The northeastern region, which has traditionally been disciplined, has emerged as the model of coronavirus management and the rest of the country should emulate it, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Saturday. He said people in the eight northeastern states - Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Assam - have been following the lockdown-related guidelines in letter and spirit. "By tradition and by lifestyle, people of northeastern region are civilised and disciplined. That is why they could very easily follow the lockdown guidelines. There has been no problem in ensuring implementation of the lockdown-related guidelines there," Singh told PTI. He said within six years of the Modi government, the northeastern region has emerged as the model for development for the entire country. "Similarly, during the lockdown due to COVID-19, entire northeast has become model for the whole country to emulate it," he said, adding that the way people are ...

The TMC on Saturday accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of "lying" about the West Bengal government not allowing trains to reach the state, and said they have already planned eight trains to ferry migrants from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Telangana. The first train will be leaving on Saturday from Hyderabad to Malda, the TMC said. Shah on Saturday wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying while the Centre has facilitated more than two lakh migrants to return home, it is not getting expected support from the state. "The Centre is lying, eight trains ready to ferry passengers to Bengal from different states: It is no right to say CM Mamata Banerjee not allowing migrants to come back.16 migrants died on your watch, will rail minister take responsibility," asked TMC MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. In a zoom meeting with several TMC MPs, including Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien, said West Bengal is running 711 camps for migrants in the state and were taking good care of ..

The Uttar Pradesh Congress has launched a chat portal that will let people list the problems being faced by them amid the ongoing COVID-19-induced lockdown, the party said on Saturday. The complaints received from users of the UP Mitr' chat portal will be forwarded to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath so that the state government can help the people, state Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said in a statement. "The portal has been made to help the common public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through it, problems of the common public will be listed and the UP Congress will help the complainants. The list of complaints will be sent to the chief minister, Lallu said. The Congress leader said that his party was committed to help every needy person in the state. "The party is running community kitchens at various places in the state including Ghaziabad, Hapur, Kanpur, Allahabad, Lakhimpur Khiri and Lucknow, he said in the statement. The party's district committee is making dry ration available ..

He hops off a helicopter, whips off his shades and makes a dash through the grounds towards his home to give his mother a surprise, but there she is, waiting at the door with a pooja thali' in her hand. That admittedly cheesy scene between Shah Rukh Khan and Jaya Bachchan from the blockbuster Hindi film Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham was playing in Sonali Puri's mind when she was on a Mumbai-Jammu flight to give her mother a surprise last month. Her mother was at the door just as she had imagined but instead of a thali' was a hand sanitiser! Good hygiene is a blessing in times of coronavirus, my mother told me, laughed the 37-year-old. That was in mid-March, a few days before the coronavirus forced lockdown began on March 25. And home in Jammu is where Puri still is, the short vacation turning into extended mother-daughter downtime, both recalibrating their equations as they spend focused time with each other after years. This Mother's Day, the first time perhaps that Puri has been home, she

At least 1,200 people from Manipur stranded in Chennai will be brought back in a special train that will reach Jiribam at the state's border with Assam on May 12, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said. The train will start from Chennai later on Saturday, he said in a video message on Friday night. From Jiribam they will be brought to Imphal, around 200 km away, in special buses, Singh said. All of them will have to undergo isolation at the institutional quarantine centres set up at schools and colleges with the assistance of local MLAs and other organisations. Singh said that they will undergo full medical checkup before leaving Chennai and will further undergo check-up, including thermal screening, after reaching Jiribam. The cost of ferrying the stranded people from Chennai to Jiribam is around Rs 12,00,600, while the cost of transporting them in 50 buses is around Rs 1,05,000, Singh said. Two other special trains carrying migrants will also depart from Punjab and ...

CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat has approached the Delhi High Court seeking an early hearing in her plea for directions to police to make public the list of people arrested in connection with communal violence in northeast Delhi in February this year. The application for preponing the date of hearing of the petition is likely to be listed on May 12. The main petition, which has sought that a list of those arrested be put up outside police control room and police stations in the district, should be updated on a case-by-case basis. It is listed for hearing on June 16. The application for early hearing said the country is suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has declared nationwide lockdown due to which people are not allowed to go out except for essential services. However, Delhi Police has continued its probe in connection with certain FIRs related to the Delhi violence and as per media reports, the MHA has directed police to ensure that the probe does

India's senior hockey players, who are unable to train because of the coronavirus-forced lockdown, will undergo a basic coaching course online starting Monday, continuing the national federation's efforts to ensure that their time is put to productive use. The course will be attended by 32 senior men and 23 senior women core probables on May 11 and 15 respectively. Captain of the Indian women's team Rani Rampal has already attended the Hockey India coaching education pathway in the past and achieved a Hockey India Level 1 Coach Certification. "The Hockey India Level Basic Coaching Course will help them in broadening their understanding of the sport as it will give them a chance to view the sport from a coach's perspective," the HI said in a statement. "The core probables who will successfully clear the Hockey India Level 'Basic' Coaching Course will be eligible to attend the Hockey India Level '1' Coaching Course in the future, thereby paving the way for their development, not just as

Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble compared the fight against the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic to the "second innings" of an intense Test match where people can't afford let their guard down. The coronavirus outbreak has wreaked havoc, claiming over 2,76,000 lives so far while infecting more than four million people. Among other things, the unprecedented health crisis has also brought sport to a standstill, leading to cancellation and postponement of several events, including the Tokyo Olympics and European Football Championships and the Indian Premier League. "If we have to fight this coronavirus pandemic, we need to be in this together. It's like a Test match. Cricket Test matches are of five days but this has been longer," Kumble said in a video posted on his Twitter account. "Cricket Test matches are only two innings each, but this can be even more. So don't be complacent that we had a slender lead in the first innings because the second innings can be really rough." "We ...

The Telangana Police will soon rollout an Artificial Intelligence (AI)- based system through CCTVs to check face mask norm violations. Describing it as a first such initiative in the country,State DGP M Mahendar Reddy has tweeted that the system shall be enabled shortly across the three police commissionerates of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda which cover Hyderabad and its suburbs. He said the initiative involved leveraging computer vision and deep learning techniques on closed cirucuit television (cctvs) "#AI based #FaceMaskViolationEnforcement is being rolled out by TS police. Leveraging ComputerVision & #DeepLearningTechnique being implemented on surveillance CCTVs across the cities is #FirstOfItsKind in INDIA. Shall be enabled shortly across the 3Commissionerates *Hyd,Cyb&Rck," he said. The state government, which has made wearing a mask mandatory in public places, on Thursday issued orders imposing Rs 1000 as fine for those not complying with it. "In ...

In a slugfest over the transportation of stranded migrants to West Bengal, railway officials on Saturday said there was no proposal on record so far with the national transporter to run any more 'Shramik Special' trains to the state. The Indian Railways reaction came minutes after the TMC said they have already planned to run eight trains to ferry migrants from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Telangana. The railway said they did not even have the proposal yet for the train, which the TMC claimed has been scheduled from Hyderabad to Malda on Saturday at 3 pm. The Indian Railways has so far run only two trains to West Bengal, one from Rajasthan and the other from Kerala. According to the guidelines issued by the railways for these trains, the proposal has to be received from both the states along with the number of passengers for these trains to run. The officials said the railways has 47 planned for Saturday so far, none of them were bound for West Bengal. The TMC on Saturday accused

A truck carrying fodder was damaged in a fire on Jammu-Pathankot highway in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said. The truck reached Pla-Morh from Punjab and was being unloaded when it suddenly caught fire as the driver tried to move it forward, a police official said. He said fire and emergency services personnel rushed to the scene and put out the blaze. The truck was completely damaged but its driver escaped unhurt, the official said.

Bobby Deol says be it the superstars or the aspiring actors, everyone is struggling right now as the nationwide lockdown has brought the Indian film industry to a grinding halt. The 51-year-old actor, who started his second innings in Bollywood with films like "Race 3" and "Housefull 4", believes the ongoing scenario across India due to coronavirus pandemic is scary. "There are a lot of actors in the industry who want work but not everybody gets that opportunity or the luck. Right now, even the big stars are also sitting at home. "Everybody is sailing in the same boat. For actors there is no way out to go and work till things get fixed. It is scary for everybody," Bobby told PTI in an interview. The actor had finished two digital projects -- a Netflix film Class of 83, to be produced by Red Chillies, and Ashram, a web-series with Prakash Jha -- before the lockdown was announced. Bobby said he was hopeful that the projects will release this year. "Everybody's work is on pause right ...

The West Bengal circle has emerged the highest grosser in small savings mobilisation during the ongoing lockdown in the country, an official of the postal department said on Saturday. The West Bengal circle also includes Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar. "In this country during the lockdown period which is continuing, the West Bengal circle is the highest grosser in terms of small savings mobilisation", acting Chief Post Master General (CPMG) Niraj Kumar said. He said only in one day on May six, the circle grossed Rs 361.25 crore only from post offices (PO) which are run on CBS platform. Kumar said the main reason behind this is post offices having CBS are able to carry out transactions which are centrally monitored by the circle team and ably supported by required technical support. Even last year, the West Bengal circle recorded highest growth in the postal financial services in the country, he told PTI. This performance has also been a result of small savings agents who

The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday moved the Supreme Court challenging a Madras High Court order for closure of state-run liquor outlets on the ground that there was total violation of guidelines meant to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. The Madras High Court had on Friday ordered closure of liquor outlets noting that there were huge crowds and no social distancing was being maintained by tipplers. It, however, allowed doorstep delivery of booze through online mode. The top court too had taken note of crowding at liquor shops and asked states on Friday to consider non-direct contact or online sales and home delivery of liquor during the lockdown period to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The appeal against the high court order has been filed by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), a government firm which sells alcoholic beverages in the state, seeking permission to sell liquor through vends also. The high court order restraining counter-sale of liquor was .

The Bahujan Samaj Party on Saturday attacked the Uttar Pradesh government for exempting industries in the state from some labour laws, saying it comes at a time when the condition of labourers is the "worst" during coronavirus pandemic. In a series of Hindi tweets, BSP chief Mayawati said, "Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the condition of labourers is perhaps the worst, and even then a mechanism has been implemented where instead of 8 hours of work, they are made to work for 12 hours. This is very sad and unfortunate. Change in labour laws should be in the interest of the labourers." "Babasaheb BR Ambedkar had brought the concept of overtime, if the labourers had worked for more than 8 hours in a day, when exploitation of labour was at its peak. Is it correct to push the country to that era," she asked in another tweet. The BSP chief also said, "Keeping the current situation prevailing in the country, the labour laws should be changed in a way, so that labourers working in a factory .

Minority communities are contributing equally in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic along with others in the society, Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Saturday. He also announced that the Minority Affairs Ministry will launch 'Jaan Bhi, Jahan Bhi' nationwide awareness campaign soon to make people aware of social distancing and other guidelines for safety from coronavirus. More than 1,500 healthcare assistants, who have been trained under the skill development programme of the Minority Affairs Ministry, are assisting in treatment and wellbeing of COVID-19 patients. Naqvi said these healthcare assistants include 50 per cent girls who are helping in treatment of coronavirus patients in various hospitals and healthcare centres across the country. This year, more than 2,000 other healthcare assistants will be trained by the Minority Affairs Ministry, he said in a statement. The ministry is providing one-year training to healthcare assistants through various health

A portion of a nine-storey building in Mumbai's tony Bandra area, valued Rs16.38 crore, has been attached by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with its money-laundering probe against the Congress-party promoted Associated Journals Limited (AJL). The federal probe agency said it has issued a provisional order, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, to freeze "part" of the asset and has issued notices to AJL and its CMD and veteran Congress leader Moti Lal Vora. The AJL is controlled by senior Congress leaders, including members of the Gandhi family. The group runs the National Herald newspaper. The nine-floor building has two basements and a total built-up area of 15,000 sq metres, it said, adding its total value is Rs120 crore. The building is located at plot no 2, survey no 341, near Kala Nagar, EPF office, Bandra (East). The agency alleged that the accused in this case, that includes former Haryana chief minister and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vora, ...

In times of crisis, journalists should be more responsible and work for welfare of people and strengthening unity in society, RSS joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya said on Saturday as the country battled against the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking on the occasion of Narad Muni Jayanti via video-conferencing, Vaidya said journalists while doing reporting should always keep welfare of society in their mind. And many journalists in the country do so. According to Hindu mythology, Narad Muni is a travelling storyteller and primary source of information among Gods. Expressing concern that a specific type of India's image is being painted in a section of the international media which is far away from ground reality, Vaidya said it was being done by some Indian journalists and they should keep the country's interests in mind while reporting. He further said that at the time when the country was facing the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists should be more responsible, working for welfare of .

Fearing a surge in cases of domestic violence, wives of two Punjab Congress leaders, including a cabinet minister, have urged Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to reconsider his government's decision of allowing home delivery of liquor. The state government had allowed the home delivery of liquor during the third phase of the coronavirus lockdown from Thursday. Though there is no provision for it in the Punjab Excise Act, 1914 and the excise rules, the decision was taken to ensure social distancing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh too on Thursday had said that the opening of liquor shops will lead to an increase in domestic violence. Expressive reservations about the decision, Mamta Ashu, a Ludhaina councillor and wife of Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, on Saturday said the fight against drugs was an election promise of the Congress due to which the decision needed a rethink. It might lead to increase in cases of

Two men were arrested in Shamli district for allegedly posting an objectionable WhatsApp message against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, police said. The WhatApp group admin Vikas Upadhyay and Vikki Jatav, who sent the message, were arrested in Shamli on Friday, according to Circle Officer Jitender Singh. A case was registered against the two men under Sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act and Indian Penal Code Sections 500 (punishment for defamation) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace). According to the complaint lodged by a local resident, it is alleged that Vikki Jatav posted the message against the political leaders on a WhatsApp group.

Filmmaker Satyanshu Singh has launched a unique initiative to raise relief money for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The director has started online classes for budding cinema students and has roped artistes from different fields of filmmaking for the initiative. Actor Vinay Pathak, screenwriters Anjum Rajabali and Sudip Sharma, cinematographer Siddharth Diwan and director Shoojit Sircar have come aboard the initiative. Since April 1, more than a dozen lectures have been conducted with students from cities like Bokaro, Kota, Bhilai, Almora, and Coimbatore taking part in them. Overseas students have also showed interest in the lectures. Through the initiative, Satyanshu has so far raised Rs 15 lakhs which has been donated to non-for-profit organisations like Milaap, Goonj, Sarvahitey, and Sneha, providing food and support to out-of-work labourers, women and children in slums, and the homeless. The daily wage workers from the film industry are also benefitting from this ...

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said he is "totally healthy" and not suffering from any disease. In a statement, Shah said rumours about his health conditions have been spread through social media. "I am totally healthy and I am not suffering from any disease," he said in the statement in Hindi which was posted on his Twitter handle.

A survivor of the Aurangagabad train tragedy says that the disturbing images of the death of his companions in front of his eyes were haunting him and left him with the mental trauma that he will never be able to overcome in his life. Shivmaan Singh, who is now travelling back to his native place in Madhya Pradesh in a train along with three other survivors and bodies of 16 victims, said that he has not been able to come to terms with the loss of his colleagues. Sixteen migrant workers- part of a group of 20 headed towards villages in Madhya Pradesh and who were resting on the tracks, were crushed to death by a goods train in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra in the early hours of Friday. "After the tragedy stuck on Friday morning, so many things happened. Although I was completely exhausted, I could hardly sleep on Friday night as the gory images of the accident kept coming to my mind. I think I will never be able to overcome the impact of the tragedy that unfolded ...

The Goa government may allow holding of music classes and reopening of some state-run libraries in a phased manner on the condition of maintaining strict social distancing norms, Art and Culture Minister Govind Gawade said on Saturday. However, resumption of dramas and other entertainment events will be allowed only after monsoon gets over. The state-run Kala Academy will also reopen once rainy season gets over, he told PTI. Goa is classified as a green zone with no coronavirus positive case as of now. Meanwhile, Gawade said the overall budget of the state Art and Culture department is likely to be slashed by almost 30 per cent as part of fiscal measures being adopted for kick-starting the economy, which is affected by the COVID situation. He also said that demand made by various artists seeking monthly renumeration cannot be approved. Some professional artists and theatre personalities had raised a demand for a package with chief minister Pramod Sawant and Gawade, saying

Extending his greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 75th anniversary of the Victory Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that India stands with Russia in the solemn remembrance day. In a tweet, Modi also noted that tens of thousands of Indian soldiers also made the sacrifice in the second World War. "India stands with Russia in solemn remembrance today, on the 75th Anniversary of Victory Day. Tens of thousands of Indian soldiers also made the supreme sacrifice in the Second World War. My warm greetings to President Putin and the Russian people on this occasion," Modi tweeted. In Moscow, Putin marked Victory Day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, in a ceremony shorn of its usual military parade and pomp because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) on Saturday announced an insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh for its employees in the forefront of the coronavirus fight in case of death due to the disease. As the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic, the DSGMC has been providing free food to the lockdown-hit homeless people and shelter to health workers in its gurudwaras. It will now provide an insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh each to its 2,500 frontline workers who are providing free community meals, and sanitation and transport-related services across the national capital, its president Manjinder Singh Sirsa said. Staff members of the DSGMC-managed gurudwaras have been distributing food and relief material in JJ colonies, labour camps, shelter homes, etc., as a result of which there is a risk of them contracting the novel coronavirus, Sirsa said. The life insurance scheme will include sanitation staff, cooks preparing langar, religious preachers, security staff and other frontline ...

In a bid to tackle the spread of coronavirus in a more effective manner, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has put additional commissioners in charge of seven zones in the city. As per the order, seven additional commissioners will work towards improving the double rate of positive cases from 10 days to 20 days by May 17. These officials will be responsible for mapping positive cases, contact tracing, strict enforcement of norms in containment zones,door-to-door surveillance,identifying senior citizens with comorbid conditions and fever clinics, the circular dated May 7 said. They will also have to facilitate operations at private nursing homes, clinics, hospitals, ensure testing of symptomatic persons and creation of COVID care centres (CCC). Additional commissioners will have to personally visit their zones every day from morning till 2 pm, attend office post 3 pm and brief the municipal commissioner at 6 pm, the order stated. Of 19,063 COVID-19 cases in ...

A man has been arrested for allegedly obstructing a public servant and damaging property in east Delhi''s Kalyanpuri area, police said on Saturday. The incident, which took place on Friday, was captured in a video and circulated on social media, they said. In the video, a shirtless man can be seen in inebriated state and obstructing a police gypsy. He repeatedly bangs on its windscreen and makes a crack on it. People are trying to take him out of the way, but he refuses and stands in front of the gypsy. "The incident took place on Friday around 4.30 pm in Trilokpuri area. The accused, identified as Harkesh, has been arrested. He was drunk at the time of the incident, Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) Jasmeet Singh said. "A case under IPC sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and damage to ...

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 West Bengal government is arranging special trains to bring back over 30,000 residents of the state stranded in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Punjab due to the ongoing lockdown, a senior official said on Saturday. The stranded people are mostly migrant workers, patients and their attendants, students, pilgrims and tourists from West Bengal, he said. "Talks are on with officials of other state governments in this regard. Everything has been finalised.... Our nodal officers are monitoring developments," the official told PTI. A total of 31,224 people are stranded in the four states, of whom more than half (17,000) are in Telangana, he said. Three trains carrying around 7,500 people from West Bengal will start their journeys from Bengaluru in Karnataka on Saturday and reach their destinations -- Bankura, Purulia and New Jalpaiguri stations -- in the state on Sunday and Monday, the official said. Two trains with around 2,418 people, mostly patients, will depart Vellore in Tamil

The "government" was responsible for the death of 16 migrant labourers who were mown down by a goods train in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district, Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said in its editorial on Saturday. The newspaper, however, did not make it clear whether it blamed the BJP-led Centre or the Sena-led Maharashtra government for the tragedy. "The government did not think of allowing them to go back to their native place, nor did it make arrangements for their food," the editorial said, adding that the authorities should have taken into consideration the problems of the poor before enforcing lockdown on account of coronavirus. The sight of 'rotis' strewn on the railway track where the migrants -- who had fallen asleep due to exhaustion while on their way to Madhya Pradesh -- were crushed to death showed a heart-wrenching and harsh reality, Samanaa said. "The labourers were in fine health and had no symptoms of coronavirus and still they died. The responsibility of ...

An NGO from Indore in Madhya Pradesh has sent a letter petition to the Chief Justice of India seeking direction to government authorities to ensure people with disabilities, or Divyangjan, reach their homes safely amid the lockdown for the novel coronavirus outbreak. The letter was sent to the CJI on Friday, Anand Service Society's directors Gyanendra and Monica Purohit told PTI. "More than 150 Divyang persons are stuck in different parts of the country and waiting endlessly to go back to their homes. We have sent a letter petition to the Chief Justice of India requesting him to issue necessary directions to the concern authorities," Purohit said. "After our successful mission to rescue 23 speech and hearing impaired persons, a large number of people with disabilities have approached us to make arrangements for their safe return to their homes. "We need government support for it and, therefore, requested the Chief Justice of India to give necessary directions to National

Rane Holdings Ltd, part of Rane Group, has commenced partial operations at most of its plants with restricted manpower, the company said on Saturday. The city-based company had closed its plants and offices across India due to outbreak of COVID19 and in-line with instructions from Central and state governments. ".. based on the various relaxations and guidelines issued by Ministry of Home Affairs and respective State governments, the company has partially resumed its operations in most of its plants and offices with restricted manpower with effect from May 8," the company said in a filing. Rane Holdings said the continuance of operations in the places would depend on directives of local authorities issued time to time and based on incidence of COVID-19 cases in area concerned. The Tamil Nadu government had announced extension of lock-down from May 4 to 17 by allowing some restrictions towing with Centre's directive to control the spread of coronavirus. The company has six

The TCS World 10K Bengaluru run will be held on November 22 as the organisers on Saturday announced the new date for the rescheduled event. The race, the lone Gold Label event in Asia, was earlier scheduled to be held on the third Sunday of May, like the previous years, but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Safety and precaution are paramount for the event. This re-scheduling of the Tata Consultancy Services World 10K, was imminent to regain some form of normalcy, especially for the travel and participation of our international stakeholders," said Vivek Singh, Joint-MD Procam International, the organisers of the run. "The support and co-operation received from all our stakeholders, has been unparalleled. 22nd November 2020, should give us all necessary time to heal, re-energise and deliver the event with our customary zeal," he added. The online registrations for the rescheduled event will commence on September 8. Race Director Hugh Jones said, "Postponing an event of

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

Confined to their homes without access to courts due to the lockdown, India's young shuttlers are an "irritated" and "frustrated" lot, says chief junior national coach Sanjay Mishra, who feels more like a counsellor these days. The national lockdown to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far killed nearly 2000 people and infected more than 59,000 in India, is in place till May 17. "It has been nearly two months, the young players have been staying at home and now they are getting irritated and frustrated by the sheer mention of the word lockdown," Mishra, who took up the position in 2017, told PTI during an interaction. "I keep telling them it is happening to the whole world not to you in particular and ask them to focus on boosting their mental toughness." Mishra says he tells his wards to try and control the negative thoughts which would also help them deal with tough match situations. "I tell them to remember the times when they got frustrated or irritated and lost crucial ..

The West Bengal government on Saturday said it had brought back around 6,000 residents stranded outside the state and ensured safe return of people of other states stuck here due to the lockdown, virtually refuting the claims of non-cooperation made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The state government is doing its best to ensure that migrant labourers -- those stranded in Bengal and also the state's people stuck outside -- return home, West Bengal Home Secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay said. Bandopadhyay said so far around 6,000 people, including migrant labourers, pilgrims and students of Bengal, stranded in other states have come back. "We have also issued 18,000 passes to small trucks so that those stuck in West Bengal can return to their states," he said. He, however, declined to comment on the letter sent by Shah to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the issue of migrant labourers and said it is not his subject to comment on. Shah has said the West Bengal government is not allowing .

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.

Four persons were detained by Ahmedabad police on Saturday for allegedly spreading misinformation about Union Home Minister Amit Shah's health by creating a fake Twitter account in his name. Earlier in the day, Shah had issued a statement saying that rumours about his health were being spread through social media, and he was in good health and not suffering from any disease. The local crime branch detained four persons for spreading misinformation about Shah's health, special commissioner of police (crime) Ajay Tomar said. A screenshot of a fake Twitter account in Shah's name with his photo, claiming that he was suffering from a serious ailment, had gone viral on social media platforms, Tomar said. The suspects were detained from Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar and they were being questioned, he said. A case has been registered in this regard under sections 66(c) (punishment for identity theft) and 66(d) (cheating by personation using computer resource) of the Information ...

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 ...

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said Rs 18,253 crore has been disbursed to 9.13 crore farmers under the PM-KISAN scheme during the ongoing nationwide lockdown. Under the PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) scheme, each farmer gets Rs 6,000 in a year in three equal installments directly in bank account. Front-loading the release of the first installment under the PM-KISAN scheme was part of the Rs 1.70 lakh crore Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) announced on March 26 to protect the poor from the impact of the coronavirus lockdown. The lockdown was imposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 25 to curb the spread of COVID-19, and since then it has been extended twice. With regard to further assistance to farmers, the finance minister said that 3 crore farm loan borrowers have opted for a three-month moratorium. "Since March 2020, 9.13 crore farmers have been paid Rs 18,253 crore under PM-KISAN during the #lockdown. About three crore farmers with

A robot has been inducted into service at the Chandrapur civil hospital, and it could be used for collecting swab samples for COVID-19 test with some modifications in near future, an official said. District collector Dr Kunal Khemnar handed over the "medi-rover robot", which can be used for handing food or medicines to patients, to the hospital on Saturday. It has been developed by Tata Technologies in association with the Government Engineering College, Chandrapur, Khemnar said in a statement. "The robot will help the medical staff in treating and nursing of patients at the hospital," he said. With some modifications, the battery-operated robot, which weighs about 30 kg, can even be used for collection of swab samples of suspected COVID-19 patients in the coming days, he added. So far, only one coronavirus positive case has been found in Chandrapur district.

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.

A huge fire broke out in the Aadharwadi dumping ground in Kalyan in Thane district on Saturday afternoon, an official said, adding that no injuries had been reported so far. The fire broke out at 1:30pm and heavy smoke along with a pungent smell was emanating from the site, said Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation Chief Fire Officer Dileep Gund. "Ten fire engines and ten water tankers have been deployed to douse the blaze. There are no casualties. The fire may have been caused by excessive heat," he added. The wind was making it difficult to control the blaze and it may take up to two days to completely put it out, he said, and informed that there was no shortage of water for dousing operations.

Five special trains will start journey from three states on Saturday to bring back 5,000 stranded Odia people, a day after the Supreme Court allowed the return of migrants to Odisha, officials said here. The Supreme Court on Friday stayed an interim order of the Orissa High Court which had asked the state government to ensure that only those tested negative for COVID-19 were allowed to return to Odisha. Three trains will come from Gujarat and one each from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, the officials said, adding that about 5,000 people will return to Odisha by these five trains. A senior East Coast Railways official said one of the five trains has already left from Surat for Odisha's Ganjam district. Two trains will leave from Ahmedabad in Gujarat for Khurda Road in Odisha, one train from Panvel station in Mumbai will start the journey to Odisha's Titlagarh in Bolangir district and another will leave from Chennai for Jagannathpur in Ganjam district, the official said. Meanwhile, Odisha .

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 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 .

Police have arrested a couple for allegedly snatching mobile phones from people in central Delhi, officials said on Saturday. Following reports about a couple on white scooter snatching mobile phones, Arjun (22) and Vaishali Kaushal (20) were arrested near Railway Colony, Kishanganj, they said. The woman riding pillion on the scooter used to snatch the mobile phones from people, a senior police officer said. Arjun had been involved in 31 cases. Three months ago, he married Vaishali, a tattoo artist, and both are addicted to drugs, police said. Vaishali had also allegedly snatched the mobile phone of a jewellery showroom security guard in Karol Bagh, they added.

The ruling JD(U) on Saturday slammed AAP for claiming that it bore the cost of ferrying migrant workers from Delhi to their home in Bihar, saying the party was speaking "half-truth" as the Arvind Kejriwal government has sought reimbursement of the payment. The Janata Dal (United) headed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar accused the Aam Admi Party (AAP) of resorting to "cheap politics to gain popularity". The JD(U) also came down heavily on Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav for lapping up the issue to attack the NDA dispensation, asking him to stop the rhetoric and do something good for the people of Bihar. The AAP had on Friday claimed that the Kejriwal government paid for the migrant labourers travelling home after the Bihar government left them in the lurch. The train carrying 1,200 migrant labourers left for Muzaffarpur, Bihar today. The Arvind Kejriwal government will bear their full travel cost, Delhi minister Gopal Rai had tweeted on Friday. In a ...

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. ..