MHA rejects Punjab's request to open wine shops

A total of 18,738 patients have died in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of Wednesday, the department of health says, up by 616 from the previous day.

An artist gives finishing touches to a 'Corona idol', in Kolkata on Thursday. Pic: ANI

Union Health Ministry briefs the media over the Coronavirus crisis: 

Even as the Indian Council of Medical Research has allowed plasma therapy for COVID-19 patients in Mumbai on an experimental basis, the challenge is to convince people to donate blood for it, officials said on Thursday. Also, extracting plasma from blood, its testing and then administering it to a patient is a complicated procedure and not as simple as it may appear on paper, they said. 

The Congress Working Committee in its meeting, held virtually, on Thursday demanded that the remaining period of lockdown should be used to prepare and publish a detailed 'exit strategy' and a comprehensive 'road map' for the future. "The states must be empowered to devise solutions to challenges due to COVID-19," says the resolution adopted unanimously by the CWC, the party's highest decision-making body. The ongoing nationwide lockdown is slated to end on May 3. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said after the meeting that the CWC noted with concern that the BJP was "seeking to inflame communal divisions' even as the entire nation battles COVID-19. 

Media firm TV18 Broadcast Ltd on Thursday reported nearly five-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 141.83 crore for the March quarter of 2019-20 financial year. The company had posted a profit of Rs 29.90 crore for January-March 2018-19, TV18 Broadcast said in a regulatory filing. Revenue from operations was up 20.60 per cent to Rs 1,424.93 crore for the latest as against Rs 1,181.48 crore in the year-ago period. Total expenses were at Rs 1,254.89 crore as against Rs 1,193.50 crore earlier. The company said the outbreak of COVID-19 has no significant impact on its results. -- PTI

Equity benchmark Sensex surged over 483 points on Thursday, tracking gains in IT and banking stocks as expectations of another stimulus package from the government enthused investor sentiment. The 30-share index ended 483.53 points or 1.54 per cent higher at 31,863.08. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 126.60 points, or 1.38 per cent, to settle at 9,313.90. Kotak Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 8 per cent, followed by TCS, Infosys, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech and ONGC. On the other hand, Titan, HUL, PowerGrid, NTPC and Nestle India were among the laggards. Indian markets opened on a positive note tracking mostly positive global markets as oil prices were seen rebounding after catastrophic falls a few days back amid some decline in volatility, said Narendra Solanki, Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi. Market participants also anticipate another stimulus package from the government in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, he added.

The Congress has urged the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to take action against senior journalist Arnab Goswami and his TV channel, alleging that they violated broadcasting rules during a show. In a letter to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev claimed that the content of a show broadcast on Republic Bharat on Tuesday with Goswami as the anchor was "vile, misleading and hateful in nature". The Congress and the BJP on Wednesday sparred over Goswami's remarks on the show aimed at Sonia Gandhi during a discussion on the Palghar incident in which three persons, including two sadhus, were lynched. 

A team of Delhi Police Crime Branch on Thursday reached the farmhouse of Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad near Kandhla area in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district. Police did not immediately respond to the purpose of the visit.An FIR was registered against Saad and others under the Epidemic Disease Act 1897 in connection with the congregation held at Markaz Tablighi Jamaat in the Nizamuddin area of the national capital. 

Jamia Millia Islamia has started yoga and mindfulness training sessions for the residents of its hostels during the lockdown imposed to control the coronavirus outbreak, officials said. Presently the university has started training sessions for residents of its MMA Jauhar Hall hostel and will gradually provide it for residents of other hostels too, they said. The first such session was held on Tuesday using the Google Meet platform. Varsity's Vice-chancellor professor Najma Akhtar had made suggestions to hold such sessions.

The Delhi government has issued orders for strict compliance of its earlier order for landlords not to demand rent from labourers and students for one month. "District Magistrates shall undertake awareness campaign on the issue particularly in areas having higher density of workers/migrant workers/students to advise affected persons to lodge complaints to police control room by calling 100," the order dated, April 22 read.

COVID-19 is unlikely to be spread through sexual transmission, according to a study that found no evidence of the novel coronavirus in the semen or testes of men. The study, published in the journal Fertility & Sterility, was not comprehensive enough to fully rule out the possibility that the disease could be sexually transmitted. However, the chances of it occurring, based on this limited finding, appear to be remote, the researchers said. "The fact that in this small, preliminary study that it appears the virus that causes COVID-19 doesn't show up in the testes or semen could be an important finding," said James M Hotaling, an associate professor at University of Utah in the US. "If a disease like COVID-19 were sexually transmittable that would have major implications for disease prevention and could have serious consequences for a man's long-term reproductive health," said Hotaling.

Battling the second-wave of coronavirus infections, Singapore on Thursday reported 1,037 new COVID-19 cases, more than 1,000 of which are foreign workers, including Indian nationals, mostly working in labour-intensive industries and living in packed dormitories. This is the fourth day in a row that Singapore has reported a daily increase of more than 1,000 cases. Twenty-one of the new cases recorded on Thursday are Singaporeans (citizens) or permanent residents who are also foreigners. 

At a time when violent crimes, including murder, rape and assault, have plummeted owing to some form of lockdown measures across the world to slow the spread of COVID-19, official figures cited by The Economist have shown a sharp rise in domestic violence--a crime committed in private, inside people's homes.

IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta told employees on Thursday that the airline has decided to roll back the pay cuts, which were announced earlier for senior staff members, for the month of April in deference to the "government's wishes". "However, your Excom (Executive Committee) members and SVPs (senior vice presidents) have volunteered to take pay cuts this month. For everyone else, you can expect your April salaries to be paid without the pay cuts," Dutta told employees through an email, which has been accessed by PTI. 

At this crossroads, missteps can change nation's trajectory for decades to come. We cannot have the poor, the labourers and the migrants bear the brunt of the effort to contain the spread of the virus, and nor do we want to weaken the foundations of the economy so much that we emerge from the pandemic onto an economic wasteland, writes economist Kaushik Basu. Read the column here.

Cash-strapped Pakistan has received an emergency loan of USD 1.39 billion from the IMF to boost its foreign exchange reserves in the wake of the further economic downturn due to the coronavirus crisis. The USD 1.39 billion loan is in addition to the USD 6 billion bailout package that Pakistan has signed with the International Monetary Fund in July last year to stave off a balance of payment crisis. 

The finance ministry on Thursday decided to put on hold increment in dearness allowance for 50 lakh central government employees and 61 lakh pensioners till July 2021 due to the COVID-19 crisis. "In view of the crisis arising out of COVID-19, it has been decided that additional instalment of dearness allowance payable to central government employees and dearness relief (DR) to central government pensioners due from January 1, 2020, shall not be paid.

Former Jharkhand minister Anosh Ekka was on Thursday sentenced to 7 years' rigorous imprisonment and slapped with a fine of Rs 2 crore by a Ranchi court in connection with a money laundering case, officials said. The quantum of sentence was pronounced by special PMLA judge Anil Kumar Mishra, they said. Ekka was being probed by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act case against former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and others. 

China on Thursday announced an additional USD 30 million grant to the World Health Organisation, days after Beijing expressed "serious concern" over US President Donald Trump's decision to freeze the funding for the global health agency over its handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang made the announcement at a media briefing. 

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy (pictured alongside), his Cabinet colleagues and Speaker V P Sivakolundhu on Thursday underwent tests for COVID-19. A team of doctors of the Health Department collected samples from the Chief Minister and the others at a special camp on the Assembly premises. A release from the Chief Minister's office said the two Members of Parliament from Puducherry were among those who turned up for the tests. 

"Periods don't stop for pandemics," says 12-year-old Shweta Kumari who is short of sanitary napkins because the distribution from her school has either stopped or delayed due to the ongoing lockdown to combat coronavirus. Kumari is not alone in this, several girl students of classes 6 to 12 who are studying in government schools across the country, narrate similar ordeal. They are given sanitary napkins every month under the central government's Kishori Shakti Yojna.

Real estate developers sold 26 per cent less apartments during January-March period across nine major cities as economic slowdown and coronavirus outbreak affected demand, News Corp-backed PropTiger said. In its report 'Real Insight: Q4 FY20', the housing brokerage firm said "a total of 69,235 units were sold during the quarter ending March as against 93,936 units sold during the same quarter last fiscal." 

As many as 70 areas in Palghar district of Maharashtra have been notified as containment zones in view of several coronavirus cases detected there. The containment zones fall under the Vasai-Virar municipal limits, and Dahanu and Palghar talukas, district Collector Kailas Shinde said in an order on Wednesday evening. Only essential services will be operational in the containment zones, he said. Those violating the order will be booked under legal provisions, he added. According to official figures, the district has so far reported 134 coronavirus cases and four deaths. PTI

BJP leaders, including party president J P Nadda, on Thursday condemned the alleged attack on senior journalist Arnab Goswami and targeted the Congress over the incident. "Shocking to see Arnab Goswami attacked after Congress CMs publicly threatened him. Sad to see such public hounding of a journalist for his freedom of speech. Congress shows it is the party that brought Emergency and continues its rich tradition of trampling free speech," Nadda tweeted.  There was no immediate reaction from the opposition party.  

Pakistan on Thursday said it has reported 742 new cases of COVID-19 and 15 more deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of deadly coronavirus infections to 10,513 with 224 deaths in the country. The Ministry of National Health Services said 15 more patients died across the country during the period, taking the toll to 224. 

The lynching of two sadhus and their driver has set off a political war of words in Mumbai between the Opposition BJP and the government. On the ground in the forest, though, is a story of how local officials, including an NCP leader and former MLA candidate, a sarpanch and the police could do little to check a mob fired by a dangerous rumour mill. Read the report here.

Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka is in the government's red zone for coronavirus cases. This lush green district, which includes Mangaluru city, has been readying itself for the battle against the coronavirus for some weeks now. The man leading the district's medical team is Dr John Thomas Ramapuram. "Our biggest challenge is to ensure we have a proper plan in place. We have to be prepared for a large number of patients. Our biggest concern is that we should not run out of resources," Dr Ramapuram -- who is in charge of the infectious disease department and head of the department of medicine at the Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru, tells Savera R Someshwar/Rediff.com. Read the interview here. 

Asserting that 12 crore people have lost their jobs in the first phase of the lockdown, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said that it is imperative for the government to provide them with immediate financial assistance to each family to tide over this crisis and reiterated that the unemployment is likely to increase further as economic activity remains at a standstill.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday accused the BJP of spreading the virus of communal prejudice and hatred in the country and asserted that "grave damage" is being done to social harmony. Addressing a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, Gandhi said this should worry every Indian and the Congress will have to work hard to repair this damage. "Let me also share with you something that should worry each and every one as Indians. When we should be tackling the coronavirus unitedly, the BJP continues to spread the virus of communal prejudice and hatred," she said. "Grave damage is being done to our social harmony. Our party, we will have to work hard to repair that damage," she added. 

Two cats in New York State have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, marking the first confirmed case of the COVID-19 infection in pets in the US, according to health authorities. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United States Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratories said on Wednesday that the two cats, who live in separate areas of New York state, have become the first pets in the country to test positive for coronavirus. 

Maharashtra Energy Minister Dr Nitin Raut on Thursday denied any role of the Congress party in the attack on Republic TV editor-in-chief, Arnab Goswami. He added that the latter has tried to insult Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi by using indecent language.

Fitch Ratings on Thursday slashed India's economic growth projections to 0.8 per cent in the current 2020-21 fiscal saying an unparalleled global recession was underway due to disruptions caused by the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic and resultant lockdowns. 

The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 681 and the number of cases to 21,393 in the country on Thursday, according to the Union Health Ministry. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 16,454, while 4,257 people have been cured and discharged, one patient has migrated, it said. The total number of cases includes 77 foreign nationals. A total of 29 deaths were reported since Wednesday evening, of which 18 fatalities were reported from Maharashtra, eight from Gujarat, two from Rajasthan and one from Delhi, the ministry said. 

There are 26 US Navy warships currently who have reported positive coronavirus cases onboard, while 14 other ships were also hit by the deadly virus but the crew members have who contracted the contagion have recovered, a senior Navy official told CNN on Wednesday. The 26 ships with current cases are in port or maintenance yards, the official stressed. The Navy is not releasing the names of the individual ships impacted or the exact number of cases because Defense Department policy states that it would risk operational security if the details became public. There are currently 90 ships at sea with no reported cases and the Navy currently has 297 active duty warships.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar condemns the attack on Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami. "We condemn the attempt to attack Arnab Goswami. We condemn every attack on any journalist. This is against democracy and it is really ironical that those who preach tolerance have become so intolerant. Therefore we condemn this attempt. We appeal to the collective wisdom that this is undemocratic and as per present law police definitely takes action if there is a complaint." 

India's total number of Coronavirus positive cases rise to 21,393 (including 16,454 active cases, 4257 cured/discharged/migrated and 681 deaths): Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

And on to news... President Ram Nath Kovind has approved to promulgate The Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 which provides stricter punishments for attacks against health workers. The ordinance to the effect was passed by the Union Cabinet yesterday. Read about it here 

The 2nd page of the written complaint by Arnab Goswami on the attack on him and his wife today. An FIR has been filed in the case and two people have been arrested. 

In the video he tweeted, Arnab Goswami said, "I just want to tell you Sonia Gandhi that you are the biggest coward in this country right now. You Sonia Gandhi trying to carry out an attack on me. The questions I asked are absolutely appropriate. You have no guts to face me. My questions against you will increase. The questions I am asking you are legitimate questions. You try to attack me. You try to attack my wife. I will hold you personally responsible for any consequences of any attack on me. If anything would happen to me, it is Sonia Gandhi who is responsible. Sonia Gandhi and the Vadra family who cannot take my questions right now."

Update on the attack on Arnab Goswami:  Two people have been arrested in connection with the attack on Goswami and his wife. An FIR has been registered by the NM Joshi Marg Police station under Sec 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint) and 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of IPC, says DCP Zone 3, Mumbai.

Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and his wife were attacked early this morning in Mumbai by two unknown persons while they were driving home from their studio. A police complaint has been registered, details awaited. Both Arnab and Samia Goswami were unhurt in the attack.