"So far, 17 states and UTs have integrated and three more states Odisha, Mizoram and Nagaland are also getting prepared. Total 20 states/UTs will be ready for the launch of ration card portability from June 1," Paswan told reporters.

Industry bodies such as CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM suggested a slew of measures and sought relaxations such as increasing working hours to 12 hours per day from the existing 8 hours per day to help them revive operations, according to a release by the Labour Ministry.

India has allowed discounting of prolonged stay period for determining the residency status in relief for NRIs.

​​Developed countries may well ask why they should pick up the bill for countries that are less well-prepared. The answer to that lies in looking to their own citizens for inspiration. Across the world, governments have introduced new restrictions into lives.

Chairing a meeting to assess the impact of COVID 19 on Assam Power Distribution Company Limited, Assam Power Generation Corporation Limited and Assam Electricity Grid Corporation Limited, Sonowal said that though the state has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the endeavour of the government’s power companies has yielded into a power surplus.

Rajan says ‘monetisation’ is a good option in the short-term and within reasonable limits.

Despite all our past glory, the “potential” India has, the love you have for your country, that answer won’t change. We don’t have money. Our people are poor. Our government is poor. Hence, when we carry out a lockdown like Europe or the US, we suffer more. For them, the lockdown creates an itch. For us, we bleed.

Echoing similar sentiments put forth by several eminent economists, he had appealed to the central government to shed its reservations and borrow more in 2020-21.

Labour laws in India are part of the façade of democracy that middle-class India confuses for the real thing. In reality, nine out of ten of India’s 500 million workers are in the informal sector, which does not admit labour laws, minimum wages, social security and such other symbols of civilised existence even as figments of the imagination.

ET examines the labour reforms template of three states, which also seems to be part of efforts to lure companies looking to move out of China.

'Does it mean that till the COVID-19 fight is over, the governor should be non-functional, in sleep mode, and fiddling in the Raj Bhavan while the state is burning?'

At the invitation of United States President Donald Trump, Pujari Harish Brahmbhatt from the BAPS (Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha) Swaminarayan Mandir in New Jersey joined religious leaders from other faiths offering prayers on the occasion of National Day of Prayer Service.

The nationwide lockdown, which has been in place since March to contain the spread of coronavirus, has rendered several unskilled labourers and daily wagers jobless. The IIM-A conducted the survey among 500 households in the city that earned less than 19,500 per month, the release in Ahmedabad stated.

Major Anuj Sood, scholar and daredevil soldier, had finished his Kashmir tenure and would have been home had COVID-19 not come in the way. He did not live to be old enough, but he lived the soldier's life to the fullest, reveals Archana Masih/Rediff.com.

Early detection will bring down the mortality rate, the minister said, adding that the government plans to increase institutional quarantine facilities.

Social stigma and low testing are the key reasons for the high mortality rate among COVID-19 patients in West Bengal, where the disease, like elsewhere in the country, is still an urban phenomenon, experts say. The state's Trinamool Congress government has been drawing consistent criticism from the Centre and opposition parties over the way it has tackled the pandemic, and has been accused of under-reporting data about the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths.

'India is ahead only of Pakistan in the amount spent on each soldier a year.' 'The Indian military is a manpower-heavy throng that is poorly armed, equipped, and trained,' observes Ajai Shukla.

The new road is expected to help pilgrims visiting Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet as it is around 90 km from the Lipulekh pass. After inaugurating the road through video-conferencing, Singh said pilgrims going to Kailash Mansarovar will now be able to complete their journey in one week instead of up to three weeks.

A cyclone shelter building at Kelambakkam, which was recently given a fresh coat of paint, is the current home of nearly 100 Rohingyas who belong to 18 families. The neighbourhood is on the way to Mamallapuram, about 25 km from Tiruvanmiyur in south Chennai. While some Rohingya men work as butchers, some are helpers in restaurants and others do odd jobs like delivering goods on their fish cart.

The Tamil Nadu voter may not be in the mood to test new talent, not when the state and the people are going through unprecedented and unanticipated crises, of which coronavirus is only the first. All of it boils down to an election between the ruling AIADMK and the Opposition DMK next year, with small-timers, had-been parties and promised parties left on the sidelines, says N Sathiya Moorthy.

Gandhi also called upon the government to immediately put money into the hands of the poor and provide a financial package to the industry to help revive the economy.

'In Mumbai the mortality rate was reaching a percentage of almost 8 plus in about April.' 'But now over last one month, we have come down.' 'We have drastically controlled mortality.' 'We are now about 3.9.'

'Every morning, when I had to step out, my wife would cry.' 'I would tell her that if I don't do it, many people will suffer; many people would die.'

If the precautions are not taken and guidelines are not followed properly, there can be chances of spike in cases, the government said.

'This doesn't mean that Mumbai will be handed over to the army'

The state broadcasters have started the practice, but private news channels may follow suit, a ministry source said.

Uttam Ghosh pays homage to these martrys for India.

Only patients developing severe illness or having compromised immunity will have to test negative through RT-PCR test before being discharged by a hospital, the Union health ministry said.

Indian agencies have been engaged in countering Pakistani cyber-attacks on social media platforms for a very long time. But just like the fight against the coronavirus, only through the active participation of ordinary citizens that this war on fake news can be won, suggets Colonel S Dinny (retd).

Shah said not allowing trains to reach West Bengal is "injustice" to the migrant workers from the state.

Official figures say 1.8 lakh workers have returned home to Bihar. Unofficially, however, that figure is said to have crossed 3 lakhs. Can Bihar cope?