly claimed there hasn't been a single case of the coronavirus on its territory. Many foreign experts are skeptical of the North's claim.

Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg and Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House have joined hands to provide food to the city's healthcare workers and first responders. The Boston-based burger chain Wahlburgers - run by Wahlberg brothers, Mark, Donnie and Paul - has been shipping its patties to the steak house in Midtown to be cooked up, and the city's legendary firefighter themed sports bar Bravest have been helping deliver the meals. "They wanted to honour the hospital workers and first responders," Gerard Fitzgerald, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, told Page Six. The meal deliveries started in Manhattan last week and end in Staten Island on Monday. The 'Jason Bourne' star said it was nice to help champion for someone else and give them the credit they deserve. "Not being able (to have our restaurants) fully operational these past several weeks has been heartbreaking for our entire organization. But that hasn't stopped our commitment to supporting the communities we ...

The first batch of 88 nurses from India arrived in the UAE to help the country's stretched healthcare professionals amid a surge in the number of COVID-19 infections in the Gulf nation that has crossed 17,000, according to media reports. The Ministry of Health and Prevention said the UAE reported 624 new cases on Saturday, taking the total number of infections to 17,417. The number of fatalities reached 185 after 11 deaths were reported on the day. The nurses, who are from Aster DM Healthcare hospitals in the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra, will be put under quarantine for 14 days after which they will be assigned to various field hospitals as per requirement, the Khaleej Times reported. They arrived on a special flight at the Dubai airport on Saturday. India's Ambassador to UAE Pavan Kapoor said that this would further strengthen the long-standing friendship between the two countries. "India and the UAE are showing how a strategic partnership translates into concrete ...

With many celebrities and even former president Barack Obama taking part in virtual graduation ceremonies in times of social distancing, actor Alec Baldwin's President Donald Trump turned keynote speaker for this year's class of seniors in the remotely filmed season finale of "Saturday Night Live". Kate McKinnon, who portrayed the principal of a fictitious school, mentioned that he was the class' eighth choice, behind such favourites as Obama, murder hornets and the "Elon Musk-Grimes baby". "Hello, everyone, I'm Principal O'Grady. Welcome to the St Mary Magdalene By The Expressway class of 2020 virtual graduation," she said in a video shared on "SNL" Twitter page. "I know this isn't how you expected your high school career to come to an end, but we're all making sacrifices. I have had to share my child's Adderall with him," McKinnon said to a zoom conference of the entire class playing students. Baldwin's Trump appeared wearing a red "Make America Great Again" cap in a call from ...

Pakistan reported a record number of 1,991 coronavirus cases in a single day, taking the total number of infections to over 29,000, the health ministry said on Sunday as the country began easing the month-long lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the deadly disease. Despite a surge in the number of COVID-19 infections, the first phase of the easing of the lockdown began on Saturday. The government announced removing restrictions by allowing more businesses to open and operate from dawn to 5pm. However, doctors have warned against easing the restrictions. The Representative of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) have demanded that the government observe the World Health Organization protocols and implement a strict lockdown. The Ministry of National Health Services said that 21 new deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities to 639. A total of 8,023 people have recovered so far. Punjab registered 11,093 cases, Sindh 10,771, ...

Union MinisterNitin Gadkari on Saturday suggested retailers to learn the "art of living" with the coronavirus pandemic while assuring them to look into their demands for MSME status. The minister also assured the retailers to look into their demands of financial aid from the government, which he would put forward to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He also said that some proposals are under"serious consideration" by the government and asked the retail industry to have a positive outlook. We would have to develop a way forward to live with coronavirus, said Gadkari in a virtual meeting with the Retailers Association of India (RAI). He also assured RAI and Practicing Engineers, Architects and Town Planners Association (India) that their request for registering as MSMEs will be examined expeditiously. These people (retailers) also provide employment to some people and if they get recognition as MSME, then people working under them would get benefits ..

Air India crew members, who reside in Gautam Buddh Nagar and are involved in flight operations to evacuate Indian citizens stuck abroad due to lockdown, can return home from Delhi only after their COVID-19 test results are found negative, officials said on Saturday. The crew would be examined for COVID-19 through the real-time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction or the RT-PCR test, considered a gold standard but costly and time-consuming process as against the rapid anti-body tests, and put on duty again if found fit, the officials said. The Gautam Buddh Nagar police had requested the management of the national carrier to accommodate its crew members that reside in Noida and Greater Noida in Delhi for the duration of the Centre's Vande Bharat Mission. The request was made because Gautam Buddh Nagar in western Uttar Pradesh falls in the Red Zone' and the to and fro movement of the flight crew could increase the risk of COVID-19 infection, the officials said. "A letter from .

Dubbing Congress' criticism of the central government's handling of COVID-19 crisis as "absurd", the BJP on Saturday said the opposition party is weakening the country's fight against COVID-19 instead of extending cooperation. BJP's national media incharge Anil Baluni said Congress leaders, on a regular basis, are making "absurd statements on the behest of their party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, to remain relevant in news". Baluni said the BJP-led government at the Centre welcomes Opposition's constructive suggestions in the battle against COVID-19, but "the opposition party should not do politics" over the pandemic. "Rather than becoming a part of the battle against COVID-19, the Congress is unfortunately resorting to politics and its leaders are trying to weaken the fight by making absurd statements, Baluni said. Underscoring that India has done relatively well than other countries and has been praised for effectively handling the coronavirus, Baluni said the Congress ..

The concessions given by the UP government to traders will prove to be a pace setter for the revival of economic activity in the state at a time when the nation is going through a rough phase due to the COVID-19 outbreak, UP Vyapaari Kalyan Board chairman Ravi Kant Garg said. He said the exemption from labour laws for three years is bound to open gates for economic growth that was hit by the coronavirus lockdown. Such measures will spur economic activities and boost the investment climate in the state, Garg said while talking to a group of reporters on Saturday evening. He further said that exemption of 46 variety of fruits and vegetables from the clutches of Mandi Adhiniyam Suchana through Krashi Utapadan Mandi Adhiniyam (Sansodhan) ordinance 2020 would boost the trade. It is bound to help farmers as well as traders, he added. Now, the farmer would be free to sell his produce outside Mandi Parishad. Exemption of Mandi shulk (Mandi tax) from 46 variety of grains would provide maximum .

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday held a global video conference with the state's expatriates and enquired about their well-being amid the Covid-19 pandemic and assured them of the government's full help to their family members living in the country, if they need it. An official statement said Rajasthan natives living in more than 90 cities across 50 countries attended the video conference during which they appreciated the government's efforts to control the coronavirus spread and also offered their help. They proposed financial assistance to stranded migrant workers, arranging training for them to secure better employment abroad, besides cooperation with the state government in education and the developing villages, the release said. They also offered help in skill development for youths besides providing technical skills to new entrepreneurs, the release said. During the conference, many entrepreneurs also gave suggestions to bring the economy of the state back on ...

A teacher of a civic body-run school, who was involved in distributing ration during the lockdown, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, officials said on Saturday. The teacher was posted at a primary school in Wazirabad under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. The teacher had last come to school on April 28 and started showing COVID-19 symptoms from May 2. His test report came on Friday, an official of North Delhi Municipal Corporation said. "We traced his six primary contacts and they have been sent into quarantine. Since they are completely asymptomatic, no test has been done yet," he said, adding the school building has been sanitised.

Sixteen more people including two minors from nine districts tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, taking the total number of cases to 595 in Bihar, a top health department official said. Seven of the 16 fresh cases are migrant people from other states, Health Departments Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar said in a tweet. "We are ascertaining their further infection trail," Kumar said. Of the 16 new cases, three each are from Muzaffarpur and Arwal, two each from Begusarai, Munger, Nalanda and one each from Vaishali, Bhojpur, Siwan, Sheikhpura districts, the Principal Secretary said. Five people have died of the disease so far in Bihar which is now left with 272 active cases while 318 have recovered. The number of samples tested so far at seven facilities in Patna, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga is 32,767.

Doctors at the government-run ESIC Hospital here committed a "mistake" by not testing samples of a 16-year-old girl, who later died of Covid-19, Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday. The girl breathed her last on Thursday at the B Barooah Cancer Institute. Her samples, which were taken after her death, tested positive for coronavirus infection/ "The girl first went to ESIC Hospital with all symptoms like fever and pain in legs. It was a mistake by doctors that her samples were not sent for testing... It is a matter of concern," Sarma told reporters here. Talking about the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), which was closed for new patients after a doctor at the facility tested positive on Thursday, he said a total of 529 samples have been collected from doctors, nurses, professors and superintendent of the institute for testing "Out of those, reports of 357 samples came out negative and one was positive. Results of the rest of the samples are awaited," .

Twenty-three Surat returnees were among 24 people who tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha on Saturday, taking the total cases in the state to 294, the Health and Family Welfare department said. Of the 24 fresh Covid cases, Ganjam reported 18, while three came from Mayurbhanj and one each from Nayagarh, Bhadrak and Sundergarh. Nayagarh district reported its first novel coronavirus case when a 40-year-old Surat returnee tested positive to the disease. With this, the COVID-19 has now spread to19 of the 30 districts of Odisha. At present, there are 224 active cases in the state and 68 people have recovered. Two people from Bhubaneswar have succumbed to the disease, an official said adding that 343 persons are in hospital isolation. The state health department had on Friday conducted 3,348 tests for COVID-19, he said, adding that Odisha has so far tested 56,322 samples. As per an analysis by the department, 246 of the state's total 294 cases have been reported from five ...

The ruling TMC in West Bengal and opposition BJP on Saturday traded barbs over ferrying migrant labourers, after Union Home Minister Amit Shah flagged the issue of "non-cooperation" by the state government, leaving the Mamata Banerjee-led party fuming, which accused him of spreading lies. In what is certain to escalate tension between the state government and the Centre, Shah, in a letter alleged that West Bengal was not allowing trains with migrant workers to reach and termed it as an "injustice" to these labourers. The state BJP unit claimed the West Bengal government is only interested in bringing back people from a "particular community". TMC leader and nephew of the chief minister, Abhishek Banerjee, earlier in the day tweeted: "A HM failing to discharge his duties during this crisis speaks after weeks of silence, only to mislead people with a bundle of lies! Ironically he's talking about the very ppl who've been literally left to fate by his own Govt. Mr @AmitShah, prove your ...

The West Bengal government has asked the heads of all hospitals to ensure that immunisation programmes against vaccine-preventable diseases continue in full steam amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Immunisation should go on during COVID-19 outbreak to protect children and pregnant women from 'vaccine-preventable diseases' (VPD), the health and family welfare department said in a notification. It was addressed to the superintendents of all medical colleges and hospitals and the chief medical officer of health of all districts. Copy of the notification issued on May 6 was made available on Saturday.

The West Bengal Health Department on Saturday formed teams to support surveillance and monitoring of treatment at five hospitals treating COVID-19 patients in the city. The team members will pay regular visits to these hospitals and send reports to the department, the state government said in an order. The department has also set up a dedicated help line for issues regarding the non-availability of PPEs and other supplies. The feedback and suggestions will be duly recorded and acted upon by the state government for appropriate remedial measures, the order said. The West Bengal government has also constituted a team for guidance on containment activities in different districts of the state.

Three persons were rescued after the wall of a house in northern Mumbai suburb Kandivali collapsed on Sunday morning, an official said. Four to five people are possibly trapped after the wall of the house behind Sabria Masjid in Dalji Pada area collapsed and rescue operation is underway, a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) official said.

Ganjam district in Odisha reported its first COVID-19 death after a man succumbed to the virus on Sunday, taking the death toll in the state to three, an official of the health department said. The total number of coronavirus cases in the state has climbed to 352, with 58 more testing positive for the disease, the official said. At least 41 of them are those who returned from Surat in Gujarat recently, he said. Last month, Odisha had reported two COVID-19 deaths - both in state capital Bhubaneswar. Of the 58 new cases, 29 are from Ganjam district, 15 from Balasore, and 1 from Mayurbhanj. Angul district registered coronavirus cases for the first time, with 13 people there contracting the virus. Twenty of the 30 districts in the state have so far reported COVID-19 cases. The number of active cases in the state has climbed to 281. At least 68 people have recovered from the disease. On Saturday, 3,458 samples were examined in the state. A total of 59,780 samples have been tested so ..

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 2,109 and the number of cases climbed to 62,939 in the country on Sunday, registering an increase of 128 deaths and 3,277 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 41,472, while 19,357 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the ministry said. The total number of cases also include 111 foreign nationals. Of the 2,109 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 779 deaths. Gujarat comes second with 472 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 215, West Bengal at 171, Rajasthan at 106, Uttar Pradesh at 74, Delhi at 73, and Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu at 44. The death toll is 31 in Punjab, 30 each in Karnataka and Telangana. Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana each have registered nine COVID-19 deaths, Bihar five and Kerala four. Jharkhand has recorded three COVID-19 fatalities. Odisha, Chandigarh, Assam and Himachal Pradesh have reported two deaths each. Meghalaya and ...