Delhi

New Delhi, Apr 8 (PTI) Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday called for providing immediate cash to the poor, while accusing the government of adopting a miserly and negligent approach towards the deprived during the lockdown.

"With unemployment at 23 per cent (CMIE) and a freeze on daily wages/incomes, the government must immediately find the resources and remonetise (give cash to) the poor," he said in a series of tweets.

New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has dismissed the plea of Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman arrested in connection with the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam cases, seeking interim bail on the grounds of risk of contracting coronavirus in Tihar jail.

Justice Mukta Gupta, who conducted the hearing through video conferencing, said the apprehension of Michel that because of his vulnerable age and overcrowding in jail, he is likely to contact COVID-19 which may be detrimental to his health, is unfounded.

New Delhi, Apr 6 (PTI) India on Monday received 1.70 lakh personal protection equipment (PPE) coveralls donated by China, the Union Health Ministry said.

Along with the domestic supplies of 20,000 coveralls, a total of 1.90 lakh coveralls will now be distributed to hospitals and will add to the 3,87,473 PPEs already available in the country as of now, it said.

New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI) The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) called for a complete ban on the Tablighi Jamaat and its Nizamuddin Markaz on Sunday, after it emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot in the country.

The Tablighi Jamaat's Markaz (headquarters) in Delhi's Nizamuddin West emerged as a coronavirus hotspot as hundreds of people, who attended a religious congregation there in the second week of March, tested positive for COVID-19.

New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI) The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan has designed a protocol for its schools in the country to start online classes for students stuck at their homes due to the lockdown and shared "action points" with all principals to implement the programme, an HRD Ministry official said on Sunday.

All Kendriya Vidyalayas have been asked to get in touch with teachers, students and their parents about it through e-mail, WhatsApp and SMS to ensure maximum benefit to students, the official said.

New Delhi, Apr 6 (PTI) The death toll due to novel coronavirus rose to 109 and the number of cases in the country climbed to 4,067 on Monday, according to the Union Health Ministry

While the number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 3,666, as many as 291 people were cured and discharged, and one has migrated, it stated. The total number of cases include 65 foreign nationals

New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reached out to top leaders from across the political spectrum, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, to discuss the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak.

He also spoke to former presidents Pranab Mukherjee and Pratibha Patil, and former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda, sources said.

Details of the discussions were not immediately known.

New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI) The government has tightened the export ban norms on anti-malarial drug hydroxycloroquine by including special economic zones (SEZs) under its prohibition ambit to ensure there is no shortfall during Covid-19 crisis.

The drug is also not allowed to be shipped by export oriented units (EOUs) or under any export promotion scheme.

New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI) About 40,000 crew and seafarers stranded on cargo and cruise vessels across the globe are awaiting return to Indian shores, with the government assuring to extend help once the nationwide lockdown on account of coronavrius outbreak is lifted, maritime bodies have said.

There are about 15,000 seafarers onboard about 500 cargo vessels across the globe, and another 25,000 on cruise ships.

New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI) The Indian macroeconomic situation is bleak and all set to get worse if local or national lockdowns continue for some more time, renowned economist Jean Dreze said on Sunday.

Dreze further said that due to the country-wide lockdown, social unrest in many parts of India has already started.

The country is under a 21-day lockdown as part of larger efforts to curb spreading of coronavirus infections.