The Congress on Saturday said there was "confusion" within the central government in its fight against the novel coronavirus and wondered how would India tackle the pandemic if officials continued to speak in different voices. Referring to "differing" comments made by some officials on the COVID-19 situation in the country, Congress senior spokesperson Ajay Maken said the government should tell the people clearly about the exact state of the pandemic to enable them to prepare accordingly. He also came down heavily on the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi and asked it to be more transparent in reporting cases of the novel coronavirus. His comments came as confusion prevailed over the number of deaths due to the coronavirus in the national capital, with data from four hospitals showing that 92 people succumbed to the infection as against 68 fatalities reported by the Delhi government. He said it was a "matter of shame" that the national capital was witnessing "a sorry state of ...

The Andhra Pradesh government on Saturday said the situation was "normal" in RR Venkatapuram village, where a styrene vapour leak from the LG Polymers plant claimed 12 lives and left over 300 people hospitalized with various ailments. Director General of Police D Gautam Sawang and Special Chief Secretary (Industries) Karikal Valaven inspected the plant and spoke to the LG Polymers plant management. Later they told reporters "everything is normal and there is no need to panic." Even as Sawang was inspecting the vapour leak spot and talking to the management on the measures taken to restore normalcy, irate villagers staged a protest demanding immediate closure of the plant. According to the DGP, temperature at the styrene storage tank, where the vapour leak occurred, has come down, as also the PPM (ambient air quality) level. "Definitely the air is also fresh and there is nothing to worry about. In the coming days, life will come back to normalcy," the DGP said. "Just to ..

One more person has tested positive for COVID-19 in Meghalaya, taking the total number of cases in the state to 13, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Saturday. Of the total 13 COVID-19 cases, only two are active including the fresh case in Shillong. "Unfortunately we have another positive case in Shillong. Its a person working in the same house. As a precaution health department was retesting all the primary contacts and in the process we found this positive case. The person is safe and healthy and showing no symptoms," the chief minister tweeted. Senior Health department officials said the person had tested negative twice in the past. Meghalaya has reported 13 COVID-19 cases till date with one death. Ten persons have recovered from the disease. The first COVID-19 positive case in the state was Dr John Sailo Ryntathiang, who tested positive on April 13. The 69-year-old doctor died two days later and eight of his family members and two of his domestic help have also ..

: The number of active COVID-19 cases slid below the 1,000 mark to 999 in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday though the overall tally rose to 1,930 with the addition of 43 in the last 24 hours ending 9 am. The COVID-19 toll in the state also increased by three to 44 while 45 more patients were discharged from hospitals, according to the latest bulletin. Chittoor district saw a sudden spurt in cases, with 11 reported in the last 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday, as some people who returned from Koyambedu wholesale market in Chennai city tested posted for coronavirus. It is suspected that these people contracted the disease at Koyambedu and several others who also returned from the place were sent to quarantine, sources here said. Visakhapatnam too continued to show an upward trend as five fresh cases were registered, taking the total in the district to 62. The major hotspots Kurnool, Krishna and Guntur reported six, 16 and two fresh cases. In the last 24 hours, Krishna reported two

A 51-year-old police constable who had tested positive for coronavirus died in Maharashtra's Nashik district on Saturday afternoon, an official said. This is the sixth death of a police personnel due to COVID-19 in the state, he said. The constable, a resident of Nashik city, was deputed on security duty in Malegaon town in the district which has emerged as a coronavirus hotspot. He was admitted to the civil hospital in Nashik after showing symptoms of infection on May 1, the police official said. Three policemen in Mumbai and one each in Pune and Solapur had died due to the virus infection before.

Despite having a valid official pass to move between Jammu and Kashmir, hundreds of travellers have ended up at administrative quarantine centres set up by the government on the outskirts of the winter capital as part of its efforts to combat the coronavirus. The move is agitating the people who questioned the logic behind sending them to an institutional quarantine when they are given the passes in extremely exceptional situations, like a medical emergency or joining their duties after completing the formalities due to a lockdown. One such quarantine centre is set up at Excise and Taxation Training institute in Nagrota, 15 km from Jammu city, where 35 persons, including women and a seven-year-old girl, are anxiously waiting for their sample reports the outcome of which will decide their future at the sprawling facility. While a majority of them are expected to be released after their test reports are negative, four labourers from Amritsar in Punjab who had travelled from Srinagar to

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday expressed gratitude to policemen in the frontline in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak by keeping the state police logo as the display picture or DP of his social media accounts. He asked people to do so in large numbers to encourage the men in khakhi who have been working round the clock, with several of them having got infected, and six losing their lives. In a Facebook post, Deshmukh said, "There is a need to highlight that the brothers in my police family are not alone. The people care for the police as much I do as home minister." "I will keep the logo of Maharashtra Police as the DP of all my social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in the honour of our brave police. You too should use the logo (as the DP) to participate in big numbers to honour the police brothers," he added.

The Delhi High Court on Saturday extended the interim bail of 2,177 under-trial prisoners by 45 days to de-congest jails in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Talwant Singh passed the order in view of a high-power committee's recommendation that it would be dangerous to put the prisoners back in jail as the risk still remains high. The committee, headed by Justice Hima Kohli, on May 5 opined that since there was a paucity of space in jail premises to create sufficient number of isolation wards for the prisoners returning after expiry of their interim bail, the relief should be extended by another 45 days. During the hearing, Delhi government standing counsel Rahul Mehra and advocate Chaitanya Gosain, appearing for the prison authorities, said they have no objection to the extension of bail. "Accordingly, it is ordered that the interim bails for a period of 45 days granted to 2,177 UTPs, in view of the recommendations of HPC...are hereby ...

Eleven more COVID-19 fatalities have been recorded in West Bengal, raising the death toll in the state to 99, Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said on Saturday. At least 108 more people have tested positive for the virus in the state, taking the number of confirmed cases to 1,786, he said. The number of active cases stands at 1,243, the official said. Forty-nine patients have been discharged in the state since Friday following complete recovery from the disease, Bandyopadhyay said.

In Vadhan's new book, there is an anti-hero who takes law into his hands but the author says this is not meant to glorify vigilantism and the character's only agenda is to enforce law through a fiery and extreme form of justice system and not destabilize anything. The story of "Fear of God" weaves law, corruption, vigilantism and courtroom drama to follow the three central characters who are looking to achieve the same thing but through different means. A parliamentarian is brutally murdered. The vigilante's next target is a war hero and top constitutional lawyer. A top police officer has to race against time to stop the killings. The vigilante is as devious as he is effective in instilling the fear of God into those who think they are above the law. When asked whether the anti-hero taking law into his hands in a way glorifies vigilantism, Vadhan says, "But then, what is the goal of this anti-hero? Is he a voice against law? He only reiterates that one has to obey the law to be ...

Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh on Saturday informed that India cricket skipper Virat Kohli and his wife actor Anushka Sharma have contributed Rs 5 lakh each for police welfare amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. "Thank you, @imVkohli and @AnushkaSharma for contributing Rs. 5 lacs each towards the welfare of Mumbai Police personnel. Your contribution will safeguard those at the frontline in the fight against Coronavirus. #MumbaiPoliceFoundation," Singh tweeted from his official handle. Earlier, Kohli and Sharma had given undisclosed amounts to the PM CARES fund and Maharashtra Chief Minister's Relief Fund to support the fight against COVID-19. Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus positive cases in the country.

Joining the efforts of the government to combat coronavirus, a group of young women equipped with a latest hi-tech machine is conducting fogging in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district. The five women, aged between 18 and 22, have already covered six villages in the district and are also distributing masks and educating people about COVID-19. "We are volunteers of NGO 'Team Khalsa' and have managed to get the machine to conduct fogging, especially in remote areas which usually remain unattended," Gagan, the leader of the five-member group, told PTI. She said they have already covered Chhakhar, Vishal Jatta, Sambal, Sui and Kahjahir villages in the past one week. "We are targeting one village for sanitisation and awareness every day," Gagan said while distributing face masks in Cherry Swail village. Asked about the challenge and the response of their families, she said they are cooperating and appreciating their efforts. "We had a tough time convincing our parents for permission as ...

A 62-year-old man died due to coronavirus in Noida, becoming the second COVID-19 fatality in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district, officials said on Saturday. The resident of Sector 66 was among the two people who tested positive for coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the officials said. "He expired yesterday (Friday) evening. The cause of the death was cardio-respiratory failure, District Surveillance Officer Sunil Dohare said in a statement. The other person who tested positive for COVID-19 is a 52-year-old man residing in Sector 45's Khajoor Colony, the officer said. "Total 100 reports have been received in the last 24 hours of which two were positive and the rest negative for COVID-19. The cumulative positive cases of coronavirus in Gautam Buddh Nagar are now 216," Dohare said. A 60-year-old man from Sector 22 died on Friday due to respiratory failure, becoming the first COVID-19 casualty in Gautam Buddh Nagar, officials had said.

The number of active cases of coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh went up to 1,800 on Saturday, while nearly 1,400 people have been discharged so far, a senior official said. Principal Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said the national recovery percentage was 30 per cent but the figure was 43 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. "It is a matter of satisfaction that people are recovering and returning home," he said. The number of active infection cases is 1,800 as against 1,761 on Friday, while the number of people who have fully recovered has risen from 1,387 to 1,399, the official said. Prasad stressed that community surveillance will play an important role in coming days with the return of tens of thousands of migrants. There was a need for the 'gram nigrani samitis' in rural areas and 'mohalla nigrani samitis' in urban areas to work strictly, he said. "All those returning (to the state) are being kept in 21 days' home quarantine and those returning from abroad are also being put in quarantine.

Healthcare firm HLL Lifecare on Saturday said its arm HLL Infra Tech Services has floated a tender seeking supply of over 1 lakh units of medical supplies towards COVID-19 testing on behalf of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). "The tender is seeking quotations for 40,000 units of viral transport media, 33,000 RNA extraction kits and 29,000 Combo RT-PCR COVID-19 tests," HLL Lifecare Ltd said in a statement. The tender is closing by May 10, the state-owned company added. "The viral transport media is used for transport of swabs collected for testing, RNA extraction kits are used to draw out RNA, which are single strand genetic materials of viruses, from samples which are then converted into reverse-transcribed into DNA while Combo RT-PCR tests has proven to be the 'gold standard' of COVID-19 diagnosis,"it said. HLL Lifecare is the procurement agency for hospitals and healthcare organisations under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir climbed to 836 on Saturday as 13 more people, including two nurses, tested positive for the disease, officials said. While 12 of the fresh cases are from the Kashmir Valley, one is from Jammu, they said. "Thirteen new COVID-19 cases were detected in the union territory on Saturday," the officials said. The total number of cases in Jammu and Kashmir has now reached 836, they said. "Of these, 767 are in Kashmir, while 69 are in the Jammu region," they added. Among the fresh cases detected on Saturday, three are from Super Speciality Hospital, Shireen Bagh here -- including two staff nurses and an attendant of a patient from Shopian, said Dr Salim Khan, COVID-19 nodal officer at Government Medical College, Srinagar. According to the officials, there are 459 active cases in the union territory -- 446 in Kashmir and 13 in Jammu -- and 368 patients have recovered. A total of nine COVID-19 patients have died in Jammu and Kashmir.

The making of a movie without large crews and outdoor shoots and movies themselves sans party scenes, background dancers or even the staple romantic clinches that could be the existential crisis facing mainstream cinema in the immediate post-corona world. Bollywood, after all, has always been about people, whether on screen or off it, in front of the camera or behind it, say industry insiders as they grapple with the uncertainties of life and work after lockdown and contemplate the dimensions of a radical makeover. Filmmaking has always been a collaborative effort with hundreds of people working in tandem to translate the written word into images but that may change. Producers and directors also wonder how they will manage social distancing with a large crew once they are back on sets. According to actor-producer Sanjay Suri, there will be behavioural changes on the sets and "cinematic intimacy will take time to return". "Not because of lack of ideas but purely behavioural changes on

A bulk of the COVID-19-related fact-checks in April were related to communal rumours, most of which were false allegations against Muslims of purposefully spreading the virus, claimed a report by BOOM Live. BOOM Live, a fact-checking platform that works with social media companies like Facebook, said its study analysed 178 fact-checks on COVID-19 related to misinformation/disinformation around the pandemic from January to May this year. "During April, a new trend was observed communally charged disinformation targeting Muslims became more frequent," the report said. By the end of April, a bulk of BOOM Live's fact-checks (34 unique fact checks) were on communal rumours, it claimed. The report further noted that after several members of the Tablighi Jamaat an Islamic missionary group tested positive, "Islamophobic rumours around them purposefully spreading the virus became viral on the internet". Other trends also witnessed in April were: spike in fake news related to politics, more .

The Prem Singh Tamang government in Sikkim has decided to reduce the salaries of the chief minister and ministers by 35 per cent for the next one year to mitigate the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the state's economy. As per decisions taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by the chief minister on Friday, utilisation of discretionary funds of the ministers have also been put on hold. The state government has decided to impose a ban on appointments under regular/work-charged/muster roll/adhoc/consolidated pay/ temporary basis for six months, a press release issued by the Information and Public Relations department said. The state government has also decided to impose a ban on replacement and purchase of new vehicles, computers and peripherals while the allocation under revenue expenditure in all departments will be curtailed by ten per cent. Among other things, there will be restrictions on advertisement or publication of notice inviting tender except ..

A 25-year-old man was thrashed and left unconscious with serious injuries on suspicious of being a coronavirus carrier' in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh. The incident took place on Friday evening outside a chemist shop in the Shivpuri locality of Aligarh. Police have booked six people in this regard. Abdul Samad fell unconscious after the accused attacked him, alleging that he was a coronavirus carrier', police said on Saturday. He was rushed to Malkhan Singh District Hospital by members of his family who arrived at the spot after people raised an alarm. According to the victim's father Laiqur Rehman, Samad was feeling dizzy after his Ramzan fast on Friday night. He had gone to a chemist shop in the neighbourhood to purchase some medicine where he was accosted by some people, who abused and beat him up without any provocation. Had not the family rushed him to the hospital, the injuries could have been fatal, the father claimed. Samad is now out of danger and has been referred to Jawaharlal .

With 224 new instances of the novel coronavirus infection, the total number of cases reported in the national capital climbed to 6,542, the Delhi government said on Saturday. The fresh cases were reported between 4 pm to midnight of May 8. No fresh death due to the virus was reported in this period. Delhi has so far reported 68 deaths. Of the total cases reported in the city, 4,454 are active while 2,020 patients have been cured of the disease, the health bulletin stated.

A 62-year-old man died due to coronavirus in Noida, becoming the second COVID-19 fatality in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district, officials said on Saturday. The man, a resident of sector 66, died on Friday but the report of his COVID test came out as positive on Saturday, they said. "He expired yesterday (Friday) evening. The cause of the death was cardio-respiratory failure," District Surveillance Officer Sunil Dohare said in a statement. Another person who tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday is a 52-year-old man residing in sector 45's Khajoor Colony, the officer said. "Total 100 reports have been received in the last 24 hours of which two were positive and the rest negative for COVID-19. The cumulative positive cases of coronavirus in Gautam Buddh Nagar are now 216," Dohare said. On the brighter side, two patients were discharged after recovering from the disease on Saturday, according to the statement. The two men, aged 23 and 40, were undergoing treatment at the ...

The testing capacity for COVID-19 has been scaled up to around 95,000 tests per day and a total of 15,25,631 tests have been conducted so far across 332 government and 121 private laboratories, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday. The minister, who reviewed the status of COVID-19 in the northeastern states along with the measures taken for its containment and management, also stressed on the need to take concrete action to check the use of non-smoking tobacco and prohibiting spitting in public places which shall help in preventing the spread of the infection, according to a statement. During the high-level meeting with Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, Vardhan appreciated the dedication of all the states in combating COVID-19. "It is a huge relief and very encouraging to see green zones in most northeastern states. As of date, only Assam and Tripura have active COVID-19 cases. Other states are all in the green zone. ..

ICICI Bank on Saturday reported a 6.91 per cent growth in March quarter net at Rs 1,251 crore on a consolidated basis, after setting aside over Rs 2,000 crore in provisions for potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. On a standalone basis, the second largest private sector bank's profit grew 26 per cent to Rs 1,221 crore as against Rs 969 crore in the year-ago period. For fiscal year 2019-20, it reported a 135 per cent jump in standalone profit to Rs 7,930.81 crore. From an asset quality perspective, the bank reported an improvement in gross non-performing assets (NPAs) ratio to 5.53 per cent as against 6.70 per cent in the year-ago period and 5.95 per cent as of December 2019, despite over Rs 5,300 crore in fresh slippages during the reporting quarter. ICICI Bank President Sandeep Batra said it had slippages of Rs 4,300 crore in the preceding December quarter, and the additions on this front can be attributed to two accounts -- a West Asian healthcare company and a Singaporean oil

In a bright sign for resumption of economic activities amid the Covid-led lockdown across the country, the migrant workers, who left various states for their native places amid the shutdown, have begun expressing willingness to return to work, indicate developments in Haryana. Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Saturday said over 1.5 lakh migrant workers have applied on government portal, expressing their willingness to return back to work in the state. Vij said most of these 1.5 lakh workers, who have registered themselves to return, belong to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. He also said on the same portal nearly 8 lakh migrant workers, however, have registered themselves for leaving the state. Nearly 1.5 lakh migrant workers want to return to Haryana while 8 lakh of them have registered themselves for leaving the state for their native states, Vij said. Most of the 1.5 lakh who want to come back are from Bihar, UP and MP. They want to come here as commercial activities have .

A number of entrepreneurs based in rural areas of the country have taken to manufacturing face masks amid dwindling demand for their regular produce in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, an official said on Saturday. Around, 500 rural entrepreneurs have so far produced and sold 3.5 lakh such masks under the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP), he said. They produce around 2,500 masks per day for health professionals, policemen, media personnel and cleaning staff, the official said. In West Bengal, 38 entrepreneurs manufacture nearly 600 masks a day in blocks of Dinhata, Pathar Pratima and Manikchak in different districts of the state. The entrepreneurs, trained under SVEP -- under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) -- have sold 49,000 masks in the state till date, he said. Apart from West Bengal, the programme is active in the rural belts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Haryana, he added. The masks are made in hygienic ..

The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday set up a high-level committee headed by former Reserve Bank of India governor C Rangarajan to examine fiscal challenges facing the state owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and suggest the way forward to improve its fiscal position. The committee, which will also consist of Finance Secretary S Krishnan as coordinator, will submit its report to the government within three months, according to a Government Order. The committee, with 21 members, would assess the overall immediate and medium term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different sectors of the state's economy including the impact of lockdown, additional costs and implications due to social distancing and their precautionary measures. Also, it would assess the opportunities and threats in the short and medium term, suggest measures required to help the important sectors of the economy to overcome the impact of the virus pandemic. Apart from identifying specific reform measures to ..

Two fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported from Kerala on Saturday, both being foreign returnees who reached the state from Dubai and Abu Dhabi on May 7 and were among the expatriates airlifted by the Centre as part of its mission to bring back stranded Indians abroad. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said with the two new patients, the total number of cases in the state has gone up to 505 and there are currently 17 under treatment. "One patient from Idukki, who was under treatment, has been cured today.The two new cases are now under treatment in Kochi and Kozhikode. They reached the state on May 7 in the Abu Dhabi- Kochi andDubai-Kozhikode flights, respectively," Vijayan told reporters. "There are 23,930 people under observation in the state out of which 334 are in isolation wards of various hospitals," he said. Out of the total 505 infected, Kerala has till now cured 485,Vijayan added. The state has reported three deaths.

Activities under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) resumed in Jammu division on Saturday after an almost two-month suspension owing to the coronavirus-forced lockdown, officials said. The decision to resume works under MGNREGA was taken following a Home Affairs order allowing select additional activities in rural areas outside containment zones to mitigate the economic hardships being faced by people due to curbs, a spokesperson said. Work has resumed on 5,800 projects in all the 10 districts of Jammu division. "More than 25,000 job card holders have been engaged in these works. The director of Rural Development Department RDD has instructed the officers concerned to complete all works under MGNREGA, while ensuring that guidelines for curbing COVID-19 spread are followed," the spokesperson said. While undertaking the works under the flagship scheme, the department is ensuring that rural infrastructure gets augmented through restoration of ...

Five people were discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Saturday after recovering from the novel coronavirus infection, health officials said. Those discharged include two women and a five-year-old boy, an official informed. So far 43 people have been discharged while the number of active cases in the state is 16, he added. "Two women and a boy from Kabirdham, two men from Durg and Surajpur were discharged after two consecutive tests were negative for the infection. They will be kept in a quarantine centre as a precaution before they are allowed to go home," a public relations officer of AIIMS Raipur told PTI. Chhattisgarh COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 59; New cases nil; Deaths nil; Discharged 43; Active cases 16; People tested so far 23,629.

Hockey India employees will have to review their health status on 'Aarogyasetu' App before starting for office and they can travel only if their status is 'safe' or 'low risk', according to an advisory issued by the sports body. The Hockey India advisory outlined the preventive measures which all its employees need to be follow at office to contain the spread of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic. The highly-contagious disease has so far claimed nearly 2000 lives and infected over 59,000 in the country, forcing the government to enforce a lockdown till May 17. "With reference to the directive issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel & Training, Government of India ... All the staff members should download 'Aarogyasetu' App on their mobile phones immediately," the advisory said. "Before starting for office, they must review their status on 'Aarogyasetu' and commute only when the app shows 'safe' or 'low risk' status. "The staff members

The 23-year-old daughter of a policeman who died of the novel coronavirus infection last month in Madhya Pradesh has been appointed as sub-inspector in the force by the state government, said an official on Saturday. The 59-year-old policeman, in charge of Neelganga police station in Ujjain district, died in an Indore hospital on April 21 after getting infected while performing his duty in a containment area, the official said. "Minister for Home and Health Narottam Mishra spoke to the 23-year-old woman on Saturday over phone and told her about the appointment as PSI as announced by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. She is likely to join duty next week," a state public relations department official said.

Mizoram became coronavirus-free with the discharge of the lone COVID-19 patient from a hospital on Saturday, officials said. It now shares a similar status with four other northeastern states -- Manipur, Sikkim, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Mizoram Health Minister Dr R Lalthangliana said the state's lone COVID-19 patient, a pastor, was discharged from Zoram Medical College (ZMC) on Saturday afternoon after 45 days of intense treatment. He was discharged from the hospital after four consecutive tests turned negative, the minister said. The pastor, who is in his early 50s and working under the Baptist Church of Mizoram, returned to the state from Amsterdam on March 16. He was pursuing higher study in theology in the Netherlands capital. He tested positive for novel coronavirus on March 24 and was admitted at ZMC along with his wife and two children. The pastor's wife and children were discharged from the medical college on March 28 after they tested negative for COVID-19. The state ..

IIT Kharagpur Director V K Tewari has said central institutes like the IITs and NITs have a major role to help the micro, medium and small enterprises (MSME) by guiding them to manufacture personal protective equipment, parts of diagnostic kits and other products required in the Covid-19 era. Tewari advocated creating mobile apps for the MSMEs, hit hard by the novel coronavirus triggered lockdown, to provide them with training by the institutes. "For instance, if we provide them (MSME units) with designs of gloves, masks meeting certain guidelines, they can come up with products in 3-4 months. Similarly, these enterprises can be roped in for making parts of diagnostic kits and PCR machines... after required training," he said. Delivering an address on Facebook Live on the page of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishads (ABVP) West Bengal unit on Friday, the IIT-KGP director suggested that such units may also be asked to produce PPE. "We have to know what the MSMEs want, what .

An 81-year-old man was among 85 people discharged from Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday after recovery, with health officials saying the octogenarian might be the oldest in the state to have overcome the coronavirus infection. All 85 were discharged from Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS). "The 81-year-old man tested positive for coronavirus on April 27. After 12-day treatment, he was discharged along with 84 others in the evening from SAIMS after two consecutive negative tests," an official said. The 81-year-old is the oldest person in the state to have been discharged after recovery, he said. Indore is among the worst hit in the country by the virus outbreak and currently has 1,780 COVID-19 patients. A total of 87 people have so far died due to the infection.

Nearly 3,000 patients were provided assistance for treatment and medicines by the Srinagar district administration in Jammu and Kashmir through its helpline amid teh coronavirus-driven lockdown, officials said. The IVRS-based call centre was inaugurated by Lt Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on April 17 and it replaced a series of helpline numbers launched in March aimed at attending to health emergencies on priority during the lockdown. A dedicated fleet of 10 vehicles and a team of 12 professionals have been deputed on the job round-the-clock for attending to issues related to health emergencies, demands related to dialysis, chemotherapy, diabetes and other such ailments, the officials said. Apart from the IVRS call centre, they said four mobile numbers have also been made available. Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar Shahid Iqbal Choudhary empanelled 13 dialysis centres across the city for providing dialysis services, the expenses of which are borne by the district administration. Most ..

What is the best thing about the Budget?One of the most positive things is the encouraging reforms for start-ups and the fall in the corporate tax. Start-ups in India are largely dependent on private investments. These reforms will give a boost to ...

For an individual, insurance offers the chance to save as well as get the benefit of avoiding paying taxes.

Gig workers are playing a bigger role in the American economy during the global pandemic. WSJ's Gerald F. Seib explores whether their eligibility for unemployment insurance will continue after the virus passes. Photo: Justin Heiman/Getty Images

This week, Senate lawmakers return to Washington to start working on the next round of aid for households and businesses. WSJ's Gerald F. Seib explains how Congress may need to come to a trade-off that pleases both parties. Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP

As movie theaters sit empty during the coronavirus pandemic, some films are being released direct to streaming services and digital platforms, shaking up a distribution model that's been in place for decades. WSJ explains.

A growing number of hospitals are investigating antibody testing and blood plasma therapy as a way to combat the new coronavirus in sick patients. WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez explains. Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann

Wonder Land: The coronavirus lockdown model is about to collapse beneath its own weight, undermined by politics, confusion about the virus itself, and the basics of human nature. Images: AFP/Getty Images Composite: Mark Kelly

The South Korean company behind the hit video "Baby Shark" is hoping to expand its empire with films and merchandise while pursuing the next viral sensation. Its strategy aims to beat competitors in an increasingly crowded space for children’s attention. Image: Pinkfong

As many businesses around the world struggle, a Canadian disinfectant company is increasing production to keep up with demand during the novel coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Ron Kolumbus/WSJ

Covid-19 is commonly compared to the regular seasonal flu, but one has proven to be more dangerous than the other. WSJ’s Gerald F. Seib explains why the coronavirus is treated more seriously than the flu. Photo: Zuma Press

Uber and Lyft are aggressively cutting costs as fewer people take rides, UnitedHealth will offer customers $1.5 billion of help and discounts, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin moves to ease lockdowns amid economic challenges. WSJ’s Jason Bellini has the latest on the pandemic. Photo: Josh Edelson / AFP

Understanding how the body clears the new coronavirus is becoming more important as the U.S. begins to reopen. WSJ’s Daniela Hernandez explains how the body fights infection and why feeling better doesn’t equal being virus-free. Photo illustration: Laura Kammermann

As Congress considers another round of aid to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Republican lawmakers are starting to worry about the long-term effects on the federal deficit. WSJ’s Gerald F. Seib explains. Photo: Eric Gay/AP

April’s jobs report shows record-high job losses and unemployment, low-risk businesses in California reopen for curbside pickup today, and testing will increase at the White House. WSJ’s Jason Bellini has the latest on the pandemic. Photo: John Locher/Associated Press