Digest for domestic stories for week Mar 28 - Apr 3, 2020
Delhi-Ghaziabad Border: Chaos, confusion and a stampede-like situation prevailed at the Delhi-Ghaziabad border as thousands of migrant workers fought amongst themselves to get seats on the limited number of buses the Uttar Pradesh administration operated on Saturday to ferry them to the hinterlands.
Mumbai: The schemes for the merger of ten state-run banks into four lenders are coming into force from April 1, according to the Reserve Bank of India.
New Delhi: India reported 179 fresh COVID-19 cases, highest in a single day, taking the tally to 918, and the death toll climbed to 19 on Saturday, as the government made efforts to shore up healthcare infrastructure.
Sunday
New Delhi: The nationwide tally of confirmed Coronavirus cases crossed the 1,000-mark and the death toll reached 27 on Sunday, even as the central govt ordered sealing of all state and district borders to check community transmission of the deadly virus by migrant workers.
New Delhi: Some are finding their own villages in Bihar blocking their entry; a few had to make trees their temporary homes in West Bengal; hundreds left relief camps and hit the roads in Kerala in protest.
New Delhi: The government on Sunday constituted 11 empowered groups to suggest measures to ramp up healthcare, put the economy back on track and reduce misery of people as quickly as possible post the 21-day lockdown imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Monday
New Delhi: The COVID-19 crisis appeared escalating on Monday with at least 11 new deaths including of six from Telangana who had attended a religious congregation in the national capital earlier this month, while the government reported 227 fresh cases of infection nationwide -- the highest for a day.
New Delhi: The government has not extended the current 2019-20 fiscal year and it will end as scheduled on March 31, the finance ministry said Monday.
New Delhi: Police and paramilitary personnel cordoned off a major area in Nizamuddin West while over 200 people have been kept in isolation in hospitals after several people who took part in a religious congregation there earlier this month showed symptoms of coronavirus, officials said.
Tuesday
New Delhi: Authorities launched a nationwide search for participants of a huge religious gathering held earlier this month in the national capital's Nizamuddin area, which has become the new epicentre of the deadly virus pandemic amid fears that thousands present there could have carried the infection across the country.
New Delhi: The number of novel coronavirus cases climbed to 1,397 on Tuesday after 146 new infections were reported in the past 24 hours across the country, while the death toll due to the pandemic rose to 35, according to the Union Health Ministry.
New Delhi: Seeking to ease hardships faced by people during the ongoing lockdown, several banks on Tuesday initiated steps to effect the RBI-suggested moratorium on loans taken by their customers and e-retailers began deliveries, but job losses and pay cuts continued to haunt many even as authorities promised special facilities, including for migrant labourers.
Wednesday
New Delhi: In a sweeping nationwide hunt, authorities have identified more than 6,000 people who attended the Nizamuddin Tablighi Jamaat congregation, the biggest COVID-19 hotspot in India, as more than 450 fresh cases of infection emerged on Wednesday.
New Delhi: The number of COVID-19 cases climbed to 1,834 in the country on Wednesday, registering the biggest single-day jump, while the death toll rose to 41, according to the Union Health Ministry.
New Delhi: With a sharp spike in the COVID-19 tally, authorities on Wednesday stepped up their crackdown against violations of the ongoing nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the pandemic, even as troubles mounted for people with supply of goods getting sparse and economic activities being hit hard.
Thursday
New Delhi: Pitching for efforts on a war footing to identify and isolate COVID-19 hotspots, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hinted at a "staggered" exit from the ongoing lockdown after the 21-day period ends on April 14 while the nationwide tally of confirmed cases of the deadly virus infection rose by more than 500 to cross 2,500 with at least 76 deaths.
New Delhi: India's premier defence research institution DRDO has developed a "bio suit" to protect doctors and paramedics engaged in treating coronavirus-affected people from the infection.
New Delhi: The Delhi Police issued a notice to seven people, including Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, and lodged an FIR against them for holding a religious congregation here allegedly in violation of the lockdown orders and not maintaining social distancing, officials said.
Friday
New Delhi: Ramping up their efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, authorities on Friday announced exclusive isolation wards and initiated rapid tests in areas identified as hotspots of the infection while a record of more than 8,000 samples were tested in 24 hours.
New Delhi: India may post in 2020-21 a GDP growth of 2 per cent, the slowest since the economy was liberalised 30 years back, Fitch Ratings said on Friday, as it joined a chorus of international agencies that have made a similar cut in growth estimates in recent days on concerns about the fallout of COVID-19 outbreak.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged people to switch off the lights at their homes and light up lamps, candles or mobile phone torches for nine minutes at 9 pm on April 5 to display the country's "collective resolve" to defeat coronavirus. MAHMAH