Asian Paints, the country’s largest paints manufacturer, reported a 43% fall in its revenue for the Apr-Jun quarter due to a sharp deterioration in demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Against the Rs 2,208 cr fall in revenue (compared to the same three months of 2019), the company’s total non-tax expenses fell by Rs 1,515 […]
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, which sells about 73% of India’s reserved railway tickets, said ticket sales continue to be down by about 77%-78%; almost a month-and-a-half after long-distance trains were restarted. “Pre-COVID, we were doing 60 cr rupees worth of tickets a day,” said IRCTC CMD MP Mall. “Now, it’s 13-14 cr.” […]
The Uttar Pradesh government has completed the task of bringing back stranded and jobless migrant workers from various places like Mumbai, Delhi and Gujarat, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said today. “The whole country is grateful [for the way in which] decisions were taken by the Prime Minister during the global pandemic, and for the systematic […]
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the state still has 4,200 free COVID-19 beds, but admitted that dozens of people have faced difficulty in getting access to these beds in the last few days. “I have seen that there are people who are coming on TV channels and saying that we could not find a […]
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he has been forced to reserve COVID-19 beds in all private and Delhi government hospitals in the city exclusively for the use of Delhi-based patients. This, he said, followed the deliberations and recommendations of a committee set up to look into the matter. The decision comes a day before […]
Maharashtra, one of the states worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, has decided not to pass on most of the relaxations allowed by the central government as far as the Coronavirus lockdown 5.0 is concerned. Key among the relaxations that WILL NOT not be allowed in Maharashtra are the opening of religious places of worship, […]
Uttar Pradesh, the state with the highest number of returning migrant workers in India, has reported the sharpest increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases yet. A total of 360 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Thursday. The earlier record was set on Tuesday, when 315 new cases were reported. The number of COVID-19 […]
Avnish Awasthi, additional secretary with department of home affairs in Uttar Pradesh government, today said that no migrant workers are walking on Uttar Pradesh’s roads as of today. His comments come in the wake of widespread outrage over media reports showing families, including small children, walking on the highways of Uttar Pradesh and adjacent states […]
The number of new COVID-19 cases in India crossed the 6,000 mark for the first time, as four states — Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Karnataka –reported their highest number of new cases in a single day. The breaching of the 6,000/day mark comes two days after India crossed the 5,000 mark for the first […]
States ruled by BJP-led National Democratic Alliance have taken back nearly four times as many migrant workers compared to states ruled by opposition parties, according to the data given by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today. A total of 806 trains have so far been run by the Indian railways for migrant workers. Out of these, […]
States seem to be scrambling to put in place a policy to deal with incoming travelers from COVID-19 affected red zone states after the Indian Railways unexpectedly announced that it was restarting some long distance trains from tomorrow. Most states currently limit interstate travel by issuing special passes, so that the number of incoming travelers […]
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today called for the central government to transfer an amount of around Rs 65,000 cr ($8.6 billion) as immediate financial relief to half of Indian households as a stimulus measure to restart consumption. He said this can be sent as a direct cash transfer of Rs 7,500 to each family. His […]
The National Disaster Relief Force or NDRF is holding a briefing on the leak of styrene gas from a plastic factor in Vizag in Andhra Pradesh. The video of the live briefing is below. You can also see the major bullet points summarizing the statements given by the NDRF and the NDMA in the briefing […]
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant today said that if the nationwide lock-down is lifted next week, his state would face an unwelcome situation of having to deal wtih Coronavirus-positive travelers from other parts of the country. His comments come in the wake of the Goan government urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday to extend the […]
Union health ministry today said that the country is ready to face any “exponential rise” in the number of Coronavirus cases and has, as of now, nearly 63 times the number of hospital beds at its disposal as is required to treat present COVID-19 cases. Luv Agarwal, spokesperson for the ministry of health and family […]
The central government has temporarily waived the need for states to seek its agreement for issuing orders under the Essential Commodities Act. With this, state governments can issue orders and directions under the act without first seeking the approval of the center till June 30. The Essential Commodities Act, passed in 1955, seeks to ensure […]
Vishwajit Rane, minister in charge of health, industry and trade in Goa, has said that mass gatherings in his state should be banned for the next six to seven months and that he expects the state’s tourism sector to remain more or less dormant during this period. “Mass gatherings, any kind of religious gatherings, prayers […]
Supreme Court of India today refused to stay an order by Kerala High Court directing Karnataka to open all its roads to Kerala for essential traffic. Karnataka had, a week ago, closed all the major roads from Kasargode district in Kerala — a major Coronavirus hotspot with around 150 COVID-19 cases. Karnataka government dumped truckloads […]
A day after tens of thousands of people thronged bus terminals in the national capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologized to citizens for putting them into unprecedented inconveniences, but also warned that people who are flouting the lockdown are playing with everyone’s lives. “I know that you have been put into massive inconveniences, especially my […]
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, has requested all state governments to include IT and BPO employees, as well as e-commerce, in their list of essential services. Several state governments, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, have announced strict curbs on the movement of people and the functioning of shops […]
