April 2020

Arrange special trains for migrant workers stuck in Maharashtra: CM Uddhav Thackeray urges Centre Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday (April 21) said that if the Centre is anticipating a spike in coronavirus COVID-19 cases between April 30 and May 15 then it must take steps to arrange special trains in order to allow the migrant workers, stuck in Maharashtra, to leave for their native places.  The Maharashtra CM urged the Centre to issue guidelines in this regard by Apil end. “If the Central government is anticipating a rise in transmission of COVID-19 between April 30 and May 15,...

IMA withdraws planned protest after assurance from Amit Shah The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Wednesday withdrew its protest planned in the wake of a spate of attacks on doctors and healthcare professionals after an assurance by the Centre that all necessary steps, including relevant legislation, will be introduced for their safety and dignity. There have been several instances of medical teams coming under attack as they went about collecting samples of suspected COVID-19 patients from many parts of the country. In Tamil Nadu, a doctor who died of COVID-19 infection was denied burial and his colleagues were attacked. Union Home Minister Amit Shah...

Does Rahul Gandhi Want Sanitisers Only for Rich, Not for Poor: Ram Vilas Paswan Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday asserted that there is no shortage of food grains for the poor and asked Rahul Gandhi to shun his “negative mindset” after the Congress leader attacked the Centre over its decision to use surplus rice for making ethanol. The ethanol can be used to produce alcohol-based hand sanitisers and also for blending with petrol, the government has said. After Gandhi accused the government of diverting the rice meant for the poor to manufacture sanitizers to wash hands of the...

Pakistan now exporting coronavirus COVID-19 patients to India: Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh Pakistan has been exporting coronavirus COVID-19 patients to India asserted Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh on Wednesday. Calling it a matter of concern, Singh said that it has come to light that Pakistan, which was earlier only sending terrorists, has now also started sending coronavirus infected people. The DGP added that these people will spread the infection. He also called for precaution in this matter. “Pakistan is exporting coronavirus patients. It is true that something like this has come to light...

Kangana Ranaut donates Rs 5 lakh each towards FEFSI, daily wage workers of Thalaivi Actor Kangana Ranaut on Tuesday announced donation worth Rs 5 lakh each towards the welfare of Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) and to the daily wage workers of upcoming Tamil film, Thalaivi, a biopic on J Jayalalithaa. “Considering the Covid-19 pandemic, Kangana Ranaut has come forward to donate Rs 5 lakh towards FEFSI union and for the daily wage workers of her film Thalaivi,” read a statement. Thalaivi, being directed by Vijay, stars Kangana Ranaut in the role of former Tamil Nadu chief minister and legendary...

Like the Ishrat Made in China cast and crew, there are many stranded in a different country. Another celebrity is Meera, who had been on a trip to the United States when the spread of Covid-19 became the global pandemic it is today. Now, she is stuck in New York where the situation is severe. In a video, the Baaji star makes a plea to the Prime Minister to help with her return. “New York is becoming a graveyard,” said Meera. “Every day, thousands are dying.” “I don’t want to die in a foreign country.” According to Meera, PM Imran Khan has “always supported...

Coronavirus impact | Lockdown is a ‘solution looking for a problem’: Rajiv Bajaj The Indian auto industry has already seen significant job losses and the extended lockdown is only making matters worse, said Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto. On April 20, Bajaj came out to sharply criticize the government’s lockdown strategy and described it as a “solution looking for a problem”. “Lockdown is not the long term answer to the health crisis. The young and healthy need to go back to work. The lockdown is arbitrary and not an answer to the economic crisis either”. “I think job losses have already...

Pope francis censored for calling scotch whisky ‘the real holy water’ Having already waxed lyrical on his passion for wine, Pope Francis has been censored by the Vatican church for declaring that whisky is “the real” holy water during a visit to a Roman priest school. Footage of Pope Francis hailing Scotch as “the real water of life” emerged when the religious leader paid a visit to students at Rome’s Scots College last year. The visit is due to feature in an upcoming documentary about the Scots College, but the Vatican has censored the Pope’s whisky quip, demanding it was...

‘He Was the Father of Our Team’: UK’s First Sikh Emergency Medic Succumbs to Coronavirus Tributes have been pouring in for Manjeet Singh Riyat, an Emergency Medicine Consultant who died of coronavirus on the National Health Service (NHS) frontlines at the Royal Derby Hospital in the East Midlands region of England on Monday. Riyat, 52, from the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton, was the first Accident and Emergency (A&E) consultant from the Sikh community in the UK and was well-loved by his colleagues, who described him as the “hugely respected” father of their emergency team. “Mr Riyat, known to...

NBD should enhance emergency facility to USD 10 billion to fight Covid-19: Sitharaman Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asked New Development Bank (NDB) to enhance the emergency facility to USD 10 billion to combat Covid-19 pandemic. Sitharaman participated in the 5th Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of NDB through video-conference. “On the discussion of Covid-19, FM appreciated NDB’s effort on fast-tracking of financial assistance of about USD 5 billion to BRICS countries including Emergency Assistance of USD 1 billion India to combat Covid-19 pandemic. She also suggested that, assistance under this Facility to be enhanced to USD 10...