Hyundai Motor India on Saturday said its Chennai-based manufacturing facility rolled out 200 cars on the first day of resuming production. The company re-started manufacturing activities at its plant in Sriperumbudur (near Chennai) on May 8. The auto major has commenced production at the facility adhering to 100 per cent compliance of safety and social distancing norms, Hyundai Motor India said in a statement. In line with the government's objectives of reviving the economy and company's global vision of progress for humanity, the commencement of manufacturing operations is aimed at boosting economic activities and bringing back normalcy, it added. Several industries are resuming operations in a phased manner following an over month-long shutdown due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Puducherry Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao on Saturday said the Centre has lauded the performance of the territorial administration in keeping the spread of COVID-19 at bay as there had been only two to three active cases of the infection. Talking to reporters here, Rao said the Joint Secretaries of the Union Health Ministry had contacted him seeking to clarify as to whether Puducherry was "really having such a small number of active cases." The officials also wanted to know whether the figures furnished were really "correct." They raised eyebrows largely because of the high incidence of the pandemic in the neighbouring districts of Villupuram and Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu, he said. Rao said he had told them that the team work done by departments of Health, Police, Revenue and Disaster Management, Public Health and other line departments here has been chiefly responsible for the good achievement of Union Territory. He said he had apprised the officials of the meticulous

BJP corporators in the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) have refused to contribute to the COVID-19 relief fund, citing lack of transparency in the affairs of the civic body in Maharashtra's Thane city. Corporators from other parties have contributed Rs 5 lakh to the fund, following an appeal from Mayor Naresh Mhaske. In a letter to the Mayor, BJP leader Sanjay Waghule alleged that there was no transparency in the civic body's COVID-19 relief activities, which is why party corporators would not make any contribution to the TMC's COVID-19 fund. He further claimed that BJP corporators were not invited to the meeting called by Guardian Minister Eknath Shinde to discuss a 1,000-bed COVID-19 treatment facility. Meanwhile, the Mayor in a written communication pointed out that the BJP had welcomed the idea of a relief fund for COVID-19 and now it was backing away from it. There are 23 BJP corporators in the house of 131 corporators in the TMC.

A day after the Andhra Pradesh government constituted a five-member team to probe the Visakhapatnam gas leak incident, TDP chief N Chandrababu Nadu on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up a scientific experts' committee to investigate the matter. In a letter to Modi, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief also commended the "quick response" of the central government in controlling the styrene vapour leak from the plastics manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam that left 12 people dead and hundreds hospitalised on Thursday. Naidu suggested that the prime minister set up a scientific experts' committee to inquire into the gas leakage and the circumstances that led to the release of toxic vapours. A thorough investigation needs to be done to understand the health impact as the company claims that only styrene gas was leaked but there are conflicting reports of other toxic gases being leaked, he said. "The long-lasting impact on the health of those undergoing ..

Two-wheeler major Yamaha Motor India Group (YMIG) on Saturday said its employees have voluntarily donated a day's salary to support the government in combating the coronavirus pandemic. The company's permanent employeesas well as some trainees based out of its three plants -- Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu), Surajpur (Uttar Pradesh) and Faridabad (Haryana), and employees at its other offices donated a total of Rs 61.5 lakh from their pay for April, YMIG said in a statement. Out of the total amount, Rs 25 lakh each will be donated to the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund (Government of Tamil Nadu) and Chief Minister Distress Relief Fund (Government of Uttar Pradesh). The remaining Rs 11.5 lakh will be donated to the PM-CARES Fund, it added. "This is a global crisis and Yamaha's task as a global company is enormous. During such time what COVID-19 has prompted, Yamaha feels that it is important for everyone to stand united against the pandemic and come forward to support the government in ...

Ahead of the arrival of a Naval ship here with stranded Indians from Maldives, a top police officer on Saturday said all arrangements are in place to facilitate safe stay of the repatriated comprising over 400 Keralites and people from other parts of the country in the southern state. INS Jalashwa, participating in Indian Navy's "Operation Samudra Setu" to bring home Indians stuck in foreign countries due to COVID-19 pandemic, has departed from Male port for Kochi with 698 Indian nationals on board on Friday night. It is expected to reach here on Sunday. This is the Indian Navy's first massive evacuation exercise during the COVID-19 lockdown. Inspector General of Police Vijay Sakhare said 431 people traveling via ship are from Kerala. Rest of the passengers are from other parts of the country including Tamil Nadu (132 people). A few people from states including Goa, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana and Lakshadweep ...

Homegrown mobile phone maker Lava on Saturday said it has resumed manufacturing operations with 20 per cent capacity. "Lava has resumed production at its manufacturing facility in Noida. The company has started operating with 20 per cent of its production capacity, post receiving an approval from the state authorities. 600 out of its 3500 workforce have resumed work," Lava said in a statement. The factory has been shut since the time the government announced the coronavirus lockdown. However, it kept meeting export requirements through its facility in China, it added. The government has given permission to mobile phone companies to start work at factories but the firms are expected to face bottlenecks in component supply and worker availability. "We welcome the government's move to permit mobile phone companies to resume operations. Though, we might face some challenge due to the delayed availability of manpower & materials, we have sufficient inventory to maintain the pace of our

Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday alleged that the 16 migrant workers, who were crushed to death by a train in Maharashtra on Friday, had applied to the Shivraj Singh Chouhan govenment for passes to travel back home about a fortnight ago, but the administration failed to act on it. Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted a video in which a survivor of the train tragedy claimed that they had applied for their return to their respective districts in Madhya Pradesh. Alleging that the MP government's "negligence and inaction" led to the death of the workers, Singh also called for a probe to know what arrangements the BJP-led government had done to bring back these workers after they applied for return. "The workers killed in the train accident had asked for passes from the Shivraj government about fifteen days back. These 16 lives could have been saved, if passes were issued. Shivraj ji, these deaths are the result of jungle raj," Madhya Pradesh ...

Five people were arrested for allegedly conducting congregational prayers at a mosque here in violationofthe COVID-19 lockdown norms. A case was registered against five people for conducting evening prayers on Friday, police said. We received information that prayers were being conducted in the mosque, they said adding they were held at Eriyad Masjidul Bilal mosque here. On Friday, four people, including the president of a local temple trust, were arrested for allegedly conducting a religious recitation in a temple here in violation of lockdown restrictions. Though lockdown conditions have been eased in accordance with the Centre's guidelines, public gatherings, including functions, weddings, political events and religious gatherings were not allowed.

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 funeral of a 33-year-old man, who died of COVID-19, was held after protests by residents who refused to allow the cremation, fearing spread of the disease. When the Health Department's ambulance carrying the man's body reached Swarg Ashram in Chharbagh on Friday evening, residents came to know about the cremation and they started protesting. Police were called in to bring the situation under control. The final rites of the man were held on the banks of Yamuna river late night in the presence of police personnel. "The police personnel pacified the protesters and allayed their fears over the spread of the infection. To ensure that situation does not deteriorate further, the last rites were held on the banks of Yamuna river," City Magistrate Pankaj Singh said.

Smartphone maker Tecno on Saturday said it has launched an initiative to offer customers the option to book their smartphones online and get the handset delivered by neighbourhood retail stores. Also, the Transsion Group company said it will resume operations at its Noida factory in accordance with the government regulations. The new model will help Tecno's network of 35,000 offline retailers revive their businesses and empower consumers to select the product of their choice from the safety of their homes, a statement said. Consumers can reach out to their preferred retailers via Tecno's website and enter their PIN code details. The microsite with a store locator will assist in mapping the retailer and the contact details, and the device will be delivered to their doorsteps by their nearest retailer, it added. "Tecno's unique initiative will enable its consumers to connect and place order with their preferred retailers as per the zoning guidelines of the government from the comfort 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 management and later told reporters that "everything is normal and there is no need to panic." 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 be on the safe side, as per protocol, people are being asked to stay away for 48 hours. That period will end tomorrow. Scientists and experts from different parts of the country, including New Delhi, are coming here. They will review .

The Maharashtra government has appointed Ramesh Bharmal as the director and dean of Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Hospital at Sion in Mumbai, which was in the eye of a storm after a video showing COVID-19 patients being treated next to the bodies of victims there had gone viral. In the wake of the viral video, Pramod Ingle had been transferred from the post of the hospital dean and the additional charge had been given to Mohan Joshi. As per the government order issued on May 5, Joshi who will now be the dean of civic-run Nair hospital. Prajakta Lavangare will work as an overall coordinator of both the hospitals, it said. Bharmal was previously the dean of Nair hospital.

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 ..

The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday said it has issued a Rs 16.38 crore attachment order against the Congress promoted Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and its leader Moti Lal Vora in connection with a money laundering probe. It said the attached property is a 9-storey building in Mumbai having two basements and total built up area of 15,000 square metres. The asset "germinated out of proceeds of crime has been attached to the extent of Rs 16.38 crore," the federal agency said in a statement. The provisional attachment order, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), has been issued against the Associated Journals Limited and Moti Lal Vora, the chairman-cum-managing director of the AJL.

The Odisha government has trained 1.72 lakh health personnel to fight COVID-19 in the state, where a spike in the number of positive cases was recently witnessed following the return of Odia migrant workers from other parts of the country, a senior official said. The state government has trained 1,72,499 health personnel to deal with the novel coronavirus outbreak, Chief Secretary A K Tripathy said while launching the 'COVID-19 workforce portal' here on Friday. Altogether 129 fresh novel coronavirus cases were reported in the state since May 3, when the return of the stranded migrant workers began. Of these, around 114 COVID-19 patients are returnees who were stranded in Gujarat, a health official said. A total of 8,023 doctors, 8,296 staff nurses, 4,105 paramedical staff and laboratory technicians, 4,114 AYUSH doctors, 4,905 ambulance drivers, 1,35,820 ANM/ASHA/AWW workers and 7,236 sanitation workers have been drafted into the COVID-19 workforce, Labour and ESI ...

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

The Karnataka government has announced one-time financial relief of Rs 5,000 each to over 11,000 cobbler families in the state, whose daily life was affected by the COVID-19 induced lockdown. According to Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has announced one time financial relief of Rs 5,000 for each of these families. "Due to COVID-19 lockdown about 11,722 families involved in road side leather work, like mending chappals and shoes, are in financial distress and their daily life has been affected," he said on Friday. The compensation will be distributed to beneficiaries through Babu Jagjivan Ram Leather Industries Corporation, Karjol, who is also in-charge of Social Welfare department, said. A delegation of opposition leaders led by the leader of opposition Siddaramaiah had met Chief Minister Yediyurappa yesterday and demanded that people belonging to sections like goldsmiths, carpenters, cobblers, tailors and ironsmiths be considered ...

The Central Industrial Security Force reported 13 fresh cases of COVID-19 among its personnel on Saturday with the maximum being in its Delhi Metro protection unit, officials said. The 1.62 lakh personnel strong force has a total of 48 active cases of coronavirus with the addition of the new numbers. Two of its personnel have succumbed to the disease over the last two days. Among the 48 active cases, maximum 31 are in the unit that guards the Delhi Metro followed by 13 in the Mumbai international airport guarding unit. The maximum rise in cases, at 10, over the last 24 hours has also been reported from the Delhi Metro guarding unit. Coronavirus positive troops have also been reported at CISF units like Delhi airport (3), Ahmedabad airport (2), Kolkata Port Trust (3) and one at its VIP security unit based at GreaterNoida. The force is tasked to guard civil airports (63 at present) in the country and vital infrastructure in the aerospace and nuclear domain. The paramilitary forces or ...

Hundreds of migrant workers came onto the streets and clashed with the police at a village in Surat district of Gujarat on Saturday to demand that they either be sent back to their home states or allowed to resume work at local industrial units to earn money, police said. The police resorted to lathicharge and fired tear gas to disperse the mob. Over a 100 workers were detained in this connection, an official said. The incident took place at Mora village near industrial town of Hazira. "Over 100 workers were detained after they took to the streets, demanding that they either be sent back home or allowed to work at the industrial units they were employed at in Hazira and paid salaries," joint commissioner of police (Sector 2) D N Patel said. Protesting workers came out of their homes in the workers' colony at Mora village and started walking in a large group towards Hazira industrial area, he said. The migrants demanded that the district administration should arrange for ..

Experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences visited the civil hospital in Gujarat's Ahmedabad city on Saturday and interacted with frontline staff amid concerns over the rise in COVID-19 fatalities. The city's COVID-19 mortality rate stands at 6.5 per cent, which is almost double that of the country's death rate of 3.3 per cent. AIIMS director and pulmonologist Dr Randeep Guleria and Dr Manish Soneja of AIIMS' department of medicine, flew in on a special Indian Air Force plane on Friday, an official said. The duo visited the civil hospital and met doctors and staff, who were attending to COVID-19 patients and offered them guidance, the release stated. Principal secretary (health) Jayanti Ravi also interacted with frontline medical staff at the hospital, which has the highest number COVID-19 patients in the city. The AIIMS doctors were also scheduled to visit Sardar Vallabhai Patel Hospital in the city. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had urged Union Home ...

Four wanted Naxals, including two women- who all carried rewards on their heads- and a police official were killed in an exchange of fire in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Saturday. Terming the killings as huge success for the police, an officer said they managed to eliminate the "high-value targets" who were active on Chhattisgarh-Maharashtra border. The incident took place on Friday night at Pardhauni village under Manpur police station limits, located over 150 kms from Raipur, when a team of security forces was out on a counter-insurgency operation, Inspector General of Police (Durg range) Vivekanand Sinha said. "We got input at 7 pm on Friday that a group of 7-8 armed cadres were camping and cooking food at Pardhauni village, located around six kms away from Manpur police station," Rajnandgaon Superintendent of Police Jitendra Shukla told PTI. Based on the tip-off, a police team of 28 personnel, led by Madanwada police station SHO Shyam Kishore .

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 ...

The Delhi government has so far issued around 4.75 lakh e-tokens to buy liquor in the national capital, an official said on Saturday. Under the e-token system, customers are given specific time for purchasing alcohol so that there is no violation of social distancing norms by people queuing up outside liquor stores. The e-token is sent on mobile phones of registered people. The new system was introduced on Thursday in the wake of long queues outside liquor vends and people not following social distancing norms there. The Delhi government has allowed around 200 liquor shops to operate in the city. "The government has so far issued around 4.75 lakh e-token since Thursday evening to people to buy liquor without standing in long queues," the official said. People willing to get e-token can apply through a web link www.qtoken.in where they are allotted specific time for purchasing liquor after they fill personal details. According to the official, the e-token system is maintaining social ..

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 ...

A 55-year-old woman died of COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district on Saturday, taking the toll in the region to 87, an official said. A COVID-19 patient died on Thursday after undergoing treatment at a city hospital for 10 days, chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Praveen Jadia said. The woman was already suffering from high blood pressure, sepsis and other ailments, he added. With 53 persons testing positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, the count in the district has reached 1,780, of which 732 patients have recovered from the infection, the official said. According to the latest data, the COVID-19 mortality rate in Indore was 4.89 per cent, which was a decline of 5.44 per cent registered last month.

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

Three members of a family in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday, taking the total number of cases receiving treatment in the district to 15. The three identified are two women, aged 70 and 60, and a 30-year-old man from Kasba village of Bantwal taluk They are relatives of a 69-year-old man of the same family who tested positive for the virus on May 1. The family is related to the 50-year-old woman who died of the disease on April 19. Eight members of the family have been quarantined after the 69-year-old man tested positive. Three of them have now been confirmed with the infection. The source of the infection has been traced to the First Neuro hospital at Padil. A total of 16 coronavirus cases reported in the district has been linked with the hospital so far. An expert medical team has already been formed to find the origin of the infection from the hospital. With three more persons testing positive, the number of COVID-19 ...

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

Seventy-six fresh coronavirus cases surfaced in Rajasthan on Saturday, pushing the state's infection count to 3,655. The state has so far reported 103 deaths. Among the fresh cases, the maximum 23 were reported from Udaipur, followed by Jaipur where 20 people were found infected with the virus on Saturday. Thirteen cases surfaced in Ajmer; six in Jodhpur; four in Pali; three in Jalore; two each in Rajsamand and Churu; and one each in Kota, Barmer and Dausa, according to a government official. Jaipur is the worst-hit Rajasthan district with a total of 1,165 case, including 54 deaths.

Four more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Uttarakhand on Saturday taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 67. The cases were reported from Udham Singh Nagar district, a health department bulletin here said. With this, COVID-19 cases in Uttarakhand have risen to 67 out of which 46 patients have been discharged after recovery and one has died. The number of active cases in Uttarakhand currently stands at 20, it said.

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, ...

A special committee has been formed by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for containing the spread of COVID-19 in different parts of the city, a member of the panel said. Chairperson, caretaker board of administrators of the civic body and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim, former deputy mayor Atin Ghosh, four community medicine experts and KMC health officials are members of the newly formed committee. The panel was formed after Hakim assumed charge as chairperson of the caretaker board of administrators (BOA) of the KMC on Friday. The state government appointed the board since elections could not be held to the KMC owing to the coronavirus outbreak. The Calcutta High Court on Thursday allowed the BOA to act as the KMC's caretaker board for a month. Ghosh told PTI on Saturday, "We will sit every afternoon to take stock of the situation and decide accordingly. "Apart from containment zones, we will review the situation in other areas of the city as well. There ...

Over one lakh cases of lockdown violations were registered and 19,297 persons were arrested ever since prohibitory orders were enforced in Maharashtra in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, police said on Saturday. At least 1.02 lakh cases were registered under section 188 (disobeying an order passed by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, an official said. As many as 714 personnel, including 81 officers, of Maharashtra police contracted COVID-19, and of these 61 had recovered from the infection, he said. Maximum number of coronavirus cases reported in the police department were from Mumbai, he added. At least 194 cases of attacks on policemen were reported in various parts of the state, while 680 persons were arrested in these incidents and 73 policemen and a home guard were injured in these attacks, the official said. Nearly 32 cases of attacks on health workers were reported in the state till Saturday, he added. Meanwhile, the police have registered 1,289 offences of

The number of COVID-19 fatalities in Maharashtra's Amravati district rose to twelve on Saturday with the death of a 53-year-old man at the COVID facility here, an official said. The deceased, a resident of Masanganj locality in the city, tested positive for coronavirus on Friday night, he said. He was suffering from fever and breathing difficulty, the official said, adding that swab samples of the patient were taken on May 7. "There are now 60 active patients at the COVID ward. While five have been recovered, another patient was referred to Nagpur," the official added.

A sugarcane farmer was killed and his brother sustained injuries in a clash between two groups of farmers over a land dispute at Jalalpur village in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, police said. Police said trouble started when Nareshpal and his brother Harender were confronted by Pardeep with a group of farmers who attacked him with sticks while working in his field. The injured Nareshpal was rushed to hospital where he was declared dead. Nareshpal and Pardeep's agricultural land lie adjacent to each other and a dispute arose over it, police pointed out. A case was registered on Friday under IPC Sections 147 (punishment for rioting) 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) while a search is on to catch hold of the accused, police added. According to the complaint lodged by .

Amid a spurt in coronavirus cases in the national capital, the Delhi government has roped in three more private hospitals with a total of 150 beds to treat COVID-19 patients. In an order issued on Saturday,Delhi Health Secretary Padmini Singla declared Fortis in Shalimar Bagh, Saroj Medical Institute in Sector 19, Rohini and Khushi Hospital in Dwarka for admitting confirmed or suspected cases. The decision was taken due to the "shortage of isolation beds in private hospitals", te order read. The three hospitals will have 50 isolation beds each. Medical superintendents of these hospitals have been directed to make the isolation facility functional before Monday. On April 30, Singla had declared Maha Durga Charitable Trust Hospital and Sir Gangaram City Hospital as COVID-19 hospitals. LNJP Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality hospital, Sir Gangaram Kolmat Hospital and Max Hospital in Saket are some of the COVID-19 dedicated facilities in Delhi, where 6,318 people have tested positive

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought life to a screeching halt for many, but those with serious ailments such as blood disorders have been pushed to the edge with their lives now hanging by a thread in the absence of necessary medical interventions. Sonia Ghakkar, a Gurgaon resident, had been desperately looking for help, as her husband, a leukemia patient, waits for bone marrow transplant (BMT). "About two months ago, my husband was diagnosed with leukemia. Bone marrow transplant is his only chance of survival. We have sought permission from the health ministry for transport of blood stem cells, but to no avail. The match cannot reach the hospital under the present circumstances," she said. Stem cell transplant is the only cure for many patients suffering from blood disorders. According to a hematologist, it takes months, sometimes years, to find a donor, and many "high-risk" patients have limited time left. Transplants have come down to a meager 20 per cent nationwide, as most ...

Private cell phone operators resumed their services but mobile Internet continued to remain suspended on Saturday in the Kashmir valley, a move taken as a precautionary step after the killing of self-styled local chief of banned Hizbul Mujahdieen, Reyaz Naikoo, earlier this week. The situation in the valley, which has been witnessing lockdown since the third week of March due to COVID-19 pandemic, was generally calm barring a few local protests in some villages of Pulwama in south Kashmir. Seeing an improvement of the situation after Naikoo was killed in an encounter with security forces on Wednesday, the authorities allowed private telecom operators to resume their services from Friday night but asked them to keep Internet connection barred. Restrictions had been imposed in the valley after the death of Naikoo and additional paramilitary forces were deployed at vulnerable points to prevent any mischief or stone pelting. SMS services have been snapped across all telecom operators till

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday stressed on the need to understand the "chemistry of corona while administering its treatment". The chief minister chaired a high-level meeting of UP government officials at his residence here to review the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak in the state. "The need is to understand the chemistry of corona, while administering its treatment," he said. Asserting that increasing the immunity level of the body can prevent the infection, Adityanath said the 'Aayush Kavach COVID' app launched by the state government has a host of information on ayurveda, which can be adopted by people to boost their immunity. He added that the application should be widely publicised and people encouraged to download it. The UP chief minister also stressed on working on all possibilities for revenue generation, and directed officials to prepare a plan to identify alternate sources of revenue. He said an elaborate work plan should be ...

LG Polymers India Ltd on Saturday blamed leaking vapour from a storage tank for the leakage of deadly styrene monomer gas at its Visakhapatnam plant that killed at least 11 people and forced the evacuation of thousands. Status quo at the plant was restored on Saturday morning, the company said in a statement. The gas leakage from the plant was reported on Thursday morning after the company tried to restart operations following the partial easing of the coronavirus lockdown. "Our initial investigations suggest that the cause of the incident is prima facie by the leaking vapor from the Styrene Monomer (SM) storage tank near the GPPS (General Purpose Poly Styrene) factory on Thursday, May 7," the statement said. The unit of South Korean chemical giant LG Chem said it is committed to working closely with the concerned authorities to investigate the cause of the incident, prevent recurrence in future and secure the foundation for care and treatment. "While focusing on stabilizing the ...

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

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 ...

The upcoming Rs 1 lakh crore Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project offers huge investment opportunities for investors, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said urging players to invest in proposed townships, smart villages and wayside amenities. The minister also exhorted industry players to look into the possibilities of setting up clusters of leather, plastic, chemical and other products along the greenfield highway that is expected to cut down the travel time between Delhi and Mumbai to just 12 hours. "The new alignment of the highway passes through most backward and tribal areas of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh...There are no industries there. It is time to decongest already developed areas. It offers industry players huge investment opportunities like setting up leather, plastic, chemical, etc clusters," the road transport and highways minister said. These clusters will help in all-round development of the backward areas of these states, the senior minister said ..

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