"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.

Earlier, such registrations/approvals were granted without any specific expiry period unless specifically withdrawn by concerned tax authority. Under the new law introduced by Finance Act 2020 and effective from June 1, 2020, all such registrations/ approvals would now be issued with an expiry period of 5 years.

​​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.

In a notification issued Friday, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) allowed tax exemption to donations under Section 80 G of the Income Tax Act, on the grounds that the structure would be a “place of historic importance and a place of public worship”.

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.

By the time the third phase of the lockdown ends on May 17, the Indian industry would have lost two months’ output, the CII said, adding that Covid-19 has “crippled” the economy

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

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.

On February 20, 2020, Deputy Chief Minister O Paneerselvam who holds the finance portfolio, announced that an expert committee would be constituted to improve the tax: GSDP ratio of Tamil Nadu.

'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?'

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.

The move by the excise department has come in the wake of lifting of certain coronavirus-induced curbs, which included allowing reopening of liquor shops. As the demand for alcohol has increased in Maharashtra, there is a possibility of liquor smuggling by inter-state organised syndicates, the official said.

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.

A bench, headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, set up a five-member Committee to probe Thursday's gas leak incident in the chemical factory, in which 11 people were killed and 1,000 exposed, and submit a report before May 18.

'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.

Thackeray said he was in constant touch with the Centre over the issue of running more trains to ferry migrant labourers, stranded due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, to their native places.

AI tech that study CT scans and X-Rays are being deployed as part of global efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, according to LPU researchers. The system may enable doctors and medical staff even in remotest villages of the country to get quick results on the COVID-19 status of a patient.

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.

Senior state BJP leaders Eknath Khadse and Pankaja Munde don't find a place in the list, which instead has lesser-known faces like Gopichand Padalkar, Praveen Datke and Ajit Gopchhade.

Officials said the study would have started earlier as it was planned to be conducted with the rapid antibody test kits brought from China.

Chilling details emerged about the tragedy involving a group of migrant workers who were on their way to native places in Madhya Pradesh on foot from Maharashtra and had taken a break to rest on rail tracks out of sheer fatigue.

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.

Praveen Pardeshi was replaced by Iqbal Chahal in a major shake-up in the agency that is in charge of the city's COVID-19 response.

While class 12 exams will be conducted across the country, the class 10 exams are only pending in North East Delhi where they were affected due to the law and order situation.

An IAF spokesperson said the MiG-29 aircraft was on a training mission. "The aircraft had developed a technical snag and the pilot ejected safely as he was unable to control the aircraft," he said.

'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.'

The migrant workers were walking along the rail tracks apparently to escape the attention of police. A video clip from the scene of the tragedy shows the bodies of migrant workers lying on the tracks and nearby with their meagre personal belongings scattered around.

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

They said stranded Indians in central Asia as well as in various European countries will be brought back home in the second phase of evacuation beginning May 15.

The border guarding force has the maximum confirmed cases of the disease among the Central Armed Police Forces, also known as paramilitary forces.

The INS Jalashwa, the Navy's amphibious warship, reached Male on Thursday to undertake the massive repatriation mission named 'Operation Samudra Setu' (Sea Bridge).

"The mortal remains of the 16 migrant labourers, who died after they were run over by a freight train near Aurangabad yesterday, were sent to Madhya Pradesh on a special train -- carrying migrant labourers to the state -- on Friday night," said an official.

'The government will have to provide something for migrant workers or 'Farmers will still survive because they will eat what they produce.' 'What will the rest of the people do? What will happen to them?'omething else like that or else you will see some huge uprising or unrest.'

Uttam Ghosh pays homage to these martrys for India.

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

Status quo at the plant was restored on Saturday morning, the company said in a statement.

The migrants demanded that the district administration should arrange for their return to their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and other states.

As of Friday, Gujarat's COVID-19 count stood at 7,403 cases, of which 5,260 were from Ahmedabad district alone, while of the 449 deaths in the state, 343 were from the city.

Shah said rumours about his health conditions have been spread through social media.

Till Friday, the number of COVID-19 patients in Dharavi reached 808 while the death toll was at 26

Since the beginning of running the Shramik Special trains, Gujarat remained one of the top originating stations followed by Kerala.

Sukanya Verma raises a toast (he'd like that very much) to the magnificent Rishi Kapoor and his 25 essential performances.