(PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said. 75 per cent of COVID-19 cases in the city are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. The chief minister said the government has also issued an order for requisition of ambulances of private hospitals, adding that the decision has been taken in the wake of shortage of state-run ambulances. “They (private ambulances) will have to be pressed into service when the government requires their service,” Kejriwal said while addressing an online media briefing. The government has made arrangements for treatment of those at their homes with mild COVID-19 symptoms in accordance with the Centre’s guidelines.
Author: Aruna Sharma
(FE) The sugar industry in Uttar Pradesh, which has been reeling under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and has a burden of cane dues worth Rs 14,300 crore, has sought a bailout package from the state government. In a letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the president of Uttar Pradesh Sugar Millers Association, CB Patodia, has asked the government to bailout the industry by way of a cash subsidy, which shall help augment the mills’ cash flows and ensure continuation of cane crushing operations and cane price payments. Highlighting the stress areas, Patodia wrote that the lockdown has brought in…
(LiveMint) The Indian Railways will ‘gradually’ resume passenger train operations from tomorrow. This comes as India inches towards the end of the third phase of nationwide lockdown to fight against COVID-19. To mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Central government announced a pan India lockdown in the last week of March. All passenger train services have been on halt since March 22. Starting from Tuesday, the Railways plans to run 15 pairs of trains each day. These trains will run as a special train from New Delhi station Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai…
(ET) With industry reeling under losses amid the coronavirus lockdown, the Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO) on Saturday demanded that the Union and the state governments should roll back the hike in excise duty and value added tax (VAT) on fuel. The FICO members rued that the prices of crude oil are at an all-time low, but the government rather than passing on the benefit to the residents, has increased the excise duty and VAT. FICO president Gurmeet Singh Kular said, “The Union government recently increased the special excise duty by Rs 10 on petrol and Rs 13 on…
(PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a video conference with all chief ministers at 3.00 pm on May 11. Union Home Minister, Health Minister, Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Health Secretary, the DGP and other officials are also expected to participate in the video conference. This will be the fifth interaction between PM Modi and the chief ministers since the novel coronavirus outbreak began in India. India has been under a nationwide lockdown since March 25 to help contain the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown stands extended till May 17.
(PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a review meeting with CEOs of public sector banks (PSBs) on Monday to discuss various issues, including credit offtake, as part of efforts to prop up the economy hit by the COVID-19 crisis. The meeting, to be held via video-conferencing, will also take stock of interest rate transmission to borrowers by banks and progress on moratorium on loan repayments, sources said. The RBI had on March 27 slashed the benchmark interest rate by a massive 75 basis points and also announced a three-month moratorium to be given by banks to provide relief to…
(DH) Amid majority of businesses under COVID-19 lockdown and people remaining in shelter-at-home mode, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took to twitter saying Economy is poised to recover. Her optimism stemmed from the fact that public sector banks have sanctioned loans worth Rs 5.66 lakh crore to MSMEs retail, agriculture and corporate sectors. These loans are waiting for disbursal soon after the lockdown. “During March-April 2020, PSBs sanctioned loans worth Rs 5.66 lakh cr for more than 41.81 lakh accounts. These borrowers are from MSME, Retail, Agriculture & Corporate sectors, waiting for disbursal soon after #lockdown lifts. Economy poised to recover!,” the finance…
(LiveMint) At least eleven people including a child died after toxic gas had leaked from LG Polymers facility located near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, the state government reported. At least 246 people with health complications are undergoing treatment at Visakhapatnam’s King George Hospital, police said. Ambulances, fire engines and policemen rushed to the chemical plant. Thousands of people were evacuated from the nearby villages, officials told. Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy announced an ex-gratia payment of ₹1 crore each to the kin of those killed in the styrene gas leak incident. Urging the residents to stay indoors, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal…
(ET) The government is considering issuing an advisory to central public sector enterprises (CPSEs), including NTPC and Power Grid Corporation (PGCIL), that they halve the fixed charges they collect from state power distribution companies. This is the first time power generation and transmission plants with regulated tariffs might be advised by the power ministry to reduce charges as such issues are dealt by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). Lenders and project developers said this would hurt investment sentiment toward the projects considered to be safe havens, while some industry insiders said extraordinary times called for such measures. “The lowering of…
(ET) India and Russia are in talks to expand their energy partnership by increasing crude oil imports from Russia and possibly signing a memorandum of understanding to import coking coal to meet requirements of Indian steel industry. These issues were discussed at a video meet between Dharmendra Pradhan, minister of petroleum and natural gas and Russian energy minister Alexander Novak on Wednesday, people aware of the development. The ministers also reviewed ongoing projects and plans including the participation of Indian companies such as Indian Oil Corporation in Russias state-owned Rosneft’s Vostok oil project in the Russian Arctic, Novatek’s deal to supply…